It had been 2 weeks since their home was overtaken. All those who remained were killed, no person spared, be them man, woman or child. All that remained of the Navarein tribe were those who had escaped days before the attack. When Helle announced her vision of the future, of a battle that they would not win, all believed her premonition. She was, after all, a powerful priestess.

But there were those that would not leave their home, that had accepted this is the place they were born, so it should be the place they would rest. Some decided to fight until their last breath - and many stayed behind. Although Helle disagreed with them, she did not protest further, for she knew there was honor in protecting their home, but there was also honor in saving those she could, and so the tribe had split.

The cowards that ran and the fools that died.

And now, with less than twenty people, the remnants crossed the Ludfail forest. If they stepped outside, they’d eventually be spotted by one of their enemies. So their only hope was beyond. To march further than they ever did, where only the unknown could threaten their lives.

But it wasn’t easy. The freezing winter was upon them and their provisions were short. The leader whispered to Helle that they only had about two more weeks left, so they had to hurry their pace. They barely rested. When the first ray of sunshine graced the snow, it was time to move. Only when it was too dark to continue that they rested. As they traveled on, Helle could only hope she would receive another divine message, one much less horrying than her previous one.

“That’s enough for today, it’s too dark.” The leader said, his orders followed by sighs of relief from many members, Helle herself was exhausted. She sat down, back against a tree as she looked up at the sky. Although she was wearing both her light priestess clothes covered by pelt clothes, she was still weak to the elements.

She reached into a pocket, pulling a silver block with each side depicting one of their gods. Diagi, Phuhotl, Yhsus and Firnir. She placed it against her forehead. “Oh mighty gods, please bless this vessel with your powers. May you protect our people in this cross and we will be eternally grateful.” She finished her praying by kissing each of the gods. Then, she slipped the statue back in her pocket.

She looked up at the sky again, gazing at the stars one final time before closing her eyes.

-----------------------

There was nothing, then there was Helle, as if she had just been born into existence. Her mind took a second to understand that she was there...although she wasn’t aware of where. All she could see was black. But not the black of a shadow or of someone’s pupil. But a complete lack of anything. Of color, of light, of presence. There wasn’t even ground, she simply floated in nothingness.

And then, there was something else. A man. Far bigger than she was, bigger than anything she knew of. Although he was still somewhat far, she could already tell that he could easily destroy her existence by crushing her between two fingers. Once the realization of the impossible settled in, a gasp escaped her mouth. She recognized him.

Of course, how could she not? Helle had practically memorized the deities' appearance after spending so much time within the temple. Firnir was the god of war. Or at least, that’s how most people saw him. Helle knew he was more than that, he was also the god of the hunt, of survival, and the patron of winter. For it was during winter that they couldn’t rely on crops and their food source became meat.

His mukluks boots were covered in thick white fur, similar to those in his trousers. His upper abdomen was left exposed, showing his sculpted body. A necklace of various animal teeth decorated his neck, as well as a fur cloak that also covered his head. From the cloak, deer antlers protruded magesically, as if they were growing out of the cloak.

His facial features were slightly hidden due to the cloak, but she could see his messy brown hair and deep blue eyes, which seemed to stare right at her soul. He held onto an axe that was almost his size.

“I’ve heard your pleas Helle.” He says, his voice booming all around her, resonating with her own thoughts. “I shall command your people, grace them with the hunt so that they do not starve, and lead them into salvation so they may rebuild their home again.” 

Helle smiled. “I- Yes, Thank you.” She said, catching herself, her smile disappearing. “I thank you, Firnir. Me and my people shall rebuild the temple twice as big an-” His booming voice drowned her own. “Naturally. I expect no less from those I personally lead. That is only the obligation of your people. For this blessing, I require much more.”

Helle bowed, her eyes gazing down. “Yes, anything, and I shall tell my people what to-” He interrupted once again. “No, there is no need. I do not require your tribe to do anything. For the price of payment bears on you alone.” He continued. “You shall fuel the perpetual war, the endless battlefield...the neverending hunt...and in return, I shall lead your people into safety. To a land where they can rebuild.”

Helle became silent. It took a moment for her to look up, somewhat understanding what he was asking. Not just any sacrifice - he wanted her to sacrifice herself. “O...Of course.” She nodded, looking at his eyes. She didn’t want to say much - or think much. For all she knew, he could read her mind too, but she wasn’t that happy about dying.

