Namia the Dragon

Namia was a slightly smaller, more slender dragon of her kind, and certainly more wicked and deceptive. Her scales were black with a metallic sheen that could be seen, to the horror of her onlookers, from miles away. Her jaws were just barely man-sized, perfect for closing in tightly around human prey. Her fangs were long and sharp, capable of penetrating steel, if she had to. However, her favorite way of feeding was much more sinister than simply ending her prey’s life with a quick and merciful bite. She loved to savor her victims’ anticipation, and revel in the vigorous, futile squirming as her jaws closed around her victims. She loved to hear the muffled yelps of her still-breathing food and feel their squirming as they slide down her long, black throat inevitably towards her growling belly. It was only moments later though, when all the movement has stopped, is when she knows with satisfaction how much horror they went through as their attempts failed, and they were digested in minutes.

Her favorite trick, when she was in a most deceptive mood, was to take form a tall, slender, beautiful woman when courageous adventurers stumbled upon her treasure trove. She would entice these men into her hidden bed chambers and use her magic to put them to sleep. Once they were asleep, she would tie them up and hang them vertically from a post in the center of her lair, to make it easier to feed once they awoke. From there, they would wake up hanging just below the gaping jaws of Namia, ready to gulp down her next horrified prey, alive.

There was one type of prey that she found the most obnoxious, which was the stealthy thief. Not that one ever got away with any of her treasure, but the most irritating aspect of thieves was that they always had magic items with them, which made them bold and overconfident. The items ranged from invisibility cloaks to speed enhancing boots, or medallions that grant flight. Most of the thieves however, would end up squirming in her tummy like all the rest, and their magic items in her treasure pile along with countless others. Even though she still enjoyed gulping down some idiot thief, it was almost never worth the trouble she went through. The most troublesome thief worth mentioning that gave her quite a run-around was one unnamed intruder that stands out in her memories quite well...

Namia heard the interloper. It was just after midnight, when most slept. She had superior hearing and an intense sense of smell, so almost nothing surprised her. She could hear the intruder’s light footsteps as he ascended up her stairwell, and could smell hard, tight leather. Only thieves wear leather, she thought with disgust. She rolled her eyes. Another genius thief ready to jump down my throat. Hopefully this one won’t give me too much trouble. Though, I am a little peckish at the moment. It was quite a bit ago since I had those villagers for lunch. She waited while the noisy thief bumbled up her stairwell. The thief was likely being extremely stealthy by human standards, but not to Namia, considering her excellent senses. She licked her chops when she heard the intruder right outside her door. She still pretended to sleep, keeping one eye half open to keep an eye on him. She wanted to giggle when the thief came through to door and saw her big, powerful body seemingly asleep in the center of the massive lair. His eyes widened and she could smell the sweat burst out of his pores. She heard his heart race as he stumbled there for a moment, dumbfounded and wondering what to do now that there was a dragoness in his path to the treasure pile. He stood there looking stupid for half a moment, then looked around and slowly crept towards a large pillar, making his way around the room. Of course Namia knew where he was the whole time; she was just waiting for an opportune time to pounce. Since the treasure pile was on the side of her, she predicted that he would attempt to circle from behind and nab a few trinkets while staying close to the wall. She didn’t even need to see him, as she still pretended to sleep, to know that her prediction was coming true. Like all thieves that only ended up in her throat, he was making all the same mistakes.

She heard the clink of the coins behind her as he grabbed a handful of gold and other artifacts. Perfect timing, She thought. She whirled around and stared into the face of the startled thief, who dropped everything he had in his hand.
“Ah, the diamond crown, excellent choice”. She grinned an evil grin. “One of my personal favorites”. She looked at his getup. “I do love it when you adventurers wear leather armor. It adds such an interesting flavor as you type slide across my tongue and into my hungry belly”. The thief looked terrified at this moment. “Well, I would tell you it’ll be quick and painless, but I wouldn’t want to lie to you…”

She struck and took a bite… of air. She was surprised to feel a tiny prick from behind her after that. Dammit, probably some stupid magic speed trinkets. Right she was. The thief was wearing speed enhancing boots it seemed. The prick was his dagger striking her armored mass, in a laughable attempt to cut her. Stupid overconfident thief, She thought. She tried to pin him down with her claws but he was just too fast, faster than any she’d seen before.
The thief laughed. “Ha ha, slowpoke!” as he danced around her in his magic boots.
Namia was enraged and tried to roast him with her breath. Ah well, I prefer raw, but medium well will do fine for this one. However, even that he evaded. It was as if he could predict her every move. The thief started throwing coins at Namia, just mocking her now.

