Rimentus played by  rimentus



Sini left his Lair made into the Malygomiran Mountainside and broke into the sky, his wings outstretching. He soared over the canopy of the mire below. And when he caught the scent of a wolf he descended. The time was noon: time to eat. All he had had for breakfast that morning was a bowl of corn flakes, and now his stomach rumbled, a greeting to the musk of fresh meat. Maybe I’ll find myself a pack of ‘em, he thought greedily, and licked his lips. He prowled through the underbrush, stalking his prey.

Dragons were drawn to treasures. And Rimentus was no different in that regard, except he was drawn to a different kind of treasure. Knowledge. He sought knowledge more than gold and jewels. So much mystery in his life that needed answers, and he had to hunt for them.

And he had learned--from gossiping humans and dragons alike--of a particular den in the Malgomire region, of a dragon who owned such treasures. Treasures stored in books. So he flew down to the mountainside, taking a moment to scent his surroundings to ensure that he was alone. Rimentus landed on the entrance platform with a lithe backstroke of his wings and bent his head a little to squeeze himself into the hollow in the mountain.

Ordinarily, a dragon’s den filled with so much human-technology would’ve left him with awestruck with his jaws opened. He’d met dragons before that owned such things, though not as lavishly as what he was seeing here. A kitchen, a desk, a strange-looking bedding and all sorts of other little pieces of luxuries here and there...

A king must have lived here among these mountains, he mused.

Rimentus stepped in, careful to still his tail, lest he topple down the closet and the PC by the corner of the small den. He flared his nostrils, trying to trace that earthy scent of paper. Surely a den full of modern gadgetry would have books around here?

Sini’s footing went awry; there came a soft crack beneath his feet. He stumbled back and saw the wolf he was tracking dart off into the thick of the trees. Beneath his breath he cursed. And the wind rolled. Sini’s nostrils twitched. Sniff, sniff. He smelled the scent of a dragon. Not just ordinary, fire-breathing dragon. No—this was a venomous dragon. Quickly Sini wheeled round. He found his feet plodding through the woods back the way he came, his interest in the little canines forgotten.

Out from the forestry he emerged and flexed his wings, then leaped up. A few rhythmic beats, and his shadow raced up the hill leading up to his Lair in the Mountain. That smell. That wonderful smell. It’s not overpowering, like the musk of another poison dragon. The venom, Sini reckoned, did not comprise but was a part of this dragon: an asset of tooth, tail or breath. In just a sec we’ll find out.

Sini didn’t touch down directly in front of his Lair; he arced around the entrance then landed a ways to the side. Then he tiptoed toward it softly as a thirteen-ton dragon could. Peeking his head around the corner he saw sunlight lancing down on a large grey dragon, a dragon many years his eld. First fear flashed into his mind. Then anger set in. Sini snatched his head from the doorway, against the Mountainside growling and grumbling to himself, “He’s sifting through my bookshelf,” then again grumbling.

“Not for long.”

Rimentus was glad, at least, that the shelves and books were sized with dragons in mind. With an outstretched talon he picked out a thick volume from the shelf, and let it drop onto the ground so he could inspect it. He leaned down for a sniff, and...aha! It smelled like a book, and it certainly looked like one!

He heard a sound behind him, though dismissed it quick, occupied by this bookshelf and the book that lay before him. Rimentus wasn’t exactly a speedy reader, and a book as thick as that (titled His Rawr Materials) would take him at least a month to finish. Rimentus bent down and plucked the book with the tips of his jaws, careful not to wet the pages. he made an awkward turnabout and prowled back to the entrance, though stopped all of a sudden, tail frozen in mid-swing.

He smelled pages, but he also smelled a dragon.

Closer than he’d expected. He thought briefly of swallowing the book to keep it hidden from this dragon, then realised it wasn’t a smart idea. So, still securing the book with his jaws, he paced towards the entrance of the den, forelegs muscles tense to anticipate an attacker.

Alright, Sini. Deep breaths. You got this. He heard the slow thudding of feet approaching the door. Uninvited guest decided he’s done here, yeah? We’ll see about that.

