The story continues... as finally the pieces start to come together in preparation for the finale. It's good to finally get this story done, the twist i planned so long ago...
This story courtesy of one of my commissioning patrons over on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/user?u=9679574


The Eye of the Storm 4

“We just, found him like this” one of the fishermen explained, looking back down to their sprawled carpenter. Frederick had been found collapsed against the hull of the boat his sons had been building. Distant eyes and cold. A blanket and time had started to animate him, but nothing intelligible escaped his mouth.
From the crowd James watched, frozen in place and stunned silent. Frederick was such an imposing figure, strong and bold… and trembling against a boat, emitting murmured chattering and choked giggling. The stone smith Andrew was crouched by the man now, trying to wave the gathering away. Andrew was a brick of a man, as suited his trade. In truth James had found him intimidating since youth, part of the many reasons he hadn’t been keen to take up the trade. But though he disbelieved it every time he saw the physique of the large man, he knew Andrew to be, shy. One reason perhaps he lived alone and shied from all but his work and his, work-related hobbies.
“seems the dragon got him” the crowd shifted reluctantly aside as their doctor arrived, bidding them aside gently with a cane, considering their stricken idol “peculiar… he was so adamant about resisting, but I recognise the symptoms… and very powerful…” the older man looked sharply to the fishermen “was he slimy when you found him?”
“No… not at all, little wet, tide was lapping at him…”
The doctor’s hand moved to stroke his own chin, shaking his head just a little “bring him to my home, if you would. There is something fishy about this… or dragony, I imagine. I caution underestimating the creature till I conclude my treatment”
“What do you mean, underestimate?” the oldest of the fishermen, self-styled leader of their little, fleet of fishing boats questioned. James had always found him an irritable man… supposedly he was sweet as honey and jovially sang with playful mirth, when he was far out on the sea. Nowhere else.
“I mean that Frederick was very opposed to being consumed” the doctor looked pointedly to the sailor “yet here he is… not a drop of slime on him, but giddy as young James when we first dragged his dripping form from the beach. And I mean that Frederick’s sons aren’t here by his side, are they?” the doctor tapped his cane lightly to the stone below him “There are a few things that do not make sense, and a few, that make all too much… If that dragon, can get Frederick here under his sway… I would not underestimate its guile or persuasiveness”
The doctor led away, the two fishermen carrying Frederick between them, leaving the remainder to ask the question that did hang above them. How had Azorm convinced Frederick to yield?
The silence was broken by a shifting of water, the sea crashing gently against the rocks. It was a single note out of tune with the familiar pattern of the waves… and not missed by a single sea-going ear. All eyes turned to the bay, the long serpentine muzzle of the dragon Azorm was poking from the water, watching them as tendrils wove like twin snakes in the sea.
“My friends look so glum” Azorm crooned, his head rising into full view, larger than their little two man fishing boats, lingering into the air. A single taloned forepaw rising onto their beach, indenting the sand, and causing a few to scurry a few steps away. The dragon made no further approach after supporting himself, however, and turned his luminous gaze onto the crowd “Did I choose a bad time to come play?”
“We just found Frederick” the old sailor noted, arms folding to his chest. James remembered well, that one had been, outspoken against the dragon being allowed to stay… control of the sea… perhaps it was just a point he was unwilling to bend on
“Frederick…” Azorm mused, looking off “oh, your little alpha, yes, I made him so happy”
“And left him on the beach”
“Yes…?” Azorm looked to the speaker, a little closer, breath billowing hair “the sand feels lovely, doesn’t it? I love sleeping out on a nice sandy strip”
“We get cold”
Azorm hummed “oh… ah… I didn’t know that” he lowered his snout a little “is he well?”
“Luckily for you”
Azorm cocked his great head “you don’t like me… pity” he looked away from the sailor, seeming to pay him, no further attention “How are my friends doing though… is that why you’re glum? You’re worried?”
Andrew rose a bit, wiping sand off his trousers “Azorm… where are Frederick’s boys?”
“Inside me” Azorm answered easily “had a nice, long, wriggly night. I suppose their turn is over though… you want them back?”
There was an uneasy quiet. Some hoping he meant, whole, but not daring ask. Some wanting to say yes, but not wanting singled out. The roaming eyes picked up enough faint nods to make his conclusion. The stormy blue snout lowered to the ground, to the side of the crowd, jaws opening wide, revealing the all too lethal fangs. An undulation throbbed up his throat, then another, till a faint, shape moved under the scales. Azorm’s long, thin tongue slid from his jaws, cradling the passage of, one of the boys. In the tongue’s coil, Frazer slid down, eased to the ground, the forked tip flickering to the cheek of the released, slimy human before withdrawing, Azorm seeming to be retching up the other. Hesitant in their steps, a few of the crowd crept closer to tug the boy away from the dragon, even as his brother slid down the flexible tongue, ushered tenderly from Azorm’s jaws.
