The city of Negav was a fairly normal city if it were not for its architecture. Its buildings were made of the most diverse forms, although above all a construction style based on structures with enormous symmetrical forms on the roof and stone arches as doors and windows predominated. Most of the houses were crowned with tapestries, furniture, or beautiful flower gardens. However, as in all cities there was a side of the city in which everything was not "flourishing". The Lower Negav was full of bad smells, garbage and others that denoted the marginality of this side of the city. Faced with the influx of people who entered through its dimensional gate, the city also housed a fairly large group of people with criminal tendencies. The Lower Market was located in the deepest part of what was known as "The Underground" which was basically a place where you could get all kinds of merchandise or pleasures for the right price and it was also below the surface of Negav far from the control of the Police.

Jelena, the neko, spent her entire life living on this side of the city, surviving as best she could. She commonly took care of small jobs for the Bloodhand Claw, the black merchants or sold some sort of merchandise that she got from some unfortunate honest merchant of the surface from whom she stole.

"Everything is to survive"

At that time, however, she had enough money to make the purchase of her life. So she went to a place deep in the Lower Commons and approached what looked like a house stuck in the stone wall whose door was guarded by two strong men. Upon seeing her, one of them asked:

"What do you want neko?"

"I've come to speak to Mr. Rathz," Jelena replied, trying to use the most innocent tone she could.

"What for?" Asked the same guard in an angry tone.

"Business," the neko answer simply.

Following this, she showed a bag full of coins to the guards, who without further delay let her pass.

She kept walking down a long corridor that was lit only by a row of conveniently placed artificial lights. In the light of the lamps it could be seen that Jelena had beautiful red hair with two ears of the same color in a feline shape. The neko had beautiful features and her human body had a sensuality that made her impressive to the eye. Her breasts were cup-shaped and broad. Covering this part, she wore a light green skirt and her bottom part wore a black short that had two pockets and highlighted her front and back femininity. Below her back hung a reddish tail that moved as she walked down to her ankles.

When she reached the end of the corridor, another guard checked what she was carrying and opened a door that led to a room in which quite lively music was played and there were several pairs of humans dancing and having drinks. In some places Jelena observed that there were some Neko women who moved sensually dancing for some humans settled in large armchairs and while they danced they smiled at their “partners”. Some of them had tinies that hung from their breasts or from the bottom of their bikinis. The "couples" then opened their mouths and licked the tinies or simply put them in while they savored them or simply broke the delicate thread with their teeth and swallowed them, further increasing the excitement of the dancers.

Jelena got turned on by every second that passed while she watched these "sexy scenes." But she was almost reaching the end of the huge celebration hall and on that side were two more guards who checked her again and then let her pass. As passed through the door, she met a man with black hair and whose beard was thick but clean-shaven. He wore a jacket that had a purple flower on its lapel. His features were dark in color and contained a sinister look. He had a scar on his face stuck to his cheek.

As the neko entered, the human raised his head.

“Wow Jelena,” he said with a smile, “I didn't think to see you so soon. What can I do for you?"

"Hello Mr. Rathz", the neko replied with a smile, "This time I am not here for work but as a client."

"Ohhh" said Mr. Rathz widening his smile, "I see. This really is a novelty. "

"I have money to pay for the service." Jelena continued, ignoring the man's assertion. "I would like the special"

“This is the first time that a neko from the Lower Negav has asked me for this service,” Rathz said without giving up his mischievous laugh, “But hey, I suppose business is business. Show me what you have darling. "

Jelena gave him the bag full of coins and he held it with one hand taking it and with the other measuring its weight. His face lit up with an expression that denoted greed.

“Very good, very good” he said satisfied, “it is enough. A pleasure doing business with you. Wait here."

The man got up from his office and went through a door in the back. Jelena stared at her former boss's office. The neko was surprised by his attitude of leaving her alone in that space that surely kept important things. Either he was very self-confident or he was very foolish, but she didn't want to do anything that would tarnish the business with her former boss.

After all, it was the purchase of her life. A long-awaited dream.

In two minutes, Mr. Rathz came back in and sat down at his desk. He started jotting down some notes and finally handed Jelena a piece of paper.

“Give this paper to the guard at the door of this office. He will guide you to the place. Or do you prefer to do it at home? "

“My house is not a private space. Besides, it is almost never in a fixed place. You know me, Mr. Rathz,”, replied the neko, smiling.

"In that case, enjoy it.", Said the man, shaking her hand.

Jelena left the office through the same door she had entered. At the entrance she handed Mr. Rathz's note to one of the guards. He checks the paper for a few seconds and automatically turned to the right of the room, indicating the neko to follow him. In it there was a door that had some multicolored lights at the entrance and in its center was a huge drawing of a heart that had VIP written in gold letters in the middle of the door. The entrance was guarded by two men: a neko and a human. The neko in question was tall and of medium strength. As she stood in front of him, Jelena gave him a seductive smile to which the cat-man did not respond impassively.

The guard accompanying her handed the paper to the human guard and he observed the neko.

"Is there a VIP room prepared?" asked the guard accompanying her.

"Yes" said the human smiling. "It seems that this time we have a special client."

"That's right" replied the guard beside her without saying another word.

The neko guard then opened the door for her with keys that he had on his waist. The door opened and Jelena stepped inside. Before closing it, the cat man said:

“You have an hour. Have fun.”.

When he closed the door, Jelena turned and in a hallway she found a human woman watching her. When noticed that the neko's gaze fell on her, she bowed respectfully.

"My lady. Please come with me.”, she indicated.

Jelena followed the woman down a corridor that had several glass doors that were reflective in such a way that it was impossible to see what was going on inside. Although there were small moans and screams of terror in some of them. Apparently the glass prevented the prying eyes of people, but did not completely muffle the sounds inside. Suddenly the human woman stood in front of a door and extended her hand from which a bright light came out. The hand was pointed at a kind of metal box that had the door on the right side. At this there was a click and the door slid slowly to the side.

Upon entering in, Jelena saw that it was a room that had a huge heart-shaped bed and in front of it there was what looked like a small toy town. Inside the city there were little people walking through its "streets."

They were a mix of neeras and tomthumbs, two of the smallest species of Felarya. The first were humanoid beings that were approximately two or three inches tall and had mouse ears and a tail of the same species that hung below their waists. The seconds were basically small humans who were the same height as the Neeras.

When they realized that the door was opened, the tinies looked there and some began to scream in terror, others simply knelt down and began to sob. Jelena noticed that some were trying to escape the perimeters of the "city" but some kind of magical barrier repelled them.

The human woman turned to Jelena and whispered:

"Have fun. If you have a problem press this button on the door and I will come. "

She then withdrew, closing the door.

Jelena looked out over the small town and smiled. This was what the neko had been waiting for.

She then approached the bed and sat on the corner which was the heart-shaped tip of the bed right in front of the mini-city. Then she stretched her feet to the front showing her sole to the little ones.

"Are you comfortable?" She asked them smiling.

"What do you want here?" One of them asked angrily. He was apparently an older man with a beard that hung down the sides of his face. His hair was black and his body had a medium shape and somewhat stocky. However, he did not have clothes like all the citizens of the place.

Jelena watched this little boy for a few seconds and said with a malicious smile:

"It is not obvious?"

The tomthumb swallowed hard.

"No, I don't know," he said trying to play dumb, even though he knew this wouldn't work in the long run.

The neko then leaned her face over him and said:

"Well if you don't know, I'll show you," she said with a malicious smile and grabbed the little man with his long-clawed hands.

"Nooooo! Let me go, you bastard!” his victim yelled at her.

Jelena brought him to her face and put the tip of one of the fingers of the other hand on his lips to silence him. Then she gave him a sigh.

“Hey!” she said later, “There's no need to offend. You see, this is my first time eating a tomthumb, so I wish this was nice. I always wanted to know what it was like to have one in my mouth. All the nekos have told me that you guys taste better than rats and you are very sweet. Let's see if it's true. "

Saying this Jelena raised the tomthumb above her head and opened her mouth. Seeing this, the little man began to scream desperately as he watched in terror the immense cavern full of strands of saliva, a pink tongue and white teeth that would soon be his destiny.

Some tinies of the mini-city also began to scream and beg, but the neko was hungry and was also excited by this new sensation that she would soon experience.

Jelena then deposited the tomthumb on her tongue head first and closed her lips around his waist. His screams trailed off the moment he stepped into the damp cavity. He began to desperately kick against the lips of the neko who sucked on his legs while flashing a satisfied smile.

The neko began to move her prey inside her mouth, testing their taste with her tongue. It was something sweet, but at the same time it had salty touches. The perfect mix.

Inside the neko's mouth the little one moved trying to get out, but every time he tried to stand up, the movement of the tongue and the amount of saliva he was covered in made it impossible. Without further ado the neko pushed him with her tongue down the throat and swallowed him with a Gluck! The wonderful sensation of the little man sliding down her throat as he struggled to fight caused the neko to moan in satisfaction.

“Awwww!” She said later, “Oh my, this is the best I've ever had! It is simply irresistible! "

Despite working with the nekos mafia she had never eaten a small one. All the tinies she hunts were handed over and she earned a few necessary skevols. She couldn't afford to lose money simply by satiating a curiosity. It was a practical matter. Today, however, it was different, Jelena could satisfy that curiosity without problems. After all, she had paid for it.

The tinies then began to sob and some to shout expletives. One of them caught the neko's attention.

"Damn bitch! You ate my husband! ” she screamed.

Jelena noticed that the woman was holding a baby in her arms. She suddenly pouted and gave the woman a smile.

"Ohhhh, what a cute baby!", She said in a singsong voice, "Is this your son?"

"Yes!" The woman yelled angrily, "She's the daughter of the one you ate!"

"Awww! How cute! ”Jelena said in the same singsong voice, ignoring the screams of the woman holding him. “Oh little girl I feel sorry for you! Your dad was too delicious for his own good! "

"Spit it out, please!" The woman said crying as she knelt, "I beg you!"

"I'm sorry, but I can't make myself vomit," Jelena said with a pout on her face, "But I can do something else."

The neko lifted the woman to her face as she began to scream in terror.

“Ohhh come on!” Jelena said, “Don't you want to meet your husband again? He is now in his new home; it is your duty as a wife to be by his side. "

"Please no!" The small woman pleaded with a terrified tone, "At least let my girl go."

"Do you want your daughter to stay in this world without parents?" The neko asked sarcastically, "Or is it that you don't see how much she misses her father?"

“Please don't do it!” the little woman exclaimed desperately, “It's just a girl! This is not fair!"

“Isn't it fair?” The neko asked smiling, “Isn't it fair to eat the food you paid for? She is food just like you, and after all it's your fault. "

The woman closed her eyes and began to pant heavily. She was terrified to the extreme and her heart was pounding unable to believe the reality of what she was facing. The neko without paying attention to this continued her sarcastic speech.

“Yes, it is your fault. You gave birth to your daughter in a place like this just to be food. "

"No, I don’t...!", The woman began but the neko opened her mouth and put the woman with the daughter on her tongue, completely enclosing her in the mouth.

The neko then gave a satisfied smile with her closed lips as she enveloped the woman in saliva, tasting her. The little woman still terrified was screaming incessantly for the life of her daughter. Although her screams were muffled by the neko's mouth, even those in the mini-city managed to hear them as small moans of terror. Realizing this the neko pushed the small woman down her throat with a quick flick of her tongue. The tomthumb woman then couldn't help but slide down her tongue as she used both hands to hold her crying little daughter.

Without further delay the neko swallowed accumulated saliva that contained the taste of the tomthumb women with a loud Gulp! The woman did her best to keep the arms close to the body to at the same time hold her daughter so that she did not fall down the neko's esophagus as she walked down the fleshy, wet tunnel feet first.

When reached the woman's stomach, she fell with a sitting position with a plop! in the middle of a puddle of liquid while the baby was still crying. The little man who had eaten earlier upon hearing his baby cry let out a howl of raging anger and frantically threw himself against the fleshy wall, striking it with his fists and feet.

“Damn psycho monster! Spit on my daughter, damn bastard! "

The neko then put the left hand on her belly while flashing a satisfied smile.

“Wow, this feeling is wonderful! It tickles. "

The man's incessant blows to her stomach funneled some air into her throat and the neko then burped.

"Buuurp!"

Seeing this monstrous and inconceivable act, the tinies of the mini-city began to raise their fists and shout expletives. The anger on their faces contrasted with the cries and screams of the women. Some knelt down and covered their faces with their hands. They couldn't believe such monstrosity and disregard for the lives that had just begun.

This experience that for the tinies had been terrifying for the neko was wonderful. She had never felt anything like this in her life and the feeling exceeded even what she had been told. No wonder some of her breedmates hunted the little ones outside the city even outside the range of the Isolon Eye. It was a wonderful and unique sensation as she tasted them and they struggled in her mouth. But the best part was when they moved down her esophagus and reached the stomach. The tickling they did there as they battled their inevitable fate was simply fantastic.

But Jelena, for now, didn't have to risk leaving the city. She had all the little ones she wanted right here.

Her eyes then looked towards the mini-city and when she saw the furious expression of some tinies, she said:

“Oh come on don't be like that! Now the family is reunited in their new home. Well at least for a while until they got the rent. "

As she said this creepy phrase with a smile, the faces of some little ones changed from fury to terror.

"Well, I guess it's time to continue with my special dinner tonight." Jelena said and touched her lip with one of her fingers, "Umm they say you little mice are even more delicious than little men."

Saying she bent down to catch a terrified neera who tried to escape from her clutches. He hid inside one of the houses and got under some stairs that led to the second floor of the small structure.

"Awww come on! Don't make this so difficult, "she said to the little boy with a seemingly annoyed tone" Accept your fate. Anyway, you will end up in my tummy one way or another. At least choose the easy one. "

The little neera didn't want to go out, he was too scared. He had curled into a ball as he tucked his head of brown hair between her knees and squeezed it with his hands. The roof of the house then opened with a loud crack as the neko's hand reached for him and grabbed his tail pulling him out as he groaned in terror.

Jelena watched him for a moment as she held him upside down by his tail. He was a young man who looked to be in his twenties. He kicked and moaned unable to articulate a single word and not even able to open his eyes.

"Hey darling!", The neko said while smiling, "Come on open your eyes! Don't be a coward. "

The neera said nothing and kept shaking like mad, kicking and shaking his body. The neko then pouted, apparently somewhat annoyed.

“Hey little one, come on!” Jelena told him in a somewhat disgruntled tone, “Problems are faced by looking straight ahead. You can't just ignore them. Also, this will be a real honor. You will have the opportunity to enter a place where none of your class has ever been. It is a warm and comfortable place, like a spa. You will be able to relax while becoming part of this sexy body. Come on look at it. "

The little neera opened his eyes for a moment as the neko undressed and showed her huge breasts.

Despite himself, the little neera felt the blood rise to his face, flushing. This evidently did not go unnoticed by the neko who gave him a little giggle.

"Awww, how cute!", She said in a singsong voice, "You've never seen one this big, right?"

The neera then covered his face in shame with Jelena's words.

“I definitely can't get enough of you little ones!” She exclaimed in a sexy voice, “You are so cute, cuddly, and delicious!”

Hearing this, the neera removed his hands from his face and his eyes widened as he contemplated the terrifying sight of the neko's mouth and especially the fleshy tunnel that preceded her uvula. Three tomthumbs had recently disappeared through the same hole and soon he himself would follow them. The neko released his tail and he fell headlong onto his tongue which gave him an inward thrust with the tip. The fleshy, saliva-wet organ never stopped tasting it, sending its flavor to the neko woman's taste buds. The boy did not move he was too terrified. Wherever he looked he saw only darkness and some white spots that he guessed were from the fine teeth of his predator.

Jelena tasted this mouse boy and her eyes widened as his sweet taste seeped off her tongue. She shook it a lot with a satisfied smile.

"Umm!" She groaned in delight.

When she had extracted every last exquisite ounce of flavor from this neera, the neko pushed it with her tongue down her throat and swallowed as the lump slid easily down her esophagus to the stomach. To her disappointment the neera didn't move even when it reached her stomach. The organ was busy beginning the digestion of its three previous occupants and which was joined the little mouse.

The neko noticed the noises her hungry stomach was beginning to make. She hadn't eaten anything today waiting for this moment, and consequently her body sped up digestion, crying out for the nutrients it needed.

“Ahhhhh”, she sighed as she touched her belly with the hand, “My stomach is so happy and I am so happy. But there are still some of you. "

The neko then began to wiggle her toes.

“Let's do something tinies,” she said with a horny look, “I've walked a lot today to get here. Even though my stomach is happy, my feet are killing me and they need attention. "

Seeing the expression of anguish from the inhabitants of the mini-city and fury in others, the neko stopped and continued:

"I'll tell you something. If they help my feet feel good, I promise not to eat those who do better. But don't try to escape or it won't be pleasant. "

Some little ones looked at each other in bewilderment. Then one of them, a young neera girl with brown hair, ears of the same color and somewhat tanned skin said:

"Okay, I'll do it"

The neko's face lit up. She picked up the little woman who put on an expression that reflected some discomfort as she was held in the catgirl's hand. She then placed it in front of his left foot.

"Well, do we have any other volunteers?" she asked sarcastically as she looked at the rest.

Seeing that no one else came out, the neko made a disappointed face. She quickly grabbed a brown haired neera woman. The action was so fast that the woman didn't have time to scream as she was thrust into the neko's mouth head first. The cat girl sucked on her feet, moved her a little and quickly swallow licking her lips.

"I repeat, are there any volunteers?" Jelena said with a frown.

She brought her face closer to the mini-city while saying these words and released a burp that echoed in the ears of the little ones as her hot and smelly breath spread around the perimeter of the small city.

That was like a spark for the little ones who began to raise their hands frantically. Jelena selected another tomthumb woman with white hair with shades of blue. She put it in front of his right foot and smiled at her.

The two women, neera and tomthumb, looked at her feet, which were somewhat tall for her size and were also somewhat covered in dirt that seeped between her toes and a bit on her claws. The neko began to move her feet impatiently as she said:

"Come on little girls, get started."

The neera, whose name was Lyne, began to massage her feet from the bottom, turning it over with the palm of her hands and circling it with the fingers that soon began to be filled with sweat and dirt.

"Oh perfect! Now I stink of neko sweat. "

Despite these thoughts, Lyne continued to massage the neko's gigantic foot a little higher than the soles of her feet, paying special attention to those points where she felt the tension of the somewhat inflamed flesh. These massages and the ones given by the tomthumb woman on her other foot sent pleasant sensations to the neko, who let out tender moans as she seductively raised a finger to her lips.

A few minutes later the cat girl grabbed both tiny girls between her thumb and forefinger in a quick motion. The neera and the little tomthumb woman looked at her somewhat distressed, although Lyne's gaze was rather one of concern.

"Good job little ones," Jelena said smiling as she showed her fine white teeth. “It's a real shame, but I have to choose which one to keep. It's a bit hard to tell as you both did great and I really enjoyed having you there. But…"

Suddenly she took the foot that was holding the white-haired girl and gave her a disguised pitying look.

“… I think the little mouse did better. So you will go to my tummy, I am so sorry”, Juliana continued with a somewhat sad but obviously sarcastic voice.

She then put it on her face, licked it a little and then sucked it off her fingers while the girl moaned in terror. After enjoying it a bit, she swallowed it with a loud sound as a lump descended from her neck until it was lost in her chest.

"Ahhhh! Delicious! ”Jelena sighed.

Seeing this Lyne gulped thinking that she might have been the one who was lowering this insane neko's stomach if she hadn't done a good job. Fortunately, she had already done this before while working for Madame Soyz's relaxation rooms. Who would have believed it? The teachings of her former protector, how to massage and relax flesh and tense mind, had saved her life.

“Very good little one,” Jelena said as she winked at her, “I think I'll stay with you. Would you like to be my little slave? "

Lyne looked at her with a concerned tone on her face.

"And what happens if I decline the offer?" she asked.

The neko did not reply with words. She simply licked her lips and clicked with the mouth.

"Of course, stupid question.", thought the neera.

"Okay," she said then with a sneaky smile.

"Oh, good!" Exclaimed the neko with glee. “You will be my toy. I will feed you and give you shelter and you will give me pleasure for the rest of your life. "

At this Lyne closed her eyes and shrugged.

"At least it's better than the alternative", the neera thought, “From slavery you escape. From a hungry stomach, no. "

Jelena took the mouse girl between her fingers and shoved her into one of the pockets of the short. Just at that moment the glass door opened and the lady who had greeted her in the hall appeared.

"I'm sorry miss, but time is up." she said in a solemn voice.

The neko stood up and quickly put on her blouse. Then she looked at the human woman.

"Already, so fast?", she asked and seeing the positive response emitted by the lady with head, her eyes went to the mini-city. “Well little ones I guess that's it. A real pleasure to have invited you to dinner. "

Then she went down the hall to the door. When they arrived, the human woman knocked twice on the door with the obvious intention of having the door opened for him. The human guard then opened it and Jelena stepped out into the hall whose bustle had subsided a bit.

It was almost closing time for this place, apparently, so people were starting to leave. The only ones who remained were those from the "VIP" room. When the neko went to the exit somewhat disappointed since she did not enjoy it as much as wanted one of the guards -the neko- of the VIP room took her by the arm:

"Hey!" Jelena said as she turned around.

"You," he said with an icy voice, "The boss wants to see you."

"What for?" The neko asked in a somewhat angry tone.

“I don't know,” the guard replied with the same impassiveness, “But he sent me to look for you. So let's go."

He then dragged the girl by her arm to her former boss's office. The guard then knocked on the door twice with his hand. A "Go ahead!" was the reply and then the guard opened the door dragging the neko girl inside by her arm.

"Hey!" Jelena protested, "Rude." She added as the door closed.

"Sorry Jelena, my guards are usually a bit rude." Rathz said apologetically. "But do not worry. No problem. What's more, I think I want to propose you a good business. "

 The neko looked her former boss in the eye as frowned.

“Don't you think this is a somewhat bad way to treat your future associates? Business doesn't work like that, Mr. Rathz "

At this the man simply gave a sneaky laugh.

"Oh come on Jelena!" He said smiling, "It's a good deal."

The neko simply shrugged and heaved a sigh of relaxation.

"Okay," Jelena agreed, "What is it about?"

The man then leaned his elbows on the table and clasped his hands. She already knew what that meant. Mr. Rathz was going to say something important.

“You see Jelena,” he started to say, “I have a serious problem with the supply of new merchandise. Most of it comes from the forest, but every time I send a group some never come back and nobody knows what happens to them. Always the same. They remember falling asleep for some strange reason and when they wake up one of them does not appear. My men are beginning to lose confidence and it is getting harder and harder to get new acquisitions. As you surely know these products are not eternal and rarely survive more than one night. So I propose something to you. Your stealth ability has become very famous here in the Negav. So I need you to take over the group of hunters and help them with their duties. "

Jelena stared at him. Obviously a question was imposed:

"And what I earn of all this?"

"Well, I knew you would ask," replied Mr. Rathz with a mischievous grin, "To begin with for now, you can keep the neera in your pocket."

The neko raised an eyebrow, but continued to listen to her former boss's monologue.

“Take it as advance payment. And I'll pay you 1000 skevols for every shipment of goods you bring me. Each package must have five to reach that figure otherwise I will deduct 200 for each one that is missing. Also, for every five you bring me, I'll give you two hours of VIP. What do you say?"

Jelena raised her hand to her chin with a thoughtful gesture and immediately said to Mr. Rathz:

"Very well, I accept," she finally said.

The man then smiled at her.

"I knew it! I knew I could ... "

“However, I have two conditions,” the neko interrupted, “Number one: I will do it myself without a hunting team. I don't like having companions. Number two: I don't need you to ask or question where the merchandise comes from. Just accept it. "

"Umm, interesting," Rathz said with a grimace of his face. "Okay I accept your conditions. Is it a deal? ” he asked, holding out his hand.

"Deal!" Jelena said as she shook hands with her former boss.

Saying this, the neko turned to leave and turned on her back and told her boss:

“The day after tomorrow I will bring you the first batch. Have a good night Mr. Rathz. "

"The same for you dear," replied the man.

Then Jelena opened the door and headed for the exit.

************

The city of Pelnepi was, what one might say, "a world within another world." Located near the Shrine of the Shining Star the mini-town of the tinies was mostly peaceful and quiet, away from the hustle and bustle of the Negav city. Thanks to its human guards and the guardians of the Cult of Minalca, this place was guarded so that the little ones had a safe paradise.

Cuyér, the tomthumb, did not understand why most of his little companions wanted to live far from this paradise and take risks in Negav where they could be crushed, eaten or sold as slaves. Although on paper the little ones had rights in the human city, the reality is that they could not be efficiently protected by the police or any other body in charge of enforcing the law in this huge city. That is why the Ps'isol Magiocrats had declared Pelnepi the place where the tinies should go in Negav.

"If they want to risk it, it's their problem," thought Cuyér and so he let his friends know who spent the day criticizing humans for simply creating a segregationist zone in which in the long run the tinies only had the right to do what that these giants wanted.

All these thoughts flashed through his head as he walked towards his house located south of the city hall. He was already a few blocks away when, near an alley, he suddenly saw a neera woman who was running. Seeing the tomthumb the mouse girl ran towards him and stopped right in front of him.

"Please help me!" say, gasped for air.

"What's wrong?" Asked Cuyér, somewhat surprised.

"I cannot believe it! A neko is chasing me!”, Replied the neera sounding scared

Cuyér's eyes widened as he watched this brown-haired mouse girl with a terrified look. Her gaze seemed genuine but still...

"A neko, in Pelnepi?" Cuyér asked somewhat incredulously.

"Yes!" The neera shouted in response, "Please let's get out here ...!"

The tomthumb looked over his head for any sign of the presence of a cat-shaped humanoid, but nothing appeared before the eyes. If something like that was chasing this neera he should be able to see it judging by their height as they were near the southern border of the city.

“I don't see it,” said Cuyér, looking this girl in the eye, “Besides, it is impossible for a single neko to infiltrate this place. We are very well protected here. Do not worry."

"She is looking for me!" said the desperate neera, "I managed to escape from her, but please help me hide! I beg you!"

Cuyér was not a bad person and he was beginning to feel sorry for this terrified mouse girl.

“Okay!” he finally said, “Let's go to my house. You can stay there for tonight. "

"Oh thank you, thank you good sir!" Said the neera with a relieved expression on her face.

Cuyér sighed reluctantly. She didn't like the idea of r03;r03;bringing a stranger home, but this girl had a certain amount of dirt and sweat on her skin. She was practically naked and was evidently in need of shelter from the cold that approached as it got dark. Still, he didn't like being lied to, but he understood why she had.

"I'll keep an eye on you and if you try something you'll see what it's like to mess with a city council official," Cuyér thought.

Then took the girl by the arm and began to walk with a hurried step to get home as quickly as possible.

The little man's house was not negligible. In fact, it looked like a mini residence with wooden and glass front windows and each one had a windowsill that had some red, yellow and purple flowers contained in a kind of square wooden pot. The house was made of stone, like most houses in Pelnepi, but it had a gleaming black wooden roof. The walls were painted a nice dark blue and the wooden door had a nice gleaming mahogany color. The man knocked on the door knocker twice and immediately the door opened.

It was a little tomthumb women with blond hair and white skin. She wore a black dress that came down to her ankles with a low-cut neckline. Her eyes were brown and her eyebrows black. His expression denoted a pretty smile directed at Cuyér.

"Good evening my husband!" She said with joy, "The children were waiting for you."

"I'm sorry darling for being here at this time," the man said a little sadly, "It's that the boys got more aggressive than ever. It is difficult to make them understand. "

The woman closed her eyes keeping that smile.

“That habit of yours of proselytizing everyone. Is it that others cannot think differently from you? "

“I'm just trying to save their lives,” he said in a somewhat disappointed tone, “They keep talking bad about Pelnepi even though no one dares to leave here. They know that outside of this city they will be in danger and yet they continue to criticize. "

“Hey, hey!” Said his wife, “You know I don't like all that political nonsense. When you arrive at this house you are the loving father and the caring husband of always. Not a politician. "

Cuyér, in spite of himself, smiled, seduced by the unparalleled charm of his wife.

"Who is she?" Asked the blonde woman.

The tomthumb had almost forgotten the neera that followed him.

"Oh yeah!" She exclaimed, "This little girl says a neko is following her."

"A neko in Pelnepi?" asked his wife, puzzled.

"She says she evaded it." The man said quickly, secretly winking at his wife. "And she asked me to take her somewhere safe for tonight."

The wife then looked at the neera with brown hair and mouse ears of the same color. Noticing how dirty she was and smeared with sweat, she immediately understood her husband's intentions.

"Very good!", she said, lowering his voice a little, simulating stealth, "Come quickly!"

The man and the girl walked through the door into a small room lit by artificial lights. At the end of this place there was a staircase attached to the right wall that undoubtedly led to the second floor of the house. Beyond the staircase, down the hall were several rooms with closed doors.

Six little persons came down the stairs, two neeras and four tomthumbs. One of the two neeras was a little girl with whitish hair and ears with shades of blue and she was the first to say hello as her tail flicked from side to side anxiously.

"Hi Daddy!" she said in a cheerful tone, "Did you bring me something?"

"Hello Meleiss," Cuyér said with a smile on her face, "I brought you a friend."

The little neera then looked past her father and saw the brown-haired mouse woman smiling at her.

"Oh and who is it?" Said the little girl with a bit of curiosity on her face.

"Well she's ..." he said as he turned to look at the neera.

"My name is Lyne," she said quickly. “I am a friend of your father. He saved me from a bad neko. "

“A neko !?”, said the little white-haired neera scared, “My dad told me that that didn't exist! That they were just bad stories to scare the children. "

"Ehmm, well ...", Lyne was somewhat uncomfortable not knowing what to answer.

"It was a joke, Meleiss, come on!" Said her father with a laugh, "To see if you were brave and not scared."

The little girl then pouted.

"Oh dad, you're so bad!" she told him as she crossed her arms over the chest.

"Come on, you know I love you very much," said the father as he placed a kiss on his daughter's forehead. "Come upstairs and I'll bring you a present to bed."

The girl's innocent annoyed face changed to a bright smile. Her green eyes sparkled with happy joy. She immediately threw himself into hugging her father.

"Ohhh dad, I love you!" she said in a voice that expressed tenderness.

Then she released the father and ran up the ladder. The man followed her with his eyes smiling. Then he turned to his other children. Of the four tomthumbs, two were women who were evidently in their twenties and the other two men appeared to be nearly the same age only a few years apart. As for the neera, he was a little smaller than his brothers and younger.

"My children, how have you been?" Asked the father.

***********

The conversation with his children had gone quite well. They recounted their social and sentimental lives with complete confidence. Cuyér loved these moments with his family, which made him forget all the political and work discussions he had to have with his countrymen. Now he was in his kitchen with his wife and Lyne drinking some wine and eating the vegetable and seed dish.

They had invited the neera to lunch to see if they could figure out the real reason for her agitation after calming down. She had taken a bath and dressed in some clothes provided by Cuyér's wife. A beautiful white T-shirt with a heart in the middle pierced by an arrow and dark blue pants that reached the knee and had two pockets.

"So ...", the tomthumb's wife began, "Lyne, right?"

The neera nodded and the wife continued:

“You say a neko was chasing you. How is that?"

"That's right ma'am," Lyne said with complete poise, "It was huge and I could almost hear its drool falling from its mouth as it chased after me."

"Where was that?" Cuyer asked.

“Some streets south of where we are. I hid in a kind of stone house that had some dirt that stunk and I threw something on me so that it would not find me. But I couldn't stay in the same place or it would eventually pass. So I went for a run and then I ran into you. "

This story sounded even more unlikely. To the south was the border of the city and there had to be guards or members of the Cult of Minalca protecting that part. Cuyér had been related to members of this institution who worshiped their "goddess" of good fortune and they were not bad people despite being human. Even so, the tomthumb played the neera's game. He wanted to continue winding it up to see how far it would go.

“Oh yeah!” Said the wife with a smile, “I guess it would really work. Don't be offended, but that dirt of yours really sucked. If I were a neko, I wouldn't eat you with that bad smell. "

"Good point," thought Cuyér, that smell... nothing he had ever felt before was so stinky. He knew a lot of fertilizers as most of his friends were good farmers and he had never smelled one that stank like this.

The neera didn't say anything. She went on eagerly devouring the food.

"Well ...", she said between bites, "Ehmm I felt bad about your daughter."

“Oh don't worry,” Cuyér's wife told her with a smile, “We are taking care of her for now. She is very small and also has never seen a neko. Those creatures are horrible. I have not met anyone of them who does not look at you with the desire to swallow you and our little ones do not have to see those... beasts for now. "

Cuyér was amazed at the way his wife expressed her contempt for the nekos with such joy. That way of smiling optimistically even when she talking about serious things or being scared was something wonderful. Maybe it was one of the things about her that he had fallen in love with and didn't know.

At that moment the neera had finished eating by rubbing her belly.

"Ohhh thanks for the food!" she said with a cheerful tone, "It was delicious."

“I think it's time to sleep,” Cuyér said, “Listen Lyne, the guest room is on the second floor next to one of my children's bedrooms. My room is downstairs so if you want I can accompany you while my wife prepares it. "

"You are very kind, thank you." Said the neera with a smile on her face.

And immediately they set off as they climbed the wooden stairs. The second floor of the house consisted of a hallway made of brown wooden planks. On the sides of this there was a stone wall that had 3 rooms, two before the threshold of the staircase and one a little further towards the end. Cuyér and Lyne went to this last room. The tomthumb stood in front of the light brown front door and took out a bunch of keys. Then he opened the door and motioned for the neera to come in.

The room consisted of two beds on each side with a bedside table that had 3 drawers and an artificial lamp made of some kind of gem that glowed in soft light.

"Wow. This house has many lights. How do you keep them on? Magic? ”Lyne asked curiously.

“We have a mini-generator of Actinite,” Cuyér replied, “And the lamps are made with gems from Mezhir. To a greater or lesser extent, this keeps the house illuminated. Every month we recharge the mini generator through the mediation of our friends from the Cult of Minalca. It's a bit of Pelnepi's facilities. "

Still, this made the neera more curious. She had always wondered how these lamps worked in some of the houses she had been in. Apparently they used some kind of light magic that needed to be recharged from time to time. Although gems of this size should not run out so quickly given their size and therefore low consumption.

As she thought about this she heard the door behind her open. She turned to look and saw that Cuyér was beginning to close it. Then there was a jingle of keys and then a click. The tomthumb had locked the door.

"Hey! What are you doing !?” Lyne exclaimed in fright.

“You wouldn't believe that I would let a stranger run around my house, would you?” Cuyér replied from the other side of the door, “Don't worry. Tomorrow morning, I will release you and you can go. "

The neera was silent for a moment thinking about what she had heard. Then she smiled and said:

"It's okay. I get it."

"Sleep well. Good evening”, answered the tomthumb as he left.

The neera heard his footsteps as he walked away and flashed a smile. She immediately took a strange device from her pocket. It was small and square with a little red button in the middle. Lyne tapped it and a small spotlight began to flash red.

“Good night to you, tomthumb”, thought Lyne.

***********

Cuyér came to her room downstairs after glancing at her children's room to see if they were asleep. They all slept happily and the sight of them, thus so peaceful, filled the tomthumb's heart with a relative inner peace combined with tenderness. But the best part was seeing his wife waiting in the room. She was reading a book when the door opened and he appeared.

"Are they asleep yet?" she asked with her usual smile.

"Yes. The neera is in the guest room. I left her there locked up. We don't want her to do any mischief at night, do we? "

"You're right. Now come here. ”, Replied the small woman as she placed her hands on the side of her bed.

An hour later.

Cuyér fell asleep after making love to his wife. It bothered him to do it with strangers in the house, but his wife's seductive smile and touch were irresistible. He was asleep so soundly that an explosive sound startled him awake.

“What the hell… !?”, he yelled startled.

 This was followed by screams of anguish and terror.

"It comes from above!" yelled his wife.

They immediately got out of bed and ran to the second floor. As he climbed the stairs his jaw dropped wide at what they were seeing.

A huge hole had been cut in the wooden wall of the ceiling and through this opening the head of… a neko was sticking out!

He had reddish hair, as well as her feline-looking ears. But something the neko was doing was what caused this look on the two little tomthumbs. She held little Meleiss in one of her hands as she screamed in terror with tears in her eyes.

"Oh come on little one!" Said the cat girl smiling. "It's not that bad, you're going to wake up the neighbors!"

Cuyér couldn't believe what he was seeing. He froze with fear and disbelief in his place. It seemed on board the nervous breakdown. However, something suddenly snapped him out of his sudden stupor. The neko began to say:

“Sorry girl but you are too small to be of use. Like your little mouse brother, you only serve as a snack. And I need to fill up tonight. "

Saying this she brought the girl over her face and opened the mouth. The little neera, when she saw the huge open and hungry jaws of the neko, began to scream and shake in her hand terrified.

Cuyér and his wife ran like a fireball toward the huge hole.

“Stop!!” the two yelled in unison.

It worked. The cat girl stopped and looked down. Seeing the two figures inside the house, the girl licked her lips and smiled. A little voice sounded from the distance that Cuyér recognized perfectly despite hearing himself far away.

“Oh look, master Jelena. They are the parents of the children. The tomthumb was the one that locked me in.” Lyne said.

Hearing the voice of the brown-haired neera, Cuyér felt his blood boil. But the feeling was quickly replaced by one of supreme terror at the sight of his daughter screaming in the neko's hand.

"What?" The neko asked while showing an incredulous face. "They are the parents? But she is a neera. "

"She's surely adopted," Lyne said smiling.

Hearing this the neera in her hand stopped moving and looked down to meet the sight of her father. She expressed a mixture of fear with fury. Without a doubt the true face of despair. It was indescribable what the man was going through at this moment.

"Oh come on tell your daughter the truth!" Jelena said with a serious face.

The tomthumb shook his head negatively.

"No, please!" he exclaimed.

"Oh well, if you don't tell her the truth ...", she said and opened her wet mouth again.

"Stop, NOOOOOO!!", Cuyér yelled desperately, "Okay, okay!"

"You see it. It's not that difficult. ”, Jelena said smiling,“ You can't keep lying to your daughter! Come on, confess! "

All of this was obviously a fun game for the neko. But for Cuyér it was a true psychological torture. Everything this ruthless monster was putting him through was beyond horrible, if there were any words to describe what was happening.

The tomthumb, knowing that he had no other choice, looked his daughter in the eye.

“Listen, daughter!”, he began to say, “Maybe you are a little small to understand these things, but I am not your real father. You are the daughter of a friend of mine who… is very far away. I am taking care of you. "

"Then why did you tell me you were my father?" Meleiss asked with teary eyes.

Cuyér did not reply. How do you tell your little daughter that her real father had been kidnapped and never heard from again? The trafficking of tinies in Negav was strictly prohibited, but that did not mean that some violated these laws and most of the time these cases were not even solved. Outside of Pelnepi this was something that happened many times in recent times. Although it was horrible, it was a sobering lesson for all those little ones who did not want to come to live in the mini-city. But his friend was a special case. Despite having made the decision to live outside of Pelnepi, he was not a bad person and when he disappeared, Cuyér, thought he had a duty to his children who were not guilty of their parents' decision. This act of selfless love had been rewarded with the smile and love of these little ones and that for him was enough. But now… he had failed them and one of them had been eaten by this horrible beast. Not only was this enough for her, she wanted her daughter to sink into the harsh reality of these events.

"How can anyone be so cruel?" asked Cuyér's wife angrily. "You are not a person, you are a fucking monster!"

Jelena looked at her and cynically began to laugh.

“Monster?” she laughed, “Why? You little ones are food or slaves of us big ones. it is the law of life. I did not ask to be born like that. If I don't eat this little girl, someone else will. It's better that she ended up on my belly than someone else's. After all, who wouldn't want to be part of this sexy body. "

That enraged the tomthumb women even more. Cuyér held her with the hands as she screamed and cried.

Jelena stared at them for a while. Then she turned her gaze to the girl who was crying uncontrollably. Despite herself, something inside made her feel empathy with this little neera. Perhaps because she identified with her, always alone in her world and had spent her life amidst horrible things and lies.

"Hey little ones," she said suddenly, "What would you be willing to sacrifice for this little neera?"

“Whatever!” The two exclaimed in unison. Then Cuyér told him:

“Please vomit her brother! We will do anything! "

Jelena brought her face a little closer.

"Anything?" she asked in a serious tone.

"Anything." They both confirmed.

"Good.", Said the neko as she smiled again. “I'll tell you one thing little ones. I don't really want to eat this little girl. And about her brother… I'm sorry but I can't throw it up. I've never been able to vomit on my own. But I propose something to you. "

"What?" Asked Cuyér's wife, somewhat incredulous.

“This little girl and her brother won't fill me up at all. I was just going to eat her because, as the saying goes, something better than nothing. I have already eaten some small ones tonight, but they have been digested a long time ago and I am hungry again. So I propose something to you, if you offer yourself to me as food, I will let this little girl go. "

Cuyér looked at his daughter. She was still mad at him and she wouldn't stop crying. Despite her tears, the tomthumb could see his daughter's disappointed face. He looked into his wife's eyes, who nodded with tears that began to flow from her eyes as she closed them sadly.

"Okay," he said firmly, "Do it."

Jelena stared at him seriously for a moment. She could not believe it. Were they playing with her? The determined gaze of the two little ones dissuaded her from such an idea. Still, she couldn't believe such a thing existed. She grabbed them both with her right hand and pulled them through the hole in the house.

“My daughter!” He yelled at his daughter who was looking at him, “Listen to this and listen to it well. Live your life as you can, but live. Be smart, kind, supportive, and decent. When you have a boyfriend make sure he is a good person. Do not be fooled by anyone, you will make mistakes like everyone else. They will leave a mark on you that may make you sad at first but then you will see that you will come out stronger than ever. Follow these guidelines and you will have a good life. Don't ever let anyone deviate you from that path. Goodbye my daughter "

Hearing this, Meleiss began to fight frantically screaming non-stop as the neko raised them both to her face, suspending her parents above her gaping jaws. Jelena placed them in her mouth without further ceremony and began to savor them with delight. She tucked Cuyér between his molars close to her cheeks and swallowed his wife with a thud. Then she took the tomthumb to the back of his throat and opened his mouth in front of the little neera. The father, seeing this, knowing what the neko intended, simply greeted his daughter with his hand while smiling at her. The neko then closed her mouth and swallow him with a Gulp!

Jelena then patted her belly as she said:

“Umm delicious. Nothing like a full belly to sleep at night. "

Meleiss just stared wide-eyed red from crying to a point on the floor. Surely she was thinking it was some kind of nightmare from which she would eventually wake up. But the trauma was clearly on her face. She didn't even look away from the same direction when the neko opened a purse on her hip and deposited the little girl inside. Her brothers, who were already there inside, began to cry and beg. When the little girl was placed inside, the bag was closed again, plunging its members into darkness.

The neko then started to walk. Or so it seemed to those in the leather garment around her waist. One of Meleiss's sisters was sobbing, her wails of anguish the only thing that stood out in the immense sepulchral darkness.

"What will happen to us brother?" Asked one of the male tomthumbs.

The aforementioned did not respond. He was haunted by everything that had happened. But the last straw was what he heard had happened before the bag was opened.

His parents had died, eaten by this despicable cat woman.

