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The Cycle of Survival

Both Dolus and Vinn were trekking westward across the Mid-Saff'raldian plains to cross the threshold and start selling some wares to neighbouring nation Viokenic. Vinn had helped his employer gain grand notoriety in their homeland from the southern jungles to the northern highlands, and now it was time to spread. With the help of his friend Dolus, he would be returning to the dragon's homeland and selling what they had to offer.

It was a rather grand journey to travel by foot from middle Saff'Rald all the way across the sea to another land, but Dolus was unable to fly due to just how much product he was carrying. The massive green and yellow dragon had a series of saddlebags draped over his haunches filled with literally hundreds of tiny vials of potions. Green potions, red potions, purple potions, bubbly and fizzy potions, even potions that smelled like a rot-leaf in the wilting season.

But these potions could do virtually anything, depending on what enchantments were added to the fluids. It was a lucrative business, and one of his top sellers was a mystery potion of aqua hue and scent of slickberries. It was his hidden weapon, something that could transform anyone's wildest dreams into reality, as long as your dream was to be swallowed up by a dragon.

"I really think you should try it." Vinn urged as he jauntily padded along beside his much larger dragon friend. His scales were smoothe and dry compared to Dolus, but they shared a bright green about them, and both had accents of yellow highligts, though Vinn had blue and white speckles on his throat and running down his sides.

Dolus shook his head slowly, the motion clanging the bottles and vials against each other in the saddle bags. "I don't think it's safe."

"Then how are you going to sell a product you don't believe in? Just try some, we'll maybe test it out on each other first. Look, we don't even need to take much, a single serving is about one tiny vial. Nobody actually expects us to arrive with every single vial unbroken, this is just us giving out free samples anyway, the orders come later." He sidled up next to Dolus and fliped open the top of a saddle bag and plucked out a single vial and held it up to the dragon's side, so he could see it. The vial couldn't have been any bigger than half of Vinn's thumb.

"I just don't believe in taking product we're supposed to be sharing with people. Besides, I'm not really that sure of my own abilities."

Vinn shrugged and flipped the vial in the air before catching it and slipping it into his kilt pocket. "What do you mean not sure of it. Vore isn't hard, really. I mean, you swallow. End of discussion. If the potion works - and I'm sure it will - then there's nothing more to do on your part. One sip, one gulp, and then I don't have to walk alongside you this whole time!"

Dolus shook his head and sighed, stretching his wings in such a way that the shoulder smacked his lizard friend in the back of the head before retracting again so he could continue walking. The two were at the base of a series of mountains that erupted into the sky to the north, with virtually nothing on any other side. South of them was open plain with a few bits of bush dotting the landscape, to the east was the massive wood they'd trekked through the previous two days, and ahead of them to the west lie nothing but more open plains. It would be another three day's journey before they reached anything aside from a few small farming communities that benefited from the rainfall that slid down the mountain into the plains, giving them perfect farm land. Not a lot to see, just a long trek before they met up with any others they could barter some travel with. With any luck they'd find a couple equines or someone with a caravan they could hitch a ride on. Vinn was given a few thousand chips worth of coin, which would be plenty to fund their trip.

But much to their chagrin, just as Vinn was coming to terms with the fact that it'd be at least another day before they were able to relieve their feet, there was a massive crack of thunder to the north.

Both stopped in their tracks and looked up to the mountaintops, but there wasn't a lot of anything giving away any sort of incoming storm. The skies were clear in every other direction, but there was no way to tell what kind of weather was on the other side of the mountain range. Both scaled travelers had to make a quick decision.

"Well, that's not promising at all." Vinn muttered. "Either we've got a storm climbing the peak and is about to spill over into the plains, or someone is practicing some pretty intense magic. We can either risk it and keep along the path and hope to find a settlement to the west...." He paused a bit, using hand motions to emphasize. "....Or we can...well, do nothing at all. Not really a lot we can do. Plains in any direction and no habitation in sight. Today just got really crummy."

Dolus sighed and smiled. "Bah, you lizard people. Open your eyes a bit. If that is a storm, we can just take shelter in a cave!"

Vinn's fin laid flat against his spine as he raised an eyebrow. "A cave? What are you going to do, dig in the dirt or something?"

"No, do you honestly not see that entrance over at the base of that cliff?" Dolus pointed his snout over towards the base of the mountain, which had a sudden, steep drop-off just west of a waterfall.

"I See a waterfall. I see a cliff. I see some nasty looking rocks, but no cave. What, you want us to potentially go towards the mountains, making the storm hit us even faster, if it even is a storm?"

Dolus was about to respond when there was a blinding flash of light from the other side of the peak followed by a deep bellowing roar of thunder. Both shut up immediately and trained their eyes to the summit, where they saw thick black clouds snake their way around either side of the mountaintop and slide down the other side before leveling off, tiny bursts of lightning striking at the green and gray cliffside. The storm clouds were so black they looked like smoke, and were moving so fast it almost felt like they were sentient.