James peered at the display in silence. It was strange to see his daily bullies flopping out in such a dazed stupor, publicly. A bitter little spark of him was glad to see them like this… but that raised a disconcerting question. He’d voted to keep Azorm around… and this was what Azorm did. Why was he viewing their state as a just punishment… this was how Azorm, made friends? It was a difficult concept he was chewing on, how he viewed Azorm’s eccentricities. Maybe he was still shaken from seeing Frederick like this.
“I want to stay…” Frazer complained as he was lifted, and carried off, limp as a fish… the way they were both carried off was, amusingly reminiscent of when the fishermen caught an especially big one. Faintly flopping, slimy and wet. The brothers were carried away. Azorm watched, his eyes were sharp, narrowed, tracing every little motion as the two humans were ushered away, the bright smile curling his muzzle by the time attention returned to him.
“They’re so cute… so… I have an empty belly now” Azorm brought his snout towards the crowd a little, huffing a breath over the collected group “anyone want to be next? It’s fun, I promise”
“It’s not so simple, dragon” Azorm’s eyes flicked to the speaking human, not one he recognised. His eyes flicked quickly around, faces, looks… no, he’d identified the alphas and hierarchy… he didn’t know this one “We have work, all of us, none go idle… safe or not… fun, or not, none of us have the time to spare, so, you can go away. We need to make nets, fish, build. We can’t lose time inside you, or flopping around like those two”
Azorm smiled a little. Inside his tongue rolled to his fangs. “Oh, you shouldn’t worry about that, my little friends… I kept them in overnight, I had nobody to give them too. I’d just keep you down for, a little while. You’d even be able to walk when I spat you up, but you’d be so happy” he looked along the gathering, bringing his jaw to the rocks before them “I can take, maybe three of you? It’ll be a little snug, but it’s warm and cosy like that. I’ll not make you that, dizzy, I promise”
James considered those around him… the majority showed, what he assumed was revulsion. He couldn’t blame them… if his, faint memories weren’t so pleasant he’d feel that way too. Even now, the thought of being, in a tight place, at the mercy of Azorm, soaking in slime, pushing out against pulsing walls… it went against every instinct in him… but… he’d felt so warm, deep into his body, nothing had mattered, everything had been bright… beautiful once he was out.
“I, would try it” a voice caught attention, one of the sailors quailing a bit from the looks “I know I got to feel a little of it, when we cleaned the fish… it was nice, and my boat is in for repairs, and Frederick isn’t available so… I have time. It was nice before” he looked to the large muzzle so very close “if it really is safe. I suppose you want people you haven’t gotten before though”
“Any friend is welcome anytime” Azorm purred, his head lifting, above the man… noticing the others, gave room. He slid his snout down, parting his scaly lips. Before the eyes of the crowd the man just, slid into the long snout. Azorm licked up the booted feet, and levelled his head, smiling to his little friends, as the shifting movements went back, deeper. A few protrusions at the throat, before Azorm swallowed. His pink tongue ran his scaled lips. The movements sank quickly down the long neck, and under the water “I know it’s scary, my little friends. I’m big, you worry I’m dangerous… but I only want to make you feel happy” he looked around the remainder… this was good, he saw wavering… like sheep, he had heard… meaningless expression; he’d never seen a sheep, whatever it was… but he knew what the saying meant… one in, more would follow “I’ll bring more fish too, you won’t need to work as much, you can relax, enjoy the happy feeling, work, at a gentle pace, a happy pace”
As James watched, one, then two more volunteered. One by one, Azorm took them. Slid his muzzle, swallowed delicately. He wondered why Azorm was taking them like that… though one option occurred to him, when the dragon swallowed his third, and last morsel. He hadn’t seen even a flash of teeth during that display.
Azorm sighed, content, full in his second stomach, beneath the water his tail swayed. He smiled to the remainder “they feel nice… I’ll bring them back soon” his tendrils drifted, brushing the closer in the crowd “and take in more. I’ll bring fish too. Soon as I catch some, I’ll bring these ones back”
A feeling of unease lingered, as Azorm released his hold on the rocks, and slid back into the water. Their boats bobbing with the movement of the dragon in the bay. But then he was gone
James sighed a little. He felt powerless. It wasn’t pleasant. Whether the dragon intended it or not, he’d made it clear how easily he could swallow people. If Azorm didn’t come back, if those three were sent to slow, digestive fate, there was nothing they could do. That was a troubling realisation.
