Servitude: The Hydrangea Chapters

Chp 2: The Rescue

She had only a moment to see the enormous shadow rising behind her before being engulfed in darkness. Only the growls, shifting sounds, and wet squelches accompany her as she tries to navigate.

Her only guess is that she's inside whatever just swallowed her. She can't see or feel anything around her. All she has is sound, and it only confirms what she already knows. As she tries to move around aimlessly, the only sound she hears is the gurgling of the creature's stomach.

In her distress, she extends her arms as far as she can. At least, she knows that's what she's doing. But because she cannot feel anything, she doesn't realize that the inside of the monster is slowly tightening around her, ready to crush and digest her. She can't perceive that the beast is thrashing about, but she hears its pained cry, and some light seeps into the creature when it opens its mouth to roar in rage.

It has a long, four-segmented split jaw lined with dozens of jagged teeth. If someone became trapped between those teeth, they'd be torn to pieces. Was it her peculiar body that saved her from being cleaved in two? She tries to crawl toward the light in those fleeting moments of visibility, but struggles to grasp the fleshy walls. Looking down at whatever she can see of her body, she notices small patches of her form browning and deteriorating. A wave of panic rushes through her as the creature closes its mouth, once again plunging Marlina into darkness.

"No! Open your mouth now! Let me out!" Marlina cries out.

As she tries to push her arms out again to create space, the light reappears, accompanied by an even more intense roar of pain. A part of the beast's mouth is cut away, the creature thrashing around as mud-colored blood pours down its throat and splatters over her. What could have caused that? If Marlina had any sense of smell, the stench of the beast's blood would be overpowering.

Marlina pauses to think.

'Sharp... sharp things harm flesh... I need something sharp...'

A groan of frustration escapes her. No matter how hard she pushes, the walls close in tighter.

'But I don't have anything sharp... It's my only way out...'

Extending her fingers, she makes a small effort to make them 'sharper' to penetrate the constricting walls.

'Please... please be sharp enough... I need you to be sharp!'

As if a prayer has been answered, the beast's blood begins to gush from where her hands press into its flesh. Shifting her arms as best she can, it seems she's carving into the creature, and its bellows intensify. Then, the fleshy walls pulse, and a thick liquid rises from deep within the beast. Marlina is then regurgitated through the cut maw and into a muddy puddle in the sand.

Now able to move, she shifts to get onto her feet and finally takes a good look at her bloodied hands. They are no longer her hands; they have transformed into short, stout blades, her fingers nowhere to be seen.

'What... happened to my hands?!'

However, there's little time to ponder as she's grabbed by her arms and pulled away from the creature.

As she's pulled away, it's to remove her from a creature Marlina had never seen before, which isn't saying much since she had only begun learning about the world a few years ago. Urush is home to a variety of unique creatures that she had encountered during her travels. This one is undoubtedly the most frightful-looking.

It's a reptilian creature fully covered in jagged scales, with four eyes and large, projectile bolts deeply embedded in some of them. Its bulky torso gradually narrows into a long, slender tail, and it has only two front claws with curved nails to pull itself across the sandy surface.