One of my first erotic stories, uploaded for y'all to enjoy.
***
Madison's heart pounded in her chest, a trickle of nervous sweat running into the small of her back. The cave lay before her.
She tried to remind herself that people had done this before and survived, there had to be. A whole cottage industry had risen up around precisely what she was about to try to do, she had sought out and spoken to some of those survivors herself, seen the dreamy, distant look in their eyes when they told her their stories. They had been altogether too happy to share, to relive those moments and encourage someone else to follow in their footsteps. Clearly, what they had experienced had been powerful and lasting, not to mention eminently survivable.
But, a treacherous portion of her mind insisted on reminding her, many people had attempted this and had not lived to tell the tale.
That was the whole point, wasn't it? People went into these places, these warrens, for the express purpose of fighting what lay within, they came in better equipped than Madison was, ready for combat, and still they died. In droves, they died. And now she was intending to go in unarmed, naked but for the armored shell that had cost her so much of her hard earned money: what chance did she have? Yes, it was possible to live through it, but it was possible to survive a fall down a cliff, too. Doesn't mean either should be attempted. How many people had actually tried what she was here to try, versus how many had actually come out the other side?
It was impossible to know.
For a moment, Madison considered leaving, simply turning tail and returning to town to find some place to pawn off this armor for a bit of quick cash. But before she could, a vision of dark scales and fluttering wings passed before her mind's eye. The blush in the cheeks of the woman she had spoken to most recently, who had pointed her to this exact spot, presented itself for her consideration. The passion dripping from the words those she had interviewed had used, laden with deep longing and a desire that persisted sometimes even years later. Finally, from the depths of the cave, unseen and drenched in shadow, came a snarl, dark and guttural, like the grinding of ancient stones deep beneath the earth.
It sent a shiver of desire down Madison's spine.
No, there was no going back now. Not after so much time, money, and idle thoughts had been sunk into this endeavor. One does not turn back when standing at the gates of success. Steeling herself, Madison took a step forward, and then another, slinging the pack from her back and swinging it idly, forward and backward. Casting her eyes about, she located a likely outcropping of rock jutting out just above Madison's own height, beside the cave opening, that little gap in the cliff face through which the harsh, sandpaper breathing of the creature within could be heard. Reaching up, she jammed the pack into the rocks until it was firmly wedged in; that pack contained her food and spare clothes, things she definitely needed and couldn't afford to lose to curious animals snuffling around on the ground. Best to keep it out of their reach, nice and hidden.
It wouldn't do to have to walk back to town naked, after all.
Spending a moment to clamber up high enough to verify that her things were properly packed in, winding the straps around the heaviest rock she could find, Madison hissed out a breath between her teeth and dropped back to the ground. There were no other excuses to linger here, no reason to delay, and nothing more keeping her from either success, or death. Checking the clasps of her armor for the last time, the purple-tinged plates sending dancing lilac reflections over the dirt, Madison sidled into the cave entrance, pushing herself into the narrow gap, careful not to allow the metal she wore to scrape against the stone around her.
Almost immediately, she was met by the scent of moss and darkness, growing stronger the further into the shadows she went. It was a living scent, earthen and somehow patient, growing and spreading unseen by the eyes of man, filling up the deep spaces below the earth. Yes, Madison knew this smell, dreamed of it sometimes, and as she slipped through into the main space of the cavern, her eyes found its source almost immediately. A dark fog roiled around her ankles, carpeting the entirety of the space before her, eagerly devouring the light that lanced through gaps in the cave ceiling above. On the opposite side of the room was a larger tunnel winding off elsewhere; Madison knew where it led, but equally knew not to enter through it, and the reason why lay curled up in front of the path, wings covering the majority of its bulk.
The Gore Magala.
It seemed as though all of Maddie's adrenaline dumped itself into her system at once, fight or flight responses ripping through her so hard that she thought her knees might give out from the sheer pressure of wanting to flee and denying that urge at the same time. A smooth, scaled head emerged from beneath the fold of the wings, fur rustling on the membranous, multi-jointed limbs, and her fear only grew worse. The creature scented the air, powerful breath hissing as it turned its head toward her, sightless face baring terrible, razor-sharp fangs. Her mind wheeled, desperately scrabbling over every piece of advice she had been given, seeking the first step, the thing she needed to do that would stop the Gore Magala from leaping upon her immediately.