“Good.” He started to approach. Not by walking, but as if they were both just floating closer to each other. At the same time, it seemed like he was getting bigger and bigger. Not simply by perspective, but she was sure he was growing too. “Then I relieve you of your duties as Navarein’s priestess. From now on, you’re only a piece of the battlefield. Fight for your survival, or become someone else's prey. For worshipping me, I shall grant you a weapon, but our relationship ends now.”

When he finished his sentence, she found herself right in front of his lips. He was so close to her that she could feel the warmth of his body radiating towards her, as well as his breathing creating winds upwards. He opened his lips, opening an enormous cave that seemed to be bigger than the Ludfail forest itself. No, bigger than that. Adorned both sides of his mouth, both the top and bottom, were ivory-like columns that were bigger than her entire village. She was so small, so insignificant, that one of his taste buds would be bigger than him. She could probably drown within the smallest amount of saliva adorning his tongue. Not that she actually had to transverse it, as she continued to float towards the back of the cave.

His lips closed behind her, fully concealing her in darkness. It took her eyes a second, but soon she was able to discern things within once again, although much less than before. “So...this is it…” She whispered to herself. If the god swallowing her heard, he did not bother to respond. “Well...sucks, I suppose.” She giggled afterwards, but that ended quickly. “I suppose there is no greater honor than dying for your people...and for a god. Still...I wish I-”

Her own talking came to an end when, out of nowhere, she simply stopped floating. As if gravity was just born into existence, her body began to fall downwards. Although she knew she wouldn’t fall to her death, she couldn’t help but scream. She must have been falling through his throat. So small he didn’t have to swallow. 

Her reality was soon about to change.

--------------------

Somewhere along the day, she must have passed out. Or perhaps the fall took so long  that she eventually slept. She couldn’t tell. In fact, she couldn’t even remember losing consciousness. Maybe it was something she couldn’t explain, something only the gods themselves knew. All she could tell is that time had passed, and now she was awakening. 

But she might as well have kept her eyes closed, because she could barely see anything. In fact, all around her, it just seemed like an infinite void. Like she was trapped in the world’s biggest room. If there was any light source, it was so far away that she couldn’t actually see it. The only thing she could make out was the floor, although it was hard to discern the color or material.

Although sight failed her, the other senses easily provided information. First she noted that there was this perpetual sound. It was hard to describe, she could only compare it to the sound of boiling water. That probably explained the heat she was in. It was as hot, if not more, than the summers back home. Finally...the smell…

All she could smell was meat. Chicken, perhaps? And it wasn’t like she could sense it where it came from, no, it was everywhere, and intense too. It was somewhat pleasant at first. Who doesn’t like  the taste of meat? But it was very strong and slightly nauseating. 

With all of this information in the back of her head, plus the fact Firnir had just ate her, could only lead to one solution. “I’m in his stomach…and I’m standing…” She looked down. “On a piece of chicken…” She didn’t want to believe it, because the piece she stood on continued beyond her horizon. It was big enough for all of her tribe to stand there, even before the massacre. 

“Oh the four almighty ones…” She said, feeling her knees a bit weak. When she heard he wanted her to be sacrificed, in a way, she thought he would just kill her and send her to the afterlife. She should be in the The Seraphic Empire, where, as the priestess of the gods, she would receive endless bliss of the highest order. Even if she had made a fool of gods as a heathen, her soul would be destroyed.

“The Neverending Hunt…” She whispered to herself, recalling Firnir’s words. She wasn’t destined either fate, instead, she was going to ‘fuel’ his hunt, for all of eternity. “Seriously? But It’s not like I could have said no, surely then my soul would b-” She stopped herself, placing both hands to cover her mouth.

But then quickly removed them. “It’s not like you care, right?” She spoke, looking around her, as if Firnir could hear her from his stomach. “You said our relationship ends now, right? So it doesn’t...matter…” Those last words felt heavy. All her life, she was trained to listen to the gods, assure the tribe remained devoted and pray almost daily. And now, her relationship with Firnir, or all gods, was severed.

“Was this all planned?” Continuing to speak to herself, she begins walking around “They warned us about the fire, then they took me away...and what happened to my body? I me-” As she walked, she felt the tip of her fur boots touch something sturdy. It kicked slightly forward. Curious, her blue hued eyes looked down to see it.