He waited until he heard the lamp close to the door jitter from a stomp then stepped before the door, and stared up at the dragon. The really huge dragon. Trying to intimidate he started to say, “So! Where d’you think you’re going, mister?” but on that last bit his voice cracked. A shudder coursed his shoulders and spine to the tip of his tail. Staring up at the dragon he staggered back a step; otherwise he’d’ve been stepped on.

Then he saw the book in the dragon’s paw. Not just any old book—but His Rawr Materials (one of Sini’s favorites!). Suddenly Sini’s fierce demeanor returned. He crouched low, a snarl rolling out of him, his ears slicking back, his wings tensing up. “That looks like my book you’re holding, dragon.”

Rimentus dropped the book, though only for the moment. He was a little...disappointed by what he was seeing. He’d expected a monster of a beast--given all that he’d seen so far, of a den furnished for a dragon-king--but the creature that barred his way was only a pinch of his own size. Almost a dragnet! Rimentus puffed his own chest, to make himself appear bigger--and even spread his own wings to compound that size-intimidation factor--to challenge the purple dragon’s own efforts.

The tip of his wings hit the lamp and it fell off its post. It smashed--the bulb inside must’ve shattered--and Rimentus folded his own wings, chest deflated in surprise. “Oops.”

Though he was still much larger than the purple dragon, inflated chest or not. He kept a stern and lofty air, head held high despite the accusation. “You are a dragon. You don’t need books. I will make better use of them, I assure you. Now why don’t you step aside? I don’t have time to play with you, little one.”

Sini paled in complexion, his scalehide going a shade grey. For a second he was silent, reminiscing over the words. Then slowly he nodded. “Right . . . right.”

The dragon looked over his shoulder, as if to start down the hill and let the other dragon forever inhabit his lair. He looked at one of the plates of his neck, then. He reached a paw into it and, after some fumbling, removed from it a glass bottle the shape of a bong, violet fluids subtly illuminated bubbling within it. A soft pop was made as he pried the wooden stopper out between his teeth then spat it out. Putting the mouth of the bottle to his lips he upended the bottle, then drank. Sticky purple fluids coursed down his chin to his neck and dribbled all down his chest into the crevices of his plates. He kept on. And on. And on. The bottle was draining.

At the same time a slight tingle went through Sini. His claws, wings, horns and tail all shook uneasy. And Sini gazed up into the eyes of the other, a cold, malicious gaze. The bottle made a sharp crash, exploding into a million twinkling pieces beneath Sini’s feet. He bore his fangs and began to grow. His muzzle, which had been at the other’s belly height, rose to shoulder height, then to neck height. The dragon’s tail convulsed; and in a flash it elongated, the tail-spikes along it shooting up and broadening. The dragon’s muzzle burst asunder; some of the scales in sizzles fell away, replaced by new scales in a quick regeneration. His ears, horns, and claws grew out. And the teeth! They threatened to leave the confines of his lips. All in all the dragon became more bestial; and before the tenth second was done, he had overshadowed the other; and a hard, purple gaze stared down at the other. His upper lip drew up.

A long plume of venom rumbling out of the dragon’s nostrils, he drew forward, drew up close to Rimentus’ ear, then said: “Say what you said to me again, little one.”

Rimentus blinked and packed his wings tight against his withers. He drew back, backpedalling into the cave until his tail hit the futon at the end of the cave. He didn’t think it was possible...but the little one had grown.

Well, my hunch had been right before. The dragon that lived here is a king. One that fooled me good.

Rimentus gulped. He wasn’t sure if this beast breathed fire, but that purple smoke carrying that bitter smell...was that venom? Rimentus was familiar with a fair number of different dragon breeds, but he’d never seen one like this. An acid-spitter of some kind?

“I, uh…” Rimentus fumbled his words. He considered puffing his own chest to size himself up to the purple dragon, but, again, silly idea! What is wrong with you, Rimentus? “I’m just going to return that book I dropped back on your shelf.”