“Did I bring him here?” he asked aloud, looking back when Alice answered, unaware she’d been so close behind him… he’d been so focussed on Azorm
“I doubt it” Alice was also peering out to sea “The more I see Azorm, the more I have to feel he was, just what fate had in store” she shook her head a little “I, was against letting him stay, you know”
“Oh” James nodded slowly. Made sense… she’d have been worried about him
“I think we made the right choice though” Alice shook her head “he’s such a force of nature. I think we need to just, go with the flow. Not make conflict with him if we can avoid it… but no, James, I think this was unavoidable”
James gazed out over the water again. He did wonder about that. How long had the village been here, and no sea dragon had shown such an interest. Had they gone unnoticed… his heart sank whenever he dared ask if Azorm was their doom. It made more sense as an outcome than he dared admit.
“Alice” a woman approached, beckoning “we need your help with Frederick’s boys… the doctor is busy, they just need watched so they don’t hurt themselves. So few boats are going out, I don’t think we’ll need to repair those nets today”
Alice turned, and followed without objection, leaving James alone, again. He found himself wandering down, to where Frederick had been found, and hefted himself up upon the unfinished boat, looking from his meagre vantage out over the sea. So deep, and vast, and unknown.
“It takes an army of them for us to even notice” he spoke aloud to himself, mind drifting to the impending migration “One can hide in our bay if he stays still… how many could be cavorting in the water, watching me right now, without us having any clue…” he shivered to himself. That was another question which made too much sense to be comfortable.

From his vantage point, as time drifted on, James got the best view of Azorm’s return. He had been spacing out, losing himself in idly following their coastline with his eyes. The rocky stretch he knew well stretched out to his left, patches of beach and rocky fingers into the deep. To his right, the cliff that backed their village rose higher and pressed up against the sea, stretching out till it bended away out of sight. It was a familiar view. The rolling arc of scaly back was not. He saw it only for a moment, sometimes part of Azorm did seem to linger above the water, when the dragon dived or rose… it was little warning, before Azorm breached, swimming into the bay without subtlety, long body stretching out on the water, rolling in what seemed a playful way, belly facing the sky for a moment. James felt briefly ill… there was a long, indistinct bulge in the serpentine body… he’d never had opportunity to see it before. The insides of Azorm, were put in more perspective when he saw the, bulge. Tiny snakes in the grasses above the beach came to mind… the lump in them, when they settled to digest their prey. The people, in that bulge, were smaller by contrast, but the combined bulge was, disturbingly familiar. Azorm went belly down a moment later, a long, clawed paw settling to the beach near the boat James sat on, supporting the long neck and muzzle of the dragon as it breached. He saw Azorm draw in a deep breath, and sigh it out, shaking his head, tossing water, before those familiar eyed found him
“Ah, James, how cute. Are you hoping to be next into me?”
“Not really” James responded. When Azorm looked at him like that, the implied risk of being swallowed alive didn’t register as much. Azorm was just being playful
Azorm hummed, but rumbled soon after “mmm, another time” his head draw down closer, the paw sliding till it met the side of the boat “May I use this?”
“The boat?” James looked beneath him, to the claws hooking beneath the structure. He hastily slid off the opposing side “sure… I guess, you’re not going to break it, are you?”
“No” Azorm replied simply, lifting his paw a little, the boat slowly rolling over till it sat on the beach like it would sit in the water. Azorm sighed fondly “I love these things… I really hope this one can be for me…” his snout came lower, and again that undulation rocked his neck. James took a few steps further back.
The process went faster this time. Azorm retched, and across his tongue flowed a small tide of fish, alive and flopping on his tongue, getting caught in the cracks of his mouth, to be scooped and slid out. Slime pooled under the boat, trickling through the unfinished hull. The first sailor slid out next, caught up in the fish, splashing in the boat. Another followed, and the last, half submerged in the fish as Azorm filled the boat to the brim. The dragon withdrew his head then, thoughtful on his muzzle, tongue rolling his mouth visibly before he turned his head, and spat a single fish out to spin in the air before splashing back into the sea
“Caught under my tongue” Azorm explained, licking his chops “mmm, not bad though…”
James stared in something close to disbelief. He knew it was happening, he’d seen it before but, still it was a little horrifying to watch. One of the sailor’s hands gripped the edge of the boat before he dragged himself out, onto the sand. He was dripping, but wiped his face clear of ooze, taking a deep breath of the fresh air.