"So you want me to go NEAR that? You want me to get closer to that? I thought dragons were supposed to be smart." Vinn scoffed.

"No, I don't WANT you to, but I do want to seek some sort of shelter. Look at those clouds, they're going to be on us within a half hour anyway, and the only place that has any shelter from it is that cave near the waterfall. It's either stay on course and feel the full wrath of the storm, or go to the cave and get it over with quickly, followed by enjoying shelter until the rain passes." He didn't wait for Vinn to respond, instead digging his heels into the dirt and grass of the plains and changing course, bounding off at the maximum speed his haunches would allow without breaking the vials in his saddle bags.

Vinn, on the other hand, didn't really have time to think about what to do, so he twitched an eye in a split second decision before following behind the quadruped. Luckily, he was known for great speed, able to run quickly and even go fast enough to walk on water for a few steps. Quadruped dragons still ran faster, but Dolus was weighed down by the product they were shipping, Vinn quickly caught up and slowed down for his friend. As they both kept in time with one another, bolting across the open field towards the cliff face, Vinn managed to huff out one small complaint. "I ... hate ... you .... right now!"

Dolus ignored him and kept running. His endurance was good enough that he didn't get exhausted, but not good enough that he could carry on a conversation or argument along the way. He wanted to run until he got to shelter, because he could literally see the wall of rain advancing towards them. It was a shimmering, silver mask of falling rain that they both dreaded hitting. First, it was just a light rain, then like the difference between a waterfall and the mist that surrounds it, they were both being soaked from snout to tail tip in heavy rain.

Instead of whining about it, they both continued to run at the best speed they could go, hopping and dodging over rocks and little mini-hills everywhere, careful to not slip on the rain-slicked grass between their feet. As they continued to zip across the open plains, a series of lightning strikes hit around them, the sun being blocked by the smoke-black clouds to leave only the occasional bolt flashes to illuminate the landscape.

They had to be careful and they knew it. They were in an open plain, and with strikes of lightning raining down around them, it was only a matter of time before a passage through them became the path of least resistance. Both scaled beasts were practically targets to the wrath of mother nature. It was actually quite astounding that the storm had rolled in so remarkably fast.

Vinn eventually saw the little black hole in the side of the cliff by the waterfall, alleviating some of his fears a little. He was more than happy to see that his friend wasn't delusional, but he should have known better. Dragons are flyers, so they are by default expected to have pristine vision. Vinn knew this but was too worried about getting his friend to try the insta-pred potion to worry about whether he was lying or not. Now, he was glad that Dolus had just ran without waiting.

It took them near a half hour to get from the path to the cave, and one final series of deafening lightning strikes illuminated the cavern walls just enough to show that it was a deep cave, deep enough to shelter them until the storm passed.

They both dove over a large rock that was at the mouth of the cave, rolling to a stop in the relatively dry gravel and dirt of their new shelter. Vinn was the first to his feet, brushing rocks and dirt off his scales and the kilt he wore, the pat down reminding him to check on the vial in his front pocket. His dextrous fingers felt around it and it seemed fine, but even once he held it up to the light at the maw of the cave he couldn't tell if there was liquid in the vial. He didn't care as much as he cared about not being out in that storm anymore.

Well, he did care, but he cared more about safety. "That was close." He sighed, leaning against the rocky cave wall as another crack of lightning blasted just outside the cave's mouth, the blast of sound hurting his ear drums and making him flinch in pain.

"We're safe now. Might as well curl up and nap until this all passes over. I highly doubt we're going to get any more traveling in before nightfall." Dolus arched his back and wiggled his way out from the saddle bags, using his hind legs to push them up against the cave wall and in between two rocks for safe keeping. Vinn did the same with his kilt but kept the vial in his thumb and forefinger.

Another intense blast of lightning struck outside as a powerful gust of air tore through the cave, chilly and moist enough to make Vinn shiver and nearly drop the vial. "Skies, damn it. So cold out there! You know, you know what you could do to keep a little thin lizard like me warm!"

Vinn couldn't see Dolus roll his eyes, but he did hear the gentle huff followed by a brief glow around the edge of the dragon's lips. "Is that all you think about?"

"I'm a salesman, Dolus. It's what I do. I gotta have faith in my product. The gryph and I developed it together, and I'm quite proud of what we did with this potion in particular, so I would be insulted if you didn't at least try it!"

"I have tried it, I just don't think now is not the time." Dolus turned his back and yawned heavily, a deep orange glow oozing out over his tongue to land in a thick pile on the dirt and rock near the mouth of the cave. It was a blob of magma that almost immediately caught fire and filled the cave with an appropriate glow and heat level to keep it comfortable. HE coughed and licked his lips a bit before looking up to Vinn with the trembling glow dancing on his chin. "There, warm enough for ya?"

