There had been forty adventurers that had set out from Windhelm for the ruins of Eastwatch. Forty fine warriors, mages, and rogues that were veterans of various escapades across the kingdom. All sent in a bid by the local duke to reclaim Eastwatch from the dread Tethys, the demon that was said to rule over a force of demons, monsters, and evil beings that worshiped her as their deity. Forty had gone in. And over the course of the past few hours there was only one left making their way down to the lowest depths of the ruins.

Erika flicked her fingers, a gust of wind blasting away the ashes of the monsters she had just incinerated with magical flame. Her eyes flicked to the side of the hallway, red blood still oozing out of the chest of the armored warrior that had come this far with her. A strong man, his tower shield had saved her many times through this whole affair. He had deserved better than being impaled by the dead manticore. Then again everyone had deserved better than their ends at the hands of the various monsters that had needed to be carved through to get here.

Flames flickered from the tips of the sorceress's fingers and she turned suddenly, casting them out. The goblins that had been coming up behind her cried in surprise as the sparks turned to a raging inferno of purple flames, the fire engulfing them and incinerating them to ashes in a matter of moments. Their screams evaporated with their bodies, lingering in the air for just a moment after the flames cleared and left only the scent of burned flesh behind. The red haired woman clenched her fingers into a fist as she turned back the other direction and kept walking down the hallway.

This was it. They had made it to the lowest level of the ruins. Up ahead was where Tethys made her home, waiting for them. Waiting for her now. Erika didn't mind admitting to a flicker of fear wrapping over her soul. No one had ever met Tethys. All that was known as she was powerful enough to destroy the once great fortress of Eastwatch and all the forces that had held it well over two hundred years ago. A demon was what many assumed but what form that demon would take... it was hard to say.

As such, as she stopped before the vast pair of double doors, Erika started to prepare. The redhead brushed some of her messy fiery locks from her freckle laden face and brought a vial to her lips. She drank down the greenish liquid inside of it, a heat filling her body as she downed a potion to make her immune to petrification effects. Just in case it was a gorgon. She downed another for fire resistance. Ice resistance. Mind affecting spells. Lastly a potion to grant her rapid regeneration.

Those potions consumed she took precautions in the form of magic. She had plenty of spells left and so she started covering herself in protections and shields in the event the enemy used more physical means of fighting. That done she switched out some of her rings. She had been using a Ring of True Sight and another Ring of the Loremaster. Instead she donned a Ring of the Magus for faster casting times for her more powerful spells. The second one was a Ring of Endless Font. It would give her the ability to cast more spells without tiring.

She took a series of deep breaths and with that all done she pushed open the doors, the large fancy double doors creaking with age as they swung open slowly and revealed a rather impressive throne room. Various trophies of gold and piles of gems and valuables laid around the room. It was a hoard that would have made a dragon green with envy really. Erika's eyes naturally went right to the throne and when she looked at it she couldn't see anyone sitting upon it. She frowned as her eyes darted around the room.

Her warning that someone was indeed in the room came as the doors behind her slammed shut on their own. The next moment there was a flash of magic as a wall of stone rose and blocked the doors and any escape. Erika lifted her hands and barely managed to block a series of spears of ice heading toward her. A wall of flames rising up before her and melting the ice as soon as it made contact with the superheated magical flames. A booming chuckle filled the room as she was looking around, trying to spot her enemy. Invisibility perhaps?

"Only one of you left is it? Ah well, still rather been a while since someone made it down this far. Usually my playthings manage to deal with such nuisances well before now. So I suppose that is a testament to your skill, or perhaps to their inadequacy. We shall soon find out." The voice was indeed quite feminine and filled the room.

"Show yourself, coward! If you want to face me, have the courtesy to show your face to me!" Erika called out.

Another chuckle. "I have been showing myself. You are just so hilariously unobservant to not see me. Still, I suppose I can show you my face. Step forward and know despair for I, Tethys, will serve as your executioner this day."

