The night couldn't have gone worse.
It was like a fever dream. Maybe it was?
Avery crawled into bed with me and grilled me about Elgress and Bruce.
The doctor turned up to smear thick paste into my eyes and leave a packet of painkillers beside me.
He did the same for Luke and Levi, who were startled from their sleep. Luke cried and writhed when he was being treated, until I leaned across to comfort him. I did the same for Levi, pleading with him not to de-fang Silera.
It felt like a weird dream. The only thing that told me that it wasn't was the thick stains crusted down my cheeks and the packet of pills with my name slapped on it above the instructions.
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Avery got what he wanted when he left for his own room.
He found out the truth about Elgress and figured out what Bruce was doing the whole time in his office. All in one night.
I wonder how long he was thinking that over to come to the conclusion?
I wished he didn't. I didn't know if he was going to talk to his team about what he has discovered. I couldn't be there to monitor either.
Nisha I didn't trust. Avery was very much the same.
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He worried me about hearing noises upstairs. He was convinced it was Balae. My gut was telling me otherwise.
But she wouldn't do that, would she? Elgress was still expecting to deliver my babies. Why would she be snooping around upstairs?
My gut dropped and clenched when I marched for the ladder.
Was she there for the hatching? To try and take some for herself?
She wouldn't.....
But, she didn't know the laws. She said so herself that she wasn't like us. She was more human than snake.
Fuck.
Maybe she did? Maybe Silera fought back?
Would that be the pain Avery heard last night?
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Rushing up the last set of stairs with a hitched heart, I pulled myself up at the rooms where Ezra resided.
It was too early for the others to be here. It should only be the ones who lived in the roof.
Ezra was curled up in his usual spot, sleeping.
I scanned for any signs of distress.
I could see where Ezra had been moving around up here. At the right angle, you could see the trail he left behind.
Hundreds of foot and paw prints stamped over them. I couldn't rule out any familiar ones when they were all tangled together.
I moved my head to the door near the wall, narrowing my eyes at it.
Ezra did say he'd do it in there if he was given a chance.
Did I want to go in there?
What if she did? What if she didn't?
She wouldn't betray me like that, would she? We were partners. She still had well over twenty days left. It wasn't time.
Something must have happened. Ezra must have attacked her.
Glancing at him, I moved for the door.
He must have. She wouldn't be up here otherwise.
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My heart clenched when I stood outside the door.
My sense were still on the fritz. Everything was hot one moment and cold the next. There were heartbeats where there shouldn't be.
Taking a deep breath to steady my own, I pushed open the door.
Nothing looked out of place. There were supplies stacked up in here and too much empty space left over. The heater Ezra was currently sapping warmth from was running in the opposite wall.
I stepped in, looking around.
Then, I smelled it.
The room had no ventilation. It hovered like a filthy fog when I slowly stepped towards the emptiness.
It was musty and definitely smelled like sex. Dirt and the tinge of metal mixed with it. Crouching, I saw blood speckled on the floor, smeared in a frenzy of sweeping motions.
Around it was a thicker substance swiped across it. I didn't need to inspect it to know what it was.
Elgress had been here. 41Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtjHaoXFzA1
Why? Why would she do this? Why would she....?
My legs wobbled when my heart clenched. Falling to the floor, I drew my legs up to clutch onto them.
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Tears burned through the jelly in my eyes. My breath sawed in the scent, burrowing into my lungs and coating my tongue.
I didn't want to taste them. I could feel them sticking to my bare feet and gunking up between my toes.
My shoulders shuddered as a sob escaped my mouth. Trying to cover it, it came out as a choking noise when another fell out.
Clumps of the jelly slithered out with my burning tears. Catching some with my hand, I tilted my head back and tried to blink it back in.
I was ruining my sight now from this. Nothing could go right.
Flicking it off, I wiped the rest on my shorts, trying not to focus on the mess next to me.
Choking through more tears, they tangled deeper into my throat. They were in every breath I coughed in, forcing me to acknowledge what they had done here.
Why now? After everything we had been through.
I couldn't breathe. Everything was hurting so much in my chest.
Grabbing it, I tried to make it bearable. Drool and snot ran off my lips. I swiped at it, making it smear across my hand that slapped onto the floor, sticking to the mess there.
