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"Sacrifice"

By: Ty the Fox

'How doth the little crocodile

Improve his shining tail,

And pour the waters of the Nile

On every golden scale?

How cheerfully he seems to grin,

How neatly he spreads his claws,

And welcomes little fishes in,

With gently smiling jaws!'

"Huh." Alex wrinkled his nose in bemusement, his golden eyes darting back and forth as they scanned over a time-worn copy of Alice's Adventure in Wonderland. Natural curiosity had driven him to pluck the battered tome out of the "Classics" section of his local library, and he was beginning to regret it. Reading was one of his favorite pastimes, though usually the coyote stuck to the cheap paperbacks peddled by his local grocery store. Simple, likable characters, clear plots, and good pacing: these were the things Alex enjoyed most when reading. While these novels were on the whole forgettable, they kept him engaged and didn't strain his brain; after all, how relaxing an activity can reading be when you're constantly rereading passages and scratching your head in confusion? Now he was in the exact position he dreaded every time he thought of bridging the gap between fiction and literature. Alex stared at the poem one more time, snorted, then dog-eared the page and shut the book in frustration. Perhaps Alice in Wonderland had been a poor choice; surely not all of the revered classics were strewn with utter nonsense on every page. The worst part of it was that the coyote knew that there was a method to this madness, that there was some underlying logic and purpose to Lewis Carroll's fable. To be honest, he felt much like Alice, thrown into a dream world where, as she herself put it: '...everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be. And what it wouldn't be, it would.' Was that the point? Alex didn't know, but either way, it wasn't particularly enjoyable. Sighing, he slipped the book into his pocket and stared out onto the pristine landscape.

The western edge of the park was bounded solely by the aptly named Azure River, a long, winding affair whose stunningly blue waters had slowly carved a gently sloping valley out of a hill of shale. The tawny-furred coyote was lying comfortably in the cool grass by the water's edge, propping his front half up with his arms so that he could get a solid look at the sky as the sun began its daily descent below the horizon. No landscape artist could have asked for a better view: the sun blazed a fiery blood red color, painting the sky in rich yellows and oranges with the occasional streak of magenta near the border of evening and night. The nearby clouds, reflecting the vibrant hues, were a grayish periwinkle, lazily floating by before they would become swallowed up in a dusky blue night sky. Even the water below caught some of the light, the smoothly flowing river shimmering darkly as orange and blue tones mixed. There was a fair breeze moving towards the setting sun, and though it was already rather cool outside, Alex didn't mind the wind caressing his skin as it passed. Closing his eyes, the coyote took a deep whiff; the air carried with it the subtle tones of August: moist leaves, grass, dandelions, buttercups, and clover, all without a trace of the pungent scents associated with civilization. Exhaling and sighing, Alex reflected: it was a perfect late summer's eve, one of the last of its kind for the year, and here he was, able to observe the unrestrained beauty of nature at its purest. At times like this, he felt a distant longing for things to return to as they once were; this was the only place left in a hundred miles that didn't reek of asphalt, gasoline, and cigarette butts. Was the convenience of endless lines of strip malls really worth it? Alex didn't think so, or at least he refused to admit it to himself given the gorgeous view before him. Shrugging, he sighed again and sprawled out fully on the soft earth, paws propped up behind his head. At least there's refuge in the fact that there are still places like this that allow us to appreciate nature. The tweeting of passing songbirds provided a pleasant counterpoint to the burbling of the river below and soon the coyote found himself yawning and closing his eyes with a content smile on his face. Just for a little while...

* * *

It was night when he awoke. The sky had cleared up, allowing the moon and stars to outline the silhouettes of the trees in an ethereal shade of blue. "Damn!" the coyote muttered to himself, quickly getting to his feet and looking around frantically. He had hiked over three miles to get to this spot from where his car was parked on the outskirts of his home town, and while he had followed a path through the densely populated copse, there were no signs or landmarks he could use to find his way now that it was dark out. Alex shivered; he was dressed only in a pair of loose-fitting khaki shorts and a short-sleeved polo shirt, attire appropriate for this afternoon but not for the chill of a late summer's night. It's going to be nearly impossible to get back to my car at this time of night. Still, I've got to try. With the coldness in the air steeling his resolve, the coyote took a deep breath and entered the forest.