“Stupid dragon, come and get me!”

“Silly thief” she said. “You’re just going to end up squirming in my stomach like all the rest. I’m going to enjoy punishing you”.
The thief seemed a bit uneasy at her statement; however the ego boost from the boots overrode any fear factor for long. She chased him around her chamber for several minutes, and she was getting impatient. The thief was getting nervous, seeing no practical way to defeat the hulking dragoness who was just behind, snapping at him. After more moments of chasing, the thief made a bold move. He dove straight towards the treasure as he circled back around, and grabbed several artifacts. Namia saw this and quickly blocked the exit. The thief froze and backed off. He dropped the items.

“Alright, dragon. Seeing as there is no way out of this for either of us, I think we should make a deal”. He scoffed.

Namia smiled. “Honey, I don’t make deals with my food.”.

“Just listen, lady dragon”.

“Fine then, I will listen, tasty one”. She said with disdain.

“If I do some work for you, say, polish some of your treasure for you, will you let me go?”

Namia wasn’t stupid. She was used to the “Let’s cut a deal” routine, usually seconds before her prey became dragon food. Any other time when she humored the attempt, they always attempted to con her in some way, like she was an idiot.
“Alright, human. Polish all of my treasure, and I get to keep your magic boots”. This was her attempt at trying to get him to remove his magical boots.

Surprisingly, it worked. He thought for a moment. “Hmm. Alright, dragon. You have a deal. I will take off my boots and polish your treasure.

Namia grinned as he removed his trinket boots and placed them on a spare pedestal she had. He stayed quite close to the boots the whole time, as he kept an eye on her. Namia knew very well what was going to happen next, as she was usually good at predicting from experience what laughable attempts her prey would try to avoid becoming dinner. She closed her eyes and did a big, long (and fake) yawn, giving him a pseudo-opportunity to get away. She heard his quick desperate movements as he scrambled for the boots, but he was quite the slowpoke without them. Namia easily outmaneuvered him and caught the boots in her mouth.

The thief stood there, horrified, as Namia held the boots by their straps and grinned at him.

“Oh, are these what you wanted?” goaded Namia.

His jaw dropped as she lifted her head, swung the boots up into the air, and swallowed them.
She coughed. “Ahem, not the best tasting boots in the world. Hopefully you’ll be a bit better”.
He didn’t even have time to plead for his life before her jaws were wrapped around his entire body. She lifted her head and savored him in her mouth for a moment, tasting the leather on him, moving her tongue up and down, and tasting every inch of him while slowly lifting her head and pushing him back toward the back of her throat. He struggled and groaned in horror with every passing inch, more vigorous struggling than most she’d come across. He was probably quite surprised that he was now about to be digested in a dragon’s stomach, when only a moment ago had a fairly significant chance of getting away.

Namia grinned at the muffled pleas of the thief as his body slid halfway into her throat. She grinned at the thought of punishment he was about to receive from crossing her.
He thrashed wildly as she took a big gulp and he left her mouth, all the way into her throat. He struggled on the way down of course, as most do. She loved the feeling, even more so this time, with a feeling of justice done, and how much this piece of prey deserved it.

She felt him wiggle as he left her throat and entered her stomach, where she knew with no doubt he would end up in the first place. And he was probably surprised. She imagined him thrashing around as he struggled against her strong throat muscles, pushing her inevitably toward his fate. She imagined the adrenaline that must be pumping through him as he leaves her throat and enters her growling tummy, about to be satisfied by a tasty snack.
The struggles in her belly didn’t last too long. She didn’t know why her prey even bothered to begin with, since nothing could survive anyway. She thought maybe it was the agony that made them thrash so wildly about. Or perhaps it was a last ditch attempt for those that simply can’t accept the degrading thought of ending up as food for her. Ah well. He got what he deserved, and I got what I wanted. Time for a nap, and let this guy digest. Namia curled back up for a nap as her tummy gurgled in satisfaction.