All his thoughts were focused on this horrible fact. He would never see his parents again, hear their smiles or words of encouragement. Something, however, brought him out of his slumber. A small, feminine voice began to murmur in the darkness. As if it were a litany of meaningless whispers. The words were unintelligible. Despite this, these whispers caused him fear and made his entire body shudder in an inexplicable way. Then he began to understand some words:

"They deserve... Everyone must pay... they died... they have to pay, I accepted you ... now you are my friend"

Then the tomthumb got it all. It was her little sister neera who was making these whispers. At that moment, everything was clear to him. If he was sad about what he had heard had happened to his parents, then how would his sister who had witnessed it be? A wave of terror suddenly shook his being at the thought of this. His head began to ache as a chill ran down his spine. Suddenly he began to hear voices in his head.

“Do you really want to know, little brother? Well it hurts, it hurts a lot. But don't worry, now I have a new friend. She will help me find our parents and feel good. "

The brother couldn't take it anymore and shouted:

“Enough Meleiss! Stoooop it! "

Suddenly a tremor shook the bag where the little ones were and voices began to emerge from outside.

"Freeze! We are the Metropolitan Security Division!” a voice shouted. “Put your waist bag on the ground and put your hands up where I can see it! Now!"

A second tremor shook the bag and suddenly everyone inside began to feel as if they were losing weight. It had evidently thrown the bag into the air and now it was beginning to descend. The tinies started screaming, but the movement stopped abruptly. The bag was then opened and a sudden light entered it. A head that belonged to a human poked through the opening. He had dark skin and eyes of the same color. His hair was a mix between gray and black.

"Are you alright, little ones?" He asked.

The tinies were too terrified to respond. The women just started sobbing and the brothers hugged them trying to comfort them. What most caught the attention of the human was a small neera with white hair with blue tones who was sitting with her feet next to her chest and staring at the ground. One of the tomthumbs noticed the worried look the human was giving his sister.

"This is Meleiss," he said, "It's, well ... Could you help her?"

"What's wrong with her?" The human asked with a worried tone.

He got no reply. Just a slightly scared look that was directed by the tomthumb. The human then gulped. He didn't know why, but this little girl huddled at the bottom of the bag gave him the creeps. Steeling himself, he asked her:

"Hey little girl, are you okay?"

Meleiss then reacted to this. She scrambled to her feet and turned her head towards the human. The look she shot him was sinister and her eyes were narrowed. Suddenly the tomthumb next to her screamed as he backed away.

“Her eyes…!” he said frightened, “No, it can't be! It is impossible!"

Meleiss's eyes, which were previously light green, had changed to an obsidian color in which even her cornea was black as night. Her body that was commonly clear as day had turned pale as a sheet of paper, but with a gray hue. The only thing that had not changed was her blue-white hair and ears of the same color.

Suddenly she gave him a mischievous smile, feigning innocence, which made the human's blood run cold.

"I'm fine. It's just that my friend left and I miss her a bit. "

************

The events in which the little ones were kidnapped and then eaten or sold as slaves, sex toys and others... happened quite frequently in Negav. The Metropolitan Security Division (MSD) was the closest thing to what could be considered police in this city. However, not many people trusted it and reasons had. Over time it had become a corrupt, lazy and bureaucratic body that, far from responding to its functions, seemed many times more interested in profits than in the safety of the Negav citizens.

This time, however, the police could not turn a deaf ear to what had happened in Pelnepi. The family of an official of the city council of that city had been kidnapped and 3 children had been eaten by a neko, including the official himself, his wife and one of his adopted children.

For Lieutenant Agthor it was more than a major case, it was a real need for justice. He didn't care what the higher ups thought of the tinies. The look of terror that he had seen when opened that bag and found the children that were left of the tomthumb, who had escaped the voracious hunger of that... despicable cat woman, said it all. The shock caused a seething fury to rise within him. The slavers had neither a sense of humanity nor a sense of morality. They were only interested in the profits they made from the sale and enslavement of people. Every time one of these sadists was interrogated in the barracks located in the Lower Tier of Negav, the answer was simple.

"That are business."

And anyone who heard these guys speak could be said that they are honest traders who only cared about their business. But how can there be beings that treat people as if they were simple merchandise? The enslavers have no respect for other people's lives and cynically and coldly justify their actions with those three words. They were definitely worse than the jungle predators. But even that naga, Crisis, that everyone was talking about in Negav was better than that… neko inhuman beast.

And so you can imagine what the dark-skinned, determined-faced man with graying hair felt as he waited for the prisoner outside the entrance to the barracks. She had been sentenced to exile in the jungle. It was the least expected after murdering honest people. But being eaten by predators and spending several hours being burned by digestive acids was not even what Agthor believed would be a fair punishment for the case. At least it was a start.

Even the lieutenant remembered the interrogation he had witnessed. He had to relax so as not to jump on her.

“I still don't understand why so much trouble for some appetizers. They are nothing but delicious food. You should try one and I swear you won't regret it.”, she had told the interrogator.

It had so exasperated Agthor that he could feel the blood rush to his face and warm the ears.

"They're people, you damn bitch!" he thought angrily.

Her escorts brought the prisoner in chains and handcuffs. In the hand of one of her guards was the neera who had been her accomplice. If the neko was despicable this neera was even worse. She cried out saying that she was forced ... that if she didn't, the neko would devour her. Sure.

“Don't make me laugh”, Agthor thought.

They took the shortest path to the Gate of the Watchers. But they still had to avoid the area of r03;r03;the city known as "Cremona Maze" which was known for its high crime and delinquency rates. Agthor did not want to risk the neko having accomplices among these criminals trying to save her from her fate.

However, they reached the place without problems. They had requested the support of battle mages from the Isolon Fist who waited near the gate. Although they rarely mixed in law enforcement matters, this time they had responded to the MSD's call. Undoubtedly, the case in question had caused a strong impact among the members of the influential Cult of Minalca and they had lobbied the Ps'isol Magiocrats for an energetic response. That is without discounting the lessons suffered by various members of the cult and some guards who cared for Pelnepi. The fact confirmed that the much-acclaimed city of the tinies was not entirely safe as claimed by the Council, but at least the wizards who ruled Negav wanted to make it clear that anyone who dared to break that security would be severely punished.

The lieutenant then went to one of the battle magicians who wore a kind of white toga with a belt that hung from his chest and that passed behind his back on which hung a staff that had a red gem. dark at its tip surrounded by a kind of gold socket that covered it.

“Greetings,” he said, “Are you two the wizards who will accompany us? We are from the MSD "

The mage looked up and met his eyes.

"That's right," replied the wizard, "Is she the ...?"

"Yes," Agthor interrupted.

The wizard then turned his gaze to the chained red-haired neko. The face of this creature did not reflect anything. No remorse, no fear, no anguish, just contempt.

"It's not my fault! She forced me, please don't take me to the forest! ”A little voice interrupted.

The mage then realized that another of the policemen was holding a brown-haired neera woman in his hands. At the desperate words he shook her violently while saying:

"Shut up, you little shit!"

The magician then turned to his partner, who was a neko with black ears and a tail of the same color, who stared at the entire scene impassively. His features were brown and he was the same height as Agthor. His eyes were black as night and they simply stared up at his partner with a penetrating gaze.

"Léroc," he said, "How do you want to do it?"

“We will stand on either side of the group and protect the flanks,” the neko said in a frank tone, “So we will continue until we reach the edge of Eye's range. We will drop the load and leave quickly.”

"Okay," Agthor said. “I like your strategy. We agree?"

“That's right”, the other battlemage replied, turning to the lieutenant, “I always trust Léroc's strategies. Let´s go."

They passed through the huge door that was made of some kind of metallic material. Agthor always wondered why the architects said so little about the wall. Were they hiding something? The immense wall of more than 100 feet that surrounded Negav was a marvel of techno-magic. The perfect combination of technology with magic that protected the city from almost anything Felarya threw at it. The huge cannons perched on the walls deterred any predator from trying to get too close. Well, at least the ones that weren't affected by the Isolon Eye. To get so close to the wall the predator could not have eaten humans, nekos or elves else the Eye would practically melt his brain at that distance. The wall, a little over 100 feet high, It also possessed a series of localized enchantments that prevented the infiltration of shrunken fairies or other beings in the same state. In short, it was a strong testament to what could be accomplished when the Vishmitals, with their technology, and the Magiocrats, with their magic, worked together for the greater good.

As they passed the perimeters of the city, the two battle mages of Isolon Fist took up their weapons. The one who had received them drew his staff and the neko wielded a somewhat strange weapon. It was a kind of staff that had two blades bent in the opposite direction like a scimitar. While the blade at the top was bent to the right the blade at the bottom point was bent to the left. The blades were covered with some kind of inscription at the top above their edge.

“Magic runes”, Agthor thought as he stared at this rare weapon.

But what was most puzzling being how easy it was to hide. The neko simply reached into a pocket of his coat and pulled out what looked like a small rod that expanded almost mechanically into the shape it now had.

Although they were still in the dead zone established by the Isolon Eye, none of them spoke. Everyone, from time to time, cast certain fleeting and uncomfortable glances at their prisoners, except the neko wizard who kept an eye on the jungle. Then the cat-man's companion broke the silence with a whisper directed at Agthor:

"You were the one who arrested this neko?" he asked.

"That's right," said Agthor, "How did you know?"

“I imagined it, from the way you looked at her when we were on the wall. You could tell the look you were giving him. Furious and irate. Was it that bad? "

Agthor sighed. He knew they were in the jungle and therefore had to speak as quietly as he could. The policeman had been looking for a pretext for a long time to vent or at least share his impressions of that neko with someone.

"You can't imagine it!", He began to exclaim but the mage signaled him to lower his voice. He then continued in the same low volume, “When I opened the bag that the neko had thrown at me in an attempt to distract me and escape, what I saw shocked me. I know I shouldn't act like this, but… there's no way someone could become totally insensitive to things like this. The tomthumbs were terrified. When I asked them how they were, they just cried with happiness or relief, I don't know. But what impressed me the most both in the place and in the barracks was that little neera girl. You should have seen it! "

The mage did not respond hoping that the MSD lieutenant will continue his story. He simply narrowed the eyes beginning to understand his feelings with empathy.

“The first time I saw her it gave me a chill from something that I later understand was… fear.” The policeman continued.

This puzzled the mage even more. He continued to cast a scrutinizing look on his interlocutor.

"Fear?" He wondered, "What would he have to fear from a little girl?"

“Yes, fear!” Agthor continued, “Looking into the eyes of that neera girl terrified me. I didn't want to tell anyone because it was embarrassing. I mean, why would someone like me have anything to fear from a little girl who was smaller than a doll? I've seen worse criminals who undoubtedly looked more terrifying than that little neera. But his eyes were chilling. Black all over the place and they had a grim look… and that creepy smile. "

The neko mage who until now had been listening to the story in silence and glimpsing any danger that might come from the jungle turned his gaze to the policeman.

"You say she had black eyes?" He asked suddenly.

Even his partner was surprised. Léroc commonly did not interfere in his conversations. If he parted his lips, it was because he was told to do so or because someone asked him directly. But this time he seemed eager for an answer.

"Well... yes," Agthor answered in a doubtful voice,

"But were only his pupils black?" The neko kept asking.

“Didn't you hear what I said?” the man asked in turn, “His eyes were complete black. His pupils, the cornea, it is as if he had no eyes. All it had was a black hole. "

Léroc's eyes widened.

"And where is that neera?" he asked anxiously.

That anxiety was not normal. Even his fellow mage was surprised by this apparently unusual attitude from the neko.

The policeman then raised an eyebrow while holding the mage’s gaze.

"And can you tell what interest a neko would have in the location of a neera girl?" he asked in a somewhat sarcastic tone.

"It's not obvious," said a female, singing voice.

They all turned their gaze to the neko prisoner who had said this sentence with a smile on her face.

“Oh come on!”, she kept saying when she saw that everyone was looking at her, “You just don't realize it. Those neera girls are delicious and our friend is hungry! "

"Shut up bitch!" One of the guards who accompanied her told her.

“Listen,” the Agthor said to the neko wizard continuing the conversation, “Right now the neera girl is in our barracks. She is being cared by a person we have designated for these cases. That girl is very traumatized and even that person we assign is making a terrifying impression. The brother says that he began to hear voices from the girl that came from his thoughts while he was in the bag and now she… "

"No ...!", Interrupted the neko as he opened his eyes and they became teary, "It is not possible!"

His fellow wizard was appalled. He didn't even know that his friend had these expressions. Léroc was known in the Isolon Fist for being a calculating and cold strategist. Almost as impassive as Thas Voidfingers, their skills in cold, logical analysis of critical situations had more than once saved them from the hungry throats of the giantess and naga they had faced in the past, but this was… different. The neko seemed about to cry. Obviously the situation of that neera had made an almost apocalyptic impression on him. But why?

Even Agthor began to notice that what was worrying the neko was not his next dinner but something else.

"Why is it not possible?", He asked, "Do you perhaps know something about the condition of that little girl?"

The neko then closed his eyes. As he did so, a tear ran down his right cheek. Then he wiped it off with his hand and opened his eyes.

“Of course I know!” He said in an exasperated tone, “Don't you get it? That neera has been consumed by the shadows! "

His fellow mage then showed an impression of concern as he began to understand.

“But that's impossible, Léroc!” Said the magician, “Listen to yourself! The shadows do not give themselves to anyone, you give yourself to the shadows voluntarily. And that is not enough, if you do not have an affinity with the dark your body would simply have to be years in this to achieve acceptance!

“All these years studying have been of no use to you, Rufus!” Said Léroc, “I know shadows better than anyone! My family…!"

Seeing that the neko broke off with a look of discomfort that showed on his face, Agthor soon understood that the cat-man had spoken too much.

"The girl may have accepted the shadows!" Léroc continued after a brief pause. “That trauma…! She must have had an affinity for shadows and the trauma was the trigger for…!”

Agthor, seeing the immense impression of concern that this had caused on his mage escorts, began to worry. Just when he thought this neko couldn't do any more harm, now, it seems, she had unleashed an unexpected calamity. Or at least that's what he thought seeing the reaction of the two mages. Whatever the case, the affectation of the neera girl had gone far beyond a psychological trauma.

“Listen,” he said then, “We will leave this neko on the edge of the perimeter of the Eye and head towards our headquarters in Negav and there you will be able to see her. Obviously you of the Isolon Fist know more about magical things than we do and we probably need you. "

*************

More than two hours had passed since they had left Jelena in the jungle, just outside the Isolon Eye range. They had warned her that if she approached the perimeter again, the Isolon Fist patrols had an express order to eliminate her without asking much.

The neko did not know much about this forest in which each tree was over 30 feet tall (at least the shortest) and whose foliage was quite dense. The only thing she did know was that it was teeming with giant predators who loved to devour nekos and other beings smaller than themselves.

"We're dead!" The brown-haired neera said in her bag, "They'll eat us!"

Jelena closed her bag, not wanting to hear the cries of anguish from her little slave neera anymore. Not only because it was dangerous to her but because it filled her with more worry and anguish. The afternoon was beginning to fall and they needed to find a place to spend the night and also needed something substantial dinner, different from the crap that had been given to him at the MSD headquarters.

Then she began to look at her bag.

“There's always Plan B”, she thought, smiling.

She began to walk towards the forest near the border of the Isolon Eye, not wanting to be far apart to have an alternative in case a predator approached.

What the neko did not know is that, practically since left Negav, she was being pursued by a not exactly giant predator.

Selia was a naga of human-like stature from head to tail. The human part was that of a slender woman with white skin, long hair of the same color and yellowish eyes. White scales protruded from behind its forearms just below its elbows, as did the scales on its tail, but these were somewhat larger than those on its lower limb. The scales of the serpent tail also had a strange pattern that drew what appeared to be yellowish suns.

At first she didn't understand what that group of humans with two nekos was up to. One of the nekos was chained. The other seemed to be one of those pesky mages who cared Negav that she avoided. The others were humans who cared the neko who seemed indifferent to what was going on around her. In fact, she once saw her smiling like nothing was wrong. That was her favorite type of prey: smug and carefree.

She continued to stalk the group until they returned to the city leaving the neko in chains, free from their bonds.

Better, otherwise this would be very boring, Selia thought, feeling her stomach growl in anticipation of the food.

She saw how the neko tried to take refuge under the roots of a giant tree which formed a kind of hollow deep enough to house a human, although perhaps it was not a safe haven against other giant predators.

First, the naga made sure that the tree in question was not a dryad. Her past experiences had always made her make sure of that before acting. It was not the first time that a creature of this type grabbed her and saved herself thanks to the retractable scales on her forearms that cut like sharp knives the flesh from the hands of these female giant tree-women. Still, she didn't want to push her luck much more. After making sure, with her nose, that the tree was not a dryad, the naga launched himself silently, at breakneck speed, on her prey. She felt her, but at the last moment and it was too late. Selia hit her with a whip from her tail across the face and chest that threw her against the tree trunk, stunning her. Then the naga wrapped its tail around the body of its victim, holding it firmly. The neko began to frantically struggle in her grasp and then Selia bit her on the shoulder while injecting her stun venom. She began to notice how the neko lost strength and became limp. But then she noticed something else. Inside the bag that the neko had around her waist, the naga noticed a neera trying to get out of it. Selia quickly grabbed her with her hand and brought it to her face.

"Wow!" she said with a smile, "What a good appetizer to stimulate digestion."

She then opened her mouth wide as she placed the neera on her tongue head first. The only thing that could be seen, of the brown-haired neera, was her tail that slapped against the naga's chin. Sluuurp! The naga absorbed the tail into her mouth while the movements the neera made imprinted its flavor on her taste buds. Her mouth secreted saliva quickly before the struggles of the neera against her palate and tongue causing a pleasant sensation to Selia who was smiling with her lips closed. She immediately swallowed the accumulated saliva, taking the neera down her throat. The only thing Jelena could saw was the bulge that ran down the naga's neck to her chest. The last she would see of her neera slave.

Selia heaved a satisfied sigh as the neera fell to her hungry stomach.

"Wow, your little friend was delicious!", She said to the stunned neko, "But it's time for the main course."

Then Selia opened her mouth stretching her jaw to cover the neko's head. All Jelena saw was the immense conduit that belonged to the beginning of the naga's digestive tract and would soon engulf her. Selia then covered the neko's head with her mouth as she swallowed hard sending the neko's head down her throat. She then stretched her jaw further to wrap around the neko's shoulders and continued swallowing, pressing it into her esophagus to prevent her from escaping. Although it was an unnecessary precaution since the cat-woman was too stunned by her venom and did not even move.

As she began to swallow her torso, Selia felt a metal object fall close to her tail. An explosion was immediately felt followed by a blinding flash of light. Then everything went black.

***********

Jelena woke up little by little as she felt herself move. He could only distinguish a half-blurred face from what looked like a masked man with a black hood. The man carried her in his arms.

"What happened?" She asked, still stunned.

“Ah I see that you have woken up little one”, the man replied, “You were close, huh? You're lucky girl, the boss really wants to meet you. "

"Know me?", Asked the neko without understanding anything, "Who ..."

“You'll find out soon girl. Now rest. That way you won't be of use to anyone. "

Jelena didn't understand anything, but the dream was winning over her. Before closing the eyes she could see that the man was wearing a jacket that had a strange emblem below the left shoulder. A kind of black claw.

When the sun was sinking on the horizon a neko with blonde hair, purple ears, fur and tail wandered through the section of the forest north of the city of Negav. Myla, the neko in question, that day, was overflowing with joy. It had been a good hunt in the Chidokai forest. The little ones they had captured, her and her companions made for a satisfying dinner and she could still feel the tickling of the three neeras and the two tomthumbs she had eaten. Although her home was in the human city, that day she was going to visit Iyo in Nekomura. Better to spend the digestion at her friend's house as the human city was full of too many picky eaters of the nekos. If she came to her neighborhood located in the Middle Tier of Negav with a full belly, they would start looking at her and teasing her with the same thing: "Monster", "Devour people" ... well. It was so difficult for humans to understand.

“They taste delicious and they are fun. They squirm going down and when they're on your stomach it feels great”, She told her neighbors, but they never listened and kept insulting her. Myla had chosen better not to associate with them and to find like-minded friends like her fellow nekos with whom she had gone hunting. In spite of this, it certainly brought her quite a lot of financial problems. Unfortunately, the center of power and the economy was run by humans intolerant to the nekos who simply classified them as mini predators.

On the other hand, the hunt was not entirely without risk. There was always the possibility that the giant predators that hovered near the city wanted a snack and they were perfect for the role. However, so far they had been lucky and the reward was worth it. At least that day she saved money on lunch and could put her earnings on other things.

The village of Nekomura was not far north of Negav but it was out of reach of the Isolon Eye. The village had its own mini version of the Eye, but it needed to be recharged every so often for the right price. Nekomura's version of the Eye could not be allowed, under any circumstances, to run out or it would undoubtedly be wiped out in no time. After all, a village full of nekos was too tempting a buffet for any predator. It had happened more than once in the past, but many years had passed since the last incident and there were not many concerns about it. Negav and Nekomura had agreed to a weak and rather questionable alliance in which the nekos went on scouting missions too dangerous for the Isolon Fist and in return their version of the Eye remained recharged.

Nekomura was built around a series of trees on whose trunks most of its houses were based. Unlike its human counterpart, the neko village possessed fairly simple architecture. The most commonly observed houses were basically small bungalows built on the ground and skirting the trunks of the trees on which it was located. As a form of communication, between the houses and other buildings, quite peculiar bridges were extended consisting of long ropes that extended to the ground and between the houses in the height. For the feline humanoids these ropes were more than enough to move around their village. The agility and dexterity of the nekos was well known even among jungle predators. They were faster and more agile than humans, but not only that, they were even more flexible, allowing them to navigate the ropes quite easily in an acrobatic way.

