Marina and the Snake by Kinto Mythostian Marina woke up, which was odd because she couldn't recall having gone to sleep. Now that she thought about it, she didn't recall having taken off her clothes, either, but there was no denying the fact that she was lying here in the nude. It occurred to her that she didn't even know where 'here' was. The young lupine sat up and looked around her. She was in a square room, with stone walls and a bumpy cobbled floor. There was just enough light to emphasize the darkness; the dim illumination was coming from fixtures mounted high on the wall. She couldn't see the ceiling, if there was one. It was cool and it smelled damp; the whole place felt like a cellar. There was an arched opening in one wall about three feet high and wide; too small for a grown furson to walk through standing up, but definitely large enough to crawl through. Marina started to walk towards the opening, but was held up about three-quarters of the way there. For the first time, she noticed the rope that was looped around her left wrist where she normally wore her bracelet. The rope wasn't particularly thick or strong-looking, but it had been tied in a complicated knot and then melted; Marina knew right away that trying to untie it would be a waste of effort. The loop was too small to slide over her hand easily, although she considered it might be possible with some oil or soap or something. She backtracked and found the other end of the rope was tied to a heavy metal ring set directly in the stone floor. The knot there was likewise melted and un-undoable. 'Why would someone tie me to the floor in a cellar?' thought Marina. 'Not a cellar. A dungeon,' thought another part of her brain. 'Okay, okay. Don't panic, Marina. Think carefully. What's the last thing you remember?' 'It's Thursday. I was walking home from school with Aria. We were talking about... something. Homework? Boys? Where is Aria, anyway?' Marina looked around again, but she was definitely alone. Her twin sister was nowhere to be seen. But Aria had to be somewhere nearby, Marina was sure of it. A prickling on the back of her neck made her fur stand on end. She turned around; even though she couldn't see anything, some sixth sense told her that someone was watching her from the darkness just beyond the low arched opening. Her tail bristled slightly. "Aria?" she quavered, "Is that you?" Two golden points of reflected light appeared in the darkness and grew larger as the unseen watcher approached Marina's cell. It moved into the dim light and Marina saw it clearly for the first time. She screamed. It was a snake, a positively massive snake, its body at least two feet in diameter, moving far too soundlessly and far too rapidly across the stone floor. If circumstances had been otherwise, Marina might have admired its smooth, beautiful scales in complex patterns of brown and black and occasional flecks of red; she normally rather liked snakes, in fact. However, her deepest instinct in this circumstance was terror, and it overwhelmed all others. She screamed loud and long. And still the snake kept coming, an interminable length of mosaicked scales slithering out of the opening as the beast circled the room. By the time the head had circled back around to the opening, the tail end was just entering the light. The serpent stopped and stared unblinkingly at Marina with its large golden eyes. She realized she was completely encircled. It seemed to be smiling smugly at her. Its forked tongue flicked out, tasting the air. Marina wondered if snakes could smell fear, or if that was some other animal she was thinking of. Slowly, the snake began to move again, although its gaze never left Marina. Likewise, Marina slowly turned, keeping her eyes on the snake's head, although she had no idea what she would do if it suddenly decided to strike. As it circled the room again, the snake's head began moving closer to Marina. She backed up, her arms held protectively in front of her, trying to keep as much distance as possible between herself and the giant reptile. Of course, walking backwards while looking forwards is almost never a good idea, something Marina realized a split second too late. She tripped over the snake's body behind her and fell backwards. In one lightning fast motion, the snake wrapped a heavy coil of itself around her body, holding her firmly in place, although not so tight as to be painful. Marina struggled and kicked. Her right arm was pinned against her side, but her left arm was free and she pounded on the snake's muscular body with her fist. The snake squeezed effortlessly; Marina felt her right arm crack painfully. She cried out and her eyes watered. The head of the snake appeared over the coil wrapped across Marina's chest and loomed over her, tongue flicking. She screamed again. "Ssssssh" hissed the snake. Marina was confused. Had the snake just shushed her, or was it just hissing? The head glided closer to her face. She opened her mouth to scream again. "Ssssssh" the snake hissed, this time gently increasing the pressure on Marina's body. Pain shot down her pinned arm. 'Okay, no screaming,' Marina thought. Their faces were now only inches apart. Marina squirmed, trying to back away, but there was nowhere for her to go. The snake's tongue flicked out again and touched her nose. Marina whimpered and wrinkled up her nose at the rancid scent of its breath. She shut her eyes and willed herself not to scream. The tongue continued to examine her face, now flicking against her cheek, now her forehead, now her ear, which twitched reflexively. Apparently satisfied, the snake moved its head back, out of Marina's field of vision. She tried to lift herself up to see where it had gone, but with only one arm free and her body still trapped in the constricting coils of the snake, her range of motion was severely restricted. Marina suddenly yelped involuntarily; something was tickling the soles of her footpaws. She realized almost right away that it was the snake's tongue, but she couldn't stop herself from giggling. Marina had always been very ticklish there, something Aria had used against her countless times. Unexpected amusement rapidly turned to horror as the tongue moved up her legs. Marina kicked, but it was too late. Above and below, her footpaws encountered slimy, unyielding flesh; they were already in the snake's mouth. The snake closed its smooth jaws around her shins and held tight, preventing her from further kicking. The snake began to work its way forward, slowly