What happens when two friends stumble upon some mysterious old artifacts? Well, it looks like they're about to find out!

Commission for  quente featuring their characters Terra and Felix

<<< PREV | FIRST | NEXT >>>

---

The ground was coming up fast as Terra slightly folded his pale wings and drifted downward. He was tired after another long day of travel. He needed to rest, and probably hunt, too. Ever since setting out on his own, finding food and shelter had been sporadic for the brown-scaled dragon.

As he soared over the trees, looking for a place to land, he realized there was a cleared area ahead. It wasn’t until he was even closer that he realized beyond the field was an entire town stretching out before him. He breathed a quiet sigh of relief. Perhaps the people there would offer shelter; at the very least, he wouldn’t still be out in the middle of nowhere by nightfall. And they might offer some food, too.

He dipped lower to the ground until he finally set down in the field as close to the village as he could manage. He saw several farms out this way, maybe some crops, but trotted quickly toward town to find someone to talk to. When the dirt roads turned into worn paths, he walked faster, eager to find a place to rest.

It wasn’t long before some of the villagers took note of the lean feral entering town. They stared in awe, and Terra held his head a little higher with a smirk. Dragons were commonly regarded as lucky creatures, and he certainly wouldn’t mind a bit of attention.

“Excuse me.”

He saw one of the townsfolk step toward him from the side of the street up ahead, one of the several humans among the cluster of anthros who lived here. Terra watched him curiously, but he seemed rather average. Well, it was also true the human was a bit on the heavy side, with a jiggling muffin top overflowing the belt of his pants as he walked. Come to think of it, Terra noticed most of the villagers were quite a bit on the plump side. Clearly, the town was prosperous, which he was sure increased his chances of being taken in for the night.

“Are you from around here?”

The question snapped the earth-dragon out of his thoughts. “Oh, no, I’m a traveler,” he explained. “I’ve been flying on and off for days. I don’t have anywhere to be, but could use some rest. And prey has been scarce, too,” he hinted, although the implication was made more obvious a moment later when a small rumble escaped his lean stomach.

Fortunately, the human readily nodded. “If you need a place to stay, you’ve come to the right place.” He grinned warmly. “Welcome to Phrata, our humble little town here. We can provide you with plenty of food and shelter for the night.”

Terra nodded. “Thanks. I appreciate the hospitality.”

The human nodded again. “Of course. We appreciate having dragons here!” He grinned again as he finally started leading Terra through town, hopefully to a place with shelter. And food. Definitely food.

Still, Terra was a little worried about the human’s wording. ‘Dragons’, plural? The human made it sound as though dragons came here often. He wanted to ask, but was afraid to interrupt the human at the moment, in case it delayed his chance to eat even longer. He planned to ask for clarification after he’d been fed.

Thankfully, the townsfolk quickly parted on the streets to let the feral pass, until the human dropped him off at what appeared to be a relatively average barn. It was nothing fancy, but Terra was just relieved to have shelter for the night.

He forgot about the question for the moment, his nostrils already widening at the smell of fresh food wafting in the air when he stepped inside. He immediately took note of a rather large cart, overflowing with plentiful baked goods, perfectly within reach, that made his stomach growl even louder. He was particularly interested in some pastries among the breads and rolls, sweet, colorful, and… huge. That seemed to be a common theme around here. Perhaps he could have some of those; it would be a nice change from what natural food he could normally gather from hunting and foraging.

“Oh, you must be the dragon everyone’s been buzzing about for the past hour,” a tall brown cat near the cart immediately greeted. She chuckled a bit, her rounded, ponderous belly bouncing beneath her plaid shirt and overalls. Her chubby cheeks bunched even wider when she smiled at him. “Feel free to take anything you’d like; I spend all day every day making all of these, so there’s certainly plenty to share with a dragon such as yourself! I’d be honored; the prosperity you bring is payment enough!”