Rimentus avoided the purple dragon’s glare. Thinking of a way out. But here the monster still stood at the den’s entrance, barring his way. There’s no way he could fight his way out of this. Though maybe…

“I do not mean to pry into your belongings. I assumed that this place was abandoned.” It was a poor lie, but he couldn’t think of anything else to say. Something to stall time so he could think of a way to beat this monster. “I am Rimentus, of North Veneria. I am not familiar with these parts of Malygomire.”

Sini snatched up the book then stashed it in his pocket. “Rimentus. Hm. North Veneria, they let you go raiding bigger dragons’ caves and taking what you will? Hm.” Sini leaned back then snickered. “Rimentus. Here is Malygomire. Here there are different dragons with different rules. I am one of them. They call me Sini—but you can call me ‘bigger one’, if you’d like.”

The poison dragon began a prowl round Rimentus, curving to the end of Rimentus’ tail. The sweet scent of venom. It leaks from his tail like a honeycomb. Then he flared his wings; and they could’ve stretched a shadow over the grey dragon, were that Sini were on his opposite side.

“I think I’ll keep on callin’ ya little one, though. Or snack . . . snack has a nice ring to it.” Another snicker.

Rimentus felt the gentle shove of buffeting air from the way Sini unfurled his wings; a demonstration of his power. Of a dragon that didn’t fear exposing the delicate wing-membranes, as if he knew that Rimentus wouldn’t dare to tear them. Because of the obvious consequences…

“Snack, huh?” Rimentus said. There was a quivering note in his voice, but he tried his best to hide it. “Well, you obviously haven’t hunted mongrel dragons up North then. Unless you like the taste of rocks, then I suggest you’d skip dinner.”

He noticed the way Sini was looking at his own tail. Trailing it. Rimentus edged his way to the entrance of the den, though keep eye-contact with the larger beast. He saw the way Sini’s chest heaved with each breath. His instincts screamed at him to run, but he had to keep his cool. Running would only trigger a dragon’s natural instincts to chase.

“Well, Sini of Malygomire. It’s nice meeting you. Your scales look gorgeous, may I add. This is certainly no place for a grey beast such as myself to be in. This den isn’t big enough for the both of us. So I will be moving away to this corner to give you more room...”

I’m doomed, Rimentus thought.

“Oh, it’s big enough for the both of us, I should think!” Sini said; “though unfortunately, I’m afraid, it appears a tad too big for you.” Shame, shame, Sini thought to himself, and smirked.

He prowled slowly. There was a flicker of something in Sini’s eyes right before he leaped and landed atop Rimentus, rolling, rolling, barreling atop Rimentus. Pinning Rimentus to the floor. Sini’s claws pressed atop the dragon’s chest, but Let’s make ourselves a bit more comfy here, Sini thought. He made another maneuver, finding himself gazing up at Rimentus seated atop his stomach; and then with great membraned wings and hind-legs he bound Rimentus, locking him firmly in place. Rimentus’ shape was indented in the black backs of the wings. Purring Sini stared up into the eyes of his prey; and then black jaws opened, a fleshy pink tongue rolling off the grey muzzle and leaving it soaked with an inch-thick sheet of slather. The purr only multiplied; and Sini’s whiskers perked up, shaping his head with the likeness of a poinsettia.

Rimentus turned away from the warm appendage sliming up his snout, and he tried to backpedal, though paws only slid against Sini’s chest and belly, giving the larger dragon an involuntary massage. The surrounding wings netted him against the massive body. His tail was beating against Sini’s belly--a natural reaction for his breed, as to try and attempt to sting its attacker--but Rimentus was unable to land a clean strike, not when he was squished tightly against Sini’s body.

“No! Don’t eat me. It’s not healthy for you...I’m too fatty!” His foreclaws shot forward, each trying to keep Sini’s dark jaws away, but Sini was just too strong. Too big. He stared down at the opened jaws--smelling that terrible dragon’s breath--looking at that massive tongue. Watching it. If it tried to slap across his snout again, he’d bite back. Or at least try to.