Vinn scoffed right back and sighed, slumping down next to the magma while staying just far enough away to not have it melt his skin off. Magma is insanely hot, even with a raging storm at one's back! "This will do for now, but I want you to know that I'd rather be in your belly."

"I'm sure you would."

The two lay in silence around the fire that seemed to never dwindle, backdrop of storm crashing lightning and thunder just outside. They could feel the mist on their backs, but their magma-fire kept them hot where it mattered.

It was Dolus that broke the silence after a few hours of storm.

"Never actually done it before." He whispered, frills along his neck laying tight against his spine. He let out a long wheeze as he shook his head in disappointment.

"What did you never do?" Vinn asked, groggily getting to a cross-legged sitting position as he rubbed his eyes. He was on the verge of a proper nap when Dolus woke him.

"Never did the vore thing, at least not willingly."

There was a slight pause of silence as Vinn gathered his thoughts. "What? Really? I gave you a sample like a month ago. You were supposed to try it out on a friend, you said Mavi let you eat him."

Dolus curled up and nibbled on the end of his frilled tail nervously. "He did, I just couldn't do it. I wanted to try it, but something about it all freaked me out, I couldn't imagine myself swallowing someone. What if something went wrong? What if the potion didn't take or they had a reaction to it? What if I messed something up? What if I accidentally ate the wrong potion? I once had a bad encounter with some transformation potions, and..."

Vinn shushed him and got to his feet, stopping Dolus' train of thought mid-sentence. "No more. You can't possibly sell a potion if you don't try it. We're stuck here, come on, try it." He tossed the vial to his dragon friend, who caught it with his front foot between his claws.

"I don't know, can't we just..."

"Nope, drink up. No excuses. We're trying this, if you don't like it, then spit me out. We're not taking one more westward step until I prove to you that this works. Go on, drink up."

There was another long, awkward pause as Dolus and Vinn stared at each other, the shimmering orange glow illuminating both of their chests, making both look sinister and aggressive. Dolus was the one to give in, popping the cork off the vial and throwing his head back to swallow the liquid in one quick gulp.

"There, are you happy? How long does it take?" Dolus rolled his eyes and flared out his fins, a little upset that he'd been pressured into something that made him uncomfortable. In reality, he had no intention of doing such a thing to his friend, at least not without others there to make sure it was safe or for emergency purposes.

A smile burst across Vinn's maw as soon as Dolus drank the potion. "Yep! Super happy. We can't really do anything for ten minutes though, as...."

His voice was cut off by Dolus, who groaned heavily, clutching his belly as he rolled on his side.

"...as the potion is going to do a bit of a number on your gut, changing the chemistry of your digestive system to be more like a Bolean Naga. Don't worry, that nausea will pass in a few minutes, then we'll be fine."

Dolus didn't respond, instead taking in long, deep breaths as he tried to cope with the unpleasantry of what felt like his insides being tied up in a mixer. He let out a series of gentle burps followed by tiny splashes of hot magma erupting from his glands, only to dry up and turn crisp before hitting Vinn.

"Give it time, give it time."

"Gruuuuu! I don't want to give it time, what did you put in that? Forget this, I'm not in the mood to eat anything, it feels like I'm digesting myself from the inside out!"

"I told you, that's the chemical reaction, you're gonna get a little gassy at both ends before it gets any better, then you'll be fine, and there's an additional side effect wherein it makes you more than a little ravenous. Even if you don't feel comfortable, you're gonna be so hungry it won't matter." Vinn walked over to his friend and laid his ear on the dragon's belly, hearing the gurgling and hissing from within, followed by a series of gentle, drawn out burps as well as a bit of gas from the other end, too.

This continued for a few minutes - just like Vinn said it would - before finally subsiding. As soon as the final burp echoed out through the cavern, Dolus felt his eyes glaze over, and a special tingle emanate from his throat and through his body from maw to rump. It was a strange sensation that seemed to coax a bit of anticipation from his reptilian slit. "W-what did you do?" he asked, a sultry but confused glare in his eyes.

Vinn snatched up the vial and took a sniff. "This is odd, seems this might have been the aphrodesiac mix, not the hunger one. Ah well, maybe in the heat of the-"

This time it was Vinn's turn to be distracted, as he saw a set of glowing blue orbs on the other side of Dolus deep in the cave, followed by a series of a few dozen smaller ones. Dolus paused to look back at what Vinn was staring at as well, only to find himself enraptured by what he saw. When he looked back at Vinn, his eyes were the same color as the glowing orbs on the other side of the cave.

Vinn gulped deep, not sure what was going on, but he was fairly certain it wasn't good. Suddenly, Dolus pounced on the Lizard, glowy orange maw wrapping around his upper half, flattening his fin against the back of his neck...