Terra was beginning to get curious about all their excitement. Sure, most anthros and humans were excited to see a feral dragon—the rumors about dragon ‘luck’ were well-known—but these people were eagerly bending over backwards to please him in the hopes of earning it. He realized he’d forgotten to ask the human his question. “Have dragons stayed here before?” Even as the words left his mouth, though, he was already trying to decide on what to eat, his stomach growling again. He could hardly wait any longer.

While he was distracted, she started to reply, “Well, we actually do have another feral dragon living nearby, slightly east of here.”

Selecting a rather large cake from the carefully arranged array of items, Terra quickly focused his attention on her again. “‘Another’?” he repeated.

“Oh, yes,” she nodded. She seemed pleased at the cake he’d selected, helping him take it from the cart. It was actually a rather large cake, but seemed small enough in comparison to his paw that he had to be very careful. “There has been a feral living to the east of us for quite a while now. And we sure are grateful for it. We’ve already been thriving since he arrived, as you can see.” She gave her hanging gut a few satisfied pats and chuckled again, small ripples running through the lard that were barely constrained by her clothes.

Terra’s heart sank. He’d been hoping for a place to rest, but if there were already another dragon nearby…

“You know, I suppose having even more dragons living here might bring us twice the prosperity,” she suddenly said, picking up Terra’s change in expression. “I’m sure most people would be pleased if you stayed a while, and you would get the chance to rest from your travels. There’s a cave on the west side of town, opposite of the other dragon, if you prefer to keep to yourself. Although we’d definitely take care of you just as much,” she added. “An entire town catering to your needs, in exchange for bringing good fortune our way.”

He was incredibly tempted by the offer. He wasn’t sure about sharing territory, though, even if they were on opposite sides of town.

“Maybe think about it,” the cat encouraged, going back to her work. “Rest and eat first. Nobody can think on an empty stomach!”

As far as food was concerned, Terra certainly didn’t need to be told twice. Having managed to bring the cake to a clean area of the barn to eat, he hungrily dug in, not needing to use forks and knives like the anthros. He could simply eat how he wanted, licking up frosting and crumbs and plunging his snout further into the moist, confectionary treat. Due to its size, it wasn’t long before he began to feel full, although it was so delicious that he continued to scarf it down even after the pressure in his lean stomach made it swell with the weight of the food packed inside. He huffed and panted as he finished it up, feeling more stuffed than he’d been in a long time.

Licking the last of the sugary frosting off his snout, he glanced down at himself, noticing a small, taut bulge beneath the scales of his frontside. He knew that as soon as he digested the meal, more flying, traveling, and hunting would immediately burn it off. Life for a feral was difficult; there was no time to lounge around being lazy, no ability to eat something as delicious as this. It was part of the reason there was no such thing as a fat dragon. The very idea was absurd.

Now that he was fully sated, though, Terra realized that because he’d never had a place to settle down and relax, it might be nice to stay here where the food was more plentiful and shelter was assured. At least for a little while.

He let out a small belch, hauling himself to his feet to plod back over to the cat at the cart. He eyed the other pastries, although he was way too full to eat anything else right now. But he was beginning to think he’d be eating more of them soon enough.

“Which way did you say this cave was?”

~

It didn’t take Terra long to settle in. The cave was wide and spacious. The entrance let in plenty of sunlight, warming his scales with the morning light and giving him a nice area to lounge when he relaxed. He had to admit, the humble accommodations were all he’d ever wanted from a place to live.

What he didn’t expect was the amount of food. He enjoyed hunting, flying, and exploring, but quickly found that the people of the village were surprisingly willing to bring food of their own for him to eat. At first, he was shocked by each generous offering, but soon came to expect the daily routine of townspeople bringing him entire, overflowing carts.

