Dark Arts and Dark Minds

Chapter 10: Salvation

*Risk's POV*

Am I... dead? Has that savage Pokemon digested me yet? No... no, it couldn't have- I can think to myself... A dead Riolu couldn't do that, I am certain. But, if I'm still alive, then where am I?

I opened my eyes, but I still can't see anything. I had forgotten that my pendant was my source of light, but the lack of light didn't really bother me.

I think I can manage, provided I can find out where exactly I am...

I tried to move in a straight line, but my legs hurt to the point of malfunctioning, and I only succeeded in falling on my face.

Oddly, the ground was wet and slimy. This place was obviously not safe, but I guessed that I would still be fine. I stretched out my paw, and, although my arm barely responded, I finally succeeded in moving my paw outwards a few inches. It soon came into contact with an unknown liquid, and the touch burned my paw. I recoiled sharply, bumping into a wall of something squishy, and I froze in my tracks.

Am I still in that snake's gut? That's certainly what this place feels like, but why would I still be alive if that was the case?

While I was wondering, a loud female voice echoed through the chamber I was in,

"I can feel its presence- you did, indeed, eat an innocent Pokemon!"

"Fine, I give in! But, ssso what if I did? There'sss nothing you can do about it, ssso why do you care? That Riolu isss long dead, a deliciousss sssnack!"

The Serperior's voice echoed all around me, and I realized, at once, where I was. I wondered how I was not currently being digested, when the other Pokemon's voice became increasingly angrier.

"Let me put it to you this way, you vile snake! If you don't release that Pokemon, I'm going to cut you up and free him, myself!"

"Hah," the snake crowed,

"Asss if you had the gutsss! You're just a hapless deer that left her friendsss during the Old War. You didn't sssave thossse who mattered to you then- why would you risssk your life againssst the top predator of the foressst, jussst to find a bunch of bonesss?"

"You asked for it! Your reign of terror over this forest ends here and now! En garde!"

The Serperior laughed again,

"Jussst try to ssstop me!"

After the snake had said that, my mind went fuzzy, and I just sat there, staring blankly into the darkness around me. I heard a few battle cries, as well as a scream of pain from the Pokemon currently fighting the snake.

"You sssee, Virizion? It'sss hopelesss to fight me, I am the lord of thisss foressst!"

"You may be the 'lord,' but I shall forever be its protector!" The other Pokemon countered, and, when it had finished talking, I heard the snake scream in agony, as a small patch of light spilled into the chamber. Soon, I saw a horn pierce completely through the side of the snake, and it fell to the ground. I assumed that it was most likely dead.

I rubbed my eyes- I was still in the Serperior's stomach, but I was encased in some sort of bubble, the strength of the field belying that a Pokemon had intentionally formed it around me.

Meanwhