Every part of Kyle’s body was screaming at him to run, but he couldn’t just leave Shannon by herself. He had to do something to help her. At least, that’s what he thought, but his body refused to obey him. It wouldn’t even twitch. He was helpless to do anything but stand there, wide-eyed, his legs shaking with fear.
“You might be able to do it. You’re the strongest of creatures!” Shannon flung her arms wide as if to embrace the dragon. “I might be tasty!”
In response, the dragon threw open its enormous jaws. “GRAAAAAARRR!” Massive fangs gleamed inside its mouth, and the dark depths of its black throat seemed ready to swallow her whole.
And Shannon, who could have used the magic she was so adept in to launch a counterattack, readily accepted that darkness.
The dragon lowered its head to her. Its vast, gaping jaws engulfed her and, in the blink of an eye, snapped shut. From the top of her head to the tips of her toes, Shannon fit cleanly in the beast’s mouth.
“Aaah! Aaaaah!!!” Kyle shrieked at the devastating sight. It was all he could do. He fell to his knees, staring dumbfounded at the dragon. “Aaah!!! Aaaah!!! M-Ms. Shannon!”
The dragon chewed. Then, with a loud gulp, it swallowed.
Kyle had no words. This was the stuff of nightmares—something no one should ever have to see. Only a moment ago, Shannon had been there, talking energetically to the dragon...and the dragon had devoured her whole, right before his eyes.
All the hair on Kyle’s body stood on end. His blood ran cold, and he was struck by a sudden unsteadiness. His mind went blank with horror. But time did not stop.
“Grrr...” The dragon growled as if to say it was still hungry. Slowly, it turned its head in Kyle’s direction, fixing him with a stare cold enough to freeze his spine. His whole body trembled.
It was Kyle’s turn next.
His screams must have attracted the dragon’s attention, but Kyle had no energy left to run. The instant the dragon ate Shannon, Kyle’s heart had snapped in half. For a moment, he’d held out a bit of hope that Shannon, as a mage, could do something—that she could resist death. But reality was cruel.
Thud. Thud. The dragon came closer. It was in no hurry, perhaps sensing that Kyle had already lost the will to fight. The ground shook beneath his feet as it slowly made its way over to stand in front of him. The stench of blood leaked from its mouth, overwhelming Kyle’s senses, and its disgustingly warm breath struck him in the face.
Terrified, Kyle quickly squeezed his eyes shut. There was nothing he could do—nothing, that was, but wait to meet the same end as Shannon.
“GRAAAAH!” the dragon cried shrilly as it opened its cavernous jaws, overwhelming Kyle with its hot breath.
He stiffened. His trembling legs still refused to obey him; he couldn’t run away. This was the end. He wasn’t ready, but with his eyes still shut, he resigned himself to his fate.
Except...
Kyle let out a small noise of confusion. He waited for a moment longer, but he couldn’t sense the dragon in front of him moving. Surely enough time had passed for the dragon to have swallowed him up, right? Thinking it strange, Kyle slowly opened his eyes—and found that the dragon in front of him had gone as still as a statue.
“Huh?”
Something was happening. The dragon was acting strangely. After a moment, a pained growl slipped from the depths of its throat: “Guh...aaah...” Bit by bit, its body began to tremble, the motion intensifying until it was violently slamming itself against the ground with heavy thuds.
“Wh-What the...?” Kyle gasped.
The dragon was suffering. “Gaaa...aaah... Gaaaah!” it screeched, sounding as if it might faint from the agony.
Then, out of nowhere, the dragon’s middle burst open.
“What?!” Kyle screamed.
There came the sound of a violent explosion, and some kind of reaction to heat. A hot wind blasted Kyle and spewed chunks of meat and red liquid all around the surrounding area. He stared, astonished, then turned to look at the dragon’s head. The dragon had lost the fearsome gleam in its eyes; now, they were wide and lifeless. Then, unexpectedly, its body shifted to the side and collapsed onto the ground with a resounding thud.
“Huh?”
Kyle stood frozen again, dazed and bewildered. He approached the dragon timidly. It was undeniably dead; even if its face weren’t proof of that, the flesh and blood scattered all around certainly would have been.
“Did... Did it blow itself up?” he wondered aloud.
Just then, a rustling sound came from what had once been the dragon’s stomach, and golden hair emerged from inside. Next came a slender, white arm, almost like a corpse was rising from its grave. Whatever was in there, it was climbing out of the dragon as if clawing its way up a wall.
“Upsy-daisy,” a voice said. It was a person.
The person finally emerged and stood atop the dragon with their back to Kyle. They were stark naked, perhaps because the dragon’s stomach juices had dissolved their clothes. Specks of blood stuck to their pretty back and bottom, which Kyle’s eyes jumped to.
“Mmm...aaah!” The person stretched right there in the middle of the hellish landscape, grunting and sighing. They sounded as if they were pouting when they grumbled, “Jeez, dying is harder than living.”
“M-Ms. Shannon?!” Kyle gasped.
It couldn’t have been her. She had been devoured by the dragon. Nobody could survive that. And yet...
“Oh, Kyle, you’re still here?” Shannon asked. Her voice, her behavior, and her face when she looked back at him—it couldn’t have been anyone else. “Honestly! I thought I told you to run away.”
“No, I... Y-You were eaten by a dragon. Shouldn’t you have died...?” He looked at her closely. Her skin was covered with burn scars. Were they from the dragon’s stomach acid? “Are you okay with those—”
As he spoke, and before his very eyes, the painful-looking burns returned to normal, pale skin.
“Huh?” Kyle said again. After only a few seconds, the wounds had vanished without a trace, as if time had turned backward. He blinked, unable to believe his eyes. “The burns...disappeared?”