“Are you ok?” James asked, looking around for someone… better suited to help, but Azorm hadn’t drawn attention yet, it seemed
“Fine” the man coughed, a tiny fish landing in his hand, which he stared at for a moment, before laughing, dropping it into the bay “Better than fine… that was crazy… sloshing around, fighting for space, and then, then he half drowned us in fish, it was intense, churning and sloshing… it felt good though, really… interesting” the sailor stood, stretching “cramped… but I feel great” he looked back to the boat, moving to grab a hand that was fumbling for the edge. James, moved back, deciding they could help themselves. He was still trying to get the image out of his head, of Azorm retching the combined mass of fish and people out of his mouth…
The village was beginning to gather, but all three people had gotten out of the boat by then. They seemed jovial, energetic, telling the story with delight, surprised delight. Azorm was being, very quiet, just watching, letting his released friends change minds. The snout came down, and opened wide, and three more slid down, entirely on their own power. Three flashes of jaws, three delicate swallows. Three more sinking to the depths of Azorm while the village got to their day, cleaning the fish Azorm had brought them. But to James… something unsettling had clicked into place in his mind. That sight was something he couldn’t unsee. The image of Azorm ejecting friends and food into the same collecting boat without a second thought.
Azorm was licking his chops, seeming to be focussing within while the crowd moved off. James finally approached again, trying to clear his head
“Ah… pleasing” Azorm cooed, gleaming eyes moving to James “Ah, still here. I notice you seem to do as you please, little friend”
James nodded a little “people complain about that… but they may stop if you keep bringing fish”
“I hope so” Azorm sank back into the water till only his head remained on the shore, looking to James pointedly “I like you, I’d not wish you to be unhappy. I will keep you happy, best I can, all of you”
The words were all too familiar, James noted. He looked to Azorm’s bright expression “forgive me if I assume, but you seem to really, relish when you swallow someone”
Azorm’s ears flicked, eyes, briefly focussing on James, before a cheeky smile curled the jaws “I adore the feeling. It has always been so. My storage stomach. Movement within feels good, very pleasing. My body’s way of encouraging me to make friends, I suppose”
“Mmm” James looked along the regal muzzle, and watched a tendril as it drifted near, feeling up his leg “these things are sensitive too, aren’t they”?
“They are” Azorm agreed “you feel bristly, tickly, it’s fun” he coiled at James’s leg for a moment, before drifting the tendril higher, feeling to James’s side “I am quite sensitive to touch, I used to think it was to make up for my scales making it harder to feel through them… but my tendrils, and that stomach, are very sensitive… I like feeling you with these though” the tendril wove along his chest “textures, tastes, vibrations. I learn about you with these. If you jumped into the water, I could tell you apart from any other human, if I’ve felt you enough, learnt the unique pattern of you…”
“That’s interesting…” James conceded, but pushed the tendril “do you mind… not doing that. One thing to learn, Azorm… we don’t like, being touched without asking”
Azorm smirked “you touched me without asking”
James cocked his head, puzzled, till it clicked “when we met…”
“Mmm, hmm” Azorm purred in his throat “I wasn’t complaining though, I came close to meet you”
“Meet me specifically, or…?”
“Meet you, and then your kind”
James hesitated, looking along the muzzle of Azorm. How devious was the dragon? That question was strongest in him. And how would Azorm react if called out on it.
“Azorm, did you pluck me from the rocks, just to have an excuse to come to my village?”
“Yes” Azorm admitted easily “you were a gift, to show my intentions. If I’d digested you, it would have made a very bad first impression”
James winced “Azorm, you realise you just admitted you orchestrated all of this… you grabbed me up just to look good…”
“mmm… I don’t see it that way” Azorm looked over James for a long moment “you caught my eye… that day, I caught you… fairly. I could have eaten you, little James, you made yourself easy to catch. I could have eaten you and kept you. But I gave you back”
James shivered, looking down “I see… so I was a snack you picked up, but you gave me back as a sign of good faith?”
“mmm… closer” Azorm hummed “but I did want to be your friend from the moment I saw you. I just… wanted to be friends with the others too, and you helped”
Should he feel used? James asked himself, looking over Azorm’s snout. He didn’t know how to feel about Azorm… it was the recurring issue “I don’t know whether I trust you, Azorm”
“Is that so?” Azorm yawned “trust me about what?”
“About everything… about, why you’re here, why you want to be friends… if you actually want to be friends”
“Oh” Azorm smiled faintly “I do want to be friends, you can trust me on that. And I want to be friends, because friends help each other. I’m benefitting, you’re benefitting, that is good, isn’t it?”