The first obvious stage of this was that he wasn’t sure what to do with it all. He was inundated with fresh bread, sweet rolls, sandwiches, and even gradually more complex foods, like pizza and burgers, which were luxuries certainly not found out in the wild. He couldn’t possibly eat it all at once, and found himself picking at it all day long instead, nibbling on the variety of treats from the time it was delivered, until nightfall, barely managing to finish it. His days of waking up hungry and going to bed hungry after an unsuccessful hunt were over; with the constant influx of food, he was never hungry for long, even eating sometimes when he didn’t feel hungry at all.

As time went on, he also slowly noticed the way that the constant eating thickened his otherwise lean, scaly body. Where hardened muscles had once bulged out from the skin, now there was some meat on his bones, definitely giving him a more full look. He thought it felt nice, actually; instead of being made up of sharp angles, he was developing what was, in his opinion, a more graceful shape.

After what must have been at least a week of this, Terra actually began to crave a good hunt. The cured meats constantly brought up from town just weren’t as satisfying as a fresh kill. After a regular morning drop-off one day, after snacking for a while, Terra finally decided to go for a good fly and do a bit of his own work for food. He wanted to feel like he’d earned it.

There was a lake to the north he was curious about. He hadn’t done much flying the past several days, resting from his travels, so it felt good to stretch his wings in flight. He felt powerful and full of energy. He supposed that could also be a rush from all the sugar lately, but it still felt nice to be alert regardless.

Setting himself down near the lake, he stared out over the water, enjoying the way the sunlight sparkled on the surface. It was calm and peaceful.

He’d no sooner had the thought than a huge thud shook the ground a short ways away. He glanced over in confusion at the massive cloud of debris shaken up into the air by the landing of something very, very heavy.

Standing on all fours farther down the shore was another dragon. This feral was huge—in more ways than one. The tall blue dragon was folding his yellow wings after the flight, although they seemed rather small compared to the absolute girth of him. Yellow scales ran all the way from the underside of his pudgy chin, down his soft, wide chest, all the way to stretch over the thick ring of lard around his blubbery middle, his gut hanging low enough that it pushed his stance wide apart. His belly took up every spare inch of the space, making it a wonder that the dragon was able to waddle as quickly as he did after spotting Terra on the shore.

Oh, he’s coming my way. Terra glanced back and forth, but it was too late to leave. It would have been rude. Still, he was wary as the behemoth of a dragon came close enough to smile at him.

The dragon’s pudgy cheeks widened as he grinned. “Hi, I’m Felix.”

He sounded perfectly normal, and Terra relaxed a bit. “I’m Terra. I live slightly west of here,” he added carefully. He wanted to make sure Felix was aware he was awfully close to his territory.

“Oh, I live slightly east,” Felix snorted. “That must be why I’ve never seen you before.”

Terra suddenly remembered the townsfolk mentioning another dragon living east of Phrata. This must be him. Terra wasn’t exactly sure what to think; the one thing that immediately stood out to him, above all else, was that this dragon was faaat. It was a bit distracting from his other traits. He’d never seen such an absolutely massive dragon before, let alone a feral one. How had he even flown here with a body that heavy?

Terra suddenly realized he was staring and snapped out of it. “Do you come here to hunt?” He wasn’t really sure how to make conversation, but still didn’t want to be rude and somehow offend what was apparently his neighbor. Especially if he was going to be living here a while.

“Oh, I have no need to hunt.” Felix waved a paw dismissively. “I only hunt for fun. I come here to relax sometimes. It’s very pretty here.”

Felix seemed friendly enough. “It is very pretty,” Terra agreed. He tried not to stare too hard at the way Felix’s double chin wobbled when he spoke, or the way that his gut bounced slightly with each deep breath. His instinct was to be repulsed by such a blatant display of laziness and gluttony, but he was also… intrigued. Under the shimmering blue scales, Felix’s body looked so soft and pliable. Terra couldn’t even imagine what that must feel like.

