HOME | DD

Description
Almond watched in surprise at the growing puddle of blood pouring out of Aglaeca's wound that had not healed itself as it normally would. Aglaeca's chest heaved, and started coughing uncontrollably; each pained cough was accompanied by blood splattering on the ground and a pain filled moan from the reeling human. Hammer-like fists pounded the ground clawing at raw earth for anything to take hold of, desperate for some relief from the tearing feeling within his body. Then it happened; Aglaeca stood up, his body stopped moving and his gaze fell to the shaking form of Kieran just ahead of him. Seeing this action made the hairs on Rowan's neck stand up straight as he positioned himself between Almond and Aglaeca. A sudden jump and Aglaeca stood directly in front of the cowering Kieran who stood paralyzed by fear gazing into the soulless, foggy eyes transfixing him to the spot.
Any speech he could have given to plea with the monstrous figure towering above him was silenced as Aglaeca's hand locked around his throat, lifting him bodily off the ground, dangling like a fish on a line. A pitiful wheeze escaped from Kieran's terror stricken face as his throat forcibly began to close, shutting off his oxygen supply. Kieran's eyes welled up with pain induced tears as his chest reeled begging for fresh air and an escape from the beast that held him in a vice-like grip that slowly tightened with each passing second. Aglaeca growled, his head shook, and his eyes returned to their grayish blue hue realizing what he was doing to the whimpering man in his grasp. “NO!”, he shouted before he could be taken again throwing the petrified figure of Kieran into the bushes ahead of him and sinking to the ground while coughing up even more blood. Again his fists pounded at earth as Aglaeca writhed on the ground thrashing uncontrollably in his fit of agony to try and purge the ripping sensation from his innards.
Kieran staggered upright holding his heavily bruised throat, “Th-That wasn't supposed to h-h-happen!”, he croaked beginning to flee from the scene. Almond rushed over to Aglaeca's side trying to find an opening to help his tormented friend without getting accidentally caught by one of the massive limbs that threatened to obliterate his small frame. Rowan joined Almond by Aglaeca's side eyes wide looking at the gruesome spectacle flinching back as more blood bubbled out of Aglaeca's mouth. “Almond what is going on?! What happened to Aglaeca?! Why is he vomiting blood?!” Almond pointed towards where Kieran had run off, “Don't let him get away!” Rowan immediately sped off in pursuit of the would be assassin at Almond's command. Kieran stumbled through thick brush moving as fast as his panicked legs would carry him horrified at the events he just witnessed. “That wasn't supposed to happen! That wasn't supposed to happen!”, he kept repeating not paying attention to the obstacles of the forest that assaulted his body.
A well placed rock caught the side of Kieran's foot throwing him off his already precarious balance sending him crashing against the rough ground. His thoughts stopped for a second recovering from the shock of sliding against the ground; that is, until he felt a sharp jerk on his cloak adding more pressure to where Aglaeca's hands had nearly crushed his windpipe. Finding himself airborne Kieran watched in awe struck horror as he came face to face with the hate filled, glaring eyes of Rowan dangling him mercilessly over his face. Kieran struggled pointlessly against the tight fabric pressing into his neck tears forming in his eyes from the pain and realization of what was about to happen. Rowan's normally playful demeanor with prey was nowhere to be seen as he hissed at the writhing human, “Oh, what's the matter am I hurting you? Save your pitiful struggles for when you're in my belly you miserable tiny! Nobody hurts a friend of mine and lives to tell about it!”
Rowan's mouth opened wide showing the franticly struggling human where his last moments would end and was violently tossed inside. Before a scream could form Rowan tilted his head back and swallowed the pitiful human not even bothering to taste him. Rowan's protective nature only allowed for one course of action against someone that hurt Almond or one of his friends, and that was to end them. Returning to Almond Rowan saw that Aglaeca had somewhat slowed in his writhings only occasionally lashing out, luckily Almond managed to read his widely broadcasted swings and dodged as needed. Seeing Rowan, Almond asked where the perpetrator had gotten to. Rowan rubbed his belly as he told Almond that he was soon going to be nothing but a bad memory. Almond panicked, “What?! No! Rowan please spit him out; we need him alive if I am to have any chance of helping Aglaeca, I need him to tell me what was on that bolt to affect Aglaeca this way. If I don't know what is ailing him I can't help him!” Rowan grimaced not wanting to release the tiny that caused his friend such pain, but he knew that Almond was often correct about matters of this importance.