Erika took a step forward as she saw a flash of light filling the area upon the throne. She shielded her eyes as the light was almost painful to look upon in the instant it was there before it vanished. She blinked away the dark spots dancing around her vision before trying to focus upon the throne and the powerful being that now occupied it. The terror of the land and the one that commanded the fearsome demonic and monster hordes that had crushed the finest adventurers the land had to offer.

Elegant and inhumanly silky dark hair spilled down perfectly shaped shoulders, a face that was more cute than it was arrogant and cruel had a very amused smirk upon flawless full lips. A pretty black dress adorned her form and hugged it nicely while a pair of black butterfly wings fluttered occasionally behind her. A fairy. A fairy was what she was looking at sitting upon the throne in an almost comical matter as her mere six inch tall form was before Erika. She kicked her tiny bare feet off the side of the throne.

"You may feel free to kneel and grovel in terror and perhaps I will make your death merciful and swift. Continue to writhe and squirm in vain, and I shall ensure you die in despair." The fairy said, her voice carrying and sounding a bit... less intimidating now that it wasn't booming over the room.

Disbelief had filled Erika's eyes. Her expression was perhaps comical as she looked at the form of the fairy that was evidently Tethys, the dread and evil ruler of all these fearsome beasts. There was a sound that escaped from Erika's lips and it wasn't groveling. It was a bubbling of laughter. A very incredulous laughter as though reality had presented her a true joke. Laughter that caused the fairy's brow to twitch very visibly. Erika couldn't contain herself as she couldn't believe this, *this* was the cause of all their struggles.

"Really? A mere fairy is the great ruler of the Ruins of Eastwatch? A thing that fits in my palm? Tell me, how many charm spells did it take to gather those monsters?" Erika smirked, shaking her head.

Tethys's brow twitched. "A mere human dares to talk down to me? I see you've made your choice. I am no trickster, no peddler of parlor tricks like you. I am the ocean and you merely a drop in a thimble." She growled.

"I live in terror." Erika flicked her fingers and blasted a gust of wind toward the fairy and sent the winged creature spinning into the air, black wings having to beat a bit to catch herself.

"You! You dare to try and toy with me, mortal?" Tethys said, indignation filling her tone.

"You'll make a decent trophy, maybe I'll put you in a jar and parade you around in front of onlookers. Charge a gold coin for the pleasure of flicking the glass." Erika said, confidence filling her as she readied herself to launch a series of wind based attacks on the fairy.

Erika wasn't quite sure what happened. One moment she was lifting her hand up and casting it out to launch a powerful gale of wind to knock Tethys from the air. The next she was... not. She blinked and suddenly the world itself had shifted. It was like she had been teleported to an unfamiliar place. Looking around there was a vast and endless plane of dark stones. In the distance she could see glitterings of gold and the chamber she was now in was... so utterly vast it defied logic.

The sorceress tried to get her bearings when suddenly the voice of Tethys came to her again, booming as it had been when she had first entered the final room of the dungeon. "I see you have decided to learn what true despair is before you die, worry not, I'm quite skilled at such things."

Erika snorted. As though a mere magical voice amplification was going to make her fear some tiny fairy. It was hilarious to think she had been nervous before walking into this chamber. She cast a wide area tornado of wind around herself, intending to fling the fairy away from her wherever she was. She held the spell for a few moments, the air around her whipping around and causing her hair and clothes to flutter wildly as she stood in the center of it all. She flicked her fingers and the wind died down and she smirked, not a peep from the pitiful little fairy.

"Got any more tough talk, tiny?" Erika asked.

The response that came to her was not in the form of words but rather a single action. Tethys landed. In normal circumstances hearing a fairy landed one would assume it wouldn't be anything notable given she was a fairy. In this particular instance her landing was enough that the ground shook as a pair of massive dainty pale feet smashed into the ground directly behind Erika. The redhead was sent flying, rolling out along the ground and wincing as she landed poorly on her arm. She winced and looked up and her eyes almost fell from her sockets at how wide they went.

