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Even as they walked, Max continued to glance over at Rust’s belly. His new companion led them quickly through the trees, not paying the boy much attention.
Things still hadn’t really sunk in for Max, and there was one thought in particular he found himself returning to over and over. He’s really gone… the boy thought, staring at the flat scales of the dragon’s belly as he walked. Just like food, he was in there and now he’s just… gone… digested…
In retrospect, he had been watching the dragon’s stomach quite a bit over the last few days. Rust had laid in that same spot for many hours, resting contently in the center of the deserted camp as his insides went to work on the boy’s former slave master. Max had spent the time looting what was left of the camp’s rations and valuables, stuffing everything he took into a large hiking pack which he now wore on his back.
Of course, he had checked in frequently on Rust, not really trusting the dragon to stay out of his sight for more than a few minutes at first, and each time he did, he took a moment to gawk at the beast’s bloated gut. The struggles and muffled shouting had only lasted about half an hour from what he could tell, followed by hours of eerie stillness before Max started to notice the bulge shrinking. Even still, Rust had laid there through the night and through the next before getting to his feet early this past morning.
Coincidentally, the first thing the dragon had done upon getting up was lead the two of them to a nearby stream- rather easily at that- and get a drink. The irony that whatever was left of Max’s former master was now getting the water he had originally sent the boy out to find was not lost on him.
The two of them had since spent most of the day trekking through the forest. Rust moved quickly and efficiently, but of course Max was used to having to keep up with someone bigger than himself, even while carrying a heavy load. He had tried to ask a few times where they were going, but he hadn’t been able to get a discernible answer out of the dragon and decided it would be better not to bug him.
But now Max was getting tired and hungry himself and was beginning to worry what would happen if Rust caught him falling behind. He wanted to ask for a rest, but so far the only thing the dragon had done to reassure him of their deal was to ignore him and not eat him, and after seeing how easily the beast’s last meal had melted away, he found he couldn’t work up the nerve.
Lucky for Max, it wasn’t long after he started to get tired that Rust suddenly came to a halt. The boy was surprised at first, until he realized that Rust had led them to the edge of a road. The broad dirt path cut straight through the trees, littered with fresh footprints, hoofprints and cart tracks. For the first time, the dragon looked at Max square on, and then gestured with his snout, pointing further up the road. The boy squinted for a moment, and in the distance he thought he could make out the outline of a few buildings.
“That must be the town we were going to…” he thought aloud. He looked back at Rust, confused, but the dragon just stared back at him. It took a moment before his intentions sunk in. “Oh… it’s time for our deal, isn’t it?…”
The dragon’s expression shifted a bit, was that another smirk?
Could he really be hungry again already? Max thought. Maybe he’s just testing to see if I can really do it… He took a deep breath.
“Okay, I get it. Just wait here and I’ll bring someone back for you.” He took off his pack and belt, leaving them beside a nearby tree. He couldn’t afford to look out-of-the-ordinary by carrying all that stuff around by himself, not if this was going to work.
The boy went to take a step out onto the road, but he was stopped suddenly by Rust’s eyes as the dragon shot him a piercing glance. The beast stared at him for a long moment before running his tongue slowly across the edge of his snout, then the dragon turned and looked away. Max was already painfully aware that if he tried to hide out around other humans he would eventually be forced back into slavery, but apparently his new “partner” also felt the need to emphasize what would happen if he came back empty handed.
Max did his best to put both those unpleasant thoughts out of his mind as he stepped out onto the road. He turned toward the town and started to walk, thinking through his plan as he went. The closer he got, the more he realized that he was less nervous about having to trick someone than he was about actually going into the town. He had been in towns before, but never alone like this, with no guidance or instruction.
As he passed the first few buildings, he caught a few people giving him sideways glances or even looking directly at him as they went about their business. He did his best not to meet their gaze as he discreetly looked them over, trying to decide which one he would choose to be Rust’s next meal.
He heard one pair that he had just passed whispering something, but only caught the word “slaves”. His heart jumped for a moment, but he beat his fear down with a burst of concealed anger. Stupid people, they deserve what’s coming. He was about to turn to the pair, when a voice cut through the mild chatter of the street.
“Hey boy! Where’s your master?” Max’s eye twitched with rage, but he contained himself and turned towards the voice. What he found was a man with a shaggy beard, slumped on a bench outside what looked like a tavern, holding a bottle of what he could only assume was the man’s alcohol of choice.
Perfect.
“Oh, mister, I bet you can help! Me and my master have been walking for days, but he got so tired that he collapsed out in the forest before we got here. He sent me ahead to find someone who could help carry his things.” The man wasn’t looking very interested, so Max quickly added in, “He said he would pay almost anything for someone to come help him.”
“Well I can’t very well turn down a man in need, can I?” the drinker said, with a sudden eagerness, trying his best to hide the slurring in his speech. He stood up (steadily enough) and walked over to Max. “Well what are you waiting for, boy!? Show me where he is!”
“Oh, yes, of course mister!” I’ll show you exactly where my master is.
Max led the man out of town as quickly as his tired legs would carry him, doing his best to feign concern for his “master’s” wellbeing. Lucky for his performance, as they got further away from the settlement Max had some actual worries begin to invade his mind. He started scanning the trees as inconspicuously as he could, thinking back to when he saw Rust tackle his previous meal, knowing that the dragon could suddenly spring from anywhere.