“The townsfolk provide for all my needs,” Felix went on, interrupting his thoughts again. He eyed him curiously. “I’m sure if you were to go into town and ask, they would be happy to help you out with food, too.”

“They know where I live, and already bring me plenty of food,” Terra assured him. Felix had obviously noticed that Terra was the much skinnier dragon, but didn’t seem to realize it was by choice. Terra would never get so fat and lazy, no matter what the townsfolk did.

“Oh, I suppose you’re hunting for fun then, too?” Felix asked.

“Well… yes,” Terra replied.

Felix was friendly, but still seemed just the slightest bit shy. Which was why it was a surprise when he asked, “Maybe we should hunt together for a while?”

When Terra’s reaction was to stare for a moment, Felix quickly added, “So we’re not scaring off each other’s prey.”

“Oh. Right.” That made sense. They wouldn’t want to get in the way of each other. “I suppose we can go together, I guess.” As long as Felix’s weight and size didn’t cause an inconvenience, maybe Terra could put up with the rather rotund dragon.

They quickly set off, Terra gliding slightly behind the more massive feral, looking at the way his wings flapped hard to lift his bulk. They were as pudgy as the rest of him, hauling layers upon layers of lard through the sky. Terra watched curiously the whole time, wondering how Felix accomplished such a thing. At least while the larger feral’s back was turned, Terra was finally able to stare.

~

Several weeks passed, and whenever the two dragons ended up hunting at the same time, it became common for them to team up. Sometimes the heavy crackle of branches or trees beneath Felix’s feet gave them away, much to Terra’s annoyance, but over time, he actually began to appreciate the other feral’s company. They were soon setting up better strategies for catching prey, working together, and Terra began to think of him as something akin to a friend.

It wasn’t that either of them needed to hunt, of course. Terra certainly never spent any time hungry anymore. The townspeople made sure of that.

The food offerings gradually became larger. Perhaps the town was prospering more after all, since they clearly had so much food to spare. Terra couldn’t even imagine how they were able to feed Felix, too! And yet, somehow, more and more food came his way, which he now readily snarfed up when it was delivered at his cave. He was consistently well-fed, his stomach taut and bulging more often than not. All of his limbs had also thickened considerably, keeping him well-padded. He could hardly remember a time when he hadn’t been able to eat everything placed in front of him. He’d become used to stretching his stomach long after it was full. He frequently downed huge containers of meats, cheeses, desserts, and more, although he continued to meet up with Felix for a good hunt. He had to admit, it was nice to have someone to spend time with.

When Terra glided down to the lake today, Felix was already there, waiting. He lazily waved a wing at Terra as the shorter dragon approached. “You know, I was wondering if I could ask you something today.”

“Yeah?”

The doughy dragon suddenly looked a bit shy, as he had the first time he’d asked Terra to hunt, as if unsure of his response. But he went on, “What if you came over to my cave today, and we shared food that the townspeople have brought? I have to admit, the portions have gotten larger and larger lately, so there’s more than plenty.”

Over time, Felix had slowly gained Terra’s trust, and the brown dragon had to admit he was curious about the other dragon’s home. And what Felix mentioned about the food was probably true, if the townspeople were bringing him just as much. Terra supposed it would be nice to take it easy today. “Alright.”

Felix brightened, spreading his pudgy wings. “Come—I’ll show you the way.”

It was a short flight. It now made slightly more sense to Terra how Felix was able to haul his weight through the sky; his cave on the east side of town wasn’t as far as Terra’s distance. Terra stayed behind the much fatter dragon, marveling again at how Felix was able to fly at all. The bulge of his belly hung from his middle, bouncing and quivering with the flaps of his wings, his incredibly wide haunches meeting the base of his fat, stubby tail as it swung behind him.

Although Terra himself was looking quite ‘well-fed’ these days, his sides curving out slightly and his limbs a bit on the soft side after a constant surplus of food, even he could never hope to match Felix’s girth.