Contracting his abdomen Rowan purged the body of Kieran just before sending him to his main stomach. Pulling the offending tiny from his mouth Rowan glared at the panic stricken human that was glad he was no longer inside the naga's belly. Rowan's words, while calm, were riddled with malice, “You will do whatever Almond tells you to do tiny. And if you lead him astray then even he won't be able to save you from my belly. Nod if you understand.” Kieran nodded hard desperate to avoid being sent back to what would most likely be a painful death at the hands of Rowan's powerful stomach. His despair increased by the penetrating stare of the enraged naga. Rowan unceremoniously deposited the fear riddled tiny at the side of the busily working Almond as he tried to stifle the bleeding from Aglaeca's chest. “Just what the hell did you do to him?!”, he demanded. Kieran stood dumbfounded at the mess that had once been a colossus of the man he once called monster finding it hard to believe that this was actually happening. In a moment of desperation Almond smacked Kieran across his face to try and recenter his attention, “Kieran focus! If you want any chance of living tell me what you did right now!”.
“I-I don't know what's happening! There was only supposed to be a powerful tranquilizer on that bolt like what they use on giants. It wasn't supposed to do anything like this! I swear!” Almond growled frustrated at the useless answer and went back to pressing against the oozing wound. Rowan's eyes pierced Kieran's shivering form as he spoke to him, “You're not being helpful little man. If you can't provide any useful information that might help, then you'll serve as my dinner.” Kieran's heart raced as he thought of just what could have happened to cause this. Then a thought came to his mind, “The other two! I paid them to help me track Aglaeca and they provided me with the crossbow bolt! They ran off when he found us, but they should know why he is like this! That's all I know I swear!”. Almond growled in frustration having seen the two men he spoke of running back towards the human city like a devil was on their heels; he had assumed they had somehow escaped Rowan or another inhabitant of Colossus Island, and were just heading back to the relative safety of the city. Taking Kieran's shirt in his hands Almond spoke, “We're going to go to the city and find those two you spoke of and find out what the hell is wrong with my friend. You had better hope that we find them and they can help us or I will drag you back here and personally feed you to Rowan. Am I clear?”
Again Kieran nodded furiously seeing the massive snake man lick his fangs punctuating Almond's threat. “Rowan, we're heading out now. I want you to keep watch over Aglaeca and keep pressure on his wound. Don't let him move too much or he'll just make the bleeding worse understand?” Rowan nodded and used his fingers to press Almond's cloak against Aglaeca's chest while Almond and Kieran rushed off towards the city. Kieran found it hard keeping up with Almond for while their builds were similar Almond had the advantage of enhancing his speed and agility while playing games with his giant lover and as such became more impressive in his physical prowess. “Keep up Kieran! I don't know how much longer Aglaeca has left, and believe me you don't want him to die.” Kieran struggled to keep the pace Almond had set his throat and lungs burning as they fought to keep air flowing properly after being closed off by Aglaeca's hand.
Tripping against his own legs Kieran tumbled forward this time crashing against a tree. Almond stopped and headed over to where Kieran had landed until a familiar voice called out to him. “Almond old boy! How goes it with you my friend, I haven't seen you or Rowan since before Halloween.” It was Dr. Owglarian out on his weekly excursions into the forest for herbs and fruits that he would use in his treatments. His cheerful demeanor shrank as he observed the panicked Almond struggling to get Kieran back on his feet. “Almond what's going on here? Are you in need of assistance?” Almond smiled with relief at the fortuitous arrival of his medicine practicing friend. He rushed over to his cart startling the horse in his fervor to get at the good doctor. “I say steady on Almond, can't have old Achilles here breaking a tendon now can we. Nearly did that earlier when some slime fellows' gelatinous head came rolling past us followed by orbs of slime; I was taken aback to say the least, had to check what was in my pipe to make sure I was not going mad. Now what ails you friend?”