I couldn't win. Why? Why me?
A choked again as I tried to wipe off the mess onto the side of my shorts.
I didn't hear the knock on the door until I was trying to clean up the mess sticking to my skin. Turning, I saw Balae with her leg raised from letting me know she was there.
"Silera told me you were here" she lowered her leg to slowly walk inside "are you ok?"
"They...." I lifted a hand to flop it over my knee "she..."
Wiping my face, all I could smell was her betraying me.
"I'm sorry."
"Did you...?"
I tried to scowl. Instead, I was just blinded from the hurt. I sniffled, trying to breathe through the waves of snot.
"Did I see?" Balae offered.
I just nodded.
She looked nervous. Tilting her head and scratching it, she shrugged.
"I saw her come up here. She wasn't exactly quiet. They came in here and...well...you can guess the rest."
The cry of pain Avery said he heard. The slapping.
"Did he...?" I tried to breathe, spitting out the saliva "did he hurt her?"
It wasn't accusatory. Every word was whined out pitifully.
Balae stepped closer. Her spread toes squashed over the blood and cum that she lifted up in disgust, shaking a foot.
"I'm sorry" she breathed down to me "they were already dying."
They.....?
Our....?
She killed them?! My babies? Our....?
A gargled moan tore through me. My chest heaved from my breath strangling me from within. I couldn't form words or see. I just dropped my head onto my knees that suddenly grew too heavy to hold up.
"H-h....?"
How could she? Why? Why not wait, like she should have?
She killed them. She told me every life was precious and she killed them! She rather let them die than give them to me like I wanted so desperately.
How did Balae know? Maybe she was wrong? Ezra had to have killed them when he fucked Elgress.
"He told me. He said he told her the lights were dying and that she was killing them. She didn't understand a word. She..."
Balae paused when I whined out and coughed out a breath.
"...she made up her mind."
No!
"No" I choked.
"I'm sorry, Tawn" Balae picked her way to my side so she could rest a hand on my shoulder "but don't blame Ezra. He didn't know. He thought it was organized."
"She..." I gasped, trying to take a breath that didn't automatically fall out "she...the bar. I saw....she was dr-drinking."
It was alcohol. She swapped it for water. That's why I could taste it. It wasn't a dirty glass.
Vinnie gave it to her. She was with him right now. He was her new friend. He could supply her with alcohol if she didn't like what she was carrying.
Anger huffed through my tears. Shaking from agony and rage, I slammed my fists down onto my knees, shouting as I did.
Balae jumped at the noise. She reached down to grab my hands and hold them.
"It's not your fault" she looked into my eyes "don't hurt yourself."
"He!" I but through gritted teeth, feeling the wave of sadness returning to weaken me "he..."
Moaning out a cry, Balae swept forth to hug me. Her massive beak rested against my shoulder. Her head pressed to the side of mine as she bent down to comfort me.
"She killed them" I snorted through the snot "sh-e-e k-ki-ill-ll-ed t-th-he-em!"
Burying my head into her neck, she rubbed my back and smothered me. Her body burned with warmth. Every breath was stable and calm. She was deeply sorry for me, I could feel it in the way she held me and let me grieve against her.
"You could start over" she whispered to me "it won't replace them, but these ones won't end up like that, I promise."
I didn't want more. I wanted the ones Elgress stole from me.
"I tried so hard" I whimpered against her.
"Shhhh, I know."
She ran a scaled hand over the back of my head. Crying and gasping against her, she gently tried to quieten me again.
She sounded just like a concerned mother. The way she held me and her understanding was all paternal. She was treating me like her own child, but I didn't care.
"You know what? They hatched last night" she smiled against me, pulling back to look me in the eyes.
They did? Were they ok?
"H-how many?" I tried to wipe my face again.
"Seven" Balae whispered in excitement.
Seven? Out of eight?
I smiled back with her. Inside, there was a little spark of happiness under the drowning sadness.
"They were beautiful" Balae gushed "you should have seen them."
I snorted, pointing to my eyes.
"Oh" she chuckled as she wiped around them "yeah."
I dribbled out a little chuckle. Balae smiled and beamed back.
"Things do get better" she soothed to my returning tears "they do. She's waiting for you."
Who?