It was not a great difficulty for Myla to navigate these ropes either. As a daughter of her race and a great hunter, she displayed great dexterity that would make a tightrope walker stunned. When she reached the makeshift porch of Iyo's house, she knocked on the door quite loudly.

"Iyo, come on out!" she yelled with impatient joviality.

"I'm coming," said a voice from inside the house, "Stop making noise!"

After a few minutes of waiting Myla was still making noise, and then the wooden door opened. A neko with tanned skin, brown eyes and purple hair appeared in the doorway. The catwoman's naked body was covered in some dark brown marks especially on her thighs and on top of one of her breasts. Iyo's face wore an expression that said it all.

Myla then pounced on her friend and gave her a hug.

"Hey," she exclaimed in surprise, "May I know what you're doing? Get off me! "

Myla then relented and released Iyo from her hold.

“I'm sorry,” she said apologetically, “I guess I'm kind of excited to see you like this… so sexy, I couldn't stand it. Today was a good day."

Iyo just shrugged and sighed.

"Now what?" she asked.

“It was a good hunt Iyo.” Myla said with a cheery smile, “We caught over 20 between neeras and tomthumbs. You should have been there. A buffet like that was the best I've ever seen. "

“You always leave me with a wet mouth every time you tell me these stories.”, Her friend replied with some reluctance, “Every time you come with that tail up and that girl's face that has been given a gift saying that you had a good hunt you leave me with some cravings. But you never bring me a tiny to try. You are so cruel. "

“Oh that was it!” Myla exclaimed, “Excuse me Iyo but once you start eat them you can't stop. Before I knew it, I had eaten all five of them. I was very hungry. "

"You are so gluttonous!" Iyo replied with a smile on her face. "Come, come and have a seat."

The two of them sat at a table in the middle of Iyo's bungalow. On the table lay an earthenware bowl that had a kind of stew made of seeds and some unidentifiable type of meat. The meal had been started, no doubt interrupted by the Myla scandal.

"Hey do you mind if I continue with my food?" Iyo asked.

"No, of course not. Go ahead, ”Myla replied,

The conversation continued with Myla counting her skills as a hunter. How she had surprised the tribe of little neera and then how they had encountered the group of tomthumbs heading to Negav evidently seeking the safety of the city.

Neera tribes were not easy to find. They were almost always well hidden in the thicket or among the roots of the trees. Some even made their homes on the logs of the huge wooden colossi in the forest. When the nekos found these places they were always rewarded with the respect of their companions, even more considering that they could have a good feast. The five nekos had done so. The neera village had been relocated from the trunks of the forest trees to their bellies where they belonged.

Hearing these stories, Iyo gulped constantly. Her mouth practically watered when she listened to her friend talk about the delight that tinies meant. Unfortunately, she had tried few in her life and they were almost always covered in cloth and other things that did not allow to taste them well. They finally reached the end of the conversation when Myla told her:

"Awwww! Anyway, delicious. You should join me when you can Iyo. "

"I have really thought about it a lot.", The aforementioned began to say.

"Yeah?" Myla said clasping her hands and looking at her friend with sparkling eyes.

"It's too risky Myla," she told her with a serious face, "Any predator could be waiting to turn you into a snack."

“Oh!” Said the blonde neko sarcastically, “It's too risky. Don't go Myla. Do you know how many times I've heard that? Humans have a phrase for that. How was it? Ah yes: He who does not take risks does not win anything. "

“If you ask me it's silly,” said Iyo, “One day Myla, you will run out of luck and you will end up in the belly of a predator. I dont think it's worth it."

"But it's worth it." Myla said with a pout, "The reward at the end of the day is some delicious little ones on your happy stomach."

Iyo simply lowered her head and sighed. It was impossible to reason with this childish girl, not even logically. She, on the other hand, would not risk being the dinner of any of the giant predators that roamed the jungle.

Myla, understanding her friend's decision already made, simply changed the subject:

"Hey Iyo, can I stay to sleep tonight?" She asked somewhat anxiously, "I wouldn't want to go at night and it's already getting dark."

“Sure,” Iyo stated, “Why not? You could keep telling me your hunting stories that would whet my appetite. I don't know, but they have a quite… sensual touch. "

"Sure," Myla replied eagerly, "Thank you Iyo."

Saying this, the blonde neko placed a kiss on her friend's cheek. Iyo involuntarily shuddered as a chill ran down her spine and her crotch got wet.

"Wow, has just being around her made me like this?" thought the brunette neko.

She immediately blushed and looked away from her friend with a pained gesture.

“Excuse me,” she said as he got up quickly, “I have to… take a shower! Yes, that"

And she hurried out of the room. Myla simply arched an eyebrow, puzzled by the sudden giddy act. Then she simply shrugged and walked into one of the two rooms in the bungalow.

The next day, Myla headed towards Negav after having happily eaten breakfast with her friend. She had already reached the Middle Tier and was heading home when suddenly something caught her attention. Her senses had heard a small cry and the sound of small cracking legs of various creatures. She immediately licked her lips thinking that maybe they were some delicious neeras.

She headed down the small alley looking to see if anyone was around. Eating the little ones was forbidden in the perimeters of the human city, but there would be no problem if no one saw it and did it quickly. There was a garbage can in the alley that some rodents were climbing up. There were three of them, and apparently something had caught their attention and they were flocking up the edge of the garbage can.

Myla then headed there. The rodents, sensing the presence of the neko, jumped off the metal edge and ran trying to hide. One of them was caught by the tail with a quick flick and lifted into the air as he wriggled frantically and screamed.

"Shhh!" The neko said as she hovered it over her face, "We all have a place on the food chain and this is yours."

She then tossed it into her mouth and quickly swallowed it. Rodents usually did not taste good and she only wanted to fill her stomach so it was better to swallow them quickly which did not mean that their movements inside, while they were being digested, were less pleasant. Her next target was the creature that was giving those sobbing cries so Myla walked to the edge of the garbage can to look inside and what she saw shocked her.

Inside was a small crying neera baby wrapped in tiny white sheets. His hair, as well as his furry ears were black in color and his skin was somewhat tanned and reddish in color in places which were undoubtedly burns caused by sunlight reflecting off the metal of the garbage can. Seeing this tiny figure while crying, the neko's hunger disappeared replaced by an immense feeling of pity and tenderness. She gently took the baby with her two hands together and brought him closer to her face to see him better. The little boy showed signs of malnutrition which was reflected in his bones marked on his naked body.

"Oh little boy, you must be very hungry." Myla thought. "Don't worry, I'll help you."

He immediately went home with the little boy in the palm of his hands. Upon arrival, some neighbors began to look at her with the face of few friends, but this time the neko paid them no attention. She hurried home without saying a word and put the baby on the table in the living room. Immediately the neko went to the wooden windows and opened the green curtains allowing the light to enter.

"Very good little one, I need you to be still while I look for some food for you.", she said to the baby.

He just kept crying. No doubt he had an urgent need for food. The problem was that the neko had only ...

“Citroise juice!” She exclaimed suddenly, as if an idea had struck her. "That's it!"

And she went to the kitchen, took a small spoon and a small bottle containing a bright purple liquid. Then she went to the living room where the little one was. She stood in front of him and poured some of the liquid into the spoon. She approached it very carefully to the small mouth of the little neera. Even though the spoon was small it was still huge for the baby so he spilled some on the white sheets. Still, she managed to get the little one to drink a small amount (for her) before coughing a bit. The neko, then, withdrew the spoon, afraid that the child would choke on the juice. The baby's crying stopped and closed the eyes. At first Myla was scared, but a slight movement of his chest showed her that the baby neera was only asleep.

This beautiful image had caused a feeling of tenderness to awaken inside her. She would help this little neera even if it cost her the whole life. Ironically she wanted to help a baby of a being that would have commonly been her dinner if he was older. This thought was quickly pushed aside as the neko considered it horrible. No matter how hungry she was, no matter how much need she had, she would rather die than devour this little one. There was something about him that made the neko forget about these little details and just see him as one of her kittens. She did not know if it was the horrible way in which the little one was abandoned or his anguished cries, she was definitely beginning to feel an immense love for this defenseless creature.

"Even if it costs my life, little one, I promise I will protect you." Myla thought as she watched the little one sleep.

***********

17 years later.

A small neera with black hair and ears ran through the living room of a house whose floor was made of flagstones that had a pattern that looked like several concentric rhombuses. His breathing was a bit rough as he moved under the furniture of the immense living room. Finally he hid under a huge sofa behind one of his legs. Just in time, as a blonde haired neko quickly appeared, scanning the ground with her eyes, no doubt looking for the little one.

"Come on little delight, where are you?" she said licking her lips, "You have a date with my stomach."

She immediately started sniffing the air, but couldn't feel a thing. Then she began to search under the furniture near her.

The neera understood that if he kept hiding in that place she would eventually find him. So while the neko scanned the surroundings he started looking for a safe place to hide. Suddenly, he noticed that under the surface of the sofa there was a small hole where a piece of metal wire hung, no doubt from a misplaced spring that had broken the fabric. The neera then started running quite fast towards that place and took a huge leap holding the wire tightly with both hands. The jump had been very high and he had barely reached the tip of the wire thanking his strong legs. She looked down but there was no turning back as the neko was heading towards the furniture where she was. He had to climb quickly up the thick wire that led into the fabric sofa.

Too slow. The huge head of the neko appeared from under the sofa, revealing the neera.

"Yumm," she said with a smile, "It was about time you showed up."

Then without delay she grabbed it with one of his hands and began to get up while holding the little boy by his waist between her thumb and index finger.

"Wow!" Said the neko, "You have eluded me for a long time, but it is time to enter where you belong."

Saying this, she threw the little boy into her mouth, closing it quickly. She began to taste it by moving it on her tongue while smiling. It was as if it had been covered in some kind of juicy-flavored candy. She kept moving it around her mouth using her tongue to push it against her roof of the mouth. Her taste buds were ecstatic and the mouth began to secrete a lot of saliva covering her food with it.

When the neko felt that she had already tasted much of its flavor, she spat it into the palm of her hand.

“Oh Jon!” The cat girl said smiling, “You are so delicious. What flavor did you use this time? "

"Syrup," said the neera smiling, "I spread a little all over my body."

"You have to be more careful little one", replied the neko as she licked her lips with the tip of her tongue trying to eliminate the lingering taste of the neera in her mouth, "If you are very tasty I could swallow you."

"I know mom," said the neera with a smile, "But I wanted you to feel good after all this chasing with something nice in your mouth."

The neko simply smiled tenderly. She could only feel love for this little boy always concerned about her well-being. Myla was really proud of him. He became more and more capable in the art of escaping danger. Which was a skill more than necessary in Felarya if one wanted to survive in the long term.

“This time I lasted a long time, right ?!” Jon exclaimed anxiously.

“That's right,” Myla replied, “You're getting good at escaping Jon. But you have to be much better. Always look for a hiding place that is good and safe. If you delay in reaching it, the hiding place is not good.

"Yes mom," said the neera with a smile as he clapped his hands.

"Hey remember I need to get you to Nekomura today." Myla reminded him.

At this, Jon's joy dropped a bit.

"Hey mother, do we really have to go?" He asked.

“Yes,” Myla stated, “I need you to stay with aunt Iyo. She will take care of you while I am working. It is very difficult and I will be away for a few days. "

"It's just ...", Jon started to say, but stopped staring at the ground in distress.

The blonde neko then raised an eyebrow.

"What's wrong Jon?" she asked, "You don't like aunt Iyo?"

“No…”, he started to say, “I mean… yes. It's just ... well, she's always looking at me with a face. It scares me."

Myla was surprised at this. She kept inquiring.

"You say she looks at you in a way? How?"

"As if she wanted to eat me or ... something like that." Jon replied somewhat nervous.

Myla then began to understand her foster son's animosity towards her friend.

“Ohhh Jon!” she replied, “Was that it? Do not worry. It is normal."

"Normal?" Jon asked somewhat incredulously.

“Yes,” Myla stated, “Iyo is a neko like me. We often cannot resist those looks. It is in our nature every time we see a delicious tiny."

"But you only look at me like that when we're playing," replied the neera somewhat concerned.

“Sure Jon,” Myla said smiling, “I am your mother and I would never eat you. We have a very powerful bond. But for Iyo it's… well, you and her don't have the same bond. It's natural for her to look at you like that. But you don't have to worry. She wouldn't eat you either. "

"Why?" asked the neera.

“Because she's my friend and she knows exactly what you mean to me,” Myla replied with a serious face, “If she did something like that I… I just don't know what I'd do. I would go crazy with pain and rage. "

Jon's eyes widened slightly in surprise at his foster mother's response. All his doubts had been dispelled in one fell swoop. It is said that there are phrases that close a conversation like an iron door and that statement by Myla was one of those phrases.

They left after two hours of preparation for the trip. They took a hovercraft that dropped them off at Nekomura quickly. After paying the driver, the vehicle quickly took off in the direction of Negav. Myla passed through Nekomura's entrance and headed for the first ascent rope she saw. The neko always used the ropes to climb, ignoring the stairs that swung up the trunks of the trees that surrounded the neko village. It was a way to keep fit.

"Hold it dear," she said to the neera as she placed him in the pocket of the green sweater she was wearing.

She quickly began to climb the rope that led to the height of a gigantic tree. Then she walked across the rope bridge to her friend's house. For Jon it was like being on a roller coaster while his mother climbed. The emotions he felt for speed and height were incredible. He screamed like an excited child while his mother smiled. The ropes, however, were somewhat slippery. A dense darkness followed by a deep winter had reached Felarya a few days ago causing layers of snow to spread throughout that forest. Given the great dimensional instability at its location, this time, Felarya had connected to a sun too far away to provide enough heat. The cold had also made food difficult to come by.

The jungle hunters, then, began their anxious search for fresh prey to satisfy the enormous hunger caused by the cold and for the nekos it was no different. All of this drew longing glances from many of them into Myla's pocket. She simply ignored them and did not let her passenger know.

With great care the blonde neko had finished her passage through those slippery ropes until she reached the porch of Iyo's house. Her friend had planted a series of plants in her window that made it look more pleasing to the eye. Myla approached the door and began to touch it measuredly.

Iyo opened it not knowing what to expect when she saw her friend in the doorway.

"Ohh," she said arching an eyebrow, "Myla is you. What do you want?"

"Wow," replied the blonde neko, "If we gave a prize to the cold welcomes this one would win the prize without a doubt."

Iyo didn't reply. She just hung her head

"It's just that you rarely come to visit me since you've had that ...", she said, but was interrupted when she saw in the pocket of her friend's jacket. Jon's small figure had emerged from there with a smile on his face.

"Hello aunt Iyo!" The neera exclaimed with a small voice that sounded like a small squeak to the aforementioned.

Iyo stared at him with a look that said nothing.

"Yes," she said at last, "That's what I meant."

Myla arched an eyebrow at her friend's ill-disguised animosity toward her son.

“Well…”, he finally said, “I was coming to ask you for a small favor. I need to do a job in the jungle and I want to know if you can take care of Jon while I'm gone. "

“Oh right!” Iyo snapped in a somewhat sarcastic tone, “You've gotten a bit cheeky. You just come to ask me for favors and you don't even stay for a little chat. I honestly don't know what happened to my friend. The one who came to tell me stories about ... "

"Hush Iyo!" Myla snapped, glancing at Jon.

This bothered Iyo quite a bit, but she only expressed it on her face. Suddenly her sight turned to the lower part of the city. Her eyes widened in surprise.

"Iyo, what are you ...?" Myla asked as she turned to see what had caught her friend's attention. And she was also surprised.

A neko with pink hair and fur marched happily through the streets of the lower parts accompanied by... a human. The man appeared middle-aged, heavily built, and had reddish-blond hair and a thick beard. Without much concern, he marched happily by the neko's side, sometimes holding her hand and sometimes making laughing gestures. The neko reciprocated their gestures with cheerful smiles as they continued on their way.

"Iyo," Myla said breaking the silence. "Do you know those two?"

“No,” Iyo replied, shaking her head, “I've seen them in my life. They seem to come from the jungle. "

Umm, Myla thought aloud, so strangers. How did they get alive? And that neko… bringing a human here? "

"I suppose they will be a couple," Iyo said with a speculative tone, "Besides, humans don't here ..."

"Myla!" A male voice called, "Hello, we were waiting for you."

The aforementioned turned to greet her interlocutor who was an adult neko with pale gray hair, fur and ears.

"Ah hi Megir. I was about to go with you. ”she smiled. "Sorry honey I have to go."

Saying this, she placed Jon in the palm of Iyo's hand as kissed him.

"Take care." Myla said as she walked away with Megir, "I'll come for him tomorrow Iyo."

"Bye Myla see you tomorrow." Iyo replied as she greeted her. "Let's go inside little one.", she said to Jon while winking at him.

Myla reached the ground floor near the entrance to Nekomura where there was a most unusual caravan. It consisted of a chariot drawn by four mammals that had an immense glass tank with bolted and reinforced metal joints filled with a substance that apparently was water. Inside the tank, in addition, there were about half a dozen human-sized merfolks. She was not a rookie at these missions and had in fact become a scout for a livelihood. After Jon came into her life, she needed even more money than she ever needed. In the past, whenever needed food, she could go out into the woods to hunt some tinies, fill her belly, and go back to town, but now she had a moral commitment to her adopted son. After all, she couldn't eat little ones when she was raising one or Jon might think she was raising him just to eat him later like everyone else.

The blonde neko stared at the sea creatures inside the gigantic container and addressed Megir.

"Hey what are you doing with these mermaids?" she asked.

"We are going to take them through the jungle." Megir replied.

"What ... and where?" Myla asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I don't know, nor do I care. The boss says it's not a very far place from here and the pay is good, 10,000 skevolds. "

Myla gulped at the number. But that going through the jungle was something dangerous. Maybe that's why they paid so much.

“Myla,” said a male voice, “So you're here.

The neko turned to see who was speaking to her.

"Hello boss," she replied with a smile, "Sorry for the delay, I had to leave my son in the care of someone."

"Whatever. We're a bit late so grab a rifle and get ready. We will be moving shortly. ”, said the chief in a somewhat disgusted tone.

The caravan had been in motion a long time ago and they had already left the radiation field of the Eye of Nekomura. From that moment on, the routine was not to make noise of any kind, avoiding predators and other dangers of the jungle. However, Myla knew that was not enough. They were too big a target not to be seen. The mission itself was too risky, but everyone was drawn to the pay. For Myla that money was very necessary because now she was not only supporting herself but her adopted son as well and things in Negav were not easy for nekos like her. Even so, there weren't many predators who got that close to Nekomura for fear of the effects of the mini-version of the Eye so at least in the vicinity of the city they need not fear.

Suddenly the sirens began to stir inside the tank. It had not been more than five minutes when the chief yelled:

"Naga!" They said as a huge face with blue eyes and blond hair appeared in front of them.

"Food! Food! ”, she said cheerfully.

Her appearance had been so swift and silent that it took them by surprise. Megir and Myla fired their weapons almost in unison, but they didn't manage to do much. For the naga it was nothing more than little mosquito bites. With her immense hand the serpent woman seized her boss and the neko that was marching at his side. Then with the other hand she disarmed them and raised them to her salivating, eager mouth. Myla and Megir tried to run in the direction of the front of the caravan while laying down their useless weapons, but they were faced with a huge scaly teal wall and a sky-blue ring pattern. It wasn't long before the naga's hand grabbed the two of them together while suspending them in midair.

Another naga appeared as Myla and Megir continued to clutch in the blonde naga's hand. This one had pink hair, blue scales and yellow on her belly. Being found by one naga was bad, but two was too bad luck.

"Bye Jon." Myla said as she closed her eyes and little tears ran down her eyes.

**************

Iyo had entered her house with the little neera in her hands. The neko's house had undoubtedly undergone some drastic changes. Including the paint on its walls that was now upholstered with an artistic pattern and purple in color. The living room furniture had been upgraded with various pieces of furniture that included padded armchairs and a huge sofa with a small table in the middle. In front of the cabinet and built into the wall was an immense unlit fireplace, which still had some dying brands. Obviously Iyo has been doing very well lately, financially speaking.

The neko sat on the couch crossing her legs as she laid Jon beside her and gave him a somewhat embarrassed look.

"So ... Aunt Iyo", the neera started to say with a somewhat shaky voice, "Do you think my mother will delay a bit?"

"Ohh!" Iyo replied with a smile, "Do you want to left so fast little one?"

"No, no," Jon was quick to reply, "It's just plain curiosity."

"Well, I really don't know, little one," said the neko, "She said she would come tomorrow if everything went well. But everything may not go well and it may take a while. "

At this Jon sighed. He didn't want Iyo to realize that he didn't want to spend a lot of time with her. There was something about his mother's friend that made him shiver. He didn't know if it was the longing look she gave him from time to time as if it were a delicious snack or the gestures she made when it was night. One day, on one of his mother's outings where he had stayed with her, Jon had sneaked into her room at night following some strange noises he heard and when he got to the door ajar there was something that caused him curiosity. The neko moaned as if something hurt as she flailed on top of her massive bed. Then he began to hear some unintelligible phrases at first, but they became clearer later.

“Oh little one you are so cute!” They would say, “Come with mom, I will put you in a warm and comfortable place. You can give Mom pleasure, ahhhhhhhhhhh. "

After that scream the voice stopped, although she could hear the neko's deep, ragged breathing. This vision made an indescribable impression on the little neera and from now on it would not be the first time he would see it. Besides a bit of curiosity, these moments of his mother's friend caused him some fear. However, he hadn't made any comment to Myla about it. He didn't know if the "little one" Iyo was referring to was him and he had also broken into the privacy of an intimate moment without being invited. As for the longing looks, her mother had told her that it were normal in the case of the nekos. It were in their nature weren't they?