Almond quickly belted out the basics of the story that led them to encounter Dr. Owglarian. “Bloody hell!”, he shouted forcing the contents of his pipe out with a heavy puff of air. “Right you two on to my cart sharpish! We're going to make some impressive time getting back to the city aren't we Achilles old boy?”, the large horse stamped it's hooves in response. “Don't you want to take a look at Aglaeca first doc?” Almond asked desperately wanting him to go back and help as quickly as possible. “Wouldn't do much good I'm afraid friend. I need specialized tools for that type of injury and this way you'll have some help in apprehending the other miscreants. You drive while I look at this one's throat.” Almond took hold of the reins and urged the powerful looking Achilles to speed; with a jolt they sped along their way with Almond being surprised at the pace of the large horse.
His ears picked up bits of a conversation from Kieran and Dr. Owglarian, but the cart rattling against uneven road dulled his hearing to where he could only hear fragments of their discussion. “Why....bloody fool.....dear boy...sorry” “I'm.....die.....never understand.....live”. It was too cryptic for him to piece together, and he was more focused on getting them to their destination as quickly as the surprisingly fast horse would allow. “Hang on!” Almond shouted pulling the reins of Achilles who despite the jerking pull of Almond came to a gentle stop just outside the city limits. “Well done Achilles, now stay here boy while we get to business. Don't go chasing any fillies now.” The horse stomped it's hooves in response seemingly understanding the doctor's joke. “Where did you meet the men Kieran.”, Almond asked looking at all the buildings and houses. “It was at some shady bar. The Naga's Tail I think it was called.” “I know the establishment my friends. It's not where civilized folk tend to give their patronage if they wish to continue breathing. Mostly full of reprobates and the dregs of society. Bounders to a man.”, Dr. Owglarian informed the two while bringing out his pipe. Loading it with his strange herbal combination and striking a match he began puffing away as he spoke, “Alright chaps we'll have to use finesse to make this work. Can't have our quarry catching wind of us and making a break for it? Stick together and for pity's sake no fighting.”

Description
Almond watched in surprise at the growing puddle of blood pouring out of Aglaeca's wound that had not healed itself as it normally would. Aglaeca's chest heaved, and started coughing uncontrollably; each pained cough was accompanied by blood splattering on the ground and a pain filled moan from the reeling human. Hammer-like fists pounded the ground clawing at raw earth for anything to take hold of, desperate for some relief from the tearing feeling within his body. Then it happened; Aglaeca stood up, his body stopped moving and his gaze fell to the shaking form of Kieran just ahead of him. Seeing this action made the hairs on Rowan's neck stand up straight as he positioned himself between Almond and Aglaeca. A sudden jump and Aglaeca stood directly in front of the cowering Kieran who stood paralyzed by fear gazing into the soulless, foggy eyes transfixing him to the spot.
Any speech he could have given to plea with the monstrous figure towering above him was silenced as Aglaeca's hand locked around his throat, lifting him bodily off the ground, dangling like a fish on a line. A pitiful wheeze escaped from Kieran's terror stricken face as his throat forcibly began to close, shutting off his oxygen supply. Kieran's eyes welled up with pain induced tears as his chest reeled begging for fresh air and an escape from the beast that held him in a vice-like grip that slowly tightened with each passing second. Aglaeca growled, his head shook, and his eyes returned to their grayish blue hue realizing what he was doing to the whimpering man in his grasp. “NO!”, he shouted before he could be taken again throwing the petrified figure of Kieran into the bushes ahead of him and sinking to the ground while coughing up even more blood. Again his fists pounded at earth as Aglaeca writhed on the ground thrashing uncontrollably in his fit of agony to try and purge the ripping sensation from his innards.