“How are you benefitting?” James pressed
“My belly is full, and humans wriggle lovely, it makes me feel good when I see them happy, and talking with you is fun” Azorm smiled brighter “I like playing in the sea, but this is new, this is a different game, it’s fun”
“A game…” James murmured to himself “Sometimes Azorm… I wonder if you’re acting suspiciously, or if we just don’t define words the same way…”
“I don’t know either” Azorm’s ears perked, before slowly lowering, tendrils drifting back into the sea “I will go I think, James. I want to swim to this big sandy beach I like, secluded in the high rocky place” he looked off to his left, along the cliffs “comfy place to enjoy my friends. When they stop wriggling, and are all peaceful and happy I’ll bring them back and take more”
James eased up, stepping back as Azorm drifted into the sea. He knew better by now than to try and stop the dragon going as he pleased. But what to do with his day… the rocks… their appeal was tarnished for now… and he had other things on his mind… like checking on Frederick and the doctor… He wandered back towards the village, Azorm’s shape drifting off to the right. A low arch of dragon back disappearing beneath the waves past James’s familiar rocks… and the sea was still.

The day had gone by slowly. Some fished, some prepared the fish Azorm had brought, and three by three most of the village visited Azorm’s dark and slimy depths, the dragon visiting several times through the day. Frederick barely stirred. He was awake… he ate and drank, but his eyes told his mind was nowhere near them, drifting away in the dizzy delusions of Azorm’s effect. James spent the day helping the doctor and failing to understand what was troubling the man so much… by the day’s end, as far as he had heard, neither of Frederick’s sons had stirred beyond giggling either.
It was only when morning dawned that things changed. James stirred in his bed, awake and alert as a shriek carried through the morning air, and shouting, too muffled to hear the words… voices raised. But he thought, in it he heard the name Frederick, it was a distinctive and familiar pattern of sounds… He clambered from his bed, thudding to the floor with a groan, correcting himself to put safety before haste… rising and fumbling for his clothes. It was still relatively dark outside, he struggled to see what he was doing, but enough thrusting of his leg eventually found the hole in the clothes intended for it, after several failed attempts and false positives. The sounds outside continued but grew no more frantic. That was good… both for the implications, but also because James was becoming aware he felt very, sluggish… it was wearing off, but he felt weary… maybe he should finally yield and take a trip inside Azorm, he mused as he stumbled to the door. He remembered that had energized him…
By the time he got outside things had seemingly calmed, but the source of the alarm was shockingly clear. Collapsed on the shore, bare and nude was Frederick. A pair of men were trying to restrain him, the doctor crouched nearby.
“Calm down, Frederick… calm down, we need to get you back to bed”
“I don’t want…” Frederick slurred his words, looking around with eyes that, simply didn’t seem like his “I can work… I, I want to build a house… build a house on a mountain, the sky is so pretty… the colours”
James eased closer, moving around a few observers to get a better look. Frederick did seem to be moving less frantically as he was held down
“It would be perfect… great views, air not so heavy with seaweed stink…”
“You don’t really want that” the doctor reasoned calmly “just think how hard it would be to get food, or the material’s up there… why don’t you just stay right here with us, and we’ll get you to bed”
“No… I want it, it will be good” Frederick complained loudly “and you’ll all come with me. Yes, Yes we’re doing it”
The doctor sighed, nodding to one of the men, as they lifted Frederick up, and away. James moved closer still, eying the doctor after watching Frederick carried inside.
“It’s like he’s possessed…” James murmured, it felt so, wrong to see such a proud man as Frederick like that…
“Just out of his mind… it will pass, I assume” the doctor rubbed at his chin “there is something different about this case though…” the older man spared James a glance “don’t worry lad… we’ll get him better. In his state of madness, he’s mostly a danger to himself… He’s more, under the effects of the dragon than any yet, he’s gone from, optimistic to deluded. The loss of reason I find especially concerning. I hate to imagine a time when most of us had our reason so, slashed. He was babbling… I don’t know if he even knows what he was saying, but, breaking his… raving down, wanting to make a drastic change with obvious flaws in the plan, that is… a very concerning break in logic”
James nodded slowly “if we all couldn’t tell the difference between a pleasant idea and a possible one, where would we end up, you mean?”