"E-Elgress?"
Balae shook her head. I realized my mistake and sobbed through the embarrassment.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be" Balae released me so she could run a hand from the top of my head down to my cheek to hold it there "you can make it work."
So soon? I didn't know if I could. My babies were dead. Moving on didn't feel right. I'd just end up back with a hole in my chest and a head pounding from the pain.
"I'd like you to try again" Balae encouraged me "they won't be taken from you. We will keep them right over there" she tilted her head in the direction of the heater "you are more than welcome to see them as much as you want. We will keep them safe."
How could I trust that? With Bruce and the doctor actively trying to find a way into the roof, I couldn't hold all my hopes in a bird and her lover.
"Please" Balae held my hands in hers "I want you to be happy. You deserve it."
I tried to stop the tears. They dropped down my chest and ran over the scales to pool on my bent stomach.
"Tawn" she lowered her head to try and peer into my eyes "hey. I believe in you. I'm telling you that you can have that happiness. You won't have to be like this ever again."
"But, El..."
There had to be a reason. Why was she throwing us away so easily? I always put her first and she tore my fucking heart out.
She didn't care. She never cared.
But I still did. I...I loved her for so long. I gave up everyone else to keep her close.
And she.....
"You worry about Silera now" Balae told my blinded eyes threatening to spill again "you had an agreement. We are ready for you."
"I don't know" I whimpered "I don't want them to die."
Balae smiled warmly to me.
"I know you will be protective over them" she soothed me and lifted a small smile on my face in return "with all of us up here, they aren't going anywhere."
But, Silera. She still killed the weak and unsuitable ones.
Balae saw my grimace and understood.
"You'll get something, I promise. Silera is a great mother. She's the perfect mate to have."
She beamed at her statement. Her feathers fluffed up proudly and she shook them out.
"I wouldn't let just anyone with her."
The little smile returned. Balae grinned, her eyes sparkling as she gave me her hands to lift me from the ground.
"Why don't you get cleaned up and meet us down at the front?" Balae lowered her head to me, shaking it.
I pressed mine to it, sniffling.
"Ten minutes?" she suggested, looking me over "actually, make it twenty. You've got to look good to impress her; that won't be hard."
Chuckling, I smirked back at her.
"Thank you."
She grinned again through her eyes, letting me lead as she followed and closed the door firmly behind me.
"Just don't be late."
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I was just going through the motions when I scrubbed off the painful reality from my scales and shorts I slapped into the sink.
The others had already made themselves scarce. I didn't want to be bombarded with questions anyway when I was already feeling so vulnerable and torn apart.
I scratched off any loose shed I could reach. I drowned and snapped up the remaining rats as I sobbed between each one sliding down my throbbing throat.
Others I slammed into the bathroom wall in the bursts of anger that bubbled forth, crunching through the bones while gasping around the water pounding me.
I had been trying to stretch out my feedings so I could eat the bare minimum through the two weeks. I was starving myself so I had just another morsel to eat later. I was rationing for no reason anymore.
There was no point.
Elgress wasn't going to slide her way back in here to tease me as she used my shower and helped me through the pain of starvation.
It was her idea to stretch it out to help me. She gave me hope that it was for the best; that I didn't need to devour so many at once and return to Bruce prematurely when I felt myself growing hungry again.
It was like eating a crumb a night when there was a whole banquet sitting right before me. I was never satisfied, but I pretended I was; for us both.
She wasn't going to flirt her way into my bed or against my dresser where I could hear how much I satisfied her. She wouldn't giggle at me pressing against her in the dark hallway, or tell me off for trying to kiss her out in the sun. She wouldn't laugh off my ideas of becoming more than once-a-month fuck buddies.
I wouldn't dig her another flower pit for her to be comfortable. I wouldn't talk her through her wails of thinking she was going to die as she heaved out our babies, telling her she was almost there over and over.
I didn't need the box anymore. She would never take what was mine away in one again.
I tore up the stained cardboard. Through tears, the pieces were dumped into the bin by my sink that tipped over from the massive amount. I ignored it as I dried off and walked out to pull on another pair of clean shorts.
Wiping my eyes, I left my room and the lingering memories of Elgress behind in it.
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"Don't you look smart?"