Kieran staggered upright holding his heavily bruised throat, “Th-That wasn't supposed to h-h-happen!”, he croaked beginning to flee from the scene. Almond rushed over to Aglaeca's side trying to find an opening to help his tormented friend without getting accidentally caught by one of the massive limbs that threatened to obliterate his small frame. Rowan joined Almond by Aglaeca's side eyes wide looking at the gruesome spectacle flinching back as more blood bubbled out of Aglaeca's mouth. “Almond what is going on?! What happened to Aglaeca?! Why is he vomiting blood?!” Almond pointed towards where Kieran had run off, “Don't let him get away!” Rowan immediately sped off in pursuit of the would be assassin at Almond's command. Kieran stumbled through thick brush moving as fast as his panicked legs would carry him horrified at the events he just witnessed. “That wasn't supposed to happen! That wasn't supposed to happen!”, he kept repeating not paying attention to the obstacles of the forest that assaulted his body.
A well placed rock caught the side of Kieran's foot throwing him off his already precarious balance sending him crashing against the rough ground. His thoughts stopped for a second recovering from the shock of sliding against the ground; that is, until he felt a sharp jerk on his cloak adding more pressure to where Aglaeca's hands had nearly crushed his windpipe. Finding himself airborne Kieran watched in awe struck horror as he came face to face with the hate filled, glaring eyes of Rowan dangling him mercilessly over his face. Kieran struggled pointlessly against the tight fabric pressing into his neck tears forming in his eyes from the pain and realization of what was about to happen. Rowan's normally playful demeanor with prey was nowhere to be seen as he hissed at the writhing human, “Oh, what's the matter am I hurting you? Save your pitiful struggles for when you're in my belly you miserable tiny! Nobody hurts a friend of mine and lives to tell about it!”
Rowan's mouth opened wide showing the franticly struggling human where his last moments would end and was violently tossed inside. Before a scream could form Rowan tilted his head back and swallowed the pitiful human not even bothering to taste him. Rowan's protective nature only allowed for one course of action against someone that hurt Almond or one of his friends, and that was to end them. Returning to Almond Rowan saw that Aglaeca had somewhat slowed in his writhings only occasionally lashing out, luckily Almond managed to read his widely broadcasted swings and dodged as needed. Seeing Rowan, Almond asked where the perpetrator had gotten to. Rowan rubbed his belly as he told Almond that he was soon going to be nothing but a bad memory. Almond panicked, “What?! No! Rowan please spit him out; we need him alive if I am to have any chance of helping Aglaeca, I need him to tell me what was on that bolt to affect Aglaeca this way. If I don't know what is ailing him I can't help him!” Rowan grimaced not wanting to release the tiny that caused his friend such pain, but he knew that Almond was often correct about matters of this importance.
Contracting his abdomen Rowan purged the body of Kieran just before sending him to his main stomach. Pulling the offending tiny from his mouth Rowan glared at the panic stricken human that was glad he was no longer inside the naga's belly. Rowan's words, while calm, were riddled with malice, “You will do whatever Almond tells you to do tiny. And if you lead him astray then even he won't be able to save you from my belly. Nod if you understand.” Kieran nodded hard desperate to avoid being sent back to what would most likely be a painful death at the hands of Rowan's powerful stomach. His despair increased by the penetrating stare of the enraged naga. Rowan unceremoniously deposited the fear riddled tiny at the side of the busily working Almond as he tried to stifle the bleeding from Aglaeca's chest. “Just what the hell did you do to him?!”, he demanded. Kieran stood dumbfounded at the mess that had once been a colossus of the man he once called monster finding it hard to believe that this was actually happening. In a moment of desperation Almond smacked Kieran across his face to try and recenter his attention, “Kieran focus! If you want any chance of living tell me what you did right now!”.
“I-I don't know what's happening! There was only supposed to be a powerful tranquilizer on that bolt like what they use on giants. It wasn't supposed to do anything like this! I swear!” Almond growled frustrated at the useless answer and went back to pressing against the oozing wound. Rowan's eyes pierced Kieran's shivering form as he spoke to him, “You're not being helpful little man. If you can't provide any useful information that might help, then you'll serve as my dinner.” Kieran's heart raced as he thought of just what could have happened to cause this. Then a thought came to his mind, “The other two! I paid them to help me track Aglaeca and they provided me with the crossbow bolt! They ran off when he found us, but they should know why he is like this! That's all I know I swear!”. Almond growled in frustration having seen the two men he spoke of running back towards the human city like a devil was on their heels; he had assumed they had somehow escaped Rowan or another inhabitant of Colossus Island, and were just heading back to the relative safety of the city. Taking Kieran's shirt in his hands Almond spoke, “We're going to go to the city and find those two you spoke of and find out what the hell is wrong with my friend. You had better hope that we find them and they can help us or I will drag you back here and personally feed you to Rowan. Am I clear?”