ingesting Marina's legs, its jaws opening slightly wider to pass over her knees. Marina continued to struggle and squirm, but to no avail. The snake's questing tongue found the exposed pink flesh between Marina's thighs and slipped between her delicate folds. Marina moaned and arched her back, her tail wagging furiously; deep in her mind she knew she should be worried but it felt so good. She and Aria had begun to tentatively experiment with each other over the past few months, exploring their maturing bodies together, but the snake's long, warm, flexible tongue was above and beyond anything she had ever imagined. Lost in a dim haze of pleasure, Marina didn't even notice the snake's jaws working further up her legs, past her thighs, and around her waist. All too soon and just as Marina was starting to enjoy herself, the snake removed its tongue from the lupine's moistened genitals. With a sudden spasm of horror, Marina realized her entire legs were already inside the snake's throat. She renewed her efforts to get free, but the snake didn't even seem to notice. Marina felt the snake's jaw slide over the fingers of her trapped right hand and up her arm. Further down her legs, she could feel powerful muscles pulling her deeper into the snake's hot gullet. Her tail was pinned against her back, sliding across the beast's lower jaw. Suddenly, the coil around her chest loosened and the snake pulled her free. Without the thick muscular body obstructing her vision, Marina could now clearly see the mouth of the snake wrapped around her body. As she watched, the forked tongue appeared again and tickled her nipples. She smacked the snake's nose with her free hand, hoping it would let her go, but she may as well have kissed it for all the good it did. Somewhere inside her Marina knew she was doomed as she watched the horrible reptilian jaw sliding over her heaving, furry breasts. She still struggled halfheartedly in accordance with her instinct for self-preservation, but she no longer expected it to really do any good. She began to sniffle and cry as the snake slid its jaws around her shoulders, forcing her free left arm into an awkward position extended above her head. The snake's forked tongue tickled her chin. "Please," she cried softly, although she didn't know why or whom to. The snake raised its head and with a tug of powerful throat muscles pulled the lupine deeper into its throat. Marina's head slipped fully into its hungry mouth, the scaled jaws brushing past her twitching nose. Through her tears, Marina watched as her left arm was pulled down after her. She grasped one last time at the snake's jaws as her fingers slid by, but with nothing to hold on to her grip soon slipped and her hand followed the rest of her into the snake's throat. Marina watched from the inside as the snake's jaws closed, sealing off her last glimpse of the dim light. The snake twisted its head to the side and gave a gentle tug. The rope that had tethered Marina to the floor snapped and the snake slurped it down after her. Marina squirmed and pushed against the thick flesh that now completely surrounded her, pressing uncomfortably tight against her entire body, but the powerful esophageal muscles kept pulling her inexorably downward. It was hot and slimy in the snake's gullet; Marina could feel the saliva all around her, seeping into her fur and infiltrating every orifice on her body. Already, she was finding it hard to breathe; every breath clogged her nostrils with the serpent's foul mucus. Gradually, Marina's breathing relaxed and she gave up on her struggles. She was feeling very weak and sleepy; suddenly her surroundings didn't feel quite so uncomfortable. In fact, it was almost pleasant being surrounded by this snug, confining softness. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to take a nap, she thought dimly. It was so warm. Her breathing slowed as she began to drift off. The tingling started off as a faint sensation on her legs, but it rapidly spread to the rest of her body. Woken back from her state of semi-consciousness by the irritating prickling, Marina squirmed fitfully in an effort to make it stop, but it only got worse. The tingling quickly became an itching, and then a stinging, and then a burning. It felt like her whole body was on fire, and it wouldn't stop. Marina writhed in pain, the slimy walls of the snake's stomach pressing firmly back against her from every side. Her eyelids burned, her ears burned, her nostrils burned. She couldn't feel her fingers or toes, and still the burning continued; in fact, in some places it seemed to be getting worse. The pain was unbearable. She couldn't hold it in anymore; using the last of the precious air in her lungs she screamed. Digestive acid poured into her mouth and flooded her throat and lungs. Marina choked on it and gasped for air that was no longer there. The torturous pain reached an unbearable climax and began to fade. Chilling darkness crept in from the edges of Marina's mind and systematically devoured her last bits of conscious thought and then shut down the last functioning parts of her body. Marina was now nothing more than a lump of meat and bone in the swollen belly of the snake. -- The snake appeared locked in concentration, his eyes and mouth closed. He opened his eyes. "Time," he spoke. The saurian standing to his right clicked a stopwatch. "Six minutes and twelve seconds." "She survived six seconds longer than her sister," observed a second saurian, indicating a barely perceptible bulge farther down the snake's body, "Told you she had more stamina. Pay up, Moxy." "Yeah, yeah, yeah," the one called Moxy grumbled as he handed over the wad of cash he had wagered on the sisters' longevity. "You just hold on to that, Taban, 'cause I'm winning it back from you next week." "We'll see." Taban turned back to the snake. "Good job, Vasily. Do you need anything else?" The snake considered this for a moment. "No, those two ought to hold me for a while. Same time next week?" "Of course. We'll be doing cervines. That sound good?" "I look forward to it." "Alright. We'll leave you to digest, then. See you later." Moxy and Taban left the dungeon through the door that was cleverly concealed in the stonework of the wall; when closed it was practically invisible. Vasily watched them go and then contentedly lay down. He burped lightly. -- Author's Notes First draft wrote August 8, 2009, over a span of about 3 hours. Revisited April 15, 2010, and final editing completed April 20, 2010.