“Hey little one,” Iyo said, interrupting Jon's thoughts, “I need you to stay here for a moment. I have to go out to the market for some things, but I'll be back quickly. "

"Okay," replied the neera, "Don't worry aunt Iyo."

“In the meantime, try not to get into trouble,” the neko continued, “And don't go out at all. Outside there are many neighbors who will be hungry. "

The neera swallowed in his throat somewhat worried. He didn't want to be around Iyo but he didn't want her to leave him unprotected either. He knew from his own mother that it was unwise to approach any other neko other than her or her "aunt."

"Don't worry," Jon said in a somewhat concerned tone, "I'll hide in the house and go out when you come."

Iyo then got up from her couch and went to the room to dress in a gray T-shirt and green shorts. A silver necklace hung from her neck with a light purple gem in its center. When she returned to the living room, she noticed that the neera was still sitting on the sofa.

"Hey, didn't you tell me you were going to hide?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Sorry auntie", said the neera as his face flushed, "I just can't get down from here by myself."

“Ahhhh”, said the neko smiling, “I had forgotten. It's very tall, right? "

Saying this, she approached the sofa and extended the palm of her hand for the little one to climb up. When the neera did, she felt as if butterflies were fluttering in her stomach and her mouth began to secrete saliva.

"It's so cute ... and delicious," Iyo thought, "I'm having a hard time looking at it like this... in the palm of my hand totally defenseless."

Then she put him down on the ground and walked towards the door of her house quickly and looking away from the little neera being careful not to step on him.

"See you later, little one," she said goodbye to the neera with a wink.

Then she continued walking along the rope bridge while descending to the floor of the village where the market was located.

*************

The neko had spent more than two hours at the market buying some must-haves for today's dinner, including some wafelberries, Korazon cola meat, and a few vials of jinjamb juice. Iyo prided herself on being very good at making meat sauces that were essentially delicious. Years of eating nothing but animal meat and vegetables required her to know how to prepare them so they would taste good, otherwise she would be disappointed in herself. She planned to prepare a special dinner not only for herself but for her guest. She knew Jon loved wafelberries paired with a little citroise juice. What Iyo really liked were the satisfying sounds the little neera made when he tasted these fruits. It was so cute.

As she continued on her way home, she was struck by a group of explorers talking with worried faces.

"Wow, there was almost nothing left," said one.

"But how is it possible?" Asked another concerned. “Predators so close to Nekomura? Wow, that's scary. "

Iyo stopped to listen like the one who didn't want things. She knew that Myla had gone out on a jungle mission and if there were predators so close to Nekomura this could be very bad for her friend.

“What I saw there was certainly to be scared.” They kept talking, “You remember Megir. Well ... this time his luck ran out. "

“It can't be!” Said one of the scouts in surprise, “Megir, The Lucky Hunter? But that is impossible. "

“Why?” Asked one puzzled, “It will happen to all of us eventually as well. It is natural, it is the cycle of life. One creature dies to feed another, why would it be any different with this Megir? "

The scouts were thoughtful in silence. Iyo, who was continuing to watch them, suddenly had a revelation. Megir ... that name was familiar to her. It was then that she remembered. That was the neko who had picked up her friend at her front door! But then…

"Excuse me," she said, breaking the scouts' silence, "You say that this Megir was eaten?"

The scouts were not amused that this girl was overhearing their conversation, but they quickly noticed the look of anxious concern on her.

"Well ... yes," one of them began to say, "And who are you?"

"Oh," the neko said somewhat pained, "Excuse my meddling. I am Iyo, and I am… a friend of Megir ”

The scout stared at the dark neko for a short time. Then he frowned and said:

"Well, I'm sorry," he finally said, "But your friend was apparently eaten by a naga."

Iyo gulped. She was hesitant to ask the following. Perhaps because the answer was obvious and the impact it would cause would be...

"Were there any survivors from Megir's group?" she finally asked in a broken way.

“No,” was the neko's blunt reply, “They were all eaten. When we got to the place there was no sign of anything from the caravan, not even the beasts that carried it, except firearms, a water tank and the car it was in. "

That news, said in such a fast and forceful way, caused a sudden pain in his chest. Iyo felt it deeply and put his hand to the spot. Her breathing had become somewhat ragged and tears began to flow from her eyes.

"And how do you know that Megir was in the trailer?" she asked. Her voice was like a sobbing thread.

“When we reported they told us that they had seen a caravan similar to that leaving Nekomura. The guards who were at the entrances told us that they did not know many of those who were in it, they only recognized Megir. "

“Was there a blonde neko woman with them?” The brunette neko asked then. She seemed about to burst into tears.

“Well… we didn't ask until there,” said the scout who was talking to her, “But I think so. They told us that there were four of them, three men and one woman. "

Seeing the sudden and sad change in the neko's attitude, the scout widened his eyes in surprise and some concern.

"Miss, are you okay?" He asked, "Do you need anything?"

“No!” She yelled suddenly, “It can't be! It is impossible!"

The explorer stared at her without knowing what to answer. The tears kept streaming down her face and she brought her hands to her face, breaking into high-pitched sobs. The neko then motioned for his companions to quietly leave while this happened.

Then came the joyous moments she had spent with her friend to Iyo's mind. The stories, the fun outings, the dinners, and the moments they'd shared together. She had developed a great feeling for her, so much so that it went beyond simple friendship. He hadn't told Myla about these feelings and now he never would. Why didn't you say anything to him? In recent times they had not talked much since Myla had stayed so long at her home in Negav taking care of ...

Iyo's face then darkened. She wiped the tears from her face and headed home.

**********

Jon had been hiding near his “aunt's” bed following her advice. Although her mother had tried to hide it, she had noticed the anxious glances that some nekos threw at her as they traveled towards Iyo's house. Suddenly he felt the wooden door to the living room open and close again. Not knowing if it was the owner of the house, the neera remained hidden. Thunderous footsteps rang through the room followed by a loud pounding sound. Jon guessed that something had been deposited on the table or on the floor.

"Jon!" Yelled a voice the neera knew all too well, "Come here!"

He quickly hurried out of his hiding place and into the living room. But, for the little neera, the distance was not at all short. It took him more than five minutes to cross the floor of the room and the living room to reach the front of the brunette neko.

Arriving in front of her feet, Iyo had a look that scared the tiny. It looked like a storm about to break loose.

“Why did you take so long?” the neko snapped in a voice that sounded like thunder to the neera.

"I'm sorry aunt is that ...", Jon began to say somewhat scared.

"Don't call me that!" Iyo exclaimed furiously, "I'm not your aunt!"

Saying this, she placed her foot on top of Jon who fell backwards at the immense sight of the bare sole of the brunette neko.

"I'm not the aunt of a pathetic creature like you!" Snapped the neko again.

Jon stared in fear at the huge sole of his mother's friend's foot that threatened to crush him at any moment. He immediately got up off the ground in terror and started running in the opposite direction from Iyo's foot. But her foot came down suddenly, throwing him back to the ground face down while his waist was caught in the sole of his "aunt"

"Ahhhhhhh!" Jon yelled in pain.

"Do you think you can escape from me?" Said the neko with a mischievous smile. "You really are pathetic."

Saying this she began to twist her foot from one side to the other crushing the neera under it. Jon screamed in pain and anguish

"Help mom!"

At this Iyo gave a malicious laugh. Then she withdrew her foot and struck the neera by the side of his little body to force him to turn on his back.

"Understand this little bug", he said then, "Your mother is a friend of mine and she sold you to me"

Hearing this, the neera whose eyes were red and watery with pain widened his eyes:

"No!" he exclaimed, scared, "No that can't be, my mother wouldn't do that!"

“Oh no?”, Iyo asked with a sarcastic tone, “Hey little neera, I think something needs to be clarified here. Myla is NOT your mother. Just look at you, do you notice anything? "

The mouse boy did not respond. He closed his eyes and began to shake his head, refusing to believe what he was hearing.

“You are just a delicious snack to fill our belly,” the neko continued, smiling maliciously, “Nekos don't raise neeras as children, they only do it to satisfy their needs when the time comes. But okay, let's say Myla developed some kind of attachment to you. So instead of eating you she sold you to me as a slave. So I can do whatever I want with you and you can't do anything about it. "

Finally, Jon's pain and anger erupted into an uncontrolled sob. The neko just narrowed her eyes at him. After a short time, she grabbed him with her right hand lifting him off the floor while the boy was still sobbing and led him to his room.

Then she placed it in a kind of fish tank that had no water and was on top of a piece of furniture that simulated a kind of table or dresser. The glass walls of the fish tank ended in a kind of black coating that covered all its edges and had a device on the upper left side that was apparently intended for the purification of water. At its bottom it had what looked like a kind of small wooden ship with a hole on one side. The ground was filled with artificial sand and some fake plants.

Iyo deposited the neera at the bottom, or rather almost knocked it down. The fall didn't do anything physically to the boy, but he still continued to cry uncontrollably.

“This will be your new home from now on. You better get settled in today. Tomorrow you will need all your strength. ”, She told him.

From this moment on, Jon's days were totally different from all those he had lived with his mother. These days, these notes were recorded in a small diary that the neera carried with him all the time to prevent anyone from reading it. It had been a bit shattered by Iyo's brutal act but he could still write on it.

Day 1

Dear Diary:

Today I do not know exactly what day is it since I last wrote to you. I decided to write to you again because something horrible happened to me. My aunt just told me that my mother has sold me to her as her slave. I can't believe it, it's impossible, maybe she's just trying to fool me… That's it! But why would she do that? When my mother comes she will find out and teach Iyo a lesson. I don't want to be in this place much longer than I should. I don't know what this bastard is planning to do with me, but luckily my mother will come and rescue me.

Day 2

Dear Diary:

My mother didn't come looking for me today. Iyo took advantage of that to continue tormenting me. Today was… strange. She left for work in the morning while my mind kept hoping that my mother would show up any minute. But time passed and he did not come all day. When Iyo arrived she took me out of my crystal prison and led me to her bed. I couldn't jump to the ground as the fall would surely break my legs. She sat down next to me and started taking off her leather shoes. Then she placed her feet on the bed right next to me. She told me to give them a massage since she had been walking all day.

Her feet had a foul, stale smell, I didn't want to touch them. She threatened me and told me that if I didn't, she would eat me. With the pain in my soul I began to touch her feet with my hands making them rotate all over her sole. Then I stroked the underside of her heel and kept going up, but with my hands I couldn't reach the top of her sole that had crushed me yesterday. She noticed it and leaned her feet forward a little. A bit of sweat fell on my head which caused me a lot of disgust, but I had no choice but to follow her orders. I was 20 minutes in this function until apparently she got bored and she picked me up again in her hand to put me back in the fish tank.

My hands reek of sweat and not to mention my hair. Let's see if my mom comes looking for me tomorrow.

Day 3

Dear Diary:

My mother did not come looking for me today either. I know she always tells me to wait for her because sometimes her work takes a while, but my aunt… Iyo made me do something today that I didn't like.

Once again she asked me to give her a foot massage after coming home from work. This time I included a stay between her fingers. While I was massaging the upper part of her sole, she grabbed me between her fingers and started me rubbing them. I could only do it with the fingers that I was holding on to. Then she put me down on the mattress again and said something horrible to me. She told me to lick her feet to clean them! Seeing my refusal, she crushed me again with her left foot while I was on my back, trapped against the mattress. The unpleasant smell of her feet permeated my body as I pressed myself against the bed. I had no choice but to stick my tongue out and absorb her stale sweat. I drank as much as I could until my stomach was full.

This experience has left me very bad every day. I must go to bed, I pray that my mother comes tomorrow.

Day 4

I am a slave, I certainly am. I deserve nothing more than the satisfaction of serving my mistress. Today I have realized that my life is over. My mistress once again used me as if I were an object for her personal pleasure. But this time it was different… very different from before.

She took me from my glass cage and again deposited me on the bed. Then she lay on her back beside me and quickly grabbed me with her hand. With her other hand she removed her blouse exposing her breasts. The sight caused me some embarrassment and looked away, but my mistress told me to open my eyes as I approached her huge breasts that were two rounded mountains. Then she told me to "use my tongue for something useful." At first I didn't understand what she wanted and then I saw a huge button sticking out of the center of her breasts. I mean how could I NOT see it if was practically in front of me? My mistress urged me to do something again and simply said "Suck it slave." At first I tried to open my mouth to see if the button would fit inside, but it was a big thing, so I stuck out my tongue and started licking it. My mistress then began to make strange sounds that seemed to come out of her mouth. They were moans… yes, that. It seemed like something hurt her, but softer. I glanced at the other mountain of meat and realized that my mistress was touching that button with her other hand, squeezing it between two of her fingers.

Then she lifted me up again and I could see her face better. She gave me a grin that scared me and then carried me under her breasts past her belly to a place that looked like a wet opening of hairy flesh all around it. As I got off I felt a little itchy from the hairs surrounding this spot on my face. I had never seen it so I assumed this was the private place for women. But to me it looked like a kind of pink cavern oozing moisture everywhere. The possibility of this thing engulfing me sent shivers through my body. My mistress then approached me to a point above the dark entrance of this thing and, taking a closer look, I saw a button similar to the one I had seen on her breasts. This one was much rounder, pink in color, and oozing moisture. It looked like a fruit about to burst. Already knowing, from experience, what my mistress wanted, I stuck out my tongue and started licking it too. At this I felt the entire cavern tremble as it filled with more moisture. A liquid began to accumulate in my mouth... it must be what was wetting that cave below me. I savored it as much as I could before swallowing, and the truth… it didn't taste that bad. Suddenly the moans of my mistress became rather strange screams. This time it did seem that something was bothering her and what happened next took me by surprise. My mistress lowered my head towards the entrance of the pink cavern and forced me to enter. I had to close my eyes and mouth to keep from choking on the immense amount of liquid inside. The hairs on my ears got wet and some liquid fell inside. I felt my tail brush against something meaty on top of me and I began to wave it to try to get it away from there, but it was useless. My mistress would take me out and re-enter this place, I didn't even have space to breathe well. The liquid then began to warm my body a bit in a pleasant way. The only uncomfortable thing was my breathing and my tail. The base of it near my butt hurt a lot, I thought I would get blisters on my tail from this. Then I heard a thud. The pink walls of the cavern contracted and a huge stream of liquid came out of the bottom like a river that drenched me. Then the hand that was holding me pulled me out of that awful and strange place and threw me to the side of the bed. I started coughing and some of the liquid from my throat spilled.

 I noticed that my mistress was breathing with some difficulty as if she were crying out for air. After a while she took me to the place that I knew well, my crystal prison. She complimented me by saying that I had done a good job. Then I realized what I really am; a slave, someone who is only okay if satisfies his mistress and today it seems that I had done a good job so I could sleep happily. Isn't it daily?

***********

"Jon wake up," a voice was saying affectionately, "Come lazy."

The neera got up looking at the smiling face of a blonde haired neko who was looking at her.

"Who are you?" asked Jon puzzled, "I don't know you."

"Oh wow", "said the neko with a tone of annoyance in her voice," Did you forget me so quickly? I'm your mother, silly.

“No, you are not,” said the neera with a bitter tone in his voice, “My mother… that doesn't exist. I don't have a mother. "

"What do you mean you don't have a mother?", The neko asked him then with a hopeless tone, "Come on Jon you know that's not true."

"You sold me as an object, and now I'm suffering because of you." Jon snapped as he looked at the neko with eyes that expressed anger.

The blonde neko closed her eyes and Jon could see a tear slide down her right cheek.

"Is that what you think of me?" she said, sobbing. “You forgot me already after everything I did for you. You are ungrateful, you know? "

Jon didn't reply. He just lowered his head and from there he said to the neko.

"Go away! I never want to see you again. Now I only have my mistress. "

The blonde neko sighed sadly.

“Please Jon,” she said desperately, “Don't forget me. I do not deserve this. What they have told you is not true. "

"I said go!" Exclaimed the neera a second time, "Don't you get it? Get away!"

"NO! Please…”, she screamed desperately as she began to disappear,“ Please don't forget me! ”

Jon then closed his eyes, indifferent as the neko disappeared ...

"Mother, nooooo!" The neera yelled as he woke up suddenly.

He began to look around and then saw where he was. Lying on the floor of the fish tank under the hollow of the decorative boat. He touched his face as he ran his hand over his face, quickly noticing that his eyes were watery.

How could I believe this shit? Jon thought, How could I forget who I am so fast? My mother would never do that, she is kind, loving and always loved me. I have to get out of here and find her before this place makes me forget her. "

The neera then got up and walked around the huge glass box and all he could see was the edges was the water filter. It was on his side of the glass and it would be a good way out if he could reach it. The filter had a transparent pipe that he could climb through if he managed to reach it.

Suddenly an idea occurred to him. With the gravel that was accumulated at the bottom of the tank, a kind of column could be made that would support his weight and by climbing it at least would allow him to jump to the pipe. He began to collect small rocks from the bottom and accumulate them just below where the pipe hung. Most of the bottom rocks were somewhat thick sediment that would surely support its weight without falling apart. Still, Jon had to accumulate a lot because the rocks themselves weren't very big. It was a long time before he could gather enough to get to halfway up the glass wall. Jon then realized that the height still wouldn't let him reach the filter pipe with his hands. There was only one way he would do it thanks to the training he had received from his mother. He walked to a distance from the stone mound and started running towards it. His speed increased as he approached. Upon arrival he began to run scaling the rocks with his feet quickly and when he reached the top he jumped up, throwing the rock mound to the ground by the momentum of his legs when he jumped. He vaguely reached for the plastic pipe with his hands. Her little body dangled as she looked down realizing that her stone support had collapsed. Jon then tried to stay calm. Now there was no going back so there was only one way to go: he had to climb anyway or he would fall and turn into a pulp of blood or at best, break his legs and several bones.

However, the slippery surface of the pipe did not make it easy for him. His hands desperately searched for grip to support the weight of his body and his muscles began to ache from the pressure. Jon watched desperately as his hands began to slide off the transparent surface as gravity began to do its work. The neera began to wag his hands desperately to climb, but every move he made only pushed him further from the edge and he kept descending. As he reached the bottom edge of the pipe the neera could not hold his grip and gave a cry of despair as he fell into the void towards the floor of the fish tank.

But then something strange happened. The fleshy surface of one hand stopped his fall and lifted him past the edge of the fishbowl. Then he saw Iyo's smiling face in front of him.

"Hey tiny, it would have been an ugly fall!" Snapped the brunette neko in a sarcastic tone!

As soon as the neera saw her, his eyes watered. Iyo noticed this and then snapped:

"Hey little one, you wanted to escape, didn't you?"

"Yes!" The neera finally yelled furiously.

Iyo's gaze then started to get serious.

"Oh, so I'm sorry little neera, but you can't escape from me." Iyo told him, "Now you are my slave, I paid a lot of money for you and I am not going to lose you."

Jon lowered his gaze, writhing in rage. Then he raised his face again and yelled at the neko:

"Liar!"

"What did you say?" Iyo hissed.

“You're a fucking liar!” Jon kept yelling at her, “My mother wouldn't do something like sell me to you! You are a liar!"

"Oh no?" Iyo asked, "Then why hasn't she come looking for you, fool?"

“I… I don't know!” The neera replied stammering, “But I know she didn't do something like that. You did something to her or said something to her and she hasn't come looking for me for that. "

“Hahaha,” Iyo started laughing, “You're so pathetically naive. Please, do you think I would do something to my friend just to have her son neera? "

Jon didn't reply he just kept looking defiantly at the neko.

“Very good,” she told him furiously, “It's over. I'm going to teach you a lesson little shit. "

Then she threw Jon to the ground from her knees. Then she put her sole on top of the neera, pinning it to the ground.

Jon let out a small cry of pain as the sole of Iyo's foot pressed him to the hard surface. His entire body began to ache and his lungs began to scream for air, but his determination did not give way for an instant. From now on he would only despise this cat bitch, even if it was the last thing he did. Suddenly he was face to face with the toes of the sole that imprisoned him. Without much thought, he bit into the flesh of his thumb with all the force he could. The neko then let out a little cry. It felt like an ant sting on his foot, small, but in great pain. She then withdrew her foot as she looked at the little neera with fury injected eyes.

“You fucking bit me!” Iyo exclaimed with a scream that echoed throughout the room.

The neera didn't say anything he just kept looking at her with the same challenging eyes.

Iyo then looked at the little neera suppressing his anger. His "moments" with this little neera were far from over, at least she didn't want them to end so quickly. Looking at this mouse boy's defiant face, she thought that this would probably be the same look Myla would give her if she saw how she treated her adopted son. It was unbearable, she didn't want to see her anymore.

"Very good," Iyo snapped, "I'll give you a chance to fix this, if you do it right we'll pretend none of this happened."

The neera said nothing and kept the same unyielding gaze.

"I want you to kneel in that same place and apologize for everything you have done today, little slave." Iyo continued as she clenched her fists. "And I want you to promise me that none of this will happen again."

It was a smart way to go through the motions without damaging this little neera fatally, and without losing her power over him. Her body was asking her to crush this insolent little boy for what he had tried to do, but then she would lose her favorite toy and consolation for the loss of her friend.

"Do it now!" snapped the dark neko.

Jon closed his eyes and started to get up, trying to kneel. His body hurt a lot not counting his legs that had been held all that time under the pressure of Iyo's foot. Every move he made with them was hell, but a hell he endured without uttering a complaint. When he finally tried to bend them to kneel, he had to support himself with one hand on his side to keep from falling given how flabby and painful his muscles and bones felt all over that area. Then he raised his head and looked at Iyo with indifferent eyes.

The neko did not know what to think of that look and only said:

"I'm waiting."

Jon then smiled and yelled at her:

"Fuck you!"

At this the neko definitely lost her patience. She grabbed the neera with her right hand and suspended it over her face.

