On a gnarly root that belonged to a red oak tree sat Tiana. A blue pixie that was far away from home. She took in the views of the forest. The army of trees, each one more giant than the next, each decorated by holes, mold, and patches of moss. Their roots twisted, and turned, and even reached for other trees, as if these trees were fighting each other. The weather was cold, with a hint of mist. These parts of the forest were not safe for a frail, blue pixie such as herself. Monsters of all manner of shapes and forms roamed these parts. Wolves, sticky slimes, bats, and occasionally humans. She held herself as a cold gust of wind passed by her puny pixie body. Part of her wanted to leave and go back to the safety of her village and the warmth of her bed, but she made a promise and she wasn’t going to let it go unfulfilled.

“This forest is way too dangerous for ya, little fly.” Said a voice from above.

Tiana craned her head up towards the source of the voice, she saw another pixie with long black hair and pink strands, and wore green pants and a dark black top that revealed her midriff. She stood on a branch above her with her hands crossed and a smirk across her face. She could see a hint of a rainbow as light went through her fluttering, translucent pixie wings.

“Omara, you came!” Said Tiana as she fluttered her wings, flew up, and gave her pixie friend a strong hug. Both their bodies turned like a merry-go-around.

“I wasn’t gonna leave my favorite blue Pixie all alone now, would I?” She said as she patted her friend’s back.

“It’s just…” Tiana wrapped her arms around herself, “The pixie tribes have always warned us from going to this part of the forest. Those who did, were punished.” 

“I may respect my father, but I ain’t his slave. I thought you were the one who wouldn’t show up. You tremble at the sight of beetles.” She chuckled.

"Oh shush you! Follow me."

The pixies fluttered their wings and shot up to the top of the tree. They saw a sea of trees all around them. Big, green mountains towered above them as clouds covered their tops. It was overwhelming for tiny creatures such as them. Their eyes turned east, and they saw a massive wall of fog that looked like it extended endlessly towards the sky.

Well, a-are you ready?” Asked Tiana

“I sense hesitation in your voice.” Answered Omara.

“It’s just that, all the stories the elders told us about the forbidden land. Stories stories of monsters, treasures, and lost civilizations. It sounds scary, but I also wanna see what lays beyond the fog!”

“Yeah, and one of the elders once told me the moon is made of cottage cheese.” She chuckled. “I bet that we’d only find a farm with animals and humans going about, these are just stories they tell us to keep us in our villages.”

“But what would they call it the forbidden land though? There must be something inside!” 

“Well, I’ll race you there!” Omara fluttered her wings and flew towards the gray shroud. Tiana didn’t have a chance to utter a word, and she darted into the forest, following her friend.

The pixies flew fast through the dense forest. Tiana made sure to keep an eye on her friend, but she also couldn’t help but to stare at the fog as she drew closer to it. Her heart began to beat harder as she grew more anxious, but she wanted to get through this. She didn’t want to retreat back home after coming all the way here, out of cowardice no less. The pair landed on a branch just near the tip of the fog. The wall was humongous, bigger than anything even the humans

“This is it, no backing out now.” Said Omara.

“I-I’m not going back!” Blurted Tiana.

 The green Pixie chuckled, “Well, at least your resolve is unquestionable. Here, take this.”

Omara reached for her bag and handed the blue Pixie a small crystal with a strap. It shone brightly with blue light.

“The place is foggy, so we’ll tie it to our bodies, and we won’t lose each other. Who knows what we’ll encounter there.” She explained.

“It’s beautiful.”  Said Tiana with a wide grin across her face as she held the crystal. “Where did you get these?”

“My uncle fetched them from a cave deep south, he says the humans in the village nearby use them to light their houses.”

“Your uncle collects weird stuff, doesn’t he?” Tiana tied the crystal to her hip.

“He did steal a necklace from a sleeping human once, my dad was enraged.” She chuckled.

The pair walked on the branch and got closer to the foggy wall that stood in front of them. Tiana could feel a threatening aura that emanated from it. She sighed, and tried her best to swallow her fears. Whatever laid in the depths of this fog, she will not let it get to her.

