"Here are the rules of round 4. You and the tongue serpent each alternately slap each other. It's like a contest of endurance. Go ahead, you can start. Don't hold back." The tongue stands upright before you, shaking.

You stand up slowly and give the tongue a slap, it’s like hitting a jelly.

"You can go ahead and start.” The tongue no longer trembles. “Any time you're ready." The mass before you patiently waits, turning around in boredom.

"Um." You try again, attacking it as hard as you can with both forehooves.

"Look, if you want me and my tongue to start round four, just say so. I'm a long-living dragon, but I won't live forever, you know? There's only so much time I have to waste. Just smack the tongue, already. How hard can that be?"

"I'm trying!" you scream and throw your whole body at it.

"Okay, time’s up. You had your chance, but my patience ran out. My turn. But first, let me just warm up a little." The tongue moves around the teeth and feels out a skull stuck in a cranny. It pokes the bony remains out of the fissure. "Here, put this on your head. I want to see if my aim is true." The tongue gives you the skull with its pretend arms.

Nervously, you put the skull on your head, your body trembles more and more.

The tongue feels you out, along with the skull on your head. "Stay still now." The tongue swings around the mouth and slaps on the skull which shatters on impact. Boney shards splatter on the teeth behind you like shrapnels.

You forget to breathe out the air you’re holding in your lungs.

"Let me just charge my whipping power and then we can start." The tongue raises up and slaps down with tremendous force. The saliva parts, and you find yourself in the middle of the slimy corridor among the droplets that are flying by you in all directions with supersonic speed.

An extra few slams follow. Each subsequent one is faster and harder than the previous one. The sheer force of the wind causes your skin to wrinkle.

"Okay, warmup complete. Are you ready for this?"

"N-no! I'm scared." The trembling increases, basically turning your body into a vibrator. You stand on hind legs and hold up your forelegs before your muzzle to shield yourself. Deep down you know that even if you were an immovable object, you couldn’t hold back the unstoppable force.

The tongue flaps around the teeth, producing massive sonic booms.

The shockwaves traverse through your body.

"You might want to close your eyes for this."

"D-don't!!" You close your eyes.

The tongue flaps in an ever wider arch toward you, getting louder with each slap. "Here it comes!"

You scream in panic and curl up, your muscles failing you.

The tongue softly hugs you and wraps around your body like a warm blanket.

"Hmm? Huh?"

The tongue slowly lifts you up and tucks you in on top of it. "I was just messing with you. The truth is, I wanted to consume you the moment you entered my den. It's just that I like to play with my food before I devour it. All this time, I've been holding myself back. I wanted you inside me.

Author's Note

Gdoc