The lone mustelid looked up at the sky forlorn, his thoughts hazy in the oppressive heat of the day. Despite the weather being extremely pleasant compared to many of the days prior, the light seemed darker; almost foreboding, as if the reaper may truly, genuinely, be nipping at his heels on this afternoon. Trying to steady himself, he thought that perhaps this was more to do with the darkness that had been inhabiting his mind as of late. That this must not be an actual phenomenon of the natural world, rather, just an internalized sorrow projected onto the canvas of his surroundings. Originally, this is what he longed for. The adventure, the presumed excitement, the promise of freedom; all of these had so strongly appealed to him – but it appears as if the warnings of his elders weren’t for naught. He really did find himself exactly as he was told. He was alone, and he had nowhere to go now; as once someone left on their own devices, they were not welcomed back. Only the scouts were ever welcomed back, and he knew he could never make that cut. Wanderers were considered tainted by the land, and, perhaps, that is what he truly has become.
After a moment of internal dialog, the wanderer froze to what sounded like a creature shuffling behind him. He turned quickly, fortunately, seeing nothing. Not even a footprint next to his in the dust that settled along the path of this barren place. Looking back up to the sky, trying to shake off this feeling of being watched, he uttered a sigh and turned around, proceeding along the mountain pass before him. Every part of his body ached while his tail limply dragged along the misshapen stones of the ground; the very same stones that would dig into and scrape his paws while he walked. Despite the heat, the traveler found himself holding his arms to his chest as if he were freezing, his body so weak from the stressors placed on it; that this was all he could muster to do with them. Eventually he made it alongside one of the crystals burning bright along the peak; but what he hoped would bring him at least one fleeting moment of joy still left to feel in this world didn’t spark any emotions at all. The world unfolded before him; every inch of the surrounding world was in his view; all the beauty of the land for miles sat in its unbridled glory all seemingly there just for him to observe – yet he felt nothing.
Taking this as a sign, the mustelid sat against his belongings. He wanted to cry, but he was so bereft of anything left inside he could not even muster that much. This was it. The wanderer shut his eyes, deciding to himself that if he were to die out here, at least it would be on his own terms, and he couldn’t think of a more apropos location; he just wished he could shake that looming presence that seemed to surround him. In that moment is when it happened. Like a house collapsing on top of him, he was shoved onto his back; heavy weight pinning him to the rocky ground below. With a fearful shudder he opened an eye to see this massive beast atop him. The creature growled loudly as it stood upon his chest, teeth glistening in the bright light of the crystal nearby, sharper than any instrument of war he has ever seen while saliva dripped along the muzzle housing them.
The traveler knew what this meant, and knew his fate was now sealed. The reaper had been hot on his trail, and finally caught up with him. Not bothering to struggle, he simply let out a defeated whimper and shut his eyes once more; expecting the last searing tears along his flesh to come quickly – however they did not come. Feeling nothing more than the weight continuing to pin down along him, the traveler slowly opened one of his eyes halfway to see the beast just looming over him, seemingly in contemplation – over what, he could not know.
After what felt like an eternity the looming creature spoke, “it’s been a while since I’ve seen one of you.” The sound of the beast’s voice caused the mustelid’s ears to perk, not expecting to hear speech from it. This appeared to please the monster as its muzzle curled into an almost ruthless smile. “Don’t you know where you are, little thing? Places like these are dangerous to someone like you... it’s what we’re here for.”
The traveler didn’t quite understand what this thing meant, but something deep inside him stirred. A subconscious feeling colliding against the surface, almost as if the words were being confirmed in a dark recess of his mind; fear beginning to grow within him; finally noticing through his labored breathing that his airways were being restricted by the monster’s paw on his chest. Through nothing but pure instinct, the mustelid reached an arm up weakly to try and pry the beast from him to absolutely no avail; draining him even further of what little energy was still stored in his heat-fatigued body. Deciding that he should at least know what was to kill him on this day, he opened his eyes fully to see the looming creature above him, only registering it as dragon-like within his mind.
It didn’t take long for the beast to notice the wanderer’s gaze upon him, prompting it to lean in close to the mustelid's face, breathing warm and heavy breaths upon him. “Of course, that could always be exactly why you are here as well…” the monster pondered, trailing off. The traveler couldn’t find a way to respond in any form, the words cutting directly into him and forcing a wince, his eyes shutting again while he turned his face away. The beast muttered a confirming note before continuing; “I suppose none of it matters now. I’ve got plans for you. I just need to… get acquainted with you first.”
The dragon-like creature pushed into the mustelid’s neck, letting his tongue slide from his muzzle and glide along the fur, chuckling heartlessly to himself. The traveler winced again, not knowing what this creature meant by those words, shivering at the tongue sliding along his throat; expecting to feel the monster’s teeth clench around it, but ending up completely caught off guard as he felt the tongue shove into his own muzzle, the saliva from it seemingly seeping into his own. The traveler forced a swallow, almost feeling some of his thirst quenched by the tongue probing into him; starting to choke softly the deeper the dragon pushed into him; not taking long for the lack of air combined with the exhaustion to push him over the edge – the last remnants of his memory before the unconsciousness enveloped him being the feeling of the tongue pulling out of his maw…