The goddess levitated above the moss-covered water and watched as the back of a large creature briefly broke its surface.
The swamp was full of many forms of reptiles, amphibians, insects and birds—most of which had been deformed or altered by magic, then discarded to live the rest of their Peaks in misery.
A large bird with reversed wings flew past. Its long neck was rolled under its body to see where it was going, since it flew tail first. The goddess shook her head at the ridiculous concept that some powerful wizard would waste his moments on such a childish manipulation.
The swamp covered a tremendous area of northwestern Western Luvelles, and it had become a magical garbage dump. These were the experiments of those who sought to strengthen their control over the dark arts.
Now, fellow soul ... Grogger’s territory was the home of a 30 pace tall, 38 pace wide shapple toad. In general, shapple toads were not considered a threat. Normally, they were small, about the size of a man’s fist. They ate bugs and hopped away from anything larger than themselves. Once an insect had been swallowed, it was digested over a series of Peaks.
Grogger, on the other hand, was not your normal shapple toad. He had been transformed by the darkest of magic—magic commanded by Marcus Id. The chancellor had performed many experiments on the beast. As a result, the enormous shapple toad ruled the swamp, and his prey was slowly digested inside his belly over 10 seasons.
Celestria understood the digestive traits of the acid inside Grogger’s belly. This beast was perfect for the plan she and Lasidious had decided to implement more than 100 seasons ago. She had been the one to implant the desire to manipulate Grogger in Marcus’ mind. The chancellor’s lust for power was strong, and it did not take much before he took action.
Now, all Celestria had to do was encourage Grogger to swallow her. As it turned out, getting inside the beast would not be an issue. The ground shook as Grogger surprised Celestria. The beast landed behind the goddess, and the murky water splashed everywhere, saturating her gown. Grogger’s mouth opened. The screams of trapped souls inside his belly could be heard as his tongue lashed out to pull her inside.
Once ingested, the goddess could not move. The sheer number of bodies inside the toad’s belly had been compacted. She expanded her invisible barrier of protection and then lifted her hand to command the darkness to dissipate.
With light and room to work, Celestria studied her surroundings. Despite the knowledge of what she would see, the goddess was unable to fight back the need to vomit.
It took a while before she was able to collect her composure. Many of the partially digested life forms, all of which were in various stages of decomposition, oozed with puss. The white moisture bubbled as the magic attacked the outermost extremities first and then worked its way to the main organs. Arms, legs, fingers and toes sizzled as the acid inside Grogger’s belly systematically devoured them.
Although alive, none of the toad’s victims were coherent. The screams the goddess had heard when Grogger’s mouth opened to pull her inside must have come from a source other than the 60 motionless figures piled in front of her.
The goddess removed a piece of a toe from the hem of her gown. She tossed it beyond the barrier and onto the mound of bodies. Again, she puked. “Oh, my love ... is our plan worth the suffering these beings must bear?”
After summoning fresh water to appear in the palms of her hands, she swished it around inside her mouth to remove the aftertaste of her vomit and then spit the water to the floor of Grogger’s stomach. “Whom to choose? Whom to choose?” she muttered as she scanned the pile.
Pressed against the wall of her barrier was an elf, dressed for the hunt. His crossbow had been damaged from the force of Grogger’s tongue. He wore heavy, leather boots and gloves, with the rest of his body covered from the neck down to keep the leeches out. The only part of his person uncovered was his head, and because of the way the acid worked, the only damage he had suffered was to his long, blond hair, and even then, just the ends were affected.
“His capture must have been recent,” the goddess whispered as she extended her field of force to pull the elf inside. She touched his shoulder. “Hello.