"Snacks" Anthology Preview (Patreon)

Got some more novel preview content for everyone tonight! Is Mal -really- such a big bad monster after all? According to this snippet, he's not planning to eat anyone...not like that, anyway.

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“This is the cauldron where you’re gonna cook me, isn’t it? This…t-this is really happening?!”

Since she’d been wrapped up in the tight grasp of the massive reptile, Jenni hadn’t stopped rambling, though one could hardly blame her.

As far as she knew, she was just being tenderized by his grip and then boiled alive; she was under the impression that her fate would be something far less painful.

Bravado was utterly gone from her spirit as she felt his fingertips roaming over her body, continuing to massage and work her flesh in such a way that she thought she was being prepped for easier chewing…but the fact that Mal never corrected her was what she found the most concerning.

She was hoping that she’d be able to keep her modesty all the way through the process, but when she felt the poor, aged fabric of her top being eased away by a single clawtip, she was able to recognize the logic in that, as well…or so the thought.

Her clothes were a burden to him, if anything, but they’d make a fine enough napkin to wipe his lips when he was done consuming her…and the older tatters of her skirt were tugged away for insurance.

Things could get awfully messy when someone was being consumed, but little by little, Jenni was resigning herself to that fact, knowing that her naked figure wasn’t necessarily a sensual thing to Mal, but a buffet for his other, proper appetites.

“…Why does it feel like you’re still ogling me, then? Why are you staring at my tits like that?”

“Because they’re nice.”

His voice was so thick and powerful that she felt as if her head was in the middle of a clapping thundercloud, but more profound than the weight on her eardrums was the message.

The naked mare felt an instinct to wrap her arms around her breasts and try to cross her legs around the unique anatomy between her thighs, but she was still dangling from the pinched grip of Mal’s palm, holding her above the cauldron and leaving her fur to become matted with the plentiful steam.

She was still convinced he was marinating her, but when her hooves first touched the liquid, she didn’t find it anywhere near warm enough to do the trick.

It was actually rather pleasant.

“This…t-this wouldn’t be anywhere near warm enough to cook me, would it?” she ran through her thoughts so quickly that she didn’t even realize she was speaking until she was up to her knees in the water.

The shape of the cauldron didn’t properly remind Jenni of a cooking pot at all, once she had a moment to sit and look at the edges of it.

She would have believed if the massive beast told her that he’d plucked it from a destroyed home; it was effectively a bathtub, and submersing herself in that liquid would have made her feel right at home, if she properly trusted her captor.

“I sure hope it isn’t. I know that you smaller creatures tend to be a bit less durable than things my size, but…if that was enough to boil you alive, I’d be really curious to find how you made your way up here; that pathway isn’t exactly what you’d call a leisurely stroll.”

Legends were what they were because of the people that passed them down, but it wasn’t just the manner of the people that shared them: it was the exaggerations that were made that could turn a tall tale into the stuff of myths, and as she settled a little further into the water, Jenni was getting the inkling that there was less truth to the legend of Mal than there was fiction.

She didn’t quite trust him just yet, and her gaze remained wary as he stepped around the side of the tub with an unrelenting, thunderous gait. There was no shortage of reasons for her to be nervous, but the longer she rested in the tub and adjusted to the pleasant heat of the water, the less she believed that she was being flavored or tenderized for Mal’s enjoyment.

“It wasn’t easy getting up here, no…but…someone had to make the decision to be sacrificed to your specific hungers, and…no one else wanted to give up their daughter to you.”

“You came here of your own volition?”

“I did.”

“Braving the treachery of the climb and the potential loss of your life just to protect the village?”

“…You sound like you’re about to praise me for my efforts.”

“Well, of course I am! The sheer amount of bravery that you’ve shown in the face of your own demise is truly commendable…just imagine the kind of praise I’d be heaping on you if you were in any real danger.”

Jenni cocked a brow. “…Excuse me?”

“The only torture you’ll endure this day is my questionable sense of humor and wit,” Mal confessed. “I was wondering if you’d catch on without my just spelling it out for you, but…it seems that you’ve been fed a bit of a story about me, haven’t you?”

“More than one, and none of them enjoyable to listen to, but…since I’m here and came all this way, I suppose it would be rude of me not to listen to your side of it,” Jenni admitted. “That is, if you think you can finish the tale without eyeing me like I’m a meal the entire time.”