After about two hours of wandering through the park, Alex collapsed on the ground in frustration, tears of panic in his eyes. The thick canopy of the trees blocked out nearly all of the already scarce light, making finding his way even harder than he had anticipated; on numerous occasions he had blindly tripped over tree roots and crashed into prickly bushes. To make matters worse, the park was over twenty square miles in area, making it impossible for him to pinpoint his location. Now cold, hungry, tired, scraped up, and thoroughly disheartened by his lack of success, Alex rubbed away the wetness in his eyes, trying to calm himself so that he could figure out a way to salvage the situation: a difficult task given the amount of adrenaline pumping through his veins. There were feral bears in these woods, and though he knew that attacks were infrequent, the coyote wasn't comfortable sleeping on the ground. The only other option, however, was to sleep on a sturdy limb of one of the nearby trees, and he was a poor climber even when he could see what he was doing. The only thing attempting to scale a tree full of sharp branches in near-total darkness would accomplish would be to add to his already extensive collection of scrapes, cuts, and bruises. Unable to come up any other ideas, he resigned himself to curling up on the ground, compacting himself into as much of a ball as was physically possible so that he could keep his body warm. Within a few moments though, despite the chilling breeze whistling through the trees, the coyote finally began to relax a bit as his body succumbed to the aftermath of the adrenaline rush.

Just as he was about to doze off, however, Alex saw something flash out of the corner of his eye. Making a sharp contrast with the shadowy traces of the trees all around him was a pair of large, ice-blue eyes peering out at him from behind the curtain of night. He instantly froze on the spot, a shiver running down his spine as he met this creature's intense gaze. There was a queer fire to those eyes that filled Alex with intrigue despite his paralyzing fear, a sharp iridescence that suggested a cool intelligence; this was not a dumb beast. As he noticed the creature's pupils focus on him, a scream rose in his throat but was cut off prematurely, his vocal cords rigid from fright. Alex knew he was dealing with a force far greater and more dangerous than a bear.

Thud...The ground beneath him quivered from the sheer force of the creature's footfall.

Thud...This second sound was louder than the first; Alex let out a muffled squeak as he realized that this giant was approaching him.

...Nothing.

The coyote held his breath, hoping that the silence would last and that the creature would simply leave. Fifteen seconds passed, then thirty...he closed his eyes and bit his lower lip, frantic prayers racing through his mind.

THUD! Shivering in fear, Alex slowly looked up, only to see this monster's scathingly brilliant eyes boring down on him. As the tension in his body finally reached a breaking point, the coyote's breath left him with a soft sigh and he fainted on the spot.

* * *

"Ugh...wha-?" Alex rubbed the back of his head ruefully as he came to and shakily got to his feet. Though he didn't think he was hurt, the coyote still felt very groggy and disoriented; stumbling around in the dark, he still couldn't figure out where he was or how he had gotten there. All he could remember was waking up in the park at night and scrambling around fruitlessly in the dense thicket before...eyes, blue eyes, and then...nothing. What was curious, though, was that the ground he was currently standing on was solid rock, not earth as he would have expected; with this realization, Alex felt a cold wave pass through his body as his dim hope that the whole experience could have been simply a bad dream crumbled away into nothingness. Feeling around blindly with his forepaws and finding only more cold rock, Alex discerned that he was in some sort of cave, and an unusual sort at that: the walls and floor were smooth, like glass. What could have made this?

Puzzled and rather cold--the air was oddly nippy for the season--Alex hugged himself and curled into a fetal position, shivering slightly. He allowed his eyelids to flutter shut, hoping that when they opened it would be morning and this whole hellish experience would be over. However, in barely a few minutes the coyote was disturbed once again, this time with dull, heavy footsteps and a slight rustling sound. Petrified, Alex shuddered; even in the dark, he could make out a faint but very large silhouette on the wall before him, and with each thud of the creature's feet it drew broader and nearer. When finally the creature's sky-blue irises peer down at him, the coyote's heart skipped a beat and he quaked harder than ever, again too frightened to make a sound.

"You're awake! I'm sorry; I meant to be back before you woke up." The smooth, rumbling baritone sounded genuinely concerned, much to Alex's surprise. "It can get quite chilly up here...here,"--he heard a loud clatter on the ground in front of him--"I'll start a fire."