A spear. Although dark, she could tell it was carved of wood and had tribalistic blue markings all around it. 

She reached down and grabbed it. And immediately upon touch, the blue markings lit up. “Oh!” Immediately, she looked around. “Oh…” It wasn’t enough to light the whole chicken piece she stood on. But it did make a lot of light. More than a torch.

Clearly, this wasn’t just an ordinary spear. Not just because it lit up upon touch, but she could also feel it pulsating. It was infused with godly power. Helle was quick to realize. “The gift?” Surely if this was a hunt, she needed something to hunt with, yes? “I mean, that should be a given…” She murmured to herself. Perhaps the gift was it’s godly power?

She sighed...and looked around again. “So...what am I supposed to hunt?” There was no answer. No monster, no animal, not even another human. She was completely alone. She looked down and, just to be sure, even stabbed down. The spear punctured it. She lifted it up and noted that the tip was now covered with the meat.

Helle took it out, then ate the meat. “Yeah, this is already dead.” So this wasn’t the thing she needed to hunt. “Might as well keep walking…” She was tired of looking around, and she already knew there was nothing noteworthy in any direction, so she just walked forward. Although she knew there was little hope of getting out (Firnir used plenty of adjectives that implied this wouldn’t end), Helle still hoped.

But her hope would eventually come to an end. After what felt like a couple of hours, she seemed to reach the ending of her little island. Nothing had happened, she simply walked along in silence.

Luckily for her, her path didn’t have to end here. There were a couple more chicken islands she could go to. One of them was particularly lower than the others, almost completely sunk underneath the gastric juices, so no dice. There was only one other that was close enough for a jump.

“Alright…” She took a deep breath and retraced thirty steps. Then, she began running at full force. “Aaaaaaaa!” She yelled from long before she got close to the end. She didn’t want to end up falling between and she probably only had one shot at this.

Once she was at the edge, she jumped. Her body was flying in the air for a few seconds...she was so close...but she realized a bit too late she wasn’t going to quite make it...but she didn’t need to make it to the top exactly.

Plunging her spear to the side of the chicken, she felt gravity tug at her one last time before she came to a stop. She didn’t make it to the top, but rather, to a very high part of the side. Just high enough that she could easily get to the top, and then remove the spear that brought her here.

“Oh boy...that was...jeez...I’m really not that in shape.” Maybe if she was more athletic, she could have made it. But she was a priestess, not a hunter.

“It would probably have been easier to go on the other piec-” As she looked to the almost sunk island, she noticed it had sunken even further. In fact, it could probably only fit her. Maybe two other people if they all squeezed together.

And as she kept watching, the piece fully sunk.

“Or maybe not…” She had almost forgotten, but she was standing on food within a god’s stomach. Food that would eventually be digested. And for all the stomach was concerned, she was just another set of proteins. “I guess I can’t stand here for too long…” No, she couldn’t stand anywhere for too long. Eventually, whatever she stood on would become just another set of nutrients. 

“Gotta keep moving…” She told herself, taking another big breath to calm herself from the jump, then continued marching. The last thing she wanted was to get stuck in a doomed island afterall. Besides, there wasn’t anything for her to do there.

-----------------------

After walking through the more islands of chicken, Helle was exhausted. Nothing noteworthy had happened in her travels. She was expecting at least some sort of animal that she could hunt, but nothing at all. There wasn’t a way to estimate how long she had been travelling, but she’d wager it was about eight hours since she began travelling, with nothing to show for it.

She sighed, laid down, and looked up. Beyond the light provided by her spear, there was a featureless darkness. If this was a stomach, there would be walls that contained everything within, but she could not see them. She let go of her spear, the light fading away as she did so.

“I guess it hasn’t been the worst experience…” She told herself, as a consolation for her boredom. “There isn’t anything to fight...which, I guess, it’s good. It’s not like I’m a warrior.” But then, if she wasn’t meant to hunt, then what was all that Firnir said about?

She closed her eyes. Maybe she could nap for now...as long as she woke up before the island sank. Or maybe she should just sink? What else to do in this world? Was there even a way to survive? She was in Firnir’s stomach, and stomachs aren’t picky about where they get their nutrients.