“Are we ready?” Asked Omara.

“I was ready way before you came! I’m no-”

“Alrighty, let’s go!” Omara darted into the fog. Her body disappeared into the gray shroud, and Tiana could only see the blue glint of her crystal. 

“W-wait!” Not wanting to be left behind, the blue Pixie fluttered her wings as fast she could and dashed after her friend.

Tiana felt a chill across her body as she was engulfed by the fog. She couldn’t see anything, as if a gray blanket was placed upon her. The only thing that her eyes could see was the light of her friend’s crystal. A small blue dot of light that moved erratically was her only guide in this place.

She saw a large, dark object form in the midst of the fog where the blue dot settled. As she got closer, she discerned that the object was a tree. She flew next to a branch where Omara was, landed on all fours, and wheezed.

“You’re okay?” Asked Omara.

“I’m-I’m fine!” Tiana hastily stood up. “I’m just taking a breather, that’s all!” She looked around and all she could see was gray. She wasn’t sure they could go back home.

“How far do you think the fog goes? Sunlight barely comes through.” Omara looked around before jumping to another branch higher up.

“Do you see anything?! This place is more eerie than I thought.” Said Tiana as she felt the wind get colder and unconsciously wrapped her arms around herself.

“Having second thoughts, Tia?”

“N-Not a chance! I’ll see this through.”

The green Pixie chuckled and looked around and flew up to the branch above. Tiana pouted, crossed her arms, and leaned on the trunk. It was only now that she realized that the tree had no leaves whatsoever. The tree looked dead, but somehow felt like it was still alive. The blue pixie heard what sounded like distant steps. She turned her gaze to the left where she had heard the noise, but all her eyes could see was the gray shroud.

the tree suddenly shook, and with the corner of her eyes, Tiana saw something big move closer. Dread started to overtake her mind, and she didn’t want to take a look at it as she fluttered her wings, ready to flee, but before she could fly away, she felt a force wrap around her small, delicate body. She let out a loud yelp as she felt her body move downwards, only to be faced by a creature that was vaguely humanoid, but their eyes were glowing red. It let out a faint grunt as it slowly neared the little pixie to its ghastly, glowing eyes. It had no visible mouth, but she could hear its heavy breath.

“Get away from her!” Omara yelled out loud as dropped from above and struck the creature’s eye with her foot. The creature let out a loud groan, lost its grip on the tree, and tumbled to the ground with a loud thud.

Tiana fidgeted her away out of the grip, crawled away from the creature as she let out a few heavy breaths. Her heart never pounded so fast before.

“Tiana!” Omara landed near her friend. “Are you okay?”

“We… We gotta get out of here!” 

“Tia wa-”

Omara couldn’t finish her sentence as the blue Pixie flew away from her friend. She whirred her wings as fast as her body could muster. She darted through the fog, unsure where to go, but away from that…thing.

She landed on another seemingly dead tree, collapsed on her knees and wheezed. Omara landed near her, placed her hand on Tiana’s shoulder, causing the blue pixie to let out a loud yelp before regaining her composure.

“Tia, it's me!” She bent down and held her friend’s hand. “Are you hurt?”

“I…” She scanned her blue body. “I think I’m okay.”

“Don’t just run away like that Tia, I almost lost you!”

“I’m sorry, I thought that th-thing was gonna tear me apart!” Tiana stuttered

“I have never seen anything like this before, and I have seen a lot of weird things in my life.” Omara stood up and helped get back on her feet. “I don’t think we should stay her either, there has to be some place we can take shelter in.”

“Let’s stick together this time.” Insisted Tiana.

“Gotcha” The green pixie nodded as she gave her friend a warm, comforting smile.

The pair fluttered their wings and flew through the gray veil. They hopped from one tree to another, but the scenery never seemed to change. Tiana dreaded that they were running around in circles with no progress. Did they land on this tree before, or is it a new tree? She couldn’t discern. Anxiety clouded her mind so much that she couldn’t focus.

However, as they landed on one of the trees, something had caught her eye, a yellow light. It was faint, but she was glad to finally see a color aside from gray, and occasional black.