Still frozen in his fetal pose, Alex watched in amazement as the creature before him took a deep breath, then blew a blazing stream of red fire onto the sizable pile of sticks at his feet. With the wood crackling and smoldering pleasantly, the coyote let out a soft moan of relief and sidled up close to the fire, warming his extremities fervently while he gazed up at the intimidating figure for the first time in a lit setting. The dragon--no one could have mistaken the great beast for anything else--easily stood eight feet at the withers and was no less than fifteen feet long from nose to tail. Its whole body was covered with what appeared to be a rough, lizard-like hide, its inky black hue swallowing up all the light around it; it was no great mystery how the dragon had managed to sneak up on him unseen. With each exhalation, thin wisps of gray smoke trailed from its nostrils. Though it had no ears to speak of, two long, obsidian horns jutted out of the back of its head and sparkled dangerously in the firelight. Its eyes were set on either side of his long muzzle like a pair of giant, glittering sapphires; as they continued to focus in on him unblinkingly, Alex couldn't help but take a hard, fearful gulp and avert his gaze. Being somewhat well-versed in mythical creatures from the large collection of fantasy novels he'd read, the coyote knew at once that this was a Western, a type of dragon with four limbs and great wings set behind its shoulders. At the moment those wings were folded up against its body, but Alex guessed that they probably spanned at least twenty feet if they were to support such a massive creature in flight. Though the dark shade of the pebbly skin hid much, he could tell that the dragon was well-muscled; Alex's keen eyes could just make out the slight, sinewy bulges in its legs and back. Its thick tail, which was tipped with four jet-black spikes (much like the horns on its head), idly swung back and forth; Alex was quite relieved to be sitting far away from its reach, as it looked like one swipe from that tail would be able to knock him unconscious, to say nothing of the malevolent daggers at its tip. Shivering and gulping again, the coyote tentatively tried to meet the creature's gaze, his ears fretfully folded back against his head. Not quite sure what to say to it, but feeling terribly uncomfortable under the dragon's silent scrutiny, Alex whimpered, "H-h-hi there..."

The dragon smiled, flashing a full set of flawless ivories, each pointed tooth fitting between the two adjacent ones as neatly as a jigsaw puzzle, then let out a hearty laugh that filled up the whole cave with loud echoes all around him. Alex cringed in fear and shielded his ears, waiting for the dreadful noise to abate. When finally the last remnants of its chuckle had dissipated, the dragon snaked its great muzzle in towards the coyote in what it probably supposed was a kindly gesture. "Heh, I'm sorry if I frightened you, little one. My name is Zarconyx. This is my home. What's your name?"

"Um..."--Alex struggled for a moment; the sight of the dragon was still rather intimidating--"I'm Alex. It's, uh...nice to meet you...and stuff." The coyote shakily met the beast's intense eyes, trying to be polite, but could only sustain the glance for a moment before turning his head away in fear once more.

Zarconyx let out an amused snort, shaking his head ever so slightly, then craned his head in even closer. Still not quite reassured despite the dragon's welcoming voice, Alex tried to shirk away, but Zarconyx was a bit too quick for him. To Alex's surprise, the dragon ever so gently rubbed his muzzle against his cheek and let out a soft rumble, almost like a purr. He couldn't help but giggle; the sound was so deep it reverberated inside his chest, a ticklish yet soothing sensation. Sighing deeply, Alex began to let some of the tension out of his body; though it had appeared rugged at first glance, the dragon's skin was actually rather smooth and soft to the touch, like fine leather. In addition, to his pleasant surprise, the dragon was actually quite warm, hot even. The heat was calming, welcoming--he found himself closing his eyes and nuzzling Zarconyx, arms curling around his snout and binding him in a warm hug. The great beast rumbled again, louder this time, and Alex actually laughed aloud, unable to hide his delight as he's tickled once again. After a few moments, the dragon slipped his head out of Alex's grasp. "So, feel better?"

Alex smiled and nodded; he did feel much calmer now. "So..."--he'd never been good at small talk, especially with those many times his size--"This is, where you live?"

The dragon smirked and snorted, then nodded. "Yes, this is my home, as I said before. We're approximately twenty-five hundred feet above the ground, in what you call Mt. Kinsmore, I believe."