Balae looked me over in admiration when I pushed out into the light and joined her by the front gate.
I had purposefully chosen to go topless. My scales were on display, mostly to soak up the sun that radiated into them to give me the energy I had lost in that disgusting room.
"You missed a bit" Balae commented when she circled me, ripping at my lower back to toss down some more shed.
"Thanks."
She approved, clacking in happiness on her way to face me.
"She'll take the lead" she explained, tilting her head up to the roof of the building "you'll be no good with legs. You'll have to ride it out."
Ride?
"It's nothing to be embarrassed about" Balae giggled when she saw my confidence falter "she's got to be quick to get out of the city and to the fields. There's too many dangers around here, that's why we usually go at night."
"And you can't because I have to be here for work."
"Exactly" she nodded "the sooner the better."
I looked to the roof now, trying to see where Silera might be.
"So, how do I hold on?"
Balae gave a little smile.
"She'll be all over the place at the back trying to work around the obstacles, so stick up near the head. Dig in if you have to; you won't hurt her. She's not going to slow down until she's at her fields. Don't fall off. Not only will she leave you behind, it'll really make you look weak."
Ok. Don't fall off. That sounded like it was going to be harder than she made it out to be.
Why did this have to be such a hurdle?
"Are you ready?"
I swallowed down my mounting fear, trying to smile.
"Sure" I shrugged.
"Just don't screw up" Balae patted my shoulder "and have fun."
She jumped up to beat her wings and take off. I squinted against the light as she soared around the side of the building and disappeared.
Moments later, I saw the gleaming black scales of Silera twining around the bricks and down towards the entrance.
She shimmered almost silver in the light. When her underside whipped up, I saw it was the slightest shade of blue against the silver there.
Silera dropped off the entrance to tower over me, looking me over. Her tongue flickered and she circled, taking me in.
"You look good in the light" she commented, tasting again.
"So do you" I returned the favour, feeling her burn under the sun when I took in her scent "you're beautiful."
"Flattery will only get you so far" she grinned and stopped before me to lower her head.
I pressed mine to it, reaching up to place my hands on either side of her face.
I felt her tongue flick against my stomach. Feeling the slime run over me, she shoved her head into my body and flicked it up to throw me on top of her.
I grabbed on to avoid sliding off. With my heart hammering and legs spread to try and get a grip, I carefully turned myself around to the front by stabbing my way around in a semi circle.
I wedged my nails in between her head scales, waiting for her to recoil. When she didn't, I bought both my legs together and locked them in place by pushing my toes in.
I think I was good. This felt stable.
"Ready?" she lifted her head up slightly.
"Mm hmm."
She didn't wait for another word. Smashing herself through the front gates, she thundered off down the right of the fenceline.
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Tearing down a thin alleyway, I saw firsthand the track she usually took.
Fences ahead were bent and patched from her travels. Dogs that roamed within them bolted over to try and snap at her body when it barrelled by.
Scales tore from her underside. She shot out of a housing block and across a road, narrowly missing a car that screeched to a halt.
I could see why she was desperate to get out of here. It was too dangerous. There were too many sharp objects tearing along her body and snapping teeth trying to attack her.
More dogs barged along the fenceline when she tore past it. I saw stray cats scatter as she was taken down another alley that squashed against both her sides.
If my legs were hanging over, they would have been cleaved off.
Silera tilted and twisted for a brick wall to her right, near the end of the way. Throwing herself up it, she almost threw me off as I dangled off the side of her head and desperately clung for life.
She straightened at the top of the roof, sliding me back into position where I stabbed deeper in fear.
I felt my own heart thundering against her head while hers was only strained a little from exertion. She wasn't scared of the dangers on her frantic rush for the other side of the city. I'd anything, it excited her to be out of the cramped corner of Paragon and feeling the wind over her body.
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Silera leapt over the rooftops nestled on either side of the road to avoid more cars underneath. Pulling to the left, her body slipped perfectly into the notches of the pointed roofs slapped side by side.
Then, we slammed into the ground and she started to follow the road to the right until she zipped to the left and down another tight entrance of a walkway.
The walk was a winding picturesque one that snaked through a park. Ahead, I could see it disappeared around a corner where a bunch of trees grew. Across from that, it bordered a massive, brown river.