“Omara. Look!” She pointed towards the faint light.

The green pixie turned towards where her friend pointed “Huh, what could that be, a lantern perhaps?”

“I dunno, but I hope it’s not another monster.” Said Tiana.

The pixies flew towards the light, it slowly grew stronger as they got closer to it. They flew in close enough to get a closer look at what it was. They saw a pair of humans who wore white robes with a hood that covered their head, one of them held a staff that shone with a brilliant yellow light. That staff created an aura that drove the fog away from them.

“Humans, what are they doing here!?” Asked Tiana.

“Whoever they are, that staff is protecting them from the fog. I wonder where they’re going.” Pondered Omara.

I wish I had protection like they do. I don’t wanna worry about monsters roaming about”

“I have an idea.” Omara pointed at a leather bag that one of the humans carried. “That bag has an opening, we can sneak into it, and then they’ll take us to wherever they’re going. We fly in on my mark.”

Tiana glared at her friend “Are you insane?!”

“You said you want some protection right? We’ll sneak into her bag and we’ll be safe.” Explained the green pixie

Omara, you gotta be k-”

“You better watch what you eat, you’re gonna turn into a flying blueberry at this rate.” She chuckled.

“I’m not getting fat!” She pouted and crossed her arms.

Omara giggled as she reached for her crystal and moved her around to see her surroundings. She saw a towel, a small jug, a yellow apple, and a hefty amount of scrolls. Tiana took a closer look at the scrolls, she couldn’t recognize the letters, it all looked alien to her. The bag slowly left and right like a ship in the middle of the ocean while objects rattled as they brushed against each other.

“Tia, look!” called her friend.

Tiana turned gaze towards a circular object that glistened under the blue light of the crystals. She took out her crystal and saw that it was a brass medallion with a carving of a woman towering over a patch of land while folding her arms as if to embrace it. 

“Who is she?”

“I don’t know who she is, or what the medallion is for, but it’s beautiful.” Said Omara as she crawled closer to her.

“What are these inscriptions?” Asked Tiana as she crawled closer.

“I have never seen them before, I came across many human texts, yet never this one.” She brushed her hand over the medallion.

“Makes me wonder who these people are.” Tiana looked at the opening of the bag. 

“I’m curious.” Omara flew to the opening of the bag. Tiana, not to be left out, followed her.

The green field had brick roads that all lead to a giant building in the center of it. It was big, circular, and had what looked like intricate writings on its walls. It had poles that were adorned with flags that had yellow and white stripes.

“Wh…where are we?” The green pixie couldn’t believe her eyes and looked around. “Was this behind the fog this entire time?”

“I thought this was going to be a dangerous place, but this is…beautiful.” Added Tiana.

At that moment, The human who held the staff removed the hood to show a man with a bald head and a brown haired goatee. The human who carried the bag also removed their hood to reveal a young woman with brown skin, and black hair tied to form a ponytail.

“I dread that place every time I go through it.” Said the female human.

“It’s a stark reminder of those who are lost, Jumana. We must not be like them. All we can do for them is ask for the Gods to be merciful on their souls, do you understand?” He said to her.

“I understand, master.” 

“Good, now let’s get back to the monastery.” 

“Yeah, I’m hungry.” She said as she followed her master. 

The humans walked through the grassy field. The bag swayed left and right like a ship in the ocean, Tiana feared it might make her sick, but she endured for now. The humans walked and came across another hooded figure with a long white beard.

“Foran! Back so quickly.” He chuckled.

“We went to a village nearby, not a mission of utmost importance. She still has a lot to learn.” He patted the young woman’s shoulder.

“I think Jumana has a lot of potential to be a great monk, she has shown a lot of progress since she joined the monastery” Said the bearded man.

“Nonsense, it’s all because I had a master like Foran to guide me all the way.” She said.

“You did this because you had a strong resolve, I only showed you the way.” Said Foran.

“I’ll leave you guys be, I have an assignment to complete. See you at the monastery during dinner!” The bearded man bowed.

“Good luck!” Foran bowed back, Jumana did the same.