"Mt. Kinsmore...?" Alex rubbed his head. That was a good twenty or so miles away from the park, not to mention the fact that they were so far up. No wonder it was cold. Getting closer to the fire once again to warm himself, he asked, "I noticed that the rock in this cave is extremely smooth. It's not natural, is it?" The coyote had some more pressing questions he wanted to ask, but he thought it rude to point out that up until now he'd thought dragons didn't exist.

"Ah, very observant of you." Zarconyx smiled. "A dragon's fire is quite hot. I actually made this cave myself, melting a hole into the western side of the mountain. It's large enough for me to be comfortable but small enough that it avoids detection. Besides, the hiking trails and popular climbing spots are all on the eastern face. In any event, it keeps me pretty well isolated, which is how I like it."

Alex nodded; with those pleasantries out of the way, now seemed as good a time as any. "So...you're, erm, a dragon, then?"

Zarconyx laughed again. "Well of course. What else could I be?" As Alex turned his head away in embarrassment, the dragon took on a more serious tone. "I see...well, in fact, dragons have been around for about as long as your kind. The rich folklore about us, while flattering, is actually in our eyes an unfortunate consequence of the few encounters we've had over the past couple millennia. Our numbers have fluctuated greatly during this time, but now we choose to keep our population as small as we can, mainly due to what happened during the Middle Ages." Alex tilted his head to one side, puzzled, and the dragon smiled bitterly. "We grew careless and began to multiply, and our conflicts with your kind became more and more frequent. One dragon could take a few knights on his own, but a hundred could easily overpower him. One by one we were killed until we were almost completely wiped out in Europe. When the last few of us regrouped, we made a pact to spread out and keep our numbers minimal to ensure our survival. Thus we've remained for centuries, quiet and steadfast observers." Zarconyx let out a deep sigh. "I'm only a few years past three hundred, so I've lived in almost absolute solitude almost my whole life. Still, we dragons are not dumb creatures; I've enjoyed watching your race progress over the past few hundred years, and even followed your culture to a degree." Without warning, the dragon blew a small fireball; Alex thought he could feel some of his fur singe slightly with the heat. It splashed and dissipated on the stone floor of the cave, but not before revealing the largest pile of books the coyote had ever seen. Some were modern-day paperbacks, but most were large, leather-bound volumes with pages of yellowing parchment; Alex supposed that some of these books were original copies printed hundreds of years ago. There were also a few large paintings and some large manuscripts of what he figured must be classical music scattered about the dragon's hoard.

The coyote was completely taken aback; there were enough books in here to fill a small library, and no doubt the dragon had read them all. Alex peered up at Zarconyx with an expression of newfound awe on his face. "I-I'm amazed. You've read all these?"

Zarconyx smiled toothlessly and nodded. "Indeed. Speaking of which, what's that you have in your pocket?" Alex glanced to his side pocket; sure enough, his borrowed copy of Alice in Wonderland was still there and making a visible bulge against his thigh. Slipping it out, he said, "Oh, this is just a book I took out of the library. I like to read too, though I've certainly not read as many books as you."

Stretching a clawed hand out towards him, Zarconyx gingerly plucked up the book between two fingers and placed it on the floor by the firelight, then snaked his muzzle down so that the tip of his snout was almost touching the pages. Turning an eye towards the coyote, Zarconyx's lips upturned into an amused half smile. "Being big isn't always an advantage, you know." Turning his attention back to the book, the dragon proceeded to glance through it rapidly, pinching pages between two of his dagger-like claws and carefully peeling them off to the side as needed. Occasionally he would grin or chuckle; Alex just sat and watched in silence, fidgeting in his seat. It was uncomfortable and awkward to watch someone read; on the other hand, the coyote was too apprehensive to interrupt the dragon, still unsure of his intentions. Questions like "What am I doing here?" and "How long do you want me to stay?" buzzed around in his head like pesky houseflies; each time he tried to swat them away, they came back within a moment to irritate him some more. Sometimes he would open up his mouth to speak, but he never could bring himself to say anything, lest he incur the dragon's anger. Zarconyx seemed to be in a fair mood at the moment, but there was no telling how long it would last. Finally, the dragon closed the book with a sigh of contentment and turned his attention back towards Alex. "Ah, a fine book. Carroll's witticisms never cease to amuse me."