She chuckled to herself. “Still...I don’t want to give up…” She frowned, her eyes still closed. 

Then, a new sound. One that wasn’t just the constant gastric juices digesting food. No, it sounded like...voices? People? Her eyes snapped open.

“No way…” Her hopes were renewed. She looked at where the voices came from, but couldn't make out anyone. Immediately, she grabbed her spear. The light it provided wasn’t enough either. They were probably still a little further ahead.

Even if she was still stuck, at least she didn’t have to be alone. “Maybe they know more about this situation…” So without hesitating another second, Helle charged forward, a smile on her lips. 

It didn’t take long. Afterall, she wasn’t the only one running towards each other. As they got closer, Helle started to make out the figures ahead. There were six of them. Each wearing outfits Helle had never seen before. They were not part of any tribe she knew, not that it mattered. As long as she wasn’t alone in this hellish realm.

She stopped not much in front of them. Their silhouettes had a minimal amount of detail, where she could generally make up their height and build. “Finally...” She breathed, looking down. She was still exhausted from her walking, especially now that she ran full speed at them.. “I was thinking I was here alon-” Her words were cut when something flew by her cheek, almost hitting it. All she felt was the wind displacing and the quick noise it made.

Then, she looked up. One of them, on the left, was pointing a bow right at her. Did he shoot her? Was he bad or simply to catch her attention? 

“That’s a nifty thing.” Said someone with a husky voice. He approached her, stepping into the blue light. He had long red hair that ended around his waist. He wore simple sandals, a loincloth and nothing else. A low gasp escaped Helle’s lips. She wasn’t used to this type of clothing, her people wore a lot more - even in summer! 

The man didn’t notice her surprise at his attire, way more focused on her spear. “Hand it over.” 

This took Helle by surprise. Not that she was naive to think everyone had a pure heart, her home was attacked by rivals after all, but there was no bad blood between her and this group. No, in fact, there was no good reason to attack her. It’s much easier to survive in a group, with each member making up for someone's weakness. 

“What? Why? I-I mean, no!” This was her only weapon! And super useful too! to light this dark place.

And then it hit her. This is why they came here. Because of the light. In this dark world, her light must have stood out for miles. Of course they’d want a lantern to fight this darkness.

“Tsk tsk.” He approached her. “You’re outnumbered.” His lips curled into a smirk. “And even if, say, you manage to take one or two down, my archer will kill you before you can attack him.”

As he pointed to the man holding the bow, one that looked to be in his forties, he spoke up too. “That was just a warning shot, kid.” He seemed to be the oldest of the group.

Helle didn’t know what to do but relent. It’s not like she was a fighter. Maybe she could kill the guy who got closer. He seemed like the leader, so it might cause some level of chaos but surely not long enough for her to survive all the other five people. 

In her hesitation to attack, the man simply grabbed her spear and pulled, yanking it off her arms. The force was strong enough to pull her forward too. She fell on her knees, grunting in response.

The other people approached them, in awe of the spear, now lighting up when held by the other man. “I thought I’d never see light again!” A woman’s voice called out. “Man, I knew some of you were ugly, but now I can confirm it!” Said some other man.

Looking at the ground, she bit her lower lip. Helle felt as if her blood was boiling, burning within her veins. The first people she met were not the hopeful tribe she expected, but a bunch of thieves. 

And the worst part is that she was completely helpless.

She wanted to rage out, like an animal, and repay their actions tenfold, but she knew she was outmatched.

She wanted to run away, like a child, tears from the unfairness of the world, but she knew she couldn’t outrun an arrow.

She wanted to scream in agony from her own helplessness, a feeling she had never felt before, but knew this would accomplish nothing.

In fact, it took all of her mental strength to stop looking down and finally look up, watching the group of thieves with her spear. Although she wasn’t expecting the bowman to have an arrow aimed at her. “Huh?”

He spoke. “And what about her, boss?”

The man didn’t even look back at them, still focused on his new shiny weapon. “She looks like she’ll be a burden. Just kill her.”

Blinking, Helle held back a laugh. To think she was looking forward to meeting people in this hellish world, happy she didn’t have to face this alone...and to realize she would now die due to that hope. She closed her eyes, hoping it would at least be quick.