The humans continued walking as the pixies retreated back into the bag. 

“Monks, what does that mean?” Asked Tiana.

“I don’t know, they might be a religious group. I heard the elders talk about how humans organize themselves over beliefs. Sometimes it brings people together and makes them happy, sometimes it makes them fight each other.” She explained.

“I wonder what we’ll see when we get into their…monastery, they called it?”

The pixies waited for a long while as the humans made their way to the big building at the center. The bag swayed left and right as the young monk strolled. Taken aback by boredom, Tiana peeked from the bag’s opening again and saw the building to be much closer and bigger than before. So close that they were under its shadow. The monks stopped as Foran looked at his student.

“R-right!” Jumana moved the bag closer, which made Tiana throw herself backwards into the bag and landed on one of the scrolls.

Before she could regain her composure, the monk’s hand entered the bag as darkness befell the entire leather-made chamber. Swiftly, Omara placed her hand on the blue pixie’s mouth as they watched the giant hand move objects around and shift everything around them. A scroll moved and buried Omara, muffling her sounds. Tiana tried to save her, but the back of the giant hand shoved her away and landed on metallic coins that clattered together. The giant hands grabbed the medallion and dragged it out of the bag. The pixies sighed as sigh of relief as light came through the opening again, and they were out of danger.

“Sorry, master.” They heard Jumana speak.

Omara removed her hand from Tiana’s mouth, and they both let out a sigh of relief. 

“She almost got us!” Said Tiana as her heart pounded hard. “Could you imagine what would have happened if she had gotten hold of us?”

“She’d probably think you’re an old discarded human toy with that dress of yours.” Omara chuckled. 

“Hey, I worked hard on this dress!” The blue pixie spat back. 

The green Pixie giggled as she flew to the opening. “Come, we’re almost there!”

The pair watched as the monks approached an over-shaped gate. They showed them the brass medallions, and then they were allowed to enter. The passed through the gate, and into a hall that had a black marble floor with streaks of yellow, giant stone pillars, and streams of waters that ran on the tips of the hallway. They walked to a large, oval hall with a high ceiling and a giant statue of a woman that looked exactly like the one on the medallion they wore.

“This place looks amazing.” Said Tiana.

“To think this was hidden from us this entire time…” Added Omara.

“Foran!” A blonde haired woman with black robes approached the monks. “Glad to see you’re back. I see Jumana is doing well too.” She smiled at the young apprentice.

“Pleasure is mine, high monk.” Said Foran as he bowed

“I’m doing my best.” Jumana bowed as well.

“Foran, can I have a moment with you? There is something I need to talk to you about.” She said.

The monk nodded and placed his hand on Jumana’s shoulder. “Wait for me in the training grounds, I’ll be right back.”

“R-right.”

Jumana walked through another hallway and through a large wooden door. She arrived at a large, flat, grassy place which had barrels, obstacles, and worn up training dummies. Jumana put her bag on the ground, placed her medallion next to it, and undressed her white robe. Underneath it, she wore shorts and a shirt that revealed her toned stomach. She had a rather muscular build that looked just as intimidating as it was graceful.

She grinned as she went towards one of the training dummies and gave it a solid punch.

“Alright, dummy. It’s your turn today!” She said as she cracked her knuckles.

The monk started to give the training dummy a series of punches and kicks. Her movements were quick, graceful, and precise. Plumes of dust came out of the dummy as it received one powerful swing after another. The pixies were in awe of her, and how her body moves.

“I’ve never seen a human move like that before.” Said Tiana.

“They’re monks who…train in combat?” Omara raised an eyebrow. “

"I dunno, but I wouldn't mess with her. She'd squeeze me into a pulp." 

"I wo-" 

The bag they were in began to lean forward as they talked. Omara couldn't complete her sentence as the bag fell, and they rolled out of it. Tiana's world began to twist and turn as her body rolled out of her hiding place until she was on her back. The coins, and the scrolls hurtled out of the bag, It all happened so fast, she barely had time to process any of it until she saw the human's humongous body loom over her.