The coyote feigned a smile, then folded his arms in his lap and looked at the floor; the sense of unease was growing rapidly. He wanted very badly to leave this place now; there was something off in the dragon's tone and mannerisms, as if the amicable disposition was merely a mask for something much darker. It was only a hunch of course, but it was quite disquieting one. When he just couldn't handle the uncertainty any longer, he took a hard gulp and a deep breath to pluck up his courage, then forced himself to make eye contact with Zarconyx and pointedly asked, "So...erm, why did you drag me all the way up here?" A large part of him wanted to stick to the naïve assumption that the dragon just wanted some company, a brief respite from a lifetime of loneliness.

"Oh, I thought you could perhaps entertain me for a bit," the dragon replied, bending his neck lower to force the coyote to meet his eyes. The pretense of friendliness evaporated completely; Alex felt his blood run cold as he gazed helplessly back at the sinister, toothy grin on Zarconyx's face. For a moment he was too dumbstruck to respond, transfixed by the dragon's leering visage. His mouth was pursed into an "O" and his eyes bulged; Alex's thoughts suddenly drifted to a piece of artwork he'd once had to write an essay on, Edvard Munch's The Scream, as he realized how similar his expression must be to that of the painting's subject. But he wasn't screaming now - he couldn't - instead of the yelp he tried to give, the coyote only let out a strained cough as he felt his throat close on him. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. No way to escape this beast and his desires. Finally, Alex mustered up the fortitude to stammer out: "W-w-what do you mean b-by that?"

Zarconyx chuckled darkly. "Let me show you." The dragon leaned in close, so close he could feel the dragon's sweltering breath misting over his face.

"Listen, y-you can't just..." Alex trailed off, suddenly finding himself distracted. With the dragon so close that they could touch noses, the coyote couldn't help but look into those great eyes. They had been so terrifying before that he wouldn't spare them more than just a furtive glance, but now that they were so near...well, they didn't seem terrifying at all. The almost harsh flash in them had ebbed to a dull glow, like that of the embers of a dying fire. It was odd; maybe it was just a trick of the light, but to Alex, Zarconyx's irises seemed to be flowing, as though fluid. They stretched on and on, dark, endless seas of liquid blue rippling with a gentle current. The crest of each little wave would push forward until it broke, then the water would start to be pulled back into the peak of a new wave right behind it until it too fizzled. Back and forth, back and forth. Alex was oddly drawn to the flickering oceans the dragon's eyes beheld, not even noticing that his nose was now scrunched up against Zarconyx's as he continued to stare intently. A feeling of calm and dull warmth slowly overtook him and his body began to feel heavy, as though his limbs were turning to lead. Sighing, his eyelids started to flutter shut and he plopped down on the floor of the cave, his legs simply unable to support his drooping frame any longer. Even the air felt heavy, like he had to use all of his strength just to push against the pressure of the atmosphere bearing down on him. Not overly concerned, Alex eased himself onto his back, letting out a wide yawn and smiling contentedly. He imagined himself getting swept up in a fluffy pink cloud, the warm, thick air pressing in on him on all sides, supporting and soothing him as he rested. There was nothing left but to sleep; everything was okay now. The coyote vaguely remembered that he'd been afraid, but that was hours and hours ago. Hadn't it all just been a dream anyway? Chest thrumming with his newfound sense of comfort, Alex allowed himself to settle back in his cloud and began to doze peacefully.

When he awoke, he had no idea how long he had been asleep; it felt like a while, but he had a sneaking suspicion that it had only been a matter of minutes. As he opened his eyes, Alex found his vision a little clouded, as though his surroundings were filled with a yellowish haze. The feeling of pleasant warmth hadn't left yet, and as he gazed up at the smiling dragon above him through half-lidded eyes, the coyote couldn't help but return it with a dopey grin of his own. "Hi there, little one...how are you feeling?" The voice was low and rumbling; Alex's hearing was too fuzzy to make out what it was saying, but it had a nice, almost musical quality to it...letting out a small gleeful giggle, he reached up to rub at the dragon's pebbly snout. To his delight, that large muzzle leaned in close and rubbed up against his chest and belly, vibrating as the great dragon let out a deep purr. Alex let out a convulsive shudder as his whole core picked up the reverberations; finding the sensation just as ticklish as he had before, the coyote squeaked happily and gave Zarconyx's face a fond hug. Chuckling in his dark voice, the dragon said, "Seems like you're doing okay to me. How would you like to have some fun with me, hmm?"

