A Bet with Mighty Evil Being

What had she done to Liam, Samuel wondered? Shed looked just like him when shed first appeared. Was he dead? Had she…eaten him, or absorbed him, or what?

He might have been such a selfish bastard thatd hed bet him against Lamia without permission or hesitation, but he was still one of his oldest friends.

If he could still save him, and bring him home…that was more than enough reason to take on the witchs Bet.

He considers his options. Lamia had apparently ripped him out of his world, levitated a dagger with her mind, and vanished with a snap of her fingers.

That was some star trek bullshit shed pulled! How was he supposed to beat that?

Shed probably tear me apart in a head-on fight, but something about her makes Samuel think she wouldn have offered him the Bet if he didn have a chance of winning.

That, itself, made him wonder more than anything.

Why risk losing her very self at all, when shed said shed already won him from Liam?

The figure at the treeline is close enough for Samuel to hear them shouting now. Be? He? Be Hire? He can make sense of what the figure is shouting.

Was it even speaking his former world language?

Lamia had spoken English just fine, but shed also had that weirdness going on with Liam.

As he thinks about this, he notice that the figure has started to back away. Abruptly it stops waving and screams, hands covering its eyes in horror. It points to Samuel, and screams at the top of its lungs. ”Behind! ”

He hears the sound of dirt settling behind him and he turns around immediately. He stare in shock as the white stalks hed seen earlier came towards him through the flowers, like the fin of a shark through waves of the surf.

Before he can process whats going on, a monstrous, lizard-like head bursts from the ground!

White-clawed, blue-scaled paws seize the ground on either side of his feet as the beast hauls itself partway out of the ground, revealing two more sets of legs on its serpentine body. Its mouth gapes open, sharp, silvery teeth gleaming as it looms above him!

Well, shit. I probably should have run for it instead of walking! Samuel thought as stared at the beast in front of him.

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For a fraction of a second, he consider running, but for all, he know this thing could chase him down easily.

He stare at the pink, soft flesh inside of the beasts mouth, and before he have fully thought through what he was doing, He stepped forward with his dagger.

Samuels arm vanishes between the monsters teeth and he can feel the impact of the blade as it finds it within.

The beasts nostrils flare in rage, and suddenly its mouth gapes open far, far wider. Two of its legs seize his waist, and he shoved headfirst into the beasts gaping maw!

Samuel feel the beasts throat around him, wrenching his arms forward and away from the dagger still lodged in its mouth.

He screams in panic as he feels the thing moving around him, swinging his hands through the air before it strikes something.

Soft soil flows around his feet, but hes barely aware of the sensation. He had been eaten! Thank god this thing hadn actually taken the time to chew him, at least!

Samuels nostrils burn as the smell of stomach acid wafts up toward his nose. He can feel the thick, slimy saliva soaking through his clothes and coating his body!

He punches and jerks his legs, trying to be free, but the monster doesn even react. The dagger is somewhere behind him, in the black vision of the monsters body, but he can barely tell up from down anymore.

Where was the knife? If he could just find it, maybe he could cut his way out, or at least make the monsters meal extremely unpleasant!

Something slides down his face and he jerks his head away from it. It had felt slimy and soft, but strong, almost like a…tongue! It was tasting him! He screams again and reaches back, desperate to get the dagger.

His fingers move try to find the handle, but just as he reaches out to take the dagger inside, the tongue shoves against his teeth.

Samuels eyes snap open wide as it shoves inside, slithering along his teeth and his cheeks. It finds his tongue and wraps around it, holding it tight, muffling his screams.

It tasted horrible, sour and bitter like the smell of a snake. He bites, but the tongue doesn even flinch, unharmed by your flat human teeth.

Samuel hears a strange sound like the beating of massive wings and feels the throat of the monster constrict around him. Was it finally starting to swallow him?

Hes vaguely aware of the fact that the beast has stopped moving, and that his feet are in the open air again, but hes far too panicked to think much about it.

With every gulp of its throat, he can feel his strength vanishing, though it didn seem like he was actually being swallowed. The gulping kept on, numbing him with the sound of it.

Clawed paws grip his ankles and hes abruptly dragged out of the monsters mouth, its tongue releasing him finally.

Samuel gasp for breath as hard as he can while hes dropped on his back onto hard stone, and cool, stale air fills his lungs.

He cough and spit, trying to clear the beasts taste out of his mouth as he stare at his surroundings.

Samuels eyes don help much, however, for there is only blackness around him. Hes in some kind of cave, he realizes, and internally cursed at himself for forgetting to keep a flashlight from his bedroom. Alone in the dark with the beast, he couldn even see to run from it!

Samuel hears a clatter of metal on stone and realize his dagger has been spat out. A pale blue glow illuminates his surroundings a moment later, confirming that his dagger had indeed been dropped on the rough stone a few feet in front of him, but the source of the glow steals away his gaze.

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