Rimentus had then realised his mistake--of course! Why would a dragon own books in a first place? Unless, of course, that dragon was a maliciously smart fellow. Smart enough to read. Smart enough to use all the strange, human-ly facilities that surrounded this den.

Smart enough to outwit a dragon like Rimentus.

At this point you’re practically selling yourself to me, Sini thought, and snickered. “Too fatty, huh.” The dragon’s tongue scoured over Rimentus’ muzzle, tasting the salt of the scale; bringing shivers down his neck, the neck-spikes shooting up. “Well, a book needs a good cover page, they say;” he muttered as he fastened his jaws on Rimentus’ muzzle, suckling on it; “and you’re in quite a fine condition! I’m hooked!” He trailed off as words became nondescript mumbling; as his jaws made progress over the other’s snout. Sini’s eyes narrowed, and again he chuckled, his fangs passing over Rimentus’ brow. Presently he nibbled his way up Rimentus’ horns, in jest slurping on the ends of them. All the while he pitched his tail about and pedalled his hind-feet in the air, a subtle pulse of violet beginning at a slow rhythm about his horns, claws, and belly. Rumbles resounded. Wings fluttered excitedly.

Rimentus squinted at the breeze blasting on his snout. He yelped, though was quick to fall silent so as to not get a wad of Sini’s slaver into his own mouth. He placed his foreclaws on the sides of Sini’s jaws, pushing, trying to wriggle his way out.

But he had to stop. Seeing Sini’s fangs just inches from his snout--fangs that would no double slice his neck off--made him falter a little in his struggles. He would only injure himself if he struggled so much; he knew that reptiles in general had a tendency to immobilize a struggling prey, whether it be through strangulation, or paralysis, or breaking a few bones. Rimentus didn’t want to trigger that predatory instinct, so he forced himself to relax. To let Sini suckle and taste him while he thought of some desperate plan for an escape.

“Say, you’re a smart dragon,” Rimentus said, though his voice was small in the enclosed space of the dragon’s maw. Sini’s rumbles thundered over his words. “Why don’t we just...you know...talk about this? We could work out some kind of deal. I’m a dragon with plenty of connections!”

Sini adept in the art of speaking with his mouth full began: “Ah? A smart dragon, am I? You want to win me over when I have already everything I need for the afternoon to satisfy me? You’ll have a connection with my gut. That’s what you’ll have. Now quiet down, and let me work!”

Talkative little runt, Sini thought. Would Rimentus make such ruckus inside the stomach, Sini wondered? All the better. The pleas of his prey rumbling his belly was always a nice massage he couldn’t pay the humans for. (When the humans gave it to him at all, it was normally less a market exchange and more a charity act.) I could use a lil’ massage. Loosen up those tight stomach muscles. Light up a few therapeutic candles while I’m at it. His jaws passed over neck-spike after neck-spike of the grey one. Sini’s esophagus made squelches right next to his prey’s ears, and ran a slime of saliva all up his prey’s cheeks to horns to neck. Bands of flesh passed over Rimentus’ head in a narrow, pink passageway, the sounds of their stretching moist and wet. A content crackle came from Sini’s throat: a throatier version of the kind you hear when you slowly ease a creaky door open. So Sini’s tail slapped at Rimentus’ rump playfully. And Sini ran claws down his sinuous wings.

Rimentus frowned. Perhaps his ‘pleading’ approaching wasn’t working out as well as he thought. To be fair, it’s not often that I find myself in a mouth of another dragon, he thought.

It was clear Sini was mocking him. He felt that tail slap against his rump. Oh! The nerve! Though again, he was in no position to fight back; he was halfway through Sini’s jaws, and it wouldn’t take much for the larger dragon to use those guillotines resting around his body.

So Rimentus did something he didn’t think he’d ever do--he reached forward, grabbing a clawful of Sini’s throat-flesh, and dragged himself in. To get away from those jaws. Even if it meant dragging himself inside, which was where he was going to end, whether he wanted to or not.