When they finally reached Felix’s cave, he was even more surprised by how massive the entrance was, too. “You live here?” he exclaimed, swooping in behind Felix to land somewhat more lightly than the heavy thud of the larger feral, causing ripples through all his chub. The entrance was cavernous, almost twice as tall as the blue dragon. Terra could only imagine how large it must be inside.

Felix snorted. “I’ve lived here for quite a while. I like the layout with its huge, open spaces. It suits me.”

Terra privately thought that it had to; Felix just wouldn’t have fit anywhere else.

The larger dragon quickly led him inside, the entrance extending inwards before opening into an even bigger chamber. Terra glanced around curiously, noticing right away that there was a spacious cooking area, for preparing and storing all of the food, no doubt. Fresh water trickled from a small fountain in the back.

“Welcome to my home.” Felix gestured around with pride.

“It’s very nice,” said Terra sincerely. As he walked farther, he noticed other features, like the smooth ground, a smaller tunnel branching off the main one, and even a large pile of gold built up in one corner. That part was undoubtedly a courtesy of the anthros and humans nearby.

Terra gestured at the small tunnel. It seemed oddly out of place compared to the large, spacious chamber where Felix seemed to spend most of his time. “Where does that go? If you don’t mind my asking,” he added quickly, in case it was private.

Felix only shrugged, the pudge on his shoulders bunching up with the motion into several soft folds. “I don’t know. I never go down there. It’s always seemed too small to make part of my home.”

That seemed reasonable enough. Felix was an awfully large dragon. Terra was a bit curious, however, and slowly trotted over to it. It was small, but not unreasonably so. He could likely walk straight through to the other end. He turned back to Felix. “You’ve never tried to explore it?”

Felix shook his head. “No, I’ve never much cared to…” He trailed off, beginning to look intrigued as he watched Terra inspect the opening. He slowly plodded over. “Why? Are you thinking about trying to see where it goes?”

“It’s a little weird that you’ve had a hole in the back of your cave all this time and never really planned to look at it,” Terra snorted.

Felix chuckled. “Fair enough.” He ducked his head slightly, looking into the tunnel next to Terra. “Did you want to explore it?”

After a moment, the brown dragon readily nodded. “Sure.” Why not? He stepped aside to let Felix go first, since it was his cave, after all. The wide blue dragon was careful as he stepped inside, but fit easily for the most part, which seemed to give him some confidence to keep going. Terra sighed slightly in relief.

It was Terra’s turn to enter next, which he did without hesitation, eager to see where the strange path led. His entire view was blocked by Felix at the moment. His fat tail brushed the ground, his large hips filling out right where they met his large midsection. The bouncing and swaying of his belly as he waddled forward forced him to take slow, ponderous steps, the bulging curves of his sides practically brushing the walls.

Terra found himself staring, but unlike the last several times he’d thought about Felix’s incredible weight, he didn’t draw his eyes away. The soft squishing of his gut, the wobbling extra adipose on his back, and the way the larger feral filled the cave captivated him this time. He had no idea how Felix managed to get to such a size. Well, his constant influx food was the obvious answer, but the sheer amount it must have taken was incredible. Even while eating as much as the townspeople brought him, Terra couldn’t ever imagine getting that big. He wondered what it would feel like, to be soft all over, his steps weighed down by his own size, the creases and folds of his body when he moved…

“Interesting. I wonder where this goes?” Felix suddenly said. Terra leaned far to the side to see past Felix’s girth and look to where he was pointing. Branching off from this strange path was an even smaller tunnel. “I can’t believe I’ve lived here all this time and didn’t even know how deep these tunnels went! Thanks for encouraging me to explore.”

Terra didn’t point out that it was partially for his own benefit, since he’d been curious, too. Instead he watched in concern as Felix suddenly ducked and began to step into the new tunnel, apparently forgetting for a moment that it was already a bit cramped in here.