The pixies hastily stood up and tried to fly, but the human's big fingers wrapped around her body. Tiana felt her body whiz up, and she was up close to the woman's giant face. 

"Let her go!" Omara tried to strike the human with a kick, but Jumana hastily grabbed the pixie and dangled her upside down from her leg. 

"Who are you, how did you get here?" Asked the human as she glared at them with her dark brown eyes.

"Let us go! We're pixies, we mean you no harm!" Cried Tiana as she struggled against the tight grip of the human's giant hand.

"We came through the fog, we snuck into your bag, and we came into this place with you." Continued Omara. 

"You're telling me that I smuggled you in?!" spat Jumana. 

"Well, when you put it that way…" The blue Pixie murmured.

"This place is sacred, only monks are allowed in. Do you have any idea how much trouble I could be in if my master found out about this?!" 

"Hey, we mean you guys no harm. We’re pixies, we dwell in forests and never hurt anyone.” Explained Omara.

“Even then, we must obey our creed. We monks respect the laws of our Goddess, and straying away from her wise words is heresy. Anyone who sneaks in uninvited needs to be dealt with.” Explained the monk.

“D-d-dealt with?” Tiana didn’t like the sound of it.

“What happens to people who sneak in?” Asked the green pixie.

Jumana gave the little pixies a stern look, and spewed at them a pretty blunt answer.

“Death.”

“What?! No, no, you can’t do this?!” Tiana squirmed against the strong fingers, but she was hopeless to overpower them.

“There has to be compromise, you can’t just kill us for being here!” Omara oscillated back and forth like a pendulum as she flailed her arms and legs.  

“Well, in order for you guys to be punished, I have to tell the overseers, and they have to put you through trial first.” The black haired monk sighed. “And doing so might put me into trouble anyway because they might accuse me of smuggling you.” 

“So, you’ll set us free?” Tiana saw a little glimmer of hope.

“No! You might tell your kind about our monastery and our quest is too important for you to ruin it!” She spat. 

“I give you our promise, whatever your quest is, we will not compromise it. Please understand that we had no clue about anything here.” Explained Omara.

“I do not trust people outside the monastery. I won’t take you to the overseers either, but that only means I’ll have to deal with you myself.”

“W-what will you do?”

At the moment, a faint growl emanated from the depths of Jumana’s bare stomach, as if to answer the blue pixie’s question. She eyed Omara with a big grin across her face. 

“You know, I have been on a long journey since morning, and I’ve not eaten anything except a slice of orange.” She said as she licked her lips.

“Wh-what do you mean?” Asked Tiana.

“Let’s just say, I have the best punishment for you two. Nobody would know you’re here if I you two were inside my stomach.”

“No!” Cried Tiana as she realized what was going to happen. She squirmed as hard as her puny body could, but the human’s grip was as tight. 

“Wait, there must be some co-”

“Time for talk is over, I’m hungry.” Jumana interrupted as she craned the green Pixie above her head. “Goodbye, pixie”

The dark haired woman opened her mouth and lowered Omara down. The pixie flailed her extremities as fast as her tiny body could, but it was no use. Jumana grabbed Omara’s body. The monk’s gaze turned towards Tiana as she watched her friend’s legs dangle in between the giantess’ lips. It wasn’t too long before Jumana sucked the rest of the pixie’s body into her mouth. 

Jumana moaned as she played with the little pixie inside her mouth. Her cheeks bulged as she moved her little prey left and right. She moaned some more as she seemed to savor Omara’s taste.  The monk then tilted her head back and swallowed.

Tiana watched with wide, horrified eyes as a bulge form on the human's slender neck. Then, Jumana’s eyes widened as she placed her free hand on her throat and let out hacking coughs, Tiana felt the giantess’s entire body shake as it did so. The lump on her neck bobbed slightly up and down, as if her prey refused to go down. The blue pixie had a glimmer of hope that maybe her friend might survive. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be as Jumana gave one final gulp, her throat rippled and sent that bulge down into her body.