“I warned you,” Rimentus bellowed out, trying to make himself heard over Sini’s rumbles. “You want a tummy-ache? I’ll give you one.”

His tail whipped angrily against Sini’s teeth. Hindlegs dug into the sides of the dragon’s cheeks, to paddle his way in. His claws weren’t sharp enough to break through the flesh, but it left a mark, hopefully. Hope you get a mouth ulcer, you greedy brute.

Sini rumbled louder. The beating of his tail and his wings only seemed to kick up a notch with the rushing adrenaline. “We’ve got a feisty one!” He ran his foreclaws along the tips of the dragon’s wings, grazing the membranes inside; he brushed his hinds over the base of the thrashing tail. Oh, he entertained the idea of breaking the scale and drawing blood with his fangs, letting the prey go limp of paralysis. Any of his venoms would do the trick. But he shook his head, and kept on with his routine swallows. The dragon’s neck plates rolled and rose up. A struggling dragon’s bulge was on its descent down the gullet beneath. The gullet. The muscles smooth as silk working with a powerful-yet-gentle efficiency. Sini’s heart beat a little more quickly to the scratches of his prey. Disabling Rimentus would’ve been just as easy. The payoff? Once the internal kneading and scent of fear were taken into account, the “keeping him awake” route was the sure way to go.

His tongue played over Rimentus’ shoulders; and as Rimentus’ wings folded into the jaws yawning open beyond the natural degree, obtusely, Sini spoke. “Well, Rimentus. You like stealing other dragons’ books? Maybe you’d like a story for the trip down.”

Though difficult to do in his current...predicament, Rimentus attempted to pull his tail closer to his own body, trying to tuck it into the jaws so Sini wouldn’t snap off his precious tail. He tried to brace himself in the passage of the kneading throat, anchoring his forelegs on the sides of the fleshy walls, but that did not halt his descent. He even tried to flare his wings a little, hoping that would prevent Sini from taking another breath, though still his efforts only resulted in Rimentus slowly sinking into Sini’s powerful body; those relentless throat muscles fought against his pushing forelegs. He was getting a little tired, and he panted a little too cool himself down. It was incredibly hot inside his gullet.

“And what story would that be, greedy-one? Of you shoving other hapless dragons down your throat?” His tail whipped again, spraying slaver across the tight confines of Sini’s mouth. Sini was yet to cough in spite of all his struggles. Oh, he could hear something at the end of the path he was sinking into. It could be Sini’s heart, pumping away, just inches from his own head, yet unreachable to him. And was that the gurgling stomach he heard, even further ahead? Getting ready to accept him?

Sini purred. That feeling of fullness was setting in. A paw he had snuck underneath Rimentus atop his stomach was running along the plates, claws digging underneath to the flesh. There came a soft scratching sound.

Meanwhile, inside the esophagus, Rimentus’ nose was pushing through the fleshy entrance into the stomach. A subtle, slick sound rolled past his ears. And then there was heard the soft burbling of stomach acids inside. And the atmosphere inside the stomach was warm, almost humid, sort of tropical (minus the blue sky and palm trees!). Walls of flesh throbbed ever so softly to the rate of Sini’s heart.

Sini leaned his head back; and Rimentus’ hind feet hung above his salivating jaws. Almost all of the grey wings had slipped through. “Alrighty, Rimentus. You might have heard this story before and you might’ve not. Stop me if you have heard it. Here it goes!

There once was a drake who decided to steal,
decided he much wasn’t wanting to play.
Said Sini, “You’ll pay up those fines for my book;
till then, in my stomach I punish you pay!”

And then Sini laughed it off, his belly rolling and legs kicking. Not longer afterward he began on Rimentus’ hinds.

Rimentus rolled his eyes upon hearing Sini’s attempt at a ‘story’. His hindlegs kicked a little in defiance, tail still whipping in whichever way possible. He was distracted, however, when a twitch of his nose told him that something bitter and acrid sat in the stomach chamber before him. He growled a little, though more out of fright than aggression. The throat muscles pulled him in deeper.