“It's over, this time it's over,” she yelled furiously at him, “I'm giving you a chance to get out of this and what do you do? Insult me r03;r03;one more time. But I'm tired of it. You're just a stink bug that doesn't even deserve my time. If you don't want to be my slave, you will be my dinner. "

Saying this the neko opened her huge mouth ready to swallow the neera. Strands of saliva hung between her jaws and her tongue snaked out ready to receive him. Jon at this ghastly sight began to struggle trying to free himself from Iyo's grip. Every twist in his battered body was like a stab of unspeakable pain, but right now the adrenaline rush and survival instincts were worth more than any pain he felt at the time.

Iyo then closed her mouth in a mischievous smile.

“You're not that brave when you're like this huh?”, she said with an ironic tone, “No problem little Jon, keep moving like this in my mouth and on my stomach. It will be nice while it lasts. "

The neera then stopped moving accepting his fate. It was no longer worth fighting for. For what? His mother was not there, therefore, she would not come to save him, and he preferred to die in any way before continuing to please this cruel cat girl. But then something incredible happened. The catgirl lowered the arm he was on, throwing him at the mattress on the bed. Jon opened his eyes and looked at the neko who had put her hands to her chest. Iyo's entire body began to convulse violently. The neko began to let out high-pitched screams of pain as her massive body fell to the ground and trembled uncontrollably. It was as if she was possessed by a sharp pain that caused those heartbreaking screams. The tremors caused Iyo's body to collide with the legs of the bed that Jon was on, causing dull blows that made the furniture shake, not allowing the neera to stand up. So he crawled to the edge of the bed to see what was going on with the brunette neko. By the time she reached the edge of the bed, the neko's spasms had stopped and her body was breathing rapidly as tears fell from her closed eyes. Apparently she was unconscious or in shock.

Beyond the body of his mother's friend Jon made out a small figure near the doorway. He didn't see her well, but he could swear she was a neera like him. A black cloud then materialized below him and dragged through the air towards the small figure. The mouse boy then screamed in fear as the dark cloud carried him through the air at breakneck speed. Then the cloud disappeared close to the ground and Jon fell rolling from the momentum in front of the feet of a tiny woman. Looking up he could see better the figure that had apparently conjured that black cloud that carried him.

She was a neera, like him. Her ears, as well as her hair were whitish with blue hues. Her height was average and she appeared to be of a young age. Her skin was white, but with a grayish hue as if she were an undead. What scared Jon the most were her night-black eyes. There was not a trace of light in them, as if they were sinking into an unfathomable void. She wore a long white toga with a huge green bar running around the bottom edge of the cloth garment. The toga only had a small hole in the back where the mouse girl's tail passed. The neera held in her hands what looked like a staff made of some special kind of black glass and had two demonic horns on its tip.

Jon stared in bewilderment at this terrifying figure for a moment, paralyzed with fear. Just from the tilt of her face, Jon could see that the neera was looking at him since her eyes didn't seem to be looking in one fixed direction.

“Hello, is there anyone there?”, That terrifying figure finally said to him, “What? Did the neko eat your tongue? "

This taunt snapped Jon out of his trance. He tried to stand up, but his body sent a twinge of pain that sent him to the ground again.

"Oh my," said the neera smiling, "Pity"

Jon then narrowed his eyes as he breathed something rough with the sudden pain.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked angrily.

"Oh, wow. I did not introduce myself. It's just that seeing two pathetic things like that neko and you made me laugh so much that I lost my way. The name is Meleiss. I am a battlemage from the Fist of Hope. "

The Fist of Hope? Jon had heard of the Isolon Fist. An organization of magues and soldiers who served the rulers of Negav and who protected the city from the threats of the jungle alongside the Vishmitals. What the heck then was this Fist of Hope? He must have heard wrong.

"The Fist of what?" Jon asked even more puzzled.

"Well, how rude you are," Meleiss said in a seemingly annoyed tone as she hung her staff on her back and put a hand on her waist. "I just told you my name and you haven't even told me yours after saving your life."

Jon couldn't help but notice the irony behind this neera's words. But she was right, it had saved his life the moment he had lost the last of his… hope.

"Sorry," he said at last wanting to follow this girl's game, "My name is Jon. And I'm… well, a neera. "

Meleiss at this began to laugh with a somewhat irritating giggle. Jon apparently didn't want to continue teasing with her and kept saying:

"What did you do to ...?"

“The neko?” Meleiss said, following the thoughts of her interlocutor, “Nothing, just a little pain. Well ... really a lot of pain. My friend is good at it. "

"Your friend?" Jon asked with a frown.

"Yes, you didn't see her?" Meleiss asked raising an eyebrow. "But her did bring you here."

Jon thought that this neera had lost a screw, but he did not want to continue pressing the subject. Obviously he couldn't help her if this were the case and he needed her help to...

"Hey could you get me out of here?" Jon asked in a gentle tone, "I don't want to be here when she wakes up."

“Hey boy,” the neera told him with a smile, “I wouldn't have come here if I had no intention of rescuing you. It's kind of annoying, I know, but I have to. The only problem is that you are a mess so you will have to let my friend take you. "

Again? Who the hell was that "friend"? His doubts were more or less cleared when she again held the staff in her hand and pointed it at him. The black gem was then covered with a black cloud that surrounded it, and then a similar cloud appeared just below Jon. The black stain carried him effortlessly as it had done before and suspended him in midair. The neera magician then turned her back to him and pressed a button on a square shape device in her hand. After a few seconds, a luminous projection came out among white flames that looked like a kind of luminous oval. The magician then moved away and the black cloud that held Jon began to move towards the luminous oval. The mouse boy closed his eyes before disappearing for it.

Behind him Meleiss went through it as well as the luminous oval disappeared and closed. Iyo, who was beginning to wake up, could only see a spark of light that disappeared and then began to cry as she remembered her friend once more.

Strolling through the Tolmeshal Forest was a giantess over 30 meters tall, with dark hair and mocha skin. She was a beautiful figure to look at both from her face and her physique. Her body had well-defined curves and her femininity was highlighted by well-developed breasts. Milly had gone out very early in the morning to look for her breakfast, as usual, and had found a group of neko hunters and although some had managed to escape happily she had been able to capture two who joined the humans she already had in the bag that hung around her waist. The giantess had eaten 5 humans already, but the large walk home had made her more hungry.

Milly's house was a fairly simple square shack-like construction made of wood. An opening that simulated a window could be seen through one of its side walls. Upon opening the immense door, the giantess left the humans and the nekos she had in a cage that hung from the ceiling. It had a well-crafted wooden floor and bars, and its very height prevented its prey from escaping. In the huge room (huge for humans of course) Milly had a bed and a table with rustic chairs.

"Hey little ones," she said with a cheerful tone as she deposited the prey that she had in her waist bag inside the cage, "For now you will have to stay here. We don't want you to escape right? "

"Fuck off, demon!" One of the humans yelled. Milly stared at him. He looked like a middle-aged man, black-haired with some graying features in his hair.

The giantess sighed and said:

"Why does there always have to be a rude one between the meal?"

Saying this, she caught the human between her fingers and suspended him in the air, above her face. Then she opened her beautiful mouth that to the human seemed an immense cavern wet pink. Deep in her mouth, Milly's uvula that preceded the entrance to her throat made a terrifying impression on the human and he began to shake trying to free himself from the giantess grip, which was useless of course.

"Let me go, spawn of the demon! You will be punished for this! ", the human screamed in her hand.

"You're right about a little thing." Milly said as she winked at him, "I'll let you go ... IN MY MOUTH!"

Saying this, the giantess released the human from her hand and fell into the huge open jaws with her feet first. The giantess then closed her mouth, imprisoning the human with her lips around his waist. Milly then sucked on it like it was a pasta noodle.

Slllllurp!

She began to move him in her mouth, but the cassock that the human was wearing did not allow her to fully enjoy its flavor, so, once the human was soaked with enough saliva, using her tongue, she brought it to the entrance of her throat and swallowed him with a loud Gulp! Milly noticed the tingling that the human made as it slid down her esophagus to her stomach, which was digesting the food she had eaten earlier. When the human reached his destination, Milly could feel him begin to hit the fleshy walls causing her that pleasant sensation that preys did when they were in her stomach. So she smirked as she put a hand to her belly.

"Wow! That was nice, although it didn't have much flavor. Could everyone move like that? ", she said winking at the two humans and the two nekos who were in her cage,

The little beings just looked at each other and exchanged a few anguished glances. The nekos, however, seemed more resigned to the situation, but still couldn't help but express sadness on their faces.

"Milly," said a little voice, "Down here."

The giantess turned her gaze to the floor of the hut where she could see a small figure, smaller even than a human. Milly crouched down to get a better look at her. She was a tomthumb with short dark blond hair, white skin, and a somewhat serious look. She wore fairly simple clothing consisting of a greenish blouse, apparently made of plants, which only covered her breasts, and a pair of shorts of the same color.

"Oh, Tina it's you." Milly said smiling, "How are you?"

"Fine. Sorry to interrupt your dinner", Tina said politely.

"Oh don't worry about that", replied the giantess, "I was about to finish anyway."

"Milly I have to talk to you about something, in private", Tina said as she cast a sidelong glance at the cage.

The giantess nodded and without another word extended a finger to the front of the tomthumb. Tina climbed onto her nail and sat on the immense fleshiness formed by Milly's fingertip.

The giantess then gently lifted her to the height of her chest, which to Tina seemed like the height of a 20-story building. She then opened the wooden door and headed out of the cabin to get some privacy.

Milly was curious about what her friend was trying to talk about with her. Despite the difference in size, Tina was one of Milly's best friends, always willing to listen to her, share opinions, and always worried about her. The feeling was mutual. Of course, Milly had taken on the task of protecting the tribe of tomthumbs that lived under her hut and that had earned her the respect, admiration, and even loving adoration in some cases, from all of the Alsumi tribe, but in Tina's case, it was a particularly friendly relationship she had with her. It was more… personal.

Milly sat with her back against the bark of one of the many gigantic trees that surrounded her cabin, bending her knees. Then she stretched out the finger that was holding Tina to place the little girl on one of her knees. The tomthumb then dropped off Milly's finger and sat comfortably on her friend's right knee.

"So Tina, how was your day?" Milly began speaking in a low tone so as not to overwhelm the little girl.

"Good Milly. Pretty good, you know. The usual, "Tina replied trying to smile.

Despite this response, the giantess could notice that her friend's gaze reflected a somewhat disguised sadness.

"Is something wrong Tina?", she asked.

"Listen, Milly, what I'm about to tell you might sound incredible, but I think we should consider it," Tina said in a muffled voice.

"I hear you", Milly said beginning to worry about her friend's somewhat sad tone.

“Nedret is coming today,” Tina continued. "Well ... at least that's what he said."

"Who is Nedret?", asked Milly somewhat confused.

"Oh right!" Tina said, putting a hand to her forehead, "I don't know if you remember. Nedret is a neera, a very good friend to Joanna. "

Hearing this last name Milly's eyes narrowed as it began to ache. Remembering Joanna was always something that caused her sadness considering that her disappearance had been partly her fault. All this time she had felt that she had failed her friend and the guilt she felt manifested itself in her eyes every time someone spoke to her about Joanna. Unable to put this feeling out of her mind, Milly always tried to avoid the subject every time she was told about her to avoid those memories, now painful, of her friend. She already knew why Tina wanted the conversation to be private. She did not want her prey to see that "sensitive" part of her behavior and use it against her.

For Tina, the sadness bad hidden on her friend's face did not go unnoticed. She had always avoided talking about Joanna in front of Milly not only because she knew the pain she caused her but because she felt sad too. For as long as they could live together, the old snackgirl had been a great sensitive and funny friend who brightened up their taciturn moments, but this time the situation required it.

"Listen, Milly", Tina continued, "I know you don't like talking about Joanna, but this time something has come up."

"I miss her so much Tina", Milly said in a small voice, "It was my fault, I couldn't do anything when that harpy ..."

"I know, I know", Tina interrupted, "I feel that way too. But Nedret says he has a solution. "

Milly frowned in disbelief as her eyes widened slightly.

"You're right Tina, I don't remember him. Who is this Nedret?"

"I already told you, he's a neera and a great friend of Joanna's," Tina replied, "Don't you remember when we had that conversation with her; in which she wanted to go live with a tribe of neeras?

Milly began to vaguely remember that moment. Then she realized where the question was going. Still, she couldn't hide the sadness that the memory of Joanna continued to cause. At the time, she was trying to convince her friend not to take risks in the jungle outside of her protection. What if something happened to her she would simply feel devastated and...

She was unable to continue this line of thought. She had to close his eyes to keep the tears from flowing down her face.

"He recently came back to our burrow taking a risk," Tina continued, "He asked to speak to Joanna because he needed to see her one more time. He knew that our elders had urged him to withdraw from the tribe before further hurting her, but… he just kept missing Joanna. "

The giantess then noticed that her eyes were moistened. He thought of her relationship with Yemic, all the vicissitudes, conflicts, and trials that had passed, and yet, after all this, their love had won. She was happy with the fairy and felt something very special for him. Hearing that Joanna had felt something like this for someone and that the unfortunate circumstances of her disappearance had truncated all of this reawakened that sadness that had been dormant in Milly's heart.

"I never thought that neera was fool enough to go back and risk being eaten even knowing that we had a neko who cared for our tribe. Fortunately, Calina wasn't around if not well… you know. "

Milly shook her head up and down in agreement.

"Then he said something to me that left me a little confused." Tina kept saying, "Nedret said he would come today and find someone who could bring Joanna back!"

At this Milly's eyes widened. Tina ignored this and kept talking.

"At first I felt sorry for him, Nedret was desperate and sad. I mean, if neither Calina, nor Xanthe, nor Remus could bring Joanna back how hoping someone who knew Nedret could accomplish something like that. So I told him that we had already tried everything, but he kept insisting. So I called him a fool and he told me that as long as there was hope he would be the biggest fool in the world, but he would bring Joanna back. "

Milly didn't know what to say to this. She had already resigned herself to the idea of r03;r03;never seeing Joanna again. She closed her eyes, apparently deep in thought. The tomthumb's face, her smile, and their moments together flashed through her mind like a shooting star. Unforgettable moments that she would have liked to relive.

"I don't know if I believe in Nedret but he doesn't strike me as the type of person who would make empty promises." Tina said ignoring her friend's pensive face, "So I think at least he has a plan. Well, that if Calina doesn't eat him first. "

Milly opened her slightly red eyes and fixed her gaze on Tina.

"I don't know what to tell you, Tina", Milly began, "I wish Joanna would come back and at least be able to tell her that I'm sorry and that I miss her so much. But I don't want to get excited and then suffer again. I can't, do you understand? "

Tina released a sympathetic sigh.

"Yes, I understand," she said, "but I thought you should know. You see, I don't want Calina to eat Nedret before he at least tells me what he's up to. "

"I get it," Milly stated, "If I find Calina, I'll tell her."

"Thanks, Milly," Tina thanked, "Okay, that's it."

Without saying more, the giantess extended the index finger of her right hand on her knee. Tina climbed onto it through the inside of her fingernail and they immediately started walking towards the log house.

"What if it's true Milly?" Tina asked her friend all of a sudden.

Milly sighed.

"I'd be really happy, Tina," she said smiling as she headed home.

************

Anguish, tension. Someone says that these things are what prey feel when they are chased by a voracious predator. And that was exactly what Jon was feeling at the time as he ran, hiding under every root and leaf he could find. Uncertainty was his worst enemy because it gave him doubts and if he doubted for a second he would end up in the belly of a predator.

A measured feminine giggle chilled his heart. He turned around to see a neko with blue hair, fur, and ears. Her golden eyes stared at him as her mouth began to salivate from the corner of her lips. Her gaze expressed the voracious determination to swallow him whole. Without waiting much longer, Jon reached out his hand and launched a magic chant. A massive column of rock raise just below the sole of the neko's left foot. This caused her to lose her balance, falling backward abruptly. The impact caused the ground around Jon to shake a bit, throwing the neera off balance but he managed to stay on his feet.

The neko was furious right now, at least it seemed so from the look she gave the mouse boy as he got up. Jon cast a bit of magic once more and a rock arch raise, wrapping around the neko's left foot, preventing movement. The catgirl then tried to use her hands to break the rock. At her desperate attempts, Jon smiled and turned his back on her.

Big mistake. The neko lifted her foot hard in a desperate urge to free herself and the arc of rock that enveloped her foot shattered into pieces. The rock weakened by the neko's hand gave way, splitting in half, throwing several chunks of rock into the air as her foot lifted from the force of the kick.

When Jon turned to look, he only had time to see a huge hand approaching him and wrapped tightly around him. The neko then carried it over her face. Observing Jon's unsuccessful attempts to free himself from her hand the neko closed her eyes and smiled.

"Damn, let me go!" The neera yelled angrily at her.

The neko didn't answer anything. She licked her lips and clicked her mouth as she opened it. Jon stared in horror at the huge abyss of pink flesh and saliva that was the neko's mouth and began to kick fruitlessly into the air. The neko then released him and plummeted feet first onto her wet tongue as her mouth closed plunging him into darkness. Jon tried to stand up but to no avail. The neko wiggled her tongue, unbalancing him and swinging him around. He couldn't see much, but he was aware that he had collided with the fleshy walls of the cheeks of the neko's mouth at least 10 times. The moans of pleasure that the catgirl gave as she tasted it were agonizing and horrified him more and more.

With a push of her tongue, the neko brought him to the entrance of her throat. Jon flailed then, waving his hands frantically in a futile attempt to grab onto something, but the slippery surface of the neko's tongue did little to stop his descent.

GULP!

The neko swallowed it whole. The last thing Jon saw of her mouth was the uvula hanging above the entrance to her throat; it was like the welcome at the beginning of her digestive tract. Jon descended the fleshy walls of the neko's esophagus until a sphincter of flesh parted beneath him and he fell abruptly into a fleshy-walled space. Despite being in total darkness Jon could hear very well the bubbling sounds that the stomach was making in preparation for the start of digestion. Jon then began to hit the walls of the stomach trying to cause the neko some illness or a gag reflex that forced her to vomit it.

Two muffled sounds were the answer to her desperate attempts to get out. The satisfied neko had patted her stomach in response to the pleasant flapping of her prey on her stomach. Ten minutes later the acid began to rise and Jon felt it tickle all over his skin as he sank. With a choking gesture, he reached a hand toward the acidic surface as it was consumed.

Suddenly his surroundings changed. From the total darkness of the neko's stomach to an intense light that made her eyes burn with glare. The fleshy walls were then gradually replaced by a compact metal room. The room had reflective glass on one of its walls that prevented the view from inside. Next to the glass was a metal door that slid open to the left as a humanoid figure entered.

"You almost made it this time Jon," he said smiling.

The neera with black hair and round, furry ears of the same color had covered her eyes to avoid glare. Slowly he began to open them to look at the figure that was standing erect in front of him. His unusual form was somewhat like a tomthumb with light brown hair and brown eyes, but there were many different things. This being had four arms, two on each side of its body, and it had a third eye on its forehead a little higher in the middle of the other two. He wore a kind of short brown jacket that reached a little above his navel and across his chest were two belts that crossed in the middle. Its purpose was to hold the sheaths of two swords that hung from his back. Two other such swords hung from the scabbards on either side of his brown leather belt.

The imposing figure approximately 5 inches tall corresponded to an efrii one of the most exotic and unusual races of small that existed in Felarya. This one, in particular, had a strong build reflected in the muscles of his four arms and those of his abdomen. He seemed to have trained physically for a long time.

"Oh, Jac'nur." Said Jon, "I'm useless right?"

“Come on Jon, give yourself some credit,” the efrii replied, “I have not met a neera who dares to face a neko. Almost everyone runs away. "

Jon sighed disappointedly. He got up off the ground and stood up while brushing off his clothes. He picked up his sword from the ground and tucked it into the sheath at his waist.

"Never, in this damn simulations, have I been able to defeat a neko," he said with a tone that expressed a feeling of annoyance and disappointment with himself, "And you tell me to give me some credit?"

“It's only been a year since you came Jon,” Jac'nur replied, “Many of us spent many years training in this. And yet we have lost many colleagues in the action. "

"I just think that by now I should have made at least some advance", said the neera in the same tone, "I have more or less learned to tame my magic. But it is still not enough. I don't know why our leader thought someone like me would be useful. "

Jac'nur simply smiled.

"Does it bother you to tell me it's so funny?" Jon asked, somewhat offended.

"You look so much like me before I got here," said the efrii, "I also was wondering that myself. But I found the answer. "

"Oh yeah?" He said, raising an eyebrow, "And what did you solve?"

“We are all useful in this organization Jon,” said Jac'nur, “We all have a purpose or some ability that makes us necessary and this place teaches you that. Have you seen someone here who is capable of mastering earth magic like you? "

Jon's eyes widened in amazement.

"Wait, do you think ...?" He began to stammer.

“I don't know,” Jac'nur interrupted, “I don't think it's just that anyway. Give yourself time Jon. If you're here, it's for a reason and I think you'll find out when the time comes. "

The neera stared at the efrii intently as his tail twitched and thought what he had said. Immediately a voice sounded throughout the room.

"Recruits Meleiss and Jon report to the communications chamber for orientations."

At this Jac'nur smiled.

"I think the moment may come faster than I thought," he told Jon with a smile.

When one heard the phrase "Temple of Hope" one would surely imagine a construction with endless corridors and rooms, made of stone, bricks, or something similar with picturesque old images on its walls and some archaeological artifacts and in the best case, it would include treasures. But what no one would imagine is that the temple in question was a modern construction, with grayish metal walls. A luminous trail of green color ran down the walls made of some type of led lighting or a sharp light source of that color. The floor was made of some semi-transparent material similar to thick off-white glass.

The multiple doors that had the corridor through which Jon was traveling had a circular structure the same color as the walls but surrounded by a green bar close to the frame of each one. In the center of each door was a kind of bright green gem. One of them lit up and the door in question slid open in a circular fashion until it opened a hole large enough for a person to pass through.