Terra winced. “I don’t think you’ll—

He slowly trailed off as Felix pushed his way inwards, crouching lower to the ground as he tried forcing his way further into the smaller tunnel. His belly squished against the ground, pressing his sides out farther, and consequently spreading the fat on his thick legs and hips. When he had inched up to the widest part of his rotund middle, the doughy dragon came to a rather sudden halt. He ponderously moved his thick trunk of a tail from side to side as he slowly wiggled his hips, all of his chub shaking as he pushed himself farther, but it was more than evident that there was a problem.

“Oh… well this is inconvenient!” Terra heard Felix huff. The blue dragon’s voice was muffled slightly by his own girth blocking the opening.

Terra merely looked on in amusement. “Maybe we should head back.”

“Oh, I’m sure I’ll make it, I just…” Felix wriggled slightly more in the opening of the tunnel. Terra watched as Felix’s movements sent ripples through his blubber, his belly pressing out beneath him. The adipose that caked the sides of his gut pancaked against the wall outside the tunnel as he tried to force himself forward. Felix sighed. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to help?”

“Oh. Of course.” Terra stepped forward to inspect the rather blubbery problem. “What do you want me to do?”

“Well, you could push,” Felix suggested.

“Err… you don’t want me to pull?” It made more sense for them to try getting out of here. For all they knew, they might just be pushing Felix into an even smaller crevice.

But Felix seemed determined. “We can’t just give up on seeing where this goes!”

Terra had to admire his sense of adventure. “Alright.” He quickly positioned himself behind the large rump taking up his entire field of vision. “When I push, you suck in. Okay?”

“Right.”

Terra heard Felix get ready to suck in, the large dragon’s sides expanding for a moment, and quickly began to push. His paws immediately sank into the plush hide, the soft, doughy surface molding around his fingers, and was amazed at how soft and pliable it felt. Ripples spread through the lard from the shoving, folds of fat jiggling and compressing in response, and Terra caught himself wondering how it must feel to Felix. To be this huge, this soft, large enough to take up an entire tunnel on his own. His belly bulging around the opening, filling the entrance, pressing up against his own legs, weighing him straight to the floor.

The scaly blue lard suddenly budged an inch. It was working! Terra pushed harder, his fingers kneading into the soft adipose pressed up around the hole. Felix began to inch forward bit by bit, his own sucking in and pulling and scrabbling on the other side adding some help. With a bit more squirming and squeezing, he slowly came upon the largest part of his gut. With Terra’s paws consistently bouncing against the plush, jiggling hide, he gave one more huge push.

“Oof!” Felix spilled through the hole in one huge flop, his belly stretching out around him as he lay on the floor to catch his breath. His hearty store of blubber shook and jiggled for a while afterwards, squishing out around him to provide plenty of padding. “I made it!”

Terra couldn’t quite believe it himself. “Yeah!” He ducked through afterwards with ease, although he was panting slightly after all of the hard work. He took a moment to look around. Somehow, the tunnel had come out to a rather large room. Well, that was actually an understatement—the place was absolutely cavernous. Most of it actually appeared to be taken up by what seemed like a temple, or that’s at least what it looked like in Terra’s opinion. He wasn’t sure what Felix thought of all this. Terra glanced at him. “I wonder where we are.”

Felix slowly pushed himself to his feet, huffing with exertion. “Well, there’s only one way to find out,” he said optimistically as he began plodding toward the temple’s entrance. Terra followed, eager to see what was inside.

It wasn’t as impressive up close; to put it lightly, the place appeared to be in ruins. But the architecture itself was amazing; Terra couldn’t stop looking at the way the high ceilings stood solidly over their heads, or how the wide corridors had smooth, worn paths from ancient years of use. The place had probably once been thriving, despite now reduced to only a shadow of its former glory, offering a mysterious atmosphere.

Exploring some of the rooms, Terra was further intrigued by the artifacts they came across. Some items were unrecognizable, and he couldn’t even imagine what they must be for. He curiously picked some up, turning them over in his paws, but it seemed the secrets had been lost to time.