“She was a fighter… but not good enough for her to overpower me.” The monk sighed as she walked to her bag, picked up her jug, and guzzled down water. Tiana watched as her throat bobbed with each gulp. The monk let out a long sigh after she sipped every last drop of water. She placed the jug down and wiped her lips with her free hand. 

Tiana’s gaze turned towards the monk’s bare, toned stomach. Underneath her toned abs, that wall of flesh, laid her friend. Trapped underneath the landscape of Jumana’s abdomen. She couldn’t imagine what it felt like to be there. She couldn’t hold onto these thoughts for long as she was craned up close to the monk’s face. So close, she could see the veins of her eyes, and the complex lines of her brown iris. Tiana could have sworn that the giantess could have stared directly into her soul.

“It’s your time, little blue one! I can’t just swallow your friend and leave you there, she’ll be lonely, you know.” She sneered as she patted her stomach.

“How could you…?” Tears started to flow down Tiana’s cheeks.

“Our creed must be protected by any means necessary.”

Before Tiana could respond, she felt her body shift and suddenly the fingers that wrapped around her puny body let her free. Before she could do anything, however, the giantess grabbed her leg and dangled her body upside down, just like she did with Omara before her. She was craned up above Jumana's face as she gave her a grin.

“In you go!” The giantess parted her lips, and the blue pixie was greeted by the sight of white rows of teeth, a giant fleshy, and wet pink tongue, columns of sticky saliva, a dangling uvula, and what horrified her the most was the darkness of her throat. A rush of warm, humid air reached the dangled pixie as her heart beat harder than ever before.

“No wa-” Tiana couldn’t finish her words as she was hastily lowered into the wet tongue, and the giant lips closed on the upper half of her body and shrouded her in darkness.

Tiana let out desperate cries as the rest of her body was slurped into the fleshy cavern. The giant tongue tossed her body left and right as she was soaked from top to bottom in saliva. Suddenly, everything stopped. Her body ached, her breath was heavy, and she laid on her side inside this fleshy prison with only the light of her crystal showing what her prison looked like. 

The giant tongue pressed the pixie’s slimy body against the mouth roof, and then her body shot backwards into the dark abyss of Jumana’s throat. Tiana felt the wet uvula brush her legs, and her butt. The strap that held the crystal snapped, and the crystal slid down into the fleshy tunnel beneath, slowly she was engulfed in darkness when she finally heard it.

Glurk!

The human swallowed, and the pixie’s body slid into the pulsating fleshy passage that was the human’s esophagus. She cried, she floundered, and tried everything her tiny body could do, but she was powerless in the face of the mighty giantess’s body. She felt the fleshy tunnel press and drag her slimy body down as she could hear the faint rhythm of Jumana’s heartbeat. 

Not too long before she could feel her legs pass through a tight opening, even tighter than the esophagus. Her body slowly passed through and fell into a pool of liquid that stung her skin. She flailed until she felt someone grab her hand.

“Tiana!” Called Omara as she got hold of her blue pixie.

“O-o-o-o” She was shaking, she couldn’t even utter a single word. 

“It’s-” She let out a cough. “It’s okay, I’m not leaving you.”

Tiana looked around, all she could see was the gnarly looking walls of flesh that surrounded them. They were knee-deep into a liquid that gave her a burning sensation. All around her were the sounds of gurgles and wet smacks. 

“Im…sorry…” Said Tiana as tears flowed down her cheeks. “It was all my fault.” 

“I’m not blaming you, Tia.” She wiped the tears of her friend’s cheeks. “That person was crazy, you didn’t know what was gonna happen.” 

Tiana didn’t reply, and only stayed close to her friend as the inner workings of Jumana’s body drowned her ear. She saw that her wings already began to dissolve into the liquid as the stomach walls began to drip more onto them.

Tiana lost her sense of time, she didn’t know how much time she spent inside the human’s stomach, or how much time left. The stomach walls shimmered with the faint blue light of the crystals that were swallowed with them. She saw that their wings already deformed and their rims melted, a far cry from the beauty they once bore.  She was sad that she would not see her home or her family again. She embraced her friend and closed her eyes as she felt her body burn, their fate sealed to have this fleshy prison to be their grave.