Tethys, the tiny fairy now towered before her as an inviolable titan. Her enormity commanded attention at her sheer presence. The fairy was bigger than any giant Erika had seen before. Her wings idly fluttered, the massive black butterfly wings kicking up a gust of wind that sent Erika flying back a bit again. Before her, Erika was but a bug. It was impossible to fathom how the fairy had managed to grow so very big. It was then that it hit her as she looked around. Looked at the patterns on the floor under her. She realized Tethys hadn't grown. Erika had simply shrunk.

The towering giant shifted her weight and set her hand upon her hip as cute lips quirked upward in an amused smirk. "Tiny is it?" She mused. "Funny you should say that. I suspect you made all sorts of mind affecting preparations. Such a pity you neglected transmutation effects. As well that my magical power far eclipses your own." She boomed, her voice shaking Erika to her bones.

Right this was magic, that meant Erika could counter it. "This isn't the end, fairy, I just have to-gah!"

Quick as a viper, Tethys's right foot lashed out and her big and second toe wrapped around Erika and pulled her back. The redheaded mage let out a cry of pain as she felt her ribs groan in a threatening manner. She strained and struggled and pushed at the digits now suddenly gripping her but the tiny toes of the fairy might as well have been an ironclad vice. The toes clenched at her squirming, pushing all air from her lungs and rendering her stunned and unable to move. Really all she could do was try to draw in air, looking like a fish on dry land.

"Have to... what? Sorry, I couldn't quite catch that. My, those protection spells are keeping you breathing still. I'm impressed. You are at the very least a middling caster." The fairy remarked.

Her massive wings beat, blasting the air around her and kicking up a mighty gust of wind as she took to the air. Erika was still held between her toes, much like a bird lifting up with prey between its claws. She tried to focus so she could cast any kind of spell, to draw her many to act against the massive fairy holding her in place effortlessly. Every time she almost gathered her wits there was an idle flex to send her lungs screaming from the air being pushed from them. Below the safety of the ground was starting to vanish as well.

"Oh? Not enjoying being at my feet? Perhaps you'd rather not be then." The fairy mused as she suddenly splayed her toes.

Animal terror surged through Erika's veins as the fall below from their current height would absolutely kill her. She scrambled and gripped onto the second toe of the fair, clinging hard with her arms and legs. Every beat of the fairy's wings threatened to send her falling away. Erika wasn't thinking at the moment. She didn't consider how humiliating it probably looked that she was clinging to the side of the toe for dear life. At least not until Tethys started laughing her booming laugh above.

"Changed your mind I see, it's quite alright. Plenty of adventurers have that change of heart. I could just crush you like a pitiful insect really. So many have met that end. Such a pity for you that you opted to die in despair so your end will be nothing so easy." Tethys remarked.

Erika was feeling pretty despaired at the moment. Evidently not enough for the rather cruel fairy as she flicked her foot upward. It didn't matter how hard the redheaded mage had been holding onto the toe, the force of that little flick was enough to send her flying up. She let out an elongated scream of terror as the air rushed past her as she rose up... only to start falling down. She screamed more as she saw the ground coming toward her rapidly, the end very much in sight as her life flashed before her eyes.

*THWAP*

At least until there was a sudden impact against the redhead that absolutely pushed the air from her lungs and was going to leave a bruise. She impacted with Tethys's slender ankle which kicked up and sent her flying up again. As she fell the fairy lifted her other foot up and smacked Erika against that ankle as well. The dark haired fey creature had a look of concentration on her face as she focused on keeping Erika up in the air by smacking her around with her ankles and feet, smacking her over and over again as she played a game of hacky sack with the mage.