Again Kieran nodded furiously seeing the massive snake man lick his fangs punctuating Almond's threat. “Rowan, we're heading out now. I want you to keep watch over Aglaeca and keep pressure on his wound. Don't let him move too much or he'll just make the bleeding worse understand?” Rowan nodded and used his fingers to press Almond's cloak against Aglaeca's chest while Almond and Kieran rushed off towards the city. Kieran found it hard keeping up with Almond for while their builds were similar Almond had the advantage of enhancing his speed and agility while playing games with his giant lover and as such became more impressive in his physical prowess. “Keep up Kieran! I don't know how much longer Aglaeca has left, and believe me you don't want him to die.” Kieran struggled to keep the pace Almond had set his throat and lungs burning as they fought to keep air flowing properly after being closed off by Aglaeca's hand.
Tripping against his own legs Kieran tumbled forward this time crashing against a tree. Almond stopped and headed over to where Kieran had landed until a familiar voice called out to him. “Almond old boy! How goes it with you my friend, I haven't seen you or Rowan since before Halloween.” It was Dr. Owglarian out on his weekly excursions into the forest for herbs and fruits that he would use in his treatments. His cheerful demeanor shrank as he observed the panicked Almond struggling to get Kieran back on his feet. “Almond what's going on here? Are you in need of assistance?” Almond smiled with relief at the fortuitous arrival of his medicine practicing friend. He rushed over to his cart startling the horse in his fervor to get at the good doctor. “I say steady on Almond, can't have old Achilles here breaking a tendon now can we. Nearly did that earlier when some slime fellows' gelatinous head came rolling past us followed by orbs of slime; I was taken aback to say the least, had to check what was in my pipe to make sure I was not going mad. Now what ails you friend?”
Almond quickly belted out the basics of the story that led them to encounter Dr. Owglarian. “Bloody hell!”, he shouted forcing the contents of his pipe out with a heavy puff of air. “Right you two on to my cart sharpish! We're going to make some impressive time getting back to the city aren't we Achilles old boy?”, the large horse stamped it's hooves in response. “Don't you want to take a look at Aglaeca first doc?” Almond asked desperately wanting him to go back and help as quickly as possible. “Wouldn't do much good I'm afraid friend. I need specialized tools for that type of injury and this way you'll have some help in apprehending the other miscreants. You drive while I look at this one's throat.” Almond took hold of the reins and urged the powerful looking Achilles to speed; with a jolt they sped along their way with Almond being surprised at the pace of the large horse.
His ears picked up bits of a conversation from Kieran and Dr. Owglarian, but the cart rattling against uneven road dulled his hearing to where he could only hear fragments of their discussion. “Why....bloody fool.....dear boy...sorry” “I'm.....die.....never understand.....live”. It was too cryptic for him to piece together, and he was more focused on getting them to their destination as quickly as the surprisingly fast horse would allow. “Hang on!” Almond shouted pulling the reins of Achilles who despite the jerking pull of Almond came to a gentle stop just outside the city limits. “Well done Achilles, now stay here boy while we get to business. Don't go chasing any fillies now.” The horse stomped it's hooves in response seemingly understanding the doctor's joke. “Where did you meet the men Kieran.”, Almond asked looking at all the buildings and houses. “It was at some shady bar. The Naga's Tail I think it was called.” “I know the establishment my friends. It's not where civilized folk tend to give their patronage if they wish to continue breathing. Mostly full of reprobates and the dregs of society. Bounders to a man.”, Dr. Owglarian informed the two while bringing out his pipe. Loading it with his strange herbal combination and striking a match he began puffing away as he spoke, “Alright chaps we'll have to use finesse to make this work. Can't have our quarry catching wind of us and making a break for it? Stick together and for pity's sake no fighting.”