Glass or Diamond: Fairy's Wish

Episode 2: Well Met

The heat and humidity are stifling. The stench is nauseating. The darkness is foreboding, clawing at the tiny torchlight to claim the wanderers.

And, the 15 foot long, blood-thirsty serpentine creatures pursuing them are terrifying.

The warrior is mysterious, confident, and blunt, and he's now running as fast as he can along the fleshy floor of the titanic creature's lung which they currently inhabit. The creatures pursuing them are right behind them, vicious and relentless. They have one singular goal in mind; to destroy all invaders within the colossal organism known as a sand gryduke.

The gryduke, ironically, likely has no idea they are present, or it might try to cough or thrash about to help foil the invaders within its own body. However, they are infinitesimal compared to the gryduke; little more than prey it swallowed several hours ago. It has no idea of the intent of one of the two living invaders.

Lykha, the fairy, does her best just to stay conscious in the magical capsule containing her. She's nauseous from the stench brought from the creature's bowels by the antibodies in their pursuit of the warrior and her. The warrior is armed with a long polearm that has a sword-like blade on one end, but he's yet to draw it from his back. Instead, he's running in what Lykha believes is the direction of its head.

"Can't you attack them!?" she cries out. More than once, she's felt directed heat like a monster breathing on her capsule.

"If I injure the lung too badly, the gryduke might cough." The warrior's voice is fairly calm, other than being in the earliest stages of becoming winded.

It's an understandable concern. Being that they're inside one of the creature's lungs, it coughing, sneezing, snorting, or otherwise exhaling or inhaling violently could very possibly have the force of a hurricane or tornado, and the two tiny beings -a human and a fairy- would be helpless in the torrent.

Meanwhile, if they do nothing, the numerous serpentine antibodies viciously pursuing them will overtake them and -if they're lucky- kill them instantly.

Lykha flinches when the warrior vaults over one of the lung's trunk-like blood vessels. She's trying to keep her stomach under control, but isn't winning. And, so long as she's in the capsule, her limited magical abilities -her only combat abilities- are virtually useless. She is at the mercy of a warrior who is undoubtedly experienced, it seems, but is alone and on the run right now.

Even if he wanted to, he couldn't simply break her out of the capsule. The magic armoring the capsule makes it nearly indestructible to all known physical means. According to her elders, Lykha has heard that the capsule can only be opened by the captor, which obviously leaves the poor fairy in a bind.

And an indestructible capsule...

Lykha sits up, shouting, "Throw me!"

"What?"

"Throw me! Anywhere! I can lure them!"

"Then what? They're difficult enough to fight one on one."

The warrior drops into a slide through alveoli of the lungs, narrowly avoiding a pounce that he heard coming. The antibodies have spastic, violent movements, thrashing visciously in an attempt to even clip the warrior and stumble him.

Lykha suppresses a dry heave, and she groans out, "Do you have a better plan?"

"No."

There's a pause, and while still on the run, Lykha is lurched about by the warrior unshouldering the capsule and preparing to throw it.

"WAIT! Y-you'll come back for me, right? Promise me you'll come back for me."

"Don't be ridiculous." He throws her backwards, and she gets a good look at one of the antibodies as she sails past.