Meanwhile, Felix was taking great interest in some dusty old books he found. The covers seemed fresh once they’d been wiped off, and they were full of vibrant pictures, but Terra decided to pass on looking at those. Some more exploring revealed a room of gold he found far more interesting, and he left Felix to go check it out on his own.

What he found was even better than he’d expected: Actual treasure! Stepping into the room, he was instantly enthralled by the sight. Being at the center of the temple, this new room was the largest yet, and the edges were filled with all manner of golden coins and rare stones, enough that would probably make even a rich king jealous. Terra couldn’t believe it had all been abandoned. He briefly wondered what happened to the people who lived here so long ago, but knew that would likely remain a mystery forever. Right now, in the present, Terra could simply appreciate this glorious collection they’d left behind.

In the center was a raised, cushioned platform, that looked almost like a bed—except that it was massive. Terra inspected it curiously, but it didn’t seem to have any other purpose outside of that. He wondered how many people fit in there. Even if the owners had been ferals, the answer was probably still ‘a lot’.

“What’s this?” Behind him, Felix entered the room, glancing around curiously.

“It looks like some sort of lounging area,” said Terra. He supposed the massive platform could have been for social events, perhaps where the richest citizens held their gatherings. He couldn’t think of any other reasons that it would be such an incredible size.

“Oh… what’s that?” Felix suddenly came forward to inspect the platform, reaching for something on the cushions. After a moment, he held up a necklace. “I wonder how this got on there?”

“Huh… I didn’t notice it.” The room was so full of treasure that Terra hadn’t really been focused on any one thing in particular. Also, this necklace was rather unassuming compared to everything else: A bright blue stone set into a silver pendant, hanging from a shining silver chain. It was beautiful, to be sure, but it hadn’t stood out to him until now.

“It looks valuable,” Felix remarked.

Terra nodded. Everything in here looked valuable. “If nobody owns this stuff, do you think we can just… take it?” He didn’t want to sound greedy, but it was all just lying around. Perhaps it was some buried, draconic instinct, but he was feeling rather entranced by the sheer amount of riches surrounding them.

Felix shrugged, also glancing around the room. “I doubt anyone’s been in here in centuries, if anyone even knows about it at all. They certainly won’t miss it,” he chuckled.

Terra took the opportunity to go ‘explore’ some more, around the edges of the room, collecting jewelry he found interesting. He noticed Felix hefting the pile of the books he’d been poring through earlier. “You’re bringing those? Even while surrounded by all… this?” He tried to gesture around, but was also currently holding quite literally a small fortune.

“Oh, I personally find these way more interesting.” Felix smiled, rounding out his chubby cheeks. “I believe these books might be about magic.”

Terra looked at them curiously, but wasn’t really sure how to tell one way or another. “You’re really not taking any of the gold?”

Now Felix just shrugged. “It’s not going anywhere. I can come back and grab some anytime I want.”

“True enough.”

Having each taken their own respective treasures, both dragons made their way back through the temple to the cavern, and then to the entrance of the too-small cave. Felix paused for a moment, gathering his lightning breath to crack the stones until the tunnel was bigger. Terra thought it would have probably been a good idea to do that the first time, but they’d both been so excited to get inside that the thought obviously hadn’t occurred to him. At least now Felix wouldn’t get stuck again.

It wasn’t until they were back in Felix’s actual home that Terra noticed the much larger dragon had brought the necklace along. It was the only treasure he’d taken. “What are you going to do with it?”

Felix shrugged, dropping it into his gold pile for now. “I don’t know yet. I just liked it. I’m going to hang onto it.”

Terra himself was carrying so much jewelry that he wasn’t looking forward to the fly back to his cave, but could respect that Felix was more interested in the books for now. “I think I’m going to go, but it’s been fun.”

