The Lakebed

It was common knowledge that two thirds of pixie body mass was made-up with rage. The rest was sugar. Sthuna got a taste of the latter in his first encounters. That left only the former in store for him as the pixies discovered his mishandling of their treasures.

They moved like a swarm of angry, stinging wasps. Even as everyone ran, they descended. Pixie bites were nasty things. Particularly with all the exposed skin he now found himself with. As a dragon, he barely would have felt the bites. If anything, the pixies might break a tooth on his hard scales. But here and now, he quickly found himself covered in welts. The pixies were nasty little things, biting hard enough to leave little chunks missing in his arms.

And Eyna hadn’t been lying; it was an equally miserable experience to have hair. Hair had looked so silky and soft on Aina, but now it just felt like a burden. He didn't know what the pixies had put into it, but it was sticky and clumped together. And it smelled awful.

Eyna never let go of his hand as they fled their pursuers.

Or as they tried to flee.

Sthuna was clumsy on his new legs. He had balanced on his hindlimbs before, but his tail was a shaky counterweight extending from an otherwise human spine. He kept falling, giving the pixies time to descend on him. Sthuna hissed and snapped, defaulting to his draconic inclinations. A pixie used one of his snaps as an opportunity to wedge a sharp stick in his mouth.

He flinched.

“The lake, the lake, the lake!” Eyna cried.

Pepper squeaked something indecipherable from her pocket.

He could only grunt a response, tasting blood. He was honestly shocked by how feral these creatures were. He'd encountered solitary pixies in his time outside the Heartsprings. A trivial thing. But a swarm was an entirely different animal.

He hit the lake and tripped. His knees struck something solid. He heard Eyna yelp beside him as his tumble dragged her down with him through their intertwined hands. Still, she didn’t let go even as they both fell.

He got a glimpse of her wings flailing outwards, and then they were underwater.

Humans were terrible swimmers.

It was an unhappy realization he made as he sank like a stone. The legs weren't right. The spine wasn't right. Everything felt clunky and weighed down. He was beginning to wonder if there were any assets in having a human body whatsoever.

…

… Possibly kissing.

Kissing was nice.

Not something he could very well indulge in in his other shape. Or hugging. It had been Eyna hugging him in his dragon shape. He could curl his neck around her, but having arms to reciprocate was unspeakably pleasant.

A cold hand wrapped around his arm.

He tensed.

He was trying to be more mindful of his reflexes. He fought the urge to bite, but couldn’t stop the snarl. Old habits died hard. The hand at his arm twitched nervously. But when he didn’t do anything further, it slid firmly around his bicep, bracing him.

And just like that, he could breathe.

It could only be a naiad, of course. One of the creatures he’d watched drag Eyna under and into the waters during the magefire. The translucent body pressed against him, undulating in the waters. He chose not to look too hard at it, lest it agitate him further.

He pulled Eyna close, tail curling protectively around her waist.

Eyna was having trouble closing her wings in the water. He could feel her struggling as the pressure of water on all sides impeded the natural folding of her limb. He remembered what that felt like. When he had been a little dragonlet, awkward and clumsy as he tried to learn how to maneuver his body underwater. Taken too far, the experience could even be frightening - or painful, if the joints twisted in the wrong direction.

He would have to teach her how to do it properly.

For now…

Sthuna skimmed his hands up to her spine, using her forearms as a guide. Reaching the base of her wings he slowly worked up to the elbow joint of her wing. He exerted firm but gentle pressure on it, forcing the membrane to reflexively collapse. His other hand found her second wing finger, and folded it. He brought the wing together, holding it until he felt her muscles kick in, holding it there.

Good.

He worked on the other wing, feeling Eyna slowly relax as the discomfort vanished. He released her wings as they folded, though his hands didn’t go far. She'd learn with time how to do this herself. For now, he was content to help her. Pleased to, even - though he would never say so openly.

The naiads watched this play out with velvet eyes. They pressed their noses against Sthuna and Aina like curious seals, liquid-like bodies bumping up against the pair.

Sthuna grimaced.

Eyna made a series of gestures at the naiads. Communication of some kind that left him out. But it was easy enough to fill in the details. The naiads began pulling them down to the bottom of the lake. Eyna was likely intending on having them wait out the pixie storm raging above their heads on the surface.

… Little monsters.

Who could have known that they were so aggressive? And over something as simple as a pearl, no less. Surely they could bribe one of the naiads in the lake to bring them a new one…

There were lights at the bottom of the lake. Like visions of ghost lights leading to the afterlife, they lit up the gloom with their blooming glow. The lights grew brighter and brighter as the naiads tugged them deeper, until Sthuna was able to gain a glimpse of the thing they were about to enter.

His hearts nearly stopped.

He felt the cold squeeze of dread, every nerve in his body singing with agitation.

It was the mouth of a giant creature. Titanic, even. So vast that he could not discern the full body in the dark of the lake - only the head. It was a serpentine creature. Draconic, even, with an elegantly sloping skull. The creature itself was motionless, possibly even dead. But the body was alive with things that moved. Bioluminescent flora and fauna clung to it, with veritable forests of thick blue and green kelp.

Schools of golden fish darted between teeth. They appeared at first, small, like gleaming coins in the dark. It was not until Sthuna was pulled closer to the mouth that he realized his basis for comparison was false; The fish merely appeared small from afar. Many were larger than he was, made to appear small only by virtue of the massive mouth they were swimming through.

The glow came from the flesh within the mouth of the monster. A host of bioluminescent cells sparked along the interior of its mouth, growing brighter and more brilliant the deeper they traveled into the great mouth.

Sthuna’s arms tightened around her. But she seemed calm. Excited, even. Totally at ease - because of course she was. She didn't have the sense to be even cautious about being led into the mouth of a massive creature. This thing was probably her childhood pet named Fluffy, or something ridiculous like that.

Acid pooled in his mouth reflexively.

Sensing his agitation, Eyna squeezed his hand. Wordless reassurance, even in the dark waters of the lake. He forced his hearts to calm. It wasn't easy. Being confronted with such a massive thing, and being asked to simply enter it’s mouth, betrayed his survival instincts.

But he would overlook it. He would push through. He trusted her.

The naiads took them deep into the chambers of the throat. A great eye opened on the walls as they passed. Thick black eyelids rolled back like curtains, beckoning a vast red eye. The eye slid down, regarding them curiously.

Eyna didn’t even seem surprised. She gave a little wave.

Eyna was going to have a lot of explaining to do.