Still wearing his goofy grin, Alex nodded with a kind of dull-witted enthusiasm. It would be nice to have some fun. With a slight wag of his tail, the coyote looked up at the glittering ceiling above, admiring how the firelight reflected off the many specks of minerals in the rock. Suddenly, his view went completely black; letting out a small cry of surprise, he tried to get up, but found that he was trapped. And that something firm was insistently poking him in the rear. For the first time since he'd awoken, Alex started to feel panic bubbling up within him and he began to flail about in earnest. That panic brought with it some of the coyote's wits; realizing that he was sandwiched between the dragon's belly and the ground, he tried to methodically slide himself out from underneath his captor, which was difficult even with his lithe build and his lack of clothes - wait, when had he gotten undressed? This was almost like he'd woken up in the middle of a dream, but the fear, the cool touch of the cavern floor on his bare back, and the texture of Zarconyx's leathery hide against his front were all too detailed to be anything but real. Trying desperately to keep focused on the present, the coyote continued to worm his way out; still, he couldn't help but be preoccupied with the next phase of his escape plan, or rather the lack of one. A large dragon and thousands feet of unforgiving rock separated him from safety, and he had no idea how he would deal with either obstacle. Just have to keep on trying to get free, keep on wiggling away. If only the floor wasn't so damned smooth! Despite the difficulties, after a few moments only his legs were pinned; if he could only slip them out, he might be able to sneak away without Zarconyx noticing. Just then, however, Alex peered out towards the cave exit and was met with a familiar pair of huge, shining eyes. Instantly riveted to the spot with fear, he began to quake involuntarily as Zarconyx's head, upside-down, slowly craned in closer to him, his black lips upturned in a grin.

"Come now, you don't want to play anymore? If you just give me a moment, I'm sure I can convince you to stick around..." Still smiling his dangerous smile, Zarconyx stared deep into Alex's eyes. He gagged; he felt as though the dragon was staring through him, those eyes permeating every fiber of his being and dissecting every iota of his person. As he would feel sick to be aware that he was under the blaring white lights of the operating room while strangers cut deep into his flesh and poked and prodded at his exposed body, probing what he tried so hard to keep hidden, he felt physically nauseous under the dragon's scrutinizing gaze. There was a way out, though, and he knew it; he just had to look away, avert his eyes. But he couldn't. Zarconyx's eyes began to go out of focus; his brain was going fuzzy again. Slowly, he started to slip into the trance (again, he now realized with a pang of fear): his senses dulled, he felt lightheaded and peaceful, his arms and legs grew limp. No...no! I can't let this happen...I just...can't...please... But the calm, insidious euphoria overtook him all the same and he slumped to the floor, his breaths becoming long and labored while his body yielded to the pressing weight of the dragon on top of him. Things would be okay, he now realized. Of course they would. He felt just fine.

Some more time went by. It was hard to tell how much; Alex's internal timepiece had become horribly miscalibrated. His whole body felt slow and lethargic, as though he was suspended in syrup, and yet his thoughts were racing by too fast for him to even register. It didn't bother him much though; why did time matter when things were so warm and pleasant? Didn't you only worry about the time when you wanted something to end, or begin, or something? You're never looking at the clock when you're enjoying yourself, right? To that, Alex shrugged to no one in particular, and then laughed aloud, realizing that he was having a rhetorical conversation with himself. He'd also plumb forgotten what started this whole train of thought. It was hard for him to care about anything for more than a moment, each thought breezing by his consciousness and disappearing into the oblivion as quickly as it surfaced. Peculiar as this whole sensation was, though, it felt strangely familiar, like he was having a case of déjà vu. That didn't bother him much either. Yesterday's history tomorrow's a mystery 'ob-la-di ob-la-da life goes on bro la la la la life goes on'.