“Indeed, reality does not change just because we desire a pleasant outcome” the doctor sighed “I will keep tending to him… it might be best you not help me today, young James. My home is small enough, and I feel I should keep those two with me in case Frederick tries to run off again”
“Makes sense” James conceded, watching the doctor leave, and pondering what to do with himself. He supposed he could go on the rocks… lose himself in the sea. But it was hard to take his mind off their resident sea dragon by staring at the sea. Like staring at his house and trying not to think of his parents… But he had nothing else to do. Bitterly he reflected on the whims of fate. Finally, he had no excuse to not seek work, just as everyone else forgets about it too. Around him the village was at a standstill. Nets were strewn out, holes on display with nobody mending them. The boats bobbed merrily in the bay, nary a sailor in them, and those sitting on the beach weren’t preparing the boats either. There had been enough fish from Azorm for two days… and when he looked around, he saw, a similar look in the eyes of the village. Some were smiling, with a sharp, gleam in their eyes… others, were slouched, barked their words… in them he saw his own experience. The bright elation, and the crash in mood. Every one had been inside Azorm yesterday, he knew that. Those who had been in longer, still had the brightness in their eyes. He couldn’t help thinking about all the doctor had been saying since this began. James looked to a group of sailors, grouchily bickering over some event at sea. He’d bet they would be quick to go back into Azorm. He felt the draw. He’d felt so good, so happy… Frederick’s state was unnerving, but he’d felt as clear headed as anything once he was out of the initial haze. Even the feverish beginning had been delightful to experience, a beautiful daydream coming to life in his senses. The urge for it was getting stronger. He wanted to feel that good again. It was hard to think clearly when he was so anxious, he reasoned.
It didn’t take long for Azorm to make an appearance. Smoothly the dragon rose from the water into the bay, probing a boat with a talon, pushing it around on the water in some glee. Turning his focus to the quick return of the village. No sooner had Azorm rose than people were leaving homes, springing from seats. Before James could get close, Azorm was blocked off by a ring of folk. The bright tongue licked out, and a pair of legs soon poked from the lips. Azorm jabbed up, swallowing quickly with a chuckle “it warms the heart, and the belly that all my little friends want to be with me so badly… I need to take you in turns though… please don’t squabble because of me”
James watched in, envy he realised as two more were picked by Azorm and swallowed down. The dejection in those who wandered away was stark and sobering. The stomach of the dragon was in high demand now… who would have thought. Azorm cooed after those who left, cocking his head before sighing and settling it, poking the boat nearest him idly with a claw, eyes lingering on James, purring.
“Little James… will you come and keep me company? My friends went away when they didn’t get to be eaten… they’ll all get a turn, but…”
James wandered closer. It was a strange sort of pity that filled him “you may need to get used to that, Azorm… they just want the happy feeling you give… guess you won them over…”
“You’re saying they don’t really care to be friends” Azorm observed “just take from me. It’s ok. I’m sure they will grow to like me, and then they’ll want to be nice to me” Azorm fixed James in his gaze, eyes widening “will you stroke and groom me, pretty please, little friend?”
James burst a laugh, reaching to pat Azorm’s muzzle “I’ve got nothing better to do…” James set both hands down, rubbing. Azorm’s scales were perfectly smooth, firm to the touch, warm. The dragon purred lightly. A tendril flowed along James’s back
“thank you… just groom around me, I don’t expect you to master it right away. Maybe it will encourage others later…”
James moved to the side of Azorm’s jaw and stroked slowly down towards the neck. It was a reminder how big Azorm was… and how gentle “I still ask myself why you want to be friends… and why your stomach is… like that”
“Like what?”
“Making the… happiness slime, or whatever it is”
“Oh” Azorm rumbled “it’s like that to help make friends, and to store food… if I eat a big, big fish alive, I can keep it in there… it’ll stay alive, good to eat for… a good while, it sort of, sleeps, and dreams. Then later, I can just push it back up my neck, and down to my… proper stomach” Azorm seemed to hesitate, eye turning to view James “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable…”
“It’s unavoidable” James smiled weakly “you keep us there… and you keep food there… and you don’t mind digesting us, you said… like food…”
Azorm sighed deeply, a puff of sand raising in a cloud from the burst “The huge fish in this example also digests, without caring, too dizzy and happy, just melts away. It exists to store… and make docile I suppose. But it is useful for making friends with little humans like you… I don’t try to make friends with other things. You talk, you groom, you’re special to my kind. We can only make friends of you”
“mmm” James mused, rubbing deep as he reached the jowls “I always considered your kind solitary… why do you care for our attention?”