“Maybe I was wrong about you,” Rimentus said. His tongue was feeling a little bitterness, after all. “With a story like that, I guess you’re not so smart after all.”

That little bit of snark would probably cost his hide, but he was gonna burn anyway, by the looks of it.

Sini shrugged. “My influences are human authors, so it only makes senses I wouldn’t seem so smart storytelling, since dragons are the obvious intellectual superiors. But anyway.”

The obtusely-angled jaws flickered closed as Sini slurped up the end of Rimentus’ tail. Sini’s eyes rolled back in their socket; he savored the taste of the tail-spikes running beneath the roof of his mouth’s grooves. That last taste of salt-and-pepper he twirled around in his mouth with his skilled tongue like a spaghetti noodle. You eat your spaghetti, he heard his adopted mother say in the back of his mind; and quit playing with it! A shudder went through Sini, nostalgia returning. His tongue flicked out briefly; and there was heard a sucking sound; and then there came a gulp, a small bulge falling down his esophagus like an elevator returning to the ground floor. And then Sini leaned back, giving off a loud “ah”. Venom steamed out from his nostrils. His hind-feet THOOMPHed. His paws glided over the sides of his stomach. Round and swollen, the stomach made soft groans from the inside. If he were a XXL in dragon size, he looked as though he had swallowed the next size down. Won’t be flying any time soon. Can’t even ponder walking, not now . . . Groaning he hung his tongue out.

Rimentus was forced into a curl inside Sini’s stomach, and Rimentus was left hugging his own tail as he looked around the stomach chamber, drippy with fluids that he would rather not guess what it was. Was the hot fluids on his back sizzling away at his back spines? Probably. He wiggled about, nudging the stomach wall with his snout. He heard the larger dragon sigh in relief. Strange, that even with all the spikes on Rimentus’ back, none of it seemed to have bothered Sini much.

Rimentus let out a frustrated roar. Perhaps he shouldn't've have teased Sini. Or tried to steal his book. He spent so long on the top of the food chain that it didn’t occur to him that they may be bigger dragons out there.

“You win,” he muttered bitterly. His tail wriggled, and he clutched it like a bolster pillow; it was the only thing he could hug in this dark chamber. He felt a little safer hugging it. “Hope you get a damn stomach ache.” He kicked at the stomach wall with his hind-legs. It only stretched, but never broke. And if anything, the kicked would only massage than hurt the larger dragon.

Sini chuckled amusedly. He closed his eyes. A pounding came from his stomach. He felt ripples run rolls of fat down the sides of his gut. He gave it a few firm slaps, his ears flopping; he liked the meaty, hollow sound doing that made. Inside his stomach churning acids rocked against the buckling stomach walls; bassy groans made his own toes curl. The warmth of another dragon close to his core—wonderful. By and by he thrust his palms into his gut and laboriously kneaded. His furniture rocked about and his feet gyrated and his wings gyrated and his tongue came out lolling. And Sini entered dragon-heaven. Wherever he’d been a second ago—nope—not there anymore! Well, he lay still in the seclusion of his cave. But now he was secluded and yet kept company, company which so courteously massaged from the inside free of charge. Company breaking in this room, all this room transforming into his Asprectral form had given him. The dragon slapped his tail against his gut, jackknifed into a sitting and belched loudly. Then he sighed. He lay back. Rimentus’ words, like Rimentus himself in his gut, began to settle. As a matter of fact, some of the places in my stomach I hadn’t even noticed were aching are loosening up, thanks to your tossing and turning easing me up. Thanks little one! Yet he knew what Rimentus supposed. He knew, and he considered, considered a couple fates for this dragon, in fact. Like those “decide-what’s-next” stories the humans crafted, reckoned Sini; this was like one of those.

Sini said, “If I try to quiet you down too quickly, I just might. Say, Rimentus, Book-Stealing Dragon. What types of books aside from His Rawr Materials are you interested in?”