He heard Zarconyx laugh, a pleasant, chocolaty sound; Alex realized with an amused snort that he must have been humming to himself. "In better spirits now, are we?" The great dragon craned his neck down to press his nose up against the end of his muzzle, the hot, humid air of Zarconyx's breath breezing by his cheeks comfortingly. Looking him in the eyes, Alex let out a small, giddy giggle and gave him an affectionate rub along the bridge of his snout, nodding and smiling.

"Mmm...you're very sweet, Alex," Zarconyx chuckled, letting out a low, reverberating rumble reminiscent of dying thunder. With a small squeak of pleasure at the vibrations it caused within his chest, coyote turned his head away to hide his deep blush, embarrassed by the compliment and flattered that this great beast had addressed him by name. "Since you didn't seem to like the last little game we tried to play, maybe we should just try another?" The grin lingered, lips parting to show off his sharp rows of teeth. An involuntary shiver of visceral fear passed down his spine at the display and he gulped hard, starting to feel conflicted, though he gave the dragon a tentative nod of approval.

"Heh, good boy," Zarconyx whispered, giving the coyote a little lick on the cheek. To his (pleasant) surprise, the dragon's pink tongue was thick, wet, and smooth, much more like a mammal's tongue than a lizard's. Face dripping with saliva, Alex's eyes followed it as slid across the dragon's black, pebbly lips, leaving behind a visible trail of slimy drool before retracting back into his maw, once again unseen. Something from deep within the dragon suddenly let out a loud, angry gurgle, and to his great surprise Alex thought he saw Zarconyx grimace, the first crack in his otherwise seamlessly calm and implacable demeanor. It could have just been a trick of the dim light, though, for his lips were upturned in the familiar inscrutable smile before the coyote had a chance to get a second look.

Just as his suspicions began to resurface, he found himself staring into the dragon's gem-like eyes once again. Everything else just seemed to disappear and fade into the background; they were alive, somehow, something dark and mysterious steadily swirling from behind the sheen of Zarconyx's corneas in the firelight. The longer he looked, the more Alex was pulled in, new details and patterns coming into focus with each passing moment. He felt that queer sense of pseudo-calm recurring once again and dulling his thoughts and emotions, as though he was slowly being anesthetized by the intrigue of those seemingly depthless eyes. Gradually, Alex noticed that his vision was starting to fail again, finding it more and more challenging to keep his own eyes focused in front of him. The world swam and what had once been in sharp detail grew blurry and indistinct, everything slowly fading to black as his eyelids fluttered and threatened to close completely. Suddenly, his legs started turning to jelly and spasm violently as they struggled to support his body. Forced onto all fours by the staunch unwillingness of his muscles to cooperate, Alex looked up at his captor with an almost plaintive whimper, panting heavily.

Zarconyx's maw yawned out before him, the beads and strands of saliva glittering like jewels jutting out of a ripe, pink mine in the flickering firelight. The rows of flawless teeth framed the fleshy interior of the dragon's expansive mouth, at the center of which was the undulating ring of flesh marking the entrance to the fathomless black abyss. Alex gulped, hard; even with how calm he felt, there was something terrifying about seeing the creature's maw stretched out in front of him. And yet, there was something else...something intriguing...Argh! The coyote tried to rack his brains, to hold on to what little of his mental faculties remained, but each passing moment made it harder. If only things weren't so damned fuzzy! Meanwhile, the long, pointed tongue snaked out from behind the teeth guarding its domain and slowly swayed back and forth, its message clear and enticing: "Come in, come in..." He could feel the dragon's hot breath breezing by his face; with each inhalation he was pulled in, leaning on his front paws and inching ever closer forward towards the huge maw stretched out in front of him. His own mouth gaped open in sheer awe, Alex unable to contain his diffident curiosity without his ability to rationalize the situation. Closer, closer, closer...the coyote's chin was almost resting on the very tip of Zarconyx's outstretched tongue. Without warning, the great dragon scooped up his front half and closed his mouth around him, and Alex was trapped in a world of pitch black darkness.