Felix gave a friendly wave with one pudgy wing. “Oh, of course! Come by anytime. Even when we’re not hunting or anything, it’s been nice to get together.”

Terra nodded, leaning back onto his hind legs and finally launching himself toward the sky with both wings beating hard. Spending time with Felix really had been nice. He found himself looking forward to doing it again.

~

Terra had gotten up rather early to hunt down by the lake, but it still wasn’t long before Felix joined him. The ground shook as the hefty blue dragon settled, his wings partially hidden by his back rolls as he folded them. “Oh, I’m glad you’re here!”

Terra glanced at him curiously. “Yes, I’m glad you’re here too,” he said, wondering about the enthusiastic greeting.

A moment later, Felix explained, “I read several of those books last night, and I was right. They are about magic!” He plodded toward Terra excitedly, the fat on his haunches quivering with every step. “They seem to be about many of the artifacts in the temple.”

Terra was doubtful. “There’s no way they were written in a modern language. Are you sure you translated everything correctly?”

“Well, the wondrous thing about magical books, is that anyone can read them,” Felix explained, grinning at Terra’s expression. “Except for several passages, I suppose, but the majority of the information is accessible.”

“Ah… I didn’t know.” Terra did find it interesting, however. “Did they say anything about what happened to the people who used to live there?”

“Well, no,” Felix admitted. But he brightened a moment later. “Actually, there was a passage about the necklace we found, if you can believe that.”

Terra stared back in confusion. “The little silver one? What’s so special about it?”

“Well, according to the book, it’s imbued with a special power that brings prosperity to whoever wears it.”

Terra had to admit he was intrigued. “Well, if that’s true, then it’s probably more valuable than a lot of the treasure in there.” Truthfully, they didn’t know how much of the treasure might be magical, but if the necklace had an entire section of book dedicated to it specifically, then it was probably quite special.

“I want you to have it.”

“Huh?”

Felix suddenly held it out, the pendant dangling from the chain in his claws and catching the light of the sun. He’d been clutching it under his arm when flying. “I see the way your eyes light up at the sight of shiny things,” Felix chuckled. “It’s only natural that a dragon would want rare treasures. But since this one is special, I want you to have it.” He suddenly looked serious for a moment. “I’m really grateful you’re my friend.”

“Oh… thank you.” Terra very gently took the silver necklace from the much larger dragon’s paw. “You’re a great friend too,” he replied. And he meant it. “Really.”

Felix grinned again, widening his pudgy cheeks. “Perhaps we can go relax back at my cave for some lunch. Yesterday was so busy and exciting that we completely forgot to do anything else!”

That was true. Terra eagerly nodded. “I’d be happy to.”

As Felix beat his wings and jumped into the air, Terra took a moment to fasten the necklace around his broad neck. Looking down at himself, he quite liked the way that the silver shone against the darker brown of his scales.

“Are you coming?” Felix glanced down at him, sounding amused.

It was probably extra effort for Felix to hover, so Terra didn’t waste any time launching his own, much smaller body into the air. “Right behind you!” Terra had been eating well for quite a while, as the villagers continued to inundate him with food all day from dawn to dusk, but the amount of adipose on his body was still nothing compared to Felix’s bulk. He watched the larger dragon’s hide jiggled with each flap of his wings as they dragged his ponderous girth through the sky. Terra, was small by comparison, even though as time went on, his body had continued to thicken from the daily offerings, now several folds developing between his limbs when he bent them, or the slight crescent of a second chin appearing, although only when he looked downward.

Still, he had a much easier time flying that the rather obese blue dragon, and happily followed.

He wondered again what it must feel like to be so large and heavy. No other dragon could ever possibly hope to rival Felix’s sheer weight, or know what it was like to feel a gut that large and heavy taking up the majority of his frontside. The way that Felix handled himself was certainly admirable. Terra found himself staring again the entire flight, lost in his thoughts.