Rimentus grimaced a little hearing Sini belch. Ugh. Disgusting. What exactly was he belching out? Fumes from his back spikes being blunted down by the acids? The chamber around him swayed and wobble from whatever the dragon was doing out there, and he thought he might’ve heard something slap against the stomach walls. Sini rubbing his own belly. he thought. I know this because I would do that too if I ate something that filled me up delightfully.

From the way the stomach wall was churning around him, it almost seemed like the walls were closing around him. Rimentus had all four of his legs pressed against the walls, pawing at it with his forepaws to stop the walls from caving in. It felt, strangely, as if he was trapped in the pit of a tentacle’s suction cup.

When he heard Sini’s voice boom around him--a thunderous, all-mighty sound; full of malice; full of control--Rimentus thought how he should answer that seemingly silly question. Why does he care? He swallowed down the urge to spite Sini any further, and simply answered the truth. “Any books about dragons,” he said. “Books about different breeds. Anything that describes them...something I can use to reference with my own appearance.”

The hardness of Sini’s face softened. His eyes glimmered as he stared off at the cave entrance, his weight shifting to his right shoulder. Sini rolled onto his side then back onto his back, counter-clockwise, and sighed. It was a sigh that said “what do I do with you?” He thought on the dragon’s words, his eyes snapping shut. He thought about the peculiar book-reading habit. Two things occurred then to Sini: one, that he and Rimentus may have had more in common than he originally thought; and two, that Sini had swallowed the grey dragon when anger and hunger mixed, to sate anger and hunger. Now he had only that first factoid to hold onto. Sini rumbled, contemplating, then tossed onto his stomach. Then he labored up to his feet, his legs shaking. His gut wobbled and dragged across the ground as he made his way to the bookshelf. Then he stopped, and scanned from shelf to shelf. A leatherback book the color of cherrywood with a twine bookmark hanging loosely out of it shimmered along its golden fringe, and caught his eye.

He grinned; the gums of his fangs rolled up. “When I return you, be sure to check out this book called Dragonopedia, Vol. 1. Second-to-top shelf. In the middle. You’ll see it.”

Rimentus felt a flare of panic and the chamber around him tumbled. Sini was moving a whole lot, and it left Rimentus a little disoriented; he himself was now laying on his belly in Sini’s belly. The acids still hadn’t burned him yet--it buzzed gently, probably diluted from all the saliva he’d ingested. The true, corrosive acids hadn’t seeped out from the stomach walls yet.

“Dragono-no-pedia?” Rimentus perked his head up, as if to follow Sini’s directions, even though he was still in the stomach. “You’re letting me go?”

Am I letting you go . . . Sini wondered, the question popping back up in his head after he thought he’d already knocked it down, like a mole. Well . . . He looked to the cave door. He looked to the fridge next to the kitchen sink. On the kitchen counter was a box of sugary puffs Sini hadn’t opened. Usually he picked up healthy cereals from the human market so that he didn’t suffer ingesting any of those genetically-modified ingredients. He scratched his head, then, wondering what had got him off to such a tangent!

Because I’m letting him go and I’m thinking of what I’ll eat after I let him go, he answered to himself; sugary puffs’ll be a nice switch-up.

“If you promise not to run off with my books, or at least give them back, I promise to let you go and let you look over my bookshelf. This time you won’t need to rush. Deal?” A croak of his clenching gut bounced off the cave walls, making his ears twitch. Sini blushed grinning. “Best decide quick, dear. You’ll not last long in there.” And then he added: “You might last a while, but won’t live long, if ya get my meaning.”

Rimentus nodded. So it seemed that the big dragon had a change of heart, for reasons Rimentus wasn’t exactly sure why. Nevertheless, that meant that he wasn’t going to die in here. And once I get out I’ll be a little bit more smarter around this monster of a dragon.

He glanced worryingly around the enclosed, claustrophobic space. It just seemed to get smaller...and smaller for some strange reason. His own imagination was messing with him. It only strengthen his sense of urgency, before the stomach would claim him for good.