It was a singular experience, to say the least: not quite pleasant, yet not without its appeals. With the dragon's jaws clamped tightly around his belly (though not hard enough for his teeth to pierce his flesh), Alex found himself relatively restricted in terms of movement. Thus immobilized, the coyote was unable ward off Zarconyx's tongue and prevent it from wiping its hot, slimy surface all over his upper half; shivering and groaning, he did his best to dodge the inquisitive muscle, though his success was rather limited. There was something so shamelessly lewd about the way the dragon's tongue was slathering saliva about his body, a tacky disregard for his dignity as it smacked and curled around every inch of coyote in reach. And then he knew: he was being tasted, appraised for flavor...if his mind had been clear, he would have retched at this realization, but in his foggy state Alex found it little more than a mild annoyance. He was feeling rather tired, and the dragon was welcomingly warm inside...warm and dark.

Suddenly, the coyote felt gravity shift around him and blood began to rush hotly to his head; Alex realized Zarconyx was tilting his head back, tipping him forward and allowing him to slip down a bit on the slick surface of the beast's great tongue. A crack of firelight illuminated his descent as the dragon released the seal of teeth around his stomach, giving Alex a brief glimpse of the pink flesh framing the black pit of Zarconyx's gullet. With nothing left restraining him, the coyote slid forward on his belly until his shoulders were caught in the wet embrace of the creature's esophagus. He couldn't help but cough and sputter in the dank air, but to his chagrin, the dragon simply held his front half mid-swallow while his tongue went back to work on his lower half. Alex felt the sliminess coat his footpaws, calves, thighs; suddenly, he found the very tip of Zarconyx's tongue beginning to brush up against his sheath, teasing his most sensitive of regions. Fidgeting in place and trying to wriggle out of reach, but ultimately unable to keep his member from stiffening and poking out, Alex let out a low whine and began to pant while the great beast rumbled in amusement all around him. Fortunately, he only had to endure this unwanted attention for few brief moments. He felt the squishy walls start to shift and widen around him, and with a rippling squelch, the dragon's gullet tightened about his waist and tugged him into its slimy confines.

Down, down, down...it was a long trip through the dragon's serpentine esophagus. The powerful muscles lining this fleshy tube clenched and relaxed in peristaltic waves as the dragon swallowed, giving its sole occupant a massage of sorts as the walls squeezed in around him. With each successive contraction, the coyote was carried deeper within Zarconyx; Alex found that air around him was getting hotter and hotter as he approached the dragon's core. He didn't mind the whole-body 'hug' so much, but something about being too restricted to turn his head evoked a instinctive chill of fear; starting to snap out of the dragon's hypnotic stupor, Alex let out a sharp cry and thrashed about in earnest. Zarconyx merely responded with a guttural chuckle and another wet gulp. ...no...No! With the gravity of his predicament sinking in, the coyote could do little more than whine and squirm in protest while he was forcibly tucked away. He could feel the dull, steady beating of Zarconyx's heart grow nearer, the calm thumping a sharp contrast to the pounding of his own heart, which felt as though it would burst from his chest at any moment. His breaths came in hard, panicked bursts, but oxygen was becoming dangerously scarce and already the coyote could feel his head begin to swim, a familiar sensation of lightheadedness threatening to take hold.

Without much warning, the restraints of Zarconyx's gullet relented and Alex tumbled into the beast's stomach. "Hey! HEY! Let me out!" he yelled, setting himself on the walls of the fleshy chamber and pounding on them with his fists. To his horror, he felt the wetness covering them bite back, the acid singeing his fur and burning the pads of his paws. Still, he continued to hit and thrash and holler out relentlessly. He just had to get out; somehow, he had to find a way. There must be some reflex he could trigger, if only he could hit the right spot: the dragon would spit him up, he'd race down the cliff, and then, he'd be free...The air grew thinner with each passing moment and Alex's protests began to weaken. I can...get out...I...With a soft gasp, the coyote's eyes closed and he fainted, his mind finally fading to black to match the lightlessness of his surroundings.

* * *

Zarconyx let out a low, rumbling belch. It had been a few hours since he'd finished his playdate, and by the looks of things his stomach had long since claimed him. The defined, canine bulge in his taut midsection had softened considerably; with a low rumble of contentment, the dragon felt over the mound in his belly, allowing his clawed digits to press into it, which forced out another small burp. With his stomach churning noisily, he scooped up Alex's copy of Alice in Wonderland he'd left next to the coyote's clothes and thumbed to the dog-eared page. In the dying firelight, he had to crane his head in, snout nearly bumping the page as he read the passage at the center of the page. He smirked.

"All too easy."