She peeled from the path to barrel towards the edge. My heart dropped immediately.
I don't think I could swim. I had never had the chance to learn when I was born in dry fields and had remained firmly on land since.
"Silera" I whimpered as the edge bounced closer "SILERA!"
"HOLD ON!" her voice lifted in excitement.
Bracing and tucking my head, I felt everything lurch upwards and remain suspended for a few seconds, before my whole stomach was thrown into my throat.
I didn't have time to scream when cold water smothered my face and slapped down my back. It was brief but shocking. Instantly, I gasped in shock from the burn of it against the breeze, inhaling some of the dirty water that stuck to my throat hacking it back up.
Silera snickered as she swam on effortlessly. The only part above the water was her head, which had me wretching out the last of the water in disgust.
The sun burned down to bake the dirt from the water onto my scales. It created a film over Silera too as she set her sights on the other side where the upper-class had their waterfront homes settled.
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With more room between the homes, Silera didn't need to be so frantic with her actions.
She still kept up a pace, but not one that was break-neck.
Obviously, she had gawkers when she moved between the homes or over the fences. She kept on a straight path, locking her sights on the col-de-sac that had a perfectly paved road curving before shaded trees and more of the view of the disgusting river bordering the city.
Her body rose up so she wasn't down with her head to the ground. Moving along the empty road, I was lifted in line with the lower hanging branches.
Feeling them rake along my back, they peppered me in flowering gum nuts and loose, knobbled leaves. Silera also got her fairshare from me, flicking the ones lower down off with her tail.
It was quite nice here. The air felt fresher. The trees offered shade that stopped us from cooking in the heat. The road was kinder to Silera's body swaying across it, void of cars.
They mustn't drive them around here. Maybe they were too afraid of scratching the paint, or just had no-one else to show off for when they were all in the same income bracket?
There were a few dog-walkers who reeled in their precious pooches as Silera passed. They just gawked and watched her follow her memorized path onwards.
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Pulling out of the other side of the estate, Silera picked up speed again to stick to the furthest right of the broken road. When that ran out, she slipped into the water again to point us towards a bridge that was leading to another side of the city.
This one didn't look as congested. Beside the bridge was another green stretch of land she was aiming for. Beyond that was more road branching in different directions.
How far were we going to go? Was it really this far to find a suitable place for Silera to hunt and mate?
It seemed excessive. There was too much distance for her to get hurt. Dogs and cars were only two main causes. The terrain itself and the people swarming nearby to get a better look at the collosal snake and it's passenger could be just as dangerous.
Still, I wasn't going to steer Silera away from her familiar grounds. She knew the path and how to avoid everything else between both points. I was just along for the ride.
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Pulling up to the greenery, I felt the change in Silera's body when she shot along the road and took the one heading left. It stretched into the distance, picking off in other branches leading elsewhere.
She took the first right. Speeding down the tar here, she followed it to the dead end and kept going between the two homes nestled here.
A tiny path had been tracked through here by the humans. Silera had widened it from her other trips, bending the trees around both sides of the twiggy stretch.
I could smell the difference again in the air. Hot grass was the main scent now, rather than car exhaust fumes and garbage. The wood peeling from the trees was almost like freshly printed paper. I could even hear a few cicadas humming somewhere in the distance like bells.
Then, there was fresh water.
It babbled somewhere to the left. Silera turned down the hollow she had made, excitedly powering through it.
Pushing out at the end of the dry bushland, her scales started to be smothered in mud.
Moving through the slush, she kept going. It was like a marshland now, complete with the cattail grass and sharper blades swarming it. Mosquitos and skaters darted across the murky barely dipping halfway up her body.
She'd done this before. She created this path as a shortcut to better grounds.
Sure enough, the land cut into cracked dirt and grass on her left. Silera crawled up it, pausing to rub her underside across the shorter grass here to try and remove some of the accumulated grime.
She cut across the grassland and slithered over a portion of fencing that was crushed into the ground. Now within property, she followed the dirt path along the bottom fenceline before slipping out at another fence that was leaning against the others.
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I could hear the babbling water clearly now. I saw it sparkling under the sun and glinting off every bend over the rocks making up the bed.