“H-Hey!” Came a voice from further ahead. She didn’t know which one spoke, but it wasn’t the bowman or his boss. watch out! Somethin-” The rest of his words were muffled by the sound of something splashing right beside her. The little island they stood on shook and seemed to drift in the opposite direction as a reaction.

Helle’s eyes snapped open as she looked left, trying to discern what happened.

Although she wasn’t able to see the slice of apple, which was a little smaller than the own food island she stood on, that had just fallen down from high above, she was able to see the splash it had caused.

Similar to a child jumping in a lake, the apple was sending liquid towards every direction around it...some of which would definitely reach them. They would likely survive the blast, despite being so small in comparison to the splash...but the problem was this was no lake water.

It was stomach acid.

And gravity did not wait for any response. Nobody had time to wait. The liquid came down, drenching both a man and a woman from the group of thieves, as well as the bowman in front of Helle. Although only the left side of his body.

“Y-” Someone tried to speak, but their words were cut off by the scream of the three people caught in the splash zone. Helle couldn’t avert her eyes from the sight. 

She didn’t realize that their skin would start to burn immediately, at least considering the fact the food islands she stood on gave her enough time to traverse them entirely, and she only managed to see one succumbing to the ‘waters’ below.

But no, their skin began to melt and the liquid made its way down.

It was gruesome and disgusting, but it had momentarily saved her. The others couldn’t reach her without having to step within the gastric acid pond between them. And on her side...was simply the bowman, still screaming from the pain of his corroded left arm.

“Ah…” Still in shock from the experience, her response to such saving grace did not happen immediately. She wasn’t a trained soldier who took advantage of every opportunity, so she did not attack him immediately.

“God! My foot!” The bowman screamed. Helle did not have to look, she knew his left leg was standing, at least partially, on the pond formed between them. His foot would likely be digested, and he would start to sink in.

“Ah…!” Finally, she realized her chance. She stood up and approached the bowman, one hand reaching for his bow, while the other for the quiver. She managed to remove his quiver, but he did not let go of his bow.

“You-” He tried to say something, but felt more pain arising from his leg and screamed again. Still, he did not let go.

Helle threw the quiver behind her shoulders and tried to pull the bow in both hands...but even then, the man was much stronger than she was. And when he tugged back, she had to use her whole strength from being knocked forward.

“I...oh!” Her eyes lit up. When she came here, she remained with the same clothing that she wore when walking through the forest with her tribe.

Then...that thing...could still be there.

Freeing up one hand, she retrieved the silver block. The same one with the gods carved on each side. And then bashed the hand holding the bow. He screamed, although she didn’t know from which wound. When she bashed it again, he finally let go of the bow.

Losing balance, he fell backwards...his back making contact with the pond behind him. His screams got louder as it quickly digested his clothes...and then his skin.

Helle looked up, her eyes locking with the leader’s.

“You bitch! I’ll kill you! I’ll make you wish you had died today.”

She took a step back, seeing the fire in his eyes. 

Then she ran away. 

She kept running, without looking back. She just kept walking away from the whole scene.

In truth, she was exhausted. Not just physically, but mentally as well. She wanted to find a safe place to hole up and cry herself to sleep. But there was no safe place in Firnir’s stomach. Every landmass would eventually be digested, so she had to keep moving.

And moving was dangerous too, for all she knows, she could run into an even worse group. Or she could get in the splash zone of another falling piece of food. Or maybe, find herself trapped in an island with no place out, having to wait for it to sink away.

Hell, there could be even worse things out there. What wasn’t on a God’s diet? If he could eat people, then maybe he could fancy beasts and monsters. His whole deal was hunting after all.

And all she could do at this point? She could only run. So she ran. At least she had weapons now...and she knew better than to trust people.

Helle ran...until she couldn’t run anymore. Until she was out of breath, until her face was completely red and dripping with sweat. Her legs sore and in pain.

Until she collapsed. Her eyes shut completely, even when she attempted to keep them open.

Her body refused to work, she hadn’t slept at all since coming here, and she couldn’t function without sleep. Her body was forcing her to, even when she knew it wasn’t safe. She only hoped she put enough distance between any incoming danger...and that she wouldn’t wake up by the pain of her digesting away.

But, losing consciousness, she knew there was nothing to do but pray she would wake up safely. 

And hey, she was a pretty good priestess.