Erika's world was pain and dizzying motion as she was impacted with Tethys's ankle, top of her foot and occasionally a trick shot that tossed her back to be smacked by the sole of her foot with her leg arched back. The massive fairy was enjoying her game and the game was a beating like nothing Erika had experienced. The only reason bones weren't broken was the manifold number of protection spells she had placed on herself prior to coming into this chamber. Over and over she was battered around and it almost seemed endless, the redhead crying from the pain.

The latest one sent her flying very high up into the air and Tethys's foot was not there to greet her this time. Indeed it looked like the fairy had vanished from sight. Until she was looking toward the floor. And saw the fairy laying out on her back down there. As she fell and the massive form of the fairy came closer... Erika watched her mouth open up directly below where she was falling and suddenly it clicked what was about to happen.

"Nonononono! Stop, stop!" She tried to stutter out the words to a fly spell but it was far too late as gravity pulled her down and she landed with a splat upon the outstretched tongue of the fairy.

The battered and bruised sorceress started scrambling immediately to get off of the tongue and roll off of it. At least until a slender finger rose up and poked her into the rough slimy and moist surface of the fairy's tongue. Erika screamed as she was drawn back into Tethys's mouth, wrapping her arms and legs around her tongue as she could feel herself sliding. She knew what would await her if she slid back down there. Down into the depths behind her.

The lips of the fairy closed as she entered the moist and humid hell of the mouth. Gravity hadn't shifted and was still working against Erika's grip here inside the mouth of the fairy. Her tongue danced playfully beneath her, teasing her, loosening her grip and forcing her to immediately adjust it or fall. Erika's heartbeat was a drum in her own head as animal terror, animal instinct was telling her that falling down was to meet an end no one deserved.

It was futile. She could feel it. Feel the saliva dripping upon her. Feel it filling the mouth of the fairy and slickening her fingers and legs as she held onto the tongue. She was crying by this point again, her weary and battered body unable to hold on for much longer. The fairy was just laying down, because she knew. She knew that Erika couldn't hold out for long. Knew that Erika was going to eventually give out. All she had to do was wait for the food to come to her essentially. More than that however, Erika could feel something as she reached for her mana in this dark place.

She felt her mana seeping out of her. Felt her grasp on her magic vanishing as the saliva made contact with her skin. Even the simplest of magic she could no longer manage. It was sliding out of her and there was nothing she could do about it. This wasn't some mere fairy, it was a monster! It was a monster that there was no hope against. Erika started screaming at the top of her lungs as she felt her grip about to be lost.

"Please, I was wrong! I was wrong! You are huge! The biggest! The most powerful! I'm sorry I laughed! Please I'll do anything, I'll serve you, I'll worship you, I'll do whatever just please don't- aaaaaa!"

*Gulp*

Beyond Tethys clenched her toes and let out a happy little noise in the back of her throat as her fingers traced the slight squirming bulge making its way down her throat. Erika was kicking and screaming like so many did. In the end however her fate was the same. The little bulge vanished beneath her collarbone. Soon enough Tethys felt her favorite feeling. The little mage sliding inside of her stomach, tumbling out into a belly ready to receive its new meal. The fairy giggled as she rested a hand on her stomach.

"Perhaps, in your final moments I should tell you what I am. I am indeed a fairy. A spell eater fairy." The little fey said with a giggle. "I'm sure your magical classes covered those."

She could feel a pause, no doubt the words sinking in for the mage inside her stomach. Most fairies were considered minor things. Spell Eater Fairies however were considered a danger on par with dragons, elders that had devoured many mages were considered even more powerful really. Rare, but extraordinarily dangerous. Tethys grinned as the next moment she felt the clawing and scrambling at her stomach lining, the sorceress no doubt trying to escape.

Tethys let out a little sigh of pleasure as she patted her stomach before sitting up. The sorceress would know true despair before the end. That she would be digested and her power would become Tethys's power. That was her ultimate fate. The fairy fluttered her little wings as she took off, flying back upon her throne before laying back to enjoy a bit of a light nap. Maybe she'd terrorize the kingdom in retaliation when she woke up. If she felt like it. A winged terror over the land.