A brown-haired tomthumb emerged from the room. Initially, she didn't see Jon but then her gaze shifted to him.

"Hi, Erruna!" Jon greeted her first, "Hey, have you seen Meleiss?"

"How about Jon," said the aforementioned, "He's been in his room all morning."

"All morning?" Jon asked raising an eyebrow, "Doing what?"

“I don't know Jon,” Erruna said, “She is not my friend. And besides, it's not like I'm interested in what that crazy woman does. "

Jon didn't answer, but his eyes narrowed. Erruna seeing Jon's apparent annoyance said hastily:

"Okay, okay, sorry, but I just don't know what to call someone who starts talking things in the dark. And also scary things.

Jon kept staring at Erruna to see if the tomthumb was saying this intending to mock Meleiss. That, however, was not the case. Erruna's gaze was one of total certainty and assurance in what she had said. He finally looked away realizing the futility of arguing over something like that.

“Yes, I know,” he finally said, “Thank you Erruna. See you later."

"See you, Jon", the tomthumb said goodbye.

The neera then continued on his way to the room of his former mentor and friend. Meleiss was not exactly a girl with a friendly personality. Jon didn't know if what he felt for her was some kind of friendship or simply gratitude for saving his life when his mom's friend was about to eat him. More than once the sinister neera had told him that it was just another "mission" but even so Jon could not stop thanking her, which was bothering her. When asked who he wanted to partner with for his order missions, the answer was obvious.

For Jon then, it was difficult to adjust to the strange habits of his partner. She didn't speak much, and every time Meleiss did, she did so in a sinisterly wicked tone that made his hair stand on end. When she laughed, Meleiss did so with an evil laugh that more than once made Jon wonder what mysteries her soul was hiding, if she had any. Needless to say, Meleiss's personality was not to the liking of almost anyone in the temple. Her same weird, almost psychotic attitude made her withdraw from everyone. Before Jon arrived, Meleiss had no partner among her fellow magicians to carry out the missions of the order. Even her rescue mission had made her alone.

Jon stood in front of the circular door to his friend's room after walking a bit down the huge hallways. He touched the panel to the right, indicating to the tenant that he wanted to enter. Five minutes passed and then the door opened. The inside of the room was dark, like a neko's stomach. Jon could not distinguish anything inside it except the shadowy form of his friend approaching him emerging from the inside and that was only because of the white robe she was wearing, which was the only thing he could see in the middle of that darkness. Meleiss had her staff slung across her back and was approaching him with the same old smile. Wich means, sinister.

"Hi, Meleiss?" Jon greeted, trying to hide his fear.

"Hello, little pet?" said the neera, "The voice called us, eh?"

"Of course it does," Jon said raising his eyebrow, "Didn't you hear it?"

"Oh no no," Meleiss said with a tone that concealed embarrassment, "I was talking to my friend, and well... when you're with her you can't talk to anyone else. Her voice is strong you know? "

Jon had already adapted to Meleiss's crazy mentions of her imaginary friend. "No wonder no one wants to talk to you", he thought. The others saw this as a sign of their partner's dementia, but for the neera, it was kind of creepy. She spoke with such conviction that it seemed that her friend was real, but for Jon, the most uncertain was who this friend was. For the others, it was just the madness of the neera.

"Yes, of course," he said, making a gesture with his eyes that denoted disbelief, "Well, come on, they called us in the communications chamber. The Leader wants to talk to us. "

"Well isn't it a nuisance?" Meleiss asked as she walked into the hallway closing the circular door.

Jon just shook his head and continued walking with Meleiss down the hall toward the temple's communications chamber.

It was the only place where members of the Fist of Hope could speak to the outside or their leader. The temple building was known to have no exits to the outside. Not even the members of the order knew where it was located in Felarya. This gave it certain security because the outside was full of predators that consumed small ones. However, for some reason, the temple had never had such an attack. It was simply as if it was isolated from the outside which led to the assumption that the predators either did not know of his existence or it was simply somewhere they could not reach.

The communications chamber was an immense room accessed from a door made of transparent, double-paneled glass. The door opened and closed automatically by sliding its leaves when someone wanted to pass. It had a weight sensor that when walking on it opened the door to allow passage.

Jon and Meleiss went to a room at the back of the living room, which was guarded by two girls who greeted them when they arrived and opened the door for them. Upon entering the room it was illuminated and a kind of laser began to scan the figure of the two girls who had entered.

"First positive recognition. Meleiss, Jon. Authorization granted. Prepare for magical decontamination", said a female voice with a robotic tone.

A kind of flash of greenish light quickly invaded the room. It only lasted a second, and immediately afterward the laser scanned the two figures again.

"Second positive recognition. Meleiss, Jon, Authorization Granted. Have a nice day", the same female voice said again.

Immediately the room went dark. Light entered from the side as an access door opened. The door led to an immense room that had 3 pairs of side columns to the floor where a red carpet had been unfolded. At the end of the rug was a chair whose cushions were green with gold trim. On the walls of the hall were several paintings that by their appearance denoted epic battles between what appeared to be humans, elves, giant nagas, dridders, and other beings. There was one that was not a battle but rather a naga and a dridder shaking hands in a place that looked like a gigantic tree. They were undoubtedly allegorical to tumultuous moments in Felarya's history.

Jon always stared at these paintings every time he entered the Leader's communication room. The texture, content, and sensations that these paintings impressed were fascinating. Its vivid colors and sensations of movement seemed to relive those epic moments with unparalleled realism. Meleiss on the other hand stood impassively staring straight ahead. Although it was uncertain to say since the neera's eyes were so dark that it was difficult, if not impossible, to see what they were looking at. They reached the end of the corridor and although there was nothing on the chair, the neeras leaned down as they made a gesture with their hands lowering their heads. Then they returned to their original position and then something happened.

A blue flame manifested on the chair that grew to cover the height of the back but did not touch it.

"Welcome my children," said a thunderous male voice, "Hope once again needs you."

"What is it about this time?" Meleiss asked, pouting.

"Damn Meleiss!" Jon thought, "Why do you always have to be like this?"

However, the voice remained indifferent.

"Jon. You haven't reached the rank of battlemage yet, but I think you just need a little experience. You've spent a year perfecting your fighting arts and it's time you put them to use. "

Jon's eyes widened in amazement.

"Sir, but I've never passed the simulator test," he said somewhat confusedly, "Are you sure I'm ready?"

"You never know Jon," said the voice, "That is why I am sending you together with Meleiss. She is one of our most experienced battlemages. Your skills also complement each other very well and will be very helpful to you. "

"Okay sir," Jon said bowing in respect.

"Wow, more annoyance", Meleiss said in a seemingly disappointed tone as she crossed her arms.

Jon didn't consider himself a violent person but right now he just wanted to jump at Meleiss and shut her mouth. The impertinence with which the neera approached her Leader unnerved him.

"Meleiss," the voice continued, "Take good care of Jon. He is young and inexperienced. Teach him well. The disappearances of tinies in Negav have increased exponentially even in Pelnepi and although we do not know for sure if it is because of Dark Claw we have to investigate. This mission will allow you this. "

"What is this mission about sir?" asked Jon.

"One of our soldiers has received a request from a wild neera." Said the voice that came from the flame, "He wants us to recover a tomthumb girl who was abducted in Tolmeshal Forest."

"Oh, so she was eaten!" Meleiss said with a wry tone, "Full stop. Wow, it's the shortest annoyance I've ever had. "

The emphasis on the word 'annoyance' was entirely sarcastic and meaningful, but this time Jon didn't flinch. He had already learned to accept his friend's considerations about the missions of the order. However, for the neera, a question loomed.

"Sir, but did I think our missions were only carried out in Negav?"

"Our missions are carried out throughout Felarya, Jon." The voice replied, "But this mission is partly in Negav."

Jon's eyes widened, obviously confused. The voice then snapped him out of his stupor.

"According to this neera", he continued explaining, "The girl was kidnapped by a harpy who worked for a group of small traffickers. His job in addition to rescuing her is to find out if this group is related to Dark Claw. The first objective will be to go to the Tolmeshal forest and make contact with this neera. Once completed, you must return to the temple to receive further instructions. "

In the few years that Jon had lived, he had never gone beyond Negav or Nekomura. He had never been out into the jungle, and he was not very tempted to do so. A city neera in the jungle was a sure snack for any predator.

"Have you understood, my children?" asked the voice, changing to a more solemn tone.

"Yes sir," they both said in unison.

Despite Meleiss's always irritating attitude, she at least responded respectfully to her Leader to this question.

"Well, go with Erruna," said the voice, "She will open a portal near the meeting point with this neera. May Hope remain with you little ones!"

The motto of the order. At first, Jon thought it was just a slogan like all organizations have, but for some strange reason, it was always comforting to hear it from their leader.

Jon and Meleiss then withdrew towards the teleportation room, the only possible exit from the temple.

************

In a crack formed within the root of a tree in Tolmeshal Forest, a tiny creature moved impatiently from side to side. Nedret was a relatively young Neera who appeared to be in his early 20s, although his brown hair had little gray undertones near his round ears. His hairless tail flicked frantically from side to side as he waited. The neera only wore a piece of cloth that covered his waist and reached just below his thighs.

"Will they have accepted?", he thought as he moved from side to side thinking.

A dark brown-haired neera woman then entered her cabin. Her face of dismay was more than enough to know that she was worried about the male neera who was pacing around her room like he was a caged beast.

"Hello, Nedret," he said before entering, "May I come in?"

The neera did not reply. He just kept muttering to himself as if deep in thought.

"Nedret!" The neera woman exclaimed loudly.

The neera finally woke up from his slumber. He looked towards the opening to his room and saw the mouse girl watching him with a furrowed brow.

"Oh Reatli," Nedret said as his face flushed, "I'm sorry I didn't see you."

"And from what I see you didn't hear me either," snapped the neera with an expression that was divided between annoyance and concern.

Nedret just sighed a little tired and sat down, or rather collapsed on some kind of wooden bench in his room.

"You've been like this since you came back from the Alsumi burrow," Reatli said, "I'm really worried, just like everyone else."

"I heard something," replied the male neera, "Something very bad."

"What happened? Didn't they let you see Joanna? "Reatli asked as her face grew serious," I already told you, it was silly to go back there. Did you forget what that old tomthumb man told you? Joanna can't come live with us, she wouldn't survive and you'd just hurt a lot of people. I know that Joanna is a very good person, but… "

“It's not that Reatli”, Nedret interrupted her giving her a pointed look, “Besides, I already told you. It is my life and I choose to do with it what I please as long as I can live it. One day a neko or anything will eat me and then I will leave sad without having known anything that makes me truly happy. "

Reatli didn't say anything. Her face was one of genuine sadness and bitterness.

"So we don't mean anything to you?" He asked in a hurtful tone, "Aren't you happy here with us? Are we your friends? Are we your family? "

Nedret opened his mouth to reply but stopped to think better of his words. He needed Reatli to understand his views, but he had to explain it to her in a way that did not imply the misinterpretation that he no held contempt for the members of his tribe. Misinterpreting his thoughts was something that would just make him feel sadder than he was.

"It's not that Reatli, and you know it," he finally said with a gentle tone, "We have lived together, we have known many things and we have survived together. It's just that I have to live life to the fullest. Sometimes I asked myself what makes us completely happy? Many of ours have disappeared who knows how and they are not here to say that they could live as they wanted. So before I go I would like to be happy, I would like to do something that I like, I would like to feel love. "

At this Reatli opened her eyes beginning to understand what the neera was saying.

"I wanted to experience something like that with Joanna." Nedret continued, "She was a wonderful girl. Her naivety, her fragility, her kindness, and her constant joy liked me very much. I tried to get to know her more… intimately, but she wasn't sure. And now…"

The neera couldn't continue, he lowered his head and simply closed his eyes. Reatli's lips parted as he stared at his friend with wide eyes. Is it possible that in the short time these two met they felt something like this? Joanna was not a bad person. The only time Nedret had brought her to their tribe they got to know each other very well, they had struck up a certain friendship. The tomthumb's personality was wonderful, almost as if she had a kind of power that invited one to befriend her out of obligation. Although it did not cause much grace to the members of her tribe when a neko had come to pick her up, to take her home, revealing the location of her tribe with her scent. If the predator had wanted to, she would have eaten them all. Even though the girl had asked him not to, what guaranteed that she wouldn't come back for a feast later? Fortunately, the neko kept her word, but the wisest thing to do had been to change the location of her home a little closer to the hut of the giantess who lived in this forest and terrorized other predators.

Still, it was a risk, and Nedret knew it, to go to the Alsumi lair, but now he understood why his friend took the risk.

"I'm sorry, Nedret", she said somewhat embarrassed.

At this the face of the male neera became serious. He seemed more determined than ever in whatever he was thinking.

"Don't worry," he said at last, "I'll fix it."

"But I thought ..." Reatli started to say.

It was interrupted by a huge flash of light that made a thud. A huge luminous oval plate-shaped figure surrounded by white flames emerged from the opening that led into Nedret's cabin. Reatli flinched and screeched at the sudden appearance. She ran to the back of the room in terror and clung to the wall. Nedret got up and stood in front of the apparition.

"Nedret stay away from that thing!" Reatli yelled at him.

Two beings emerged from the bottom of the luminous plate, both neeras. The first was a young boy with dark hair and round, furry ears of the same color. He wore a short green vest and white shorts that had a single hole through which his tail moved smoothly. At his waist hung a belt with a sheathed sword.

The one that terrified Reatli the most was the second figure. She was a relatively young girl. Her hair, as well as her furry ears, were whitish with some bangs of bluish tones. Her skin was white, although somewhat grayish in tone. What was most impressive were her eyes as black as night. Rather it seemed as if they had plunged into absolute darkness. This neera wore a white robe with a green bar running down the bottom edge and across her shoulders. An immense belt crossed her chest and reached her back on which hung a staff made of some type of black crystal that had two demonic horns at the end. In the middle of the horns, a gem of the same color was erected.

As the luminous oval passed, it disappeared. Reatli was stunned looking at these two Neeras who had emerged from nowhere. Nedret, however, seemed unconcerned. It was almost as if he expected them.

"Wow," said the mouse boy who had emerged from the oval breaking the awkward silence that prevailed, "Erruna is quite accurate. We are already here."

"Sounds like it," said the blue-white-haired neera with a smile on her face, "I guess you must be Nedret?"

"That's right," replied the brown-haired neera as he smiled, "You must be the mages Sherav told me about."

"We are mages of the Fist of Hope." said the dark knight boy, "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Jon and this is Meleiss. "

"Well actually, I'm a mage, he's in training", Meleiss said with a sarcastic tone emphasizing the word 'mage'.

Reatli kept looking stunned as this scene unfolded. What surprised her most was the familiarity with which Nedret received these so-called mages.

"Oh come on Meleiss," Jon said, "Are you always like this or do you do it on purpose?"

The neera looked at him with a frown.

"What?" she said in a confused tone, "It's the truth."

Jon covered his face, obviously uncomfortable.

"Well then," Nedret started to say to break the previous thread, "Sherav says that you guys could help me with my problem."

"We'll do our best," Jon said with a sigh, "What exactly is it about?"

Until now Reatli had not dared to intervene. No doubt the sudden and unusual appearance of these two neeras had left her puzzled. But being ignored was too much.

"Hey!" She yelled somewhat furiously, "Nedret, can you tell who they are and what they're doing here ?!"

"Hell!" Meleiss said with her impassive wicked smile, "This girl isn't very smart is she?"

A wave of internal anger began to grow within Reatli at Meleiss's expression that presupposed an offense. Nedret observing this quickly intervened.

"Oh, I forgot," he said, "I introduced you to Reatli. She is a great friend of mine "

This expression made Reatli blush and her anger suddenly disappeared replaced by a warmth that calmed her.

Meleiss continued to show the same face with her irritating smile, but Jon, when he saw the half-naked figure of the neera, had a quite different reaction. All Reatli wore were pieces of cloth that covered her bottoms and breasts, but reached only a little above her knee and revealed part of her thighs. The mouse girl's breasts however looked strong and shapely and her rear curves with her tail hanging seductively through the cloth garment made Jon's heart race pumping blood to his face which immediately turned red as a tomato.

He looked away, embarrassed, fearing that the neera would notice his constant gaze.

"Well then," Nedret began to say, "I suppose if you are here, you agreed. The job which I need you to do is rescue a kidnapped tomthumb girl. "

"Yeah, we already knew that," Meleiss said, "What I'd like to ask is how do you know that that girl was kidnapped and not eaten?"

"The truth is that I do not know all the details, but the tomthumbs who told me confirmed that it was so", Nedret replied.

"And where do those tomthumbs live?" Jon asked.

"Not too far from here," said Nedret, "About a two hours walk away."

"Meleiss," said Jon, "could you take us with your magic?"

"Sure pet!", Replied the sinister neera, "But it would be too dangerous."

"Why?" Jon asked somewhat annoyed.

"Oh sure, I forgot!" Meleiss said coming back with her sarcastic smile, "This is the first time you've come out of your shell. In the jungle, you can't get too much attention or you would be eaten in ten seconds. If my friend helps us, we would be too visible a target. "

Jon said nothing to this, but Nedret looked at him with a face saying "Really?" The neera made a response gesture saying "Let it be"

“Alright,” Nedret said, “Let's walk then. If we leave now we can come back before dark. "

"Okay," Jon said.

Meleiss didn't answer anything, just sighed and headed for the door with apparent reluctance. Jon saluted the neera next to Nedret.

"Goodbye miss ...", he said hesitantly when he pronounced her name

"Reatli," the neera replied with a smile on her face.

"Right. See you later. ", he said sadly.

"See you," Reatli said in response to the greeting.

He was then escorted out by Nedret.

************

Calina, the neko, was currently stalking her prey. It was a tiny naga who had ventured near Milly's hut. He had been attracted by the scent of the tomthumbs that lived under the giantess house, waiting for some to come out to capture and devour him whole. It was real luck since he hadn't been able to eat anything for lunch. Either the neeras were getting smarter or they simply knew of his presence in those parts and did not venture out. The fact was that the stomach of the dark-skinned neko with black hair and tail rumbled like a factory in full swing begging for raw materials to work with. Her orange eyes then gleamed with anticipation of the food and she stepped downwind of the naga to prevent the wind from carrying her scent and running away. Then she lunged forward and grabbed the naga by the tail. It was a male with red hair with light greenish scales. An arboreal naga.

The neko brought him up to her face to get a better look. He began to writhe like a worm in Calina's hand as she smiled, licking the corner of her lips. However, in one of its twists, the naga reached for Calina's hand and bit her hard. The cat woman then screamed in pain and opened her hand causing the naga to fall to the ground. But the height was too high and the tiny being hit its head on the ground which sounded like a coconut breaking. He fell dead on the ground right at Calina's feet, who put her hand to her face to suck some of the poison that he had surely injected into her and try to spit it out.

However, it was useless. The neko began to feel the paralyzing effects of the naga's poison on her body that caused her knees to buckle as she fell to the ground. The poison in question was either fast-acting or simply injected enough to start working so quickly. Her body began to shake like a maniac as Calina rested her body on the ground. Her ragged and not enough breath made his brain shut down and he fell into unconsciousness.

_

_

When she woke up her vision was blurry. She could hardly move a muscle, but she could breathe with some difficulty. At least the muscles in her hands could move awkwardly. She tried to move, but then something happened. Her nose caught a pleasant scent. Her ears also picked up a squeak that made her belly start to gurgle. Neeras!

Calina chose not to move. In her current state, she couldn't effectively catch them like she used to. Better to let them get close and surprise them when they were close enough. The little voices of the Neeras saying unintelligible words reached his ears. At first, it was confusing phrases in her ears, but little was catching some words.

"Neko ... leave her like this ... you're a fool ...", the voices said.

They were considering whether to get close to her or leave her like that. Calina began to think that the neeras would walk away and unfortunately they would not enter her stomach that was still gurgling. But then something happened, one of the neeras approached her touching her hands trying to wake her up. Quickly Calina closed her hand, imprisoning the neera inside her. The neko then heard the surprised squeaks from the mouse as he struggled to free himself from her grip. She tried to raise her hand, but something happened. An unknown force grabbed her hand around the joint of her arm and confined her there preventing her from lifting off the ground.

With the effort her vision began to clear and then she saw what was happening. A tiny arc-shaped column of rock had seized the joint from above, preventing her arm from moving when she lifted it. Luckily it didn't impede her movement if she tugged on her arm and leaned back. But her legs were unresponsive. The paralyzing effect of the naga's poison still lingered within her.

"Oh, come on!", Calina said to herself, "Why is it taking me so much trouble to eat a neera? This day is killing my nerves. "

The little creature on her arm continued to squeal in horror, but his struggles against her fingers somewhat weakened by the poison began to take effect as he slid upward. Calina tried to tighten her grip a bit more, but she couldn't do much with her body as weak as it was. Her strong movements caused the deadly substance to spread even further through her body and concentrate on her arm, slowly preventing her from applying force. The neera on her arm finally poked its head out.

"Calina!" He yelled, "Let go of me now!"

The neko couldn't even speak, but she wasn't willing to let go of her prey. She was starving and hadn't found anything to eat. She had caught him so he would be her lunch.

"Calina!" the neera yelled again.

Wait? This little morsel knew her name. Who was?

Rumbling footsteps were approaching, a signal that a gigantic creature was approaching. Calina's sense of smell instantly sharpened and she realized it was Milly. The steps of the mocha-skinned giantess were closer. These mini tremors caused the rock that held her to her arm to crack, finally giving way as it fell apart. Calina wasted no time then and put her hand to her mouth in a supreme effort. Just as she was about to deposit the neera in her wet and eager mouth a small black ball hit her hand which began to hurt intensely. The spasm of pain sent the neera in her hand flying to the ground.