Continuing, Silera turned to follow the side. Large boulders and flat slate acted as a border to the little stream. The same fenceline we had come from stretched up to our right along the whole way.
The stream stretched outwards. For something that barely looked wide enough to lay across, it quickly became a mouth that yawned for a good few meters.
It was still shallow enough to reveal the grey and black rocks underneath. The water was so clear and rippled at the slightest breeze. Warmed by the sun, somehow it still looked like it would burn from the cold breeze sweeping through.
Silera came to another makeshift ramp into the river. Opposite it, I saw another further up that lead to a little fringe of trees before stretching into more land.
I couldn't see the next fenceline. It was just unclaimed ground.
"This is it" she lowered her head to the ground next to the ramp to give me a chance to peel myself from her "the perfect grounds."
There was water and plenty of space. It wasn't too close to the property beside us that had a house towering in the distance, overlooking the slope of their property. There were cows roaming over near the other side in another field since this one now had two holes through it.
That would go over well for Silera. However, I noticed she didn't acknowledge them bellowing to each other.
"Up there" she pointed her head up the river, flicking her tongue.
I squinted towards the simmering heat hovering over the river water. Apart from a few croaks of toads, I couldn't hear anything else.
Nudging me with a smile and letting me climb back on, Silera crossed carefully now that I could sit calmly on top.
She reached the other side and left behind a trail of muck in her wake.
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Silera was glimmering again when she slowed to a crawl the further we got up the river.
Flickering her tongue out, she approached another line of trees growing around brush at a boiling flat slate.
I was careful on my descent beside her, so I didn't startle what she was hunting.
The croaking of toads climbed into a bellow. There were ones mixed into the masses that sounded like giant drums being thumped.
Silera lowered completely to the ground and lined up with the gap leading to the slate. I moved aside and grabbed the tree on the border to watch her.
After another taste of the air, she thundered out.
Throwing herself over the rock and into the river, the water exploded upwards to splatter across me, even from my position shielded by the trees.
I heard squealing and snapping. The sound of something deflating made me peek out from the shadows.
Silera had her head thrown back to fight down the giant toad slapping the sides of her mouth as it was crushed and devoured. The thing had to be the size of a large dog.
There were more of them, surrounded by smaller ones. Even more normal-sized toads swam frantically away from Silera thrashing through her meal.
Dotted spawn whipped and waved in the water. Glued to the sides of the river, they swept out like a train of bubbles along the disturbed waters.
With blood dripping down her face, Silera lunged for the next toad; a smaller one. She didn't even need to fight it, it had no chance as it was swallowed whole.
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Grinning at the feast swarming the area before me, I rushed out onto the slate to lower myself down into the water.
It was surprisingly warmer than I expected. Immediately, my feet were swallowed up and I sank until the water lapped at my knees.
Wading further out, it licked further up until it ringed my waist. Toads kicked past me to try and escape Silera casting shade over the patch she snapped her way through.
Squeezing my hand around a lumpy toad skimming past me, I had to use both to keep the slippery, squirming animal secure.
It slapped me and bit the air as it tried to fight back. Snorting at it's toothless attempt to hurt me, I lunged and easily shoved the whole thing into my mouth.
Biting down, it burst.
It caught me off-guard when I felt the slimy jelly of its skin mixing with the spaghetti consistency of the guts. There was fertilised spawn still inside this one that burst like thick, slippery lollies up around in my cheeks.
The bones were way more fragile compared to a rats. They were thin and jabbed the back of my throat to try and pierce it.
I crunched and attempted to ground down the bones into something that wouldn't shred my throat. In doing so, I saw Silera watching me with a smirk on her face.
"You aren't supposed to chew them."
"It popped" I shuddered back when I finally got it down, feeling my blood bubble when the slime and lumpiness slowly flossed between my mouth and throat "it's....different."
"Be a snake" she shook her head in amusement, laughing.
Lowering my head in embarrassment and shame that I might have blown my chance, I snatched up another toad.
Gripping it, I saw Silera swallowing another giant one, looking back to watch me with mine.
Shoving it in my mouth, I could feel it struggling. It hopped frantically and slapped, making my head shake from the fight.
Silera gulped down hers and laughed at me. Approaching, she cast a shadow and lowered her head to mine.
"You can do it" she giggled.