“Okay, I will do as you say. Just let me out.” Rimentus pawed at the rubbery walls. Not really scratching with his talons, but just pawing at it with the sole of his foot. “I...really don’t want to stay in here any longer.”

“No? Was gonna give you a minute to enjoy the scenery. If you insist!”

Then Sini hurried to the door and slammed the satin curtains across. He threw himself against a wall, propped against it with his paws, then began to gag. The stomach muscles clenched and clenched per gag, but not because they were working on Rimentus or squeezing out oxygen. Well—that’s not true. They were working on Rimentus and squeezing out oxygen, but doing so in order to shoot him up the stomach and through the gullet—the same way humans squeeze their tube of toothpaste to empty its contents out. Digestive enzymes were thrown about, splashing on flesh and scale without doing harm; at this point they were mostly aesthetic. Sini got down low. He groaned. His internal muscles rolled up, flexed up, pushed up. He heaved, squeezing his gut with his arms banded. There was a deal of wing-thrashing and tongue-flicking and belly-spasming.

Then Sini retched.

He ended with a self-conscious moan, and wiped slather on his arm. Rimentus lay before him coated in a translucent cocoon of drool and belly fluids, the drool so thick it connected horn-and-paw and wing-and-tail like spider webbing. Vile neon hues made the mix of the pool surrounding the dripping Rimentus.

“Oh . . .” Sini grumbled, sitting on his belly. Deep lines were chiseled above his brow, his face seeming to pale. “I don’t feel so good . . . so empty . . . can I eat you again?”

Rimentus took a moment to lay immobilized on the ground, to let the room around him stop spinning. The exit hadn’t been smooth at all; it its own strange way it felt like he was being devoured again from the way the throat muscles had squeezed against him so tightly when Sini expelled him. Rimentus let his wings unfurl with a terse flap to flick away the clinging slaver. He shook his head, blinking away the traces of goo over his eyelids, but also in response to Sini’s question.

“Oh, no no no. I really don’t want to go through all that again.” Rimentus inched away, those slipped on the ground that was slippy from Sini’s slaver. “I would rather hunt for you than you hunt me!”

Rimentus sniffed at his own shoulder. He couldn’t track his own scent--he only smelled Sini’s fingerprint scent on himself. As if by devouring Rimentus, Sini had already imprinted his own scent onto him. Like a scar for Rimentus to remember. He bowed his head--still dripping with strings of slaver--at Sini as a gesture of respect. “At least let me see this Drago-go-pedia first. If I cannot take it, then I would like to spend some time to read it.”

Sini winked, grinning the gums of his fangs. “No problem!” He led Rimentus to the bookshelf, picked the Dragonopedia off the shelf then held it out to Rimentus. An emerald was embedded into the book’s cover. Its sheen flashed.

Sini tossed the book open; and he poked a claw on a paragraph of a page; and from it a phosphorescent hologram of a particular dragon species appeared hovering. It had bulky armor. “A juggernaut subspecies of the Common dragon,” Sini said; “but that’s not what you are. You’re looking for yourself, aren’t you? your species? Please, take your time to explore this!”

Rimentus stared wide-eyed at the book. Something in his mind flashed with excitement, like fireworks going off. Pictures of dragons! A whole book of ‘em.

And perhaps without even thinking about it, he used Sini’s wing to wipe his right claw clean of the stick slaver before laying down on his belly with the book placed between his flanking forelegs. his tail swept from side to side. Rimentus pawed at the hologram--clearly this was technology he had never seen in North Veneria--and looked at his own grey claw.

“There must be a dragon in here bearing black marks across their snout,” Rimentus muttered. He pawed at the page’s edge to turn it. His talons, however, were not very dexterous, and he only managed to make the page lift a little, before it fell back in place, displaying that juggernaut-dragon hologram again. He tried to flip it again. “Oh, this is so exciting. I must do my research.” And by research, he meant browsing at pictures. Reading would take much too long for him. He was so absorbed in the book he hardly registered Sini beside him.

And they lived happily ever after. The end.