I can trust Rust to eat this guy and not me, right? He is the bigger meal after all. His mind drifted back to that little reminder the dragon had given him before they had split up and he did his best to suppress the shiver that ran down his spine. He took a moment to make sure he was a good distance away from his drunken mark, just in case.
“Are you sure you know where you’re going?” the man asked in a clearly impatient tone. He must have noticed how Max had been searching the forest.
“He should be just a bit farther,” the boy said, trying to speak just a bit louder than normal to make sure Rust could hear them, but without seeming too suspicious.
“What kind of slave loses his own master?” the man muttered under his fetid breath. Max’s eye twitched again as he tried to keep his composure.
Any second now… any second now… Despite the man’s growing irritation, Max continued to glance at the trees, both dreading and yearning for the dragon’s appearance. Come on, what is he waiting for? Another minute went by.
“Ugh! Look brat, you better find this master of yours or I’ll-”
A sudden roar interrupted the man’s threat, sending Max jumping out of his already tightly-wound skin. Even though he knew it was coming, he had still been unable to spot the rust-red dragon before he leapt out of the trees, landing with a thud on top of his impending meal. Max, now panting from the shock, turned around to find Rust had already pinned each of the man’s limbs, knocking the bottle from his hand.
The man began to scream, “What in the world!? Oh gods no! Please, someone he-”
A pointed growl from the dragon sent his mouth snapping shut in terror, his eyes now bulging in fear as he stared into the beast’s face. Max did his best to get a hold of his senses, forcing himself to approach the scene as he reminded himself of their arrangement. But a few hopeful words seemed like nothing compared to the hunger he now saw in Rust’s eyes as he slowly brought his tongue across the man’s face.
“I’ll just, um, see what he has before you… you know,” Max said as he nervously approached. The dragon didn’t seem to pay him much mind, but the man on the other hand took great notice as the boy bent down and reached a hand into his pockets.
“You! You’re in league with the beast!? What sort of demon spawn are you!?” Max tried to ignore him, but he just raised his voice louder. “Let me go right now or I swear by the gods I’ll-”
Rust apparently decided that that was the perfect moment to strike, shoving his maw suddenly over the man’s head and cutting him off once and for all. The sudden movement sent Max flailing back on his behind, scattering the few coins he had pulled from the man’s pocket to the dirt. He sat there on the ground panting as he watched the dragon begin to feed the rest of the man’s body between his gaping jaws, just like Max had seen him do before.
This man wasn’t nearly as big as Max’s former master and it was clear that Rust was managing things far more easily this time. Within seconds the man was in past his shoulders, his head forming the end of a tight bulge in the dragon’s neck as he was pushed closer and closer towards the hungry stomach beyond. Max saw Rust’s tongue peek out from the side of his mouth as he ran it along the breadth of his meal, taking in all the flavors he could find.
But once Rust’s jaws reached the man’s belly, he abruptly stopped. He looked down at Max, not really able to turn his head, and the boy nervously stood up. He had been around the dragon long enough now to know when it wanted something, but he wasn’t sure what. Rust began looking back and forth between Max and the midsection of the man in his mouth, almost as if he was trying to point to…
“The belt?” Max asked. Sure enough, this man was wearing a belt, but it wasn’t bulky or carrying obstructive objects like his master’s had been. Still, it seemed Rust wanted the thing taken off. Lucky for Max, the dragon had stopped swallowing before the man’s waist had entered his maw, so unlike last time he was able to reach the buckle easily and pulled the strap of leather off without any problems- aside from having to stay clear of the legs striking out in protest. With that out of the way, Rust began to swallow again.
That’s weird, why did he want the belt off? Maybe he just doesn’t want to risk things getting stuck like last time? Max thought, but then he noticed the dragon doing something odd. As the man’s waist began to disappear between the hungry jaws, he noticed Rust’s tongue wriggling around beneath his clothes. The dragon started to raise his head, gulping faster as he reached the final stages of his meal’s consumption, but as the man slipped down into Rust’s throat, his pants began to slide off, exposing his bare legs as they slid across the beast’s tongue.
Max watched the dragon’s neck as the unfortunate man disappeared completely inside and the squirming bulge began to flow down into Rust’s chest, slowly feeding into his waiting stomach as it began to swell with its new contents, until his meal was completely tucked away within his belly; another human ready to be digested.
As the spell of the scene wore off, Max rememberd the pants; they lay on the dirt now, devoid of an owner. As he caught his breath again, he reached over and picked them up; after all he had never finished searching them before Rust made his move. To his surprise, he found another handful of coin, along with a shining gem, which had been attached to a small chain inside an inner pocket.
If Rust hadn’t taken these off, I guess this stuff would have ended up inside him just like their owner… Did he actually do that just to follow his end of the deal? So I could get the man’s stuff?... Of course he could have just done it to get a better taste… Max looked at Rust skeptically, he had seemed just a bit less threatening toward him for a moment there, but maybe he was just getting more used to the dragon in general- if that was even possible.
Rust just looked at his bulging belly, a satisfied expression on his face. After a moment the dragon turned and started back into the forest, no doubt to look for a new place to lay down and sleep off his latest meal. As he walked, he took a moment to glance back at Max, almost as if to say “come on”. The boy had done a good job.