Narrowing my eyes, I tilted my head back like she did and swallowed. The toad kicked out and pressed its little fingers against my throat crushing it. It felt like I was trying to choke down a whole wad of thick mucous. It didn't feel right as it crawled down my throat at a snails-pace.
I felt the space above my chest grow bubbly. My gut clenched and gurgled when the slowly suffocating frog was pushed further with each forced swallow.
It bulged out at my chest and scrape down my ribs. It really did feel like I was choking. The instinct to gasp for air wasn't there. I just stood here as it squashed it's way down to my stomach that fluttered at the odd consistency being added to it. The warm water lapping against it from the outside really wasn't helping the weird sensation.
"It feels like butterflies" I commented.
"It'll pass" Silera smiled and nudged my chest "first time with toads?"
I nodded, burning in shame again.
She turned, smirking back at me.
"Try the toad spawn. It might be easier for you."
She left to hunt down her next toads. Peering over at the bubbly clumps of eggs spotted with life, I knew she was being condescending.
I could handle the actual toads. I didn't need to resort to eggs like a baby learning their way around live foods did.
Scowling, the next toad was pierced with my claws. Snapping it up, I huffed through the fight it gave and squeezed it down, wrinkling my nostrils at how disgusting it felt sliding down to my stomach.
If I wanted to prove myself, I'd show Silera I could handle a few toads.
She battled with another bigger one and easily won. Others swam or hopped their way along the grassy ledge for escape.
Hey cared about nothing else but freedom. They even abandoned their own eggs to flee.
They were passing me by. I could easily kill one of them and show Silera I wasn't weak.
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Wading for the slate that I drenched when I hauled myself up, I waited for more toads to come.
I ignored the smaller ones hopping around me or flinging themselves into the water to avoid my path. The bigger ones also went by unscathed.
Then, the giant ones started to show.
I locked onto the first jumping its way along the path blindly. Another leapt for the water, but this one barrelled straight for a way past me as I froze up and waited by the trees.
Hearing it's fat body slap against the ground with a gutteral croak, it leapt right in line with me.
I leapt out and struck, wrapping my arms around the flabby front leg to rip it back and immobilize it.
The giant toad was no pushover. It was easily half my height and had a gaping mouth with enough pressure to seriously injured me.
Wrapping my legs around its back ones like I had with Nisha, the toad bucked and tried to leap to throw me off. It croaked and snapped as I got it's other free arm to pull beside it, grounding it.
Hissing to try and stop it from fighting, I locked my eyes on the back of its lumpy head rubbing against the grass.
I didn't get to strike Nisha when I wanted to. Here, there was nothing stopping me from just killing this thing.
I was better. I had been fucked over. I deserved more.
Plunging my fangs into its neck, I could feel the venom spilling into its fat. The toad gargled and cried out, writhing to try and dislodge me.
None of the others came to aid it. It was already dead in their eyes.
Ripping out, I moved to the other side to pierce it. I don't think there was any venom left. I just wanted to bite into something.
It should have been Bruce. Maybe even Elgress. I had already done that once.
Maybe Avery? Or Nisha again? And even though Balae told me not to blame him, I definitely wanted this toad to be Ezra.
I saw what they did in that room. I could still taste her pushing me out of her life like I was nothing.
Stabbing into the back of the toad, I moved my arms around to clasp together and strangle it.
It was barely breathing. I didn't care. I wanted it well and truly dead for Silera.
I wasn't weak. I could handle myself.
Biting in again right behind it's rolling eyes, I squeezed my fangs together to tear through.
I wasn't going to let the betrayal of the person I thought I'd love forever stop me. I had someone here who already was ready to commit their life to the same goal.
Swallowing down the chunk of fat I yanked off, the lifeless body started to spill blood. Standing beside it, I turned to see Silera watching silently from the river.
She was impressed. Holding myself up proudly, I watched her exit the water and gleam in the sun as she surveyed the giant toad I had killed for her.
Presenting it, I stepped aside so she could take it and devour it. Blood gushed from her mouth again, splattering to the grass below her.
Her focus was intense. I didn't dare break it. Our eyes locked as we tasted the heat between us, her body moving around to circle mine.
She was ready. I wasn't going to fail twice.
Silera was going to be my new mate.
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