Although it did not fall from an impressive enough height, the little mouse got up quite sore as it looked at the neko with teary eyes. Milly then emerged from behind a tree. When the giantess saw the neko on the ground, she approached without noticing the three tiny figures that were near Calina.

"Hey, watch out!" Shouted a voice that Milly, fortunately, could hear, before lowering her immense foot that for the neeras seemed the length of a football field and that, furthermore, threatened to crush the three little ones. Two of the Neeras had crouched down shakily, but the third did not flinch. The giantess then moved her foot away to see the three tiny figures. Even so, she ducked down as she couldn't get to see them right from her height.

"Calina!" Milly said as she put a hand over her mouth. "What happened?"

The neko couldn't speak very well, but managed to form a single word:

"Naga ..."

"Oh hell," Milly said as she scooped up the dark-skinned neko with her huge hand, "Let's go to my house."

The giantess started to get up, ignoring the three tiny figures she had almost crushed.

"Hey!" One of the neeras yelled, "Down here."

Milly stopped her climb and fixed her gaze on the small figure. The giantess could perfectly hear the voices of the tinies since she was used to it. It was vital to listen to the Alsumi to avoid accidentally crushing them so her ear had been trained in perceiving the sounds of the tiny beings.

"And who are you if you can tell?" Milly said with a somewhat annoyed tone at the insistence of this tiny being.

"My name is Nedret." Said the little boy. "You must be Joanna's friend, Milly"

"That's right," said the giantess, lowering her tone of voice a little and softening her eyes, "Someone had already told me you are coming. A friend of mine wants to talk to you. "

"Tina I presume," said Nedret, "Could you take us?"

Milly sighed reluctantly. Then wordlessly extended the index finger of the hand in which he was not holding Calina. At first, the other two girls looked suspiciously at the giant's finger. But Nedret convinced them that it was safe.

Jon had never seen such a great and terrifyingly gigantic being in his entire life. Well, he had heard of some predators bigger than even a neko or a human, but this was too much. The imposing height of the giantess, the fall of her long black hair down her shoulders whose hairs seemed like huge ropes, her mouth that seemed the size of an ancient church, and her enormous feet that made the ground shake as she walked caused in the little It was a creepy sight.

Milly then paused for a moment and whispered to those she held.

“Little ones, I need to put you in my other hand. I have something to do and I need this hand.

"No problem", Nedret said gently.

Jon simply nodded, though he swallowed the huge lump in his throat as he looked at the giantess. Meleiss didn't flinch, she had an impassive gaze as she looked off into the distance. Milly placed the little ones in her other hand in which she held Calina's body. Then she lowered her greenish skirt with her other hand to the height of her knees and crouched down. The neeras in her hand felt as if her stomach were clinging to her head as the giantess descended. Then there was a sound like a watery torrent hissing somewhere. For the neeras, it was like the sound of a river cascading against the ground, flooding everything.

It didn't take long for Jon to realize what the giantess was doing, turning red as poppy as he turned his gaze upward. Nedret, in the same vein, started humming while looking up. The only one who did not seem to care was Meleiss who kept looking at the same place absorbed in her thoughts. His friend was used to seeing her like this from time to time; looking as if she had entered some catatonic trance. When Milly finished unloading her bladder, she pulled up her skirt again. Although he had a relieved face, Jon, who was looking up at her face, noticed that the girl's cheeks turned red.

It took her a short walk to get to her cabin. Short for the giantess of course it would have been at least 20 minutes for the little ones. The wooden door was open and inside were three beings just as gigantic as Milly. All three beings had the same shape, although different. From the torso up they were like gigantic naked humans, but underneath, their bodies resembled those of just as enormous snakes. One of the snake beings was a relatively young woman with blond hair and blue eyes. Its tail was a teal color with patterns that were in the shape of sky blue rings. The other was a woman a little shorter than the previous one with ginger hair, blue eyes, although a little darker than the previous snake woman, and some freckles that stood out on her face. Its tail had a beautiful combination of color in its scales in which dark green predominated, crossed by patterns of the same color as its eyes. Next to this last snake woman was a man of the same species. He was much taller and had black hair with some grayish strands snaking across his head, perhaps denoting his age. This man's tail was dark orange with some shades of olive green except those on his belly which were yellow.

When the giantess entered, the first to greet was the blond snake woman.

"Hey, Milly!" she said cheerfully, "You took a while. Ohh, that's a neko? "

"Yes Crisis, it's Calina," Milly replied, "She's sick. Ajab, could you check her out? "

The blonde-haired naga woman at this recoiled somewhat embarrassed and her face quickly reflected a worried expression. The serpent man rise and received the neko in his gigantic hand. On the other hand, Jon watched this scene scared and a little embarrassed. He had never seen such large breasts exposed especially of the snake woman who was next to the man. Being a young neera of civilization he had never seen so many naked women as he had seen in a single afternoon in this jungle. Although he had not seen such gigantic beings either which sowed constant chills in his body.

Nedret, on the other hand, seemed quite calm. As if he was already used to seeing these titanic beings every day. Meleiss continued with her sallow impassiveness, although her gaze was constantly turning, peering around her curiously.

"What happened to her?" Ajab asked as he continued to stare at the neko in his hand and felt her with his gigantic fingers.

"I don't know," said the giantess with an anguished tone, "When I found her she just said: Naga."

Ajab's eyes widened, inspecting the neko's body a little more hastily. When he looked at her hand he noticed the two bites holes the little naga had given her. Anyone would not have noticed this little detail, but for the giant naga, it did not go unnoticed. Thanks to the aura in Felarya that caused most injuries and illnesses to heal, Ajab's abilities as a healer were not very useful, but this was not the case. Calina appears to have been poisoned by a small naga. The treatment was not difficult in this case so he placed the neko on Milly's table by taking some plants from a bag that he had on his belt.

As Ajab attended to her friend, the sight of the giantess turned something annoying to the tiny beings that she had in her hand.

"I hope you three had nothing to do with what happened to Calina," Milly snapped in a voice that sent chills down Jon's spine.

Nedret then crossed his arms.

"Hurt her?" He asked in the same tone as Milly, "She tried to eat me! Besides, when we arrived she was already like this! "

Hearing this, the giantess's gaze softened a bit.

"Milly," Ajab told her as he continued to tend Calina by giving her some kind of concoction to drink, "Calina was poisoned by some small naga. She has bite marks on her arm. These neeras aren't guilty. "

Some Alsumi hearing the commotion came out of their burrow right on the ground.

"Hey Milly," said a young tomthumb who had come out, "Is everything okay?"

The giantess simply smiled.

“Calina is a bit sick,” she said with a motherly tone, “But she's better now. Hey little one, could you tell Tina that the friends she was waiting for have arrived? "

"Yes, of course," said the tomthumb with a cheerful tone. Then he disappeared through the entrance to the cavern.

"While we wait for Tina, is anyone hungry?" Milly said, smiling pleasantly.

“Oh!” Crisis said excitedly, “Yes, me. You have something to eat?"

"Yes, some humans and nekos," Milly replied, "Jissy?"

"Yes, thank you, Milly," replied the naga, "I'm a little hungry."

"Wow, you have nekos too!" Crisis shouted excitedly as her eyes sparkled, "Can I have them?"

Milly smiled in agreement. She places her hand on the table, to deposit the tinies she has, and opened the cage that hung from the ceiling. Jon had not initially seen the contraption when he entered the house. He was overwhelmed by the femininity of gigantic women who had not realized this detail. The giantess took the five members out of the cage. One of the nekos caught in the huge hand tried to cling to the bars of the cage while crying out in despair but to no avail. Milly then approached Crisis and loosened her grip so that the two nekos fell into the hands of the blonde naga.

The snake girl immediately opened her mouth sticking out her tongue a bit and pulled one of the nekos inside. Her lips then closed around the little catman's waist as his legs flapped in the air. Crisis then sucked it into her mouth. Slllllurp! He began to move it inside her mouth while smiling with her lips closed. The naga seemed to be ecstatic with delight as she tasted her delicious snack.

While Crisis ate Milly approached Jissy and handed her two humans.

"Hey Milly, are you sure?" The naga asked, "You won't have anything left for dinner later."

“Oh come on Jissy,” the giantess replied, “What kind of hostess would I be if I let my guests go hungry? Besides, your boyfriend is doing me a big favor by curing Calina. "

"Okay," Jissy replied, "Thank you, Milly"

Without further thought, she grabbed the two humans by the giant's hand. She grabbed one of the two and suspended it above her face as she smiled. She opened her mouth sticking out her tongue and deposited the human inside. Her tongue drew inward, drawing him further inward. Jissy closed her mouth in apparent satisfaction as she smiled.

For Jon the vision was apocalyptic. The screams of terror that the humans and nekos gave as they were sucked into the humid cavern that was the mouths of these gigantic beings made him remember that time when he was almost eaten by Iyo. The constant fear of being eaten had passed a bit thanks to the simulation tests he had done at the Temple, but this was different somehow. At least in the simulator, it didn't matter how many times it was eaten it always came back, but the thought of never doing so and suffering a horrible death while being dissolved by the stomach acids of a predator simply terrified him. The same terror that these humans and nekos were feeling right now. He looked away quite affected as he folded his round ears down in a futile attempt not to hear the screams. What Jon didn't know was that Neeras had a very well-developed sense of hearing. So no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop hearing the cries of the humans and nekos before disappearing into the mouths of these gigantic beings.

GULP!

Jissy and Crisis swallowed, almost in unison, the food in their mouths.

"Ahhhhh," Crisis sighed with satisfaction. Then she licked her lips to absorb the permanent taste of the neko in her mouth, "Delicious!"

She never got tired of eating nekos, they always tasted so good.

Without further ado they ate the remaining human and neko, swallowing them just like the previous ones. Crisis then put her hand to her bare belly:

BBBruuup!, she burped, "Sorry girls, these delicious little ones are moving around a lot."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Jissy said cheerfully.

Milly, seeing the satisfaction on her friends' faces, smiled too. She liked that they felt good at her home. It was a good way to reciprocate their friendship.

"Already. I think that's enough, "said a manly voice," Now you have to stay a little time without moving Calina. The potion I gave you will slow down the poison, but you have to be still for a long time until its effects wear off. "

"Don't worry Ajab, I'll take care of her," Milly said relieved, "Thank you so much."

The male naga then put his things away and went to his girlfriend's side.

"So Milly, who are these little guys?" Crisis asked.

"Oh, they're acquaintances of Tina and…" Milly didn't follow.

"Joanna," Nedret said, finishing the giant sentence. Milly simply nodded closing her eyes.

"We don't know each other," said a female voice Jon recognized instantly, "But I think we'll get along well."

Meleiss had awakened from her impassiveness and returned to her usual face. I mean, sinister and with that evil smile.

"I liked those screams," continued the neera, "I love hearing them."

No one said a word. Crisis put her hand in front of her face as if she was somewhat puzzled without knowing what to say.

Jissy for her part simply looked at the little neera widening her eyes and Ahab frowned.

"Excuse me?" Milly asked, reflecting the confusion around her.

“Oh,” Meleiss said, “I just like it when someone yells like that. I don't know, it gives me a wonderful feeling. Do you have something else out there that screams like that? "

Jon's eyes widened. He couldn't stop staring at Meleiss as his mouth fell open. The cold way in which she had said such terrifying words made his blood run cold.

"Milly," said a little voice that broke the karma around her, "Were you looking for me?"

"Ehmm ...", said the giantess, turning her gaze to the ground and clearing her throat in a gesture of obvious discomfort, "Tina. Yes, I've been looking for you. Your guests have arrived. "

"Oh," replied the tomthumb, "And where are they?"

"In the table. Come on up, ”Milly said as she bent down to pick up Tina.

As usual, the giantess extended a finger and the little girl climbed on it. When the tomthumb was placed on the gigantic wooden table he saw the three neeras on top of it.

"Nedret," Tina said with a frown, "So you came after all."

"That's right.", Replied the brown-haired neera, "And I have brought the ones I spoke to. These are Meleiss and Jon. They are mages. "

"Well…" Meleiss started to say.

"Don't say it Meleiss!" Jon cut her off. Nedret simply laughed.

Tina arched a somewhat incredulous brow.

“Meleiss, Jon,” Nedret continued, “This is Tina. A friend of Joanna's. "

Jon began to watch the blonde-haired tomthumb growing incredulous towards them.

"And these two are the ones who will bring Joanna?" Tina asked in a slightly annoyed tone. "Are you serious Nedret?"

"Bring Joanna?" Said a voice not as booming as that of the giant beings, "That can't be."

Calina, thanks to Ajab's remedy, was now able to articulate words and was as incredulous as Tina. The Neeras couldn't see her face as she was lying far away with her feet in front of them.

"Why can't it be kitty?" Meleiss said as she closed her eyes and smiled, "Do you know us well enough to say that?"

"Listen to us before you dismiss us, please," said Jon coming out of his stupor, "Then you can make whatever decision you want."

"Good," Tina said raising her voice, obviously furious with disappointment, "Because if this is some kind of joke, you two will be Calina's food."

At this Nedret looked at Tina terrified and Jon clenched the muscles of his fists angry.

Meleiss for her part began to laugh. It was a small smile at first and then a shrill laugh.

"Hey," Tina said snapping her fingers, "Would you mind telling me what is so funny?"

“You,” Meleiss said smiling, “That bad girl show. It's so funny. And the threats… Wow, that was the best. "

"You think I'm kidding?" Tina yelled at her, "First this fool shows up saying he has someone who can bring Joanna back, and now he's bringing me a couple of… freaks?"

“Let me clarify something for you girl,” Meleiss said, “We came here to help save your friend just because our Leader sent us here. Not that I'm particularly interested in being here in the first place. It's a real nuisance to have to hear you screaming like a bitch at those who want to help you, but I will help you whether you want to or not. There's a lot more at stake here than your stupid little friend. And I'll tell you something else. If your friend neko tries to lay a hand on us, well… let's say I have a friend too who will make her unable to get up from that table ever again. You understand?"

The tomthumb lunged at Meleiss but Nedret stepped between the two.

“Tina!” The neera exclaimed, “Damn, calm down! Listen to them first, then do what you want. "

The determination in Nedret's gaze caused Tina to slowly back away. Meleiss just kept her usual expression. Jon, however, was not observing the scene. He could only look at the giantess who was standing watching them as her face twitched somewhat angrily. Milly's friendship with Joanna and the circumstances of her disappearance made her feel empathy with her friend who had also seen how the tomthumb was torn from her side to never see her again. Jon, noticing the changes in the giant's face, decided to go to her to calm her down.

"Heard me, please, miss… Milly right?" He yelled at her, "Please hear what we have to say before you get disappointed. Believe it or not, we have the means to bring your friend back, and believe me we will do our best. So please give us at least one chance. "

They all stopped talking and turned to Jon in silence. Milly stared into the little boy's eyes that shone with sheer determination.

"Okay," she said with a sigh, "Tina give them a chance. Let's see what they have to say to us. "

Without saying anything else, the three neeras and the tomthumb sat down where they were. Jon then started to say.

"Thanks. Well, we are battlemages of the Fist of Hope. An organization that was originally founded to protect the tinies in Negav. Our operations began in the city a long time ago, long before I entered. We have been hunting down a group calling themselves Dark Claw. From what we know they have kidnapped a large group of tinies to enslave them or simply sell them as food. "

"Wow, that's horrible!" Cried Crisis.

"Our mission is to rescue your friend, but it is also to find out if her abduction has something to do with Dark Claw."

"I understand," Tina said, "But your goal in my opinion is stupid. The little ones are the food of predators. It's natural, it's the food chain. I couldn't tell Calina not to eat tinies. They are her natural diet and I also couldn't tell Milly not to eat humans or neko or elves. It's natural. Anything that works against that is simply going against the natural order. "

"Maybe you're right Miss Tina," Jon said narrowing his eyes, "As I understand it your tribe is protected by Miss Milly isn't it?"

Tina didn't answer anything.

“Following that reasoning, what Miss Milly is doing is… how to put it? Unnatural"

"What?" Said Milly, "That's not the same."

"Oh yeah," Jon said, "As I said before, following Miss Tina's reasoning, it is the same. You prevent the nekos in the area from feeding naturally. "

Milly didn't like where this was going, but she understood the little boy's reasoning.

"The reason does not matter. The fact is that… ", she began to say.

"The point is when it happens to yourself or to someone who represents something to you, it's not the same anymore, is it?" Jon interrupted her, "But I don't criticize that Miss Milly. Despite everything, I agree with your way of thinking because there is something important. That 'natural order' that balances Felarya is what has kept our world safe. "

Ajab hearing this simply smiled as if he understood word for word what Jon was saying. The others stared at something confused.

“The natural reaction of a prey to its predator is to defend its life at any cost.” Jon continued, “And the natural reaction of the predator is to do everything possible to consume it if it is hungry. If it isn't, he wouldn't even bother to hunt her down. But all that, even so, is different when predator and prey are sapient beings. "

"Different?" Jissy asked, "Why?"

"Sapient beings are capable of self-awareness and therefore peculiarly feel death and power." Jon continued answering Jissy's question, "Sapient prey doesn't want to die because they love their life, they love life, they love to be. Do you understand? A predator that takes that away is… just horrible. "

“Wait so… it isn't.” Tina said somewhat annoyed about the path this conversation was taking and the effects it was having on her listeners, “Didn't you just say that it's natural for the predator to consume its prey? So it is just natural. Prey has to be consumed so that predators can live and feed. I don't see why it has to be any different with saplet predators ... "

"Sapiens," Jon rectified, "And I'm not saying that. I say again that you are right, Miss Tina. Although for the prey it is something horrible, it is something that has to be done if we want the balance to be maintained. I don't know if you've heard a fairly common term called the food chain. "

"I do," Milly said promptly.

"Me too," Crisis said smiling.

"We've all heard that," Ajab said, "But I think we're straying from the essentials. What makes you think you can bail out Joanna?"

"I'm getting there." Jon said as he smiled, "I'm telling you this before because you don't seem like bad people and it's always good to share our temple teachings with good people. But it is also necessary for you to understand why we will do our best to rescue your friend. "

Jon then stood up.

"I told you before that our goal is to protect the tinies, but that's a simple way to put it." Jon said solemnly, "Our goal is to protect the balance of Felarya by protecting the food chain. All right, I already said it. "

Nobody said anything.

"Sorry, but I got lost," Crisis said as she scratched her blonde hair.

"No only you Crisis." Milly said, "Me too. I still don't understand anything. "

"The food chain." Jon continued, "In Felarya it represents balance and it is very delicate. Every sapient being in our world has a place in it. But you know the funny thing about food chains. You gigantic beings devour the nekos, humans, elves, and other creatures which in turn devour us. "Jon blushed a little," And, it's a shame, but we tinies are lower in that food chain. "

"Hey, it's not our fault that you guys are so delicious and fun," Calina said while licking her lips.

Jon gulped before continuing as he glanced at the dark-skinned neko.

"Whatever. The point is that a chain always breaks at the weakest link. If at least one of those links disappears, the whole chain is affected. Or it just falls apart. "

Ajab then opened his eyes, finally understanding what the little neera meant.

"So like I said, our goal," Jon continued, "is to protect the weakest link in the chain. The tinies."

Tina then opened her eyes somewhat confused and at the same time somewhat incredulous.

"But, don't you think that is something complicated for little ones like you?" Milly asked with a somewhat tender and condescending tone, fascinated by the determination of the little neera who exposed these facts.

"That's right.", Said Jon smiling, "The goal is complicated and very big, isn't it? But believe me, it is necessary. Many use the tinies as if they were simple slaves or merchandise. If we let this continue the tinies will be wiped off the face of Felarya. Not to mention the despair and sadness that these heinous acts bring. If we don't stop it, all that hopelessness will destroy our world. That is why I tell you that if your friend is alive we will rescue her. And believe it or not, we have the means. "

Jon spoke these words keeping in mind that he had been through something similar. So his words were delivered with a determined tone that conveyed empathy.

A deathly silence followed the last words. Tina's gaze was fixed on the little dark-haired neera as her lips parted in amazement. Milly, for her part, watched this speech with interest and when she finished she closed her eyes. A small tear ran down her right cheek.

"Hey Milly, are you okay?" Crisis asked somewhat worried.

“Yes, Crisis. It's nothing, ”Milly replied as she wiped the tear away with her wrist.

"Miss Milly," Jon said, "I'm sorry to bother you. I…"

"Okay, little one," the giantess interrupted, smiling, "You've convinced me. How do you intend to help us? "

"Wow, that was faster than I thought," Meleiss said suddenly. "You are good with the tongue Jon."

"Don't worry about Meleiss," Jon told his listeners, "She is very good at magic, but bad at relating."

"Bad", Tina thought, That's a simple way to put it. It is awful."

"That's how little girl. I'm awful. "Meleiss said sarcastically," But you're not the first to believe that. And I like it."

Tina was stunned. This neera had… read her thoughts!?

"What was that?" Milly asked puzzled.

Jon put a hand to his face. He feels very uncomfortable.

"Meleiss," he hissed at the white-haired girl, "How many times do I have to tell you? Nothing to read the thoughts of others. "

"Oh sorry," Meleiss replied, "But I couldn't help it. This little girl has so much bitterness inside her that it was easy. You miss your little friend, right? "

Tina was silent for a moment. Ajab like Jissy and Crisis observed this scene with apparent curiosity.

"If you can see my thoughts then you will know the answer to that, right?" snapped the blonde tomthumb.

"Well little girl," Meleiss said, "Why don't you tell me then? How did it happen? "

Jon didn't know if the tone of empathy Meleiss had used was genuine or not. His partner almost always faked emotions which made her particularly irritating to many people. He sat down with his knees crossed again on the wooden surface as Tina began her story.

The dark-haired neera still felt happy. He had brought, at least, a little hope for someone.