“I don’t know” Azorm reflected “your little hands feel nice, that’s reason enough. A pleasant way to pass the time. Speaking with you is interesting also… We live long lives, it’s common enough to find humans to, ease the boredom… during the good hunting seasons, at least”
“You’d need to spend more time hunting during the bad times, I assume”
Azorm huffed, shifting his head away from James’s touch “yes… that is true”
The dragon hummed “It is a short stay, but I may release these ones now, give more a turn”
James moved back, and once more, quietly watched the process. The shifting lumps in Azorm’s neck, as soon all three were deposited out onto the shore. The crowd returned, and the long, forked tongue scooped and coiled them in, three swallows, three sinking bulges, and once more Azorm was settling down.
James stumbled close to resume his grooming “I… think I want to go in again, today”
“You do? I’m so glad” Azorm’s scaled lips moved beneath him as the dragon smiled brightly “it’s been a while, I was starting to think you would never want to”
James rolled a hand firmly to the jawline, looking down Azorm’s neck, to where the body sank under the water “I was wondering when I can get my turn…”
“Eager” Azorm mused with a faint rumble “can you wait till the others have all had their turns? I’d like to keep you overnight, give you a long, delightful session”
James shivered, surprising himself, a wave of desire flashing into him when he thought of that “sure, I can wait a while”
Azorm bobbed his snout, and seemed to relax, a companionable silence as James groomed and Azorm basked in the sunlight. The calm day broken only when Azorm rose to eject his stomach and swallow a fresh batch. The crowd that returned grew smaller every time, till Azorm swallowed down the very last gathered, licking his lips, and settling before James again.
“My turn next?”
“You next” Azorm promised with a wry smile
James chuckled, feeling at a tendril that was exploring him “I hope you realise how odd it is that I’m eagerly trying to get inside a dragon’s stomach”
“I can see why it is strange” Azorm wove his other tendril to flank James “though it is my storage stomach, not the, other one”
James yelped as the tendril he hadn’t been watching caught him down the back “ah…” he pushed it away “how many stomachs do you have anyway?”
“Three” Azorm noted with a faint smile “two of them digest… they lead into each other. The other branches from my throat, where I send my friends”
“Why do you have two stomachs for… digesting food” James asked, moving, a little away from the front of Azorm’s muzzle, reminded the dragon… was big and predatory
“I don’t know” Azorm yawned “I just do. One seems to empty a lot faster than the other… When I have time, I keep it in the first stomach, it churns slow and gentle, my food lasts a while, I feel, full, but sluggish… the deeper one, empties fast, harsh and crushing. I heard bones snap once from there… I always thought, it was because of the way I eat” Azorm mused “when it is good hunting, I eat and eat and gorge, I build my body and eat all I can. During the slow hunting, I move less, I hunt closer to the shore, try to eat land beasts, or flying beasts. Ambushing. Slow… and efficient works better then, not gorging and wasteful”
“I suppose” James shrugged “as good a theory as any, I guess… maybe it’s just a strange quirk”
“Maybe” Azorm rolled a shoulder, a boat bouncing in the water as it was struck from below. The dragon licked his lips “time to spit them up, I think…”
James moved back, excitement built in his body, as he watched Azorm’s long snout release those who had gone in before… and then, come right down towards him
“I’ll see you later, James” Azorm cooed. Above, the scaled lips parted, a deep view of soft pink and sharp fangs. From the depths the serpent of a tongue wove out, the forked tip coming to rest wet against James’s back, the cord of muscle scooped to his stomach. And then, he was lifted, rising into the heat and the darkness. Instinct flared up second thoughts, but he had no time to consider them. The tongue cleared the fangs, and the jaws snapped shut. The soft world levelled out, a faint hum from below, before James felt himself, nudged. His hands pushed into the gums, the tongue, fumbling in the dark before the fleshy ground below him disappeared, and he tumbled. He was gripped tightly all around and dragged down. His clothing soaked, slime coated his face and hands, and each fleshy undulation aggravated some innate claustrophobia. A tight tunnel, only one way to go, and no way out. When he was so young, he had swum off the coast, poking into little caves in the rock. The dragon’s insides… were so familiar. The wet cavern, one wrong move from being trapped in a dead-end tunnel with only water for company. He squirmed and writhed, the comparison brought fear… he didn’t want to be here anymore.
So sooner did that thought settle in, than he popped out into a wider chamber. James panted hard, heart racing. He felt out to the walls, and the walls felt back, pulsing inwards. A strong pouch of muscle… slime up to his stomach when he sat. It was warm… not unpleasantly hot, just, warm… calming. He groaned, and flopped back to a wall, focussing on the rolling pulse. His skin felt odd… but his mind was beginning to swim and drift. A weak smile became dizzy on his face… it was just like drifting off, into the dragon’s waking dream…

Azorm licked his chops, looking down his bulk with a little smile “Ah, little James… you’ve been giving me such, unnerved looks… it’s good to swallow you again…” he rumbled faintly “Just one more, I think… one more…” his eyes strayed along the line of nests… he knew the one, he’d been watching very carefully. The elder.
“Hey dragon!”
His ears perked, focus returning to the shore, a little smile as he saw… two familiar little land beasts. Slowly, he wove his snout down, to look along the alpha’s pups. They swayed unsteadily, their eyes were darting gems… he’d given them a very happy time
“Hello little ones, feeling good I trust?”
Frazer nodded before his brother spoke “we want back in… we want another go”
Azorm hummed, looking off to hide his smirk “you do? So soon?”
“They want us lounging in bed… recovering they said” Frazer lamented “we might as well lounge in you… it was amazing…”
Azorm looked to the two little ones, and around… interesting. He saw his friends flopped and dizzy, or… just absent. How interesting.
“But of course, I always have room for little friends” he lowered his jaws, opening them wide. Indeed… these two returned, quickly. He weaved his tendrils out, one to the back of each. The humans needed, little encouragement. He guided them in, one swallow, then the other. He clicked his teeth, and looked to the bare shore, lifting his head, to swallow the moving, long shape of the land beast down towards his core. He hummed, looking around again…
He rumbled faintly “convenient” slowly he drifted back under the waters, turning, and swimming out of the shallows where the land beasts lived, flowing into deeper waters, his tendrils weaving and drifting, following the ebb and flow of scents and movements. Focus lingering within, as the two shapes went slow, then still like the first.

“It’s a beautiful night” Azorm murred, snout poking up out of the sea, watching the glowing eye of the night sky gleaming down. Guardian of the oceans… companion to the world “I adore the moon…”
“But less than you do me” beside him spoke the second voice, and Azorm looked to it, to her. She was beautiful… three times his size, he could feel the currents around him made by her weaving body. Her scales were a lighter colour than his, she stood out more under the water… but then, the females were the largest predator in the oceans… in the world… what did they need hide from.
“mmm, don’t make me choose between you and the moon, beautiful one” he drifted his tendrils to hers, both pausing to hum, tenderly caressing those delicate membranes together, sensing each other before parting
“That is fair… so long as you dare let nothing less beautiful than the moon be my competition… I can tolerate, such a wonderous thing being comparable”
Azorm drifted closer, rolling his body to her own, muzzle to muzzle, humming softly “you were very cheeky earlier, nipping my tail. I did ask you not disturb the land beasts. I am making good progress with them”
“I saw” the female cooed by his ear “None saw me, and I didn’t eat any of them… yet” she looked to him with a smile. Beneath the waves, he felt the thickness of her coil brush against him, against the shapes in his belly. A scaled hind limb of hers grasped at the bulge a moment later “has my dear suitor brought a gift at last, a treat? I cannot remember the last time I enjoyed the exotic flavour of the land beasts”
Azorm huffed, having to fight to resist the gag reflex her touch evoked in that caress “I do not have them where I need them… but, for such a beauty, I bring indeed, a lovely treat”
“Good male” she licked his muzzle with her broad tongue, jaws parting before his view, waiting.
Azorm hummed, flexing his stomach, beginning to work the shapes up for his jaws, while peering into her own. Cautious he probed his snout past her fangs, suckling on the human that flowed into his mouth, before pushing it through his lips onto her thick tongue. His eyes trailed the groaning, dizzy creature, as her tongue flicked up, giving it a smooth slide to the back. She swallowed, the wet glurk of sound washing over him before the throat opened again, no human in sight. Azorm hummed, feeling the remaining two come to his mouth entangled, his tongue weaving between to break them apart.
“You have more?” her tone was expectant. He nudged her tongue, and licked a human out against the muscle, watching as she guided it back, sending it down her throat like the last. Those two humans would never know her storage stomach… he knew. Azorm swallowed.
“More?” she pressed
“I’m afraid not” Azorm withdrew his muzzle from her jaws, watching them click shut “for now, dear queen, that will be all the land beasts I can offer”
The female nodded, tongue rolling her chops “a sweet treat regardless… she leaned in, till her tendrils caressed down his jaw “you may even be worth my time, little male… we shall see. But don’t you forget how much competition you have… but you’re off to a very good start”
Azorm hummed a pleased note, licking at her jawline. Beneath the water, his forepaw rolled to his underside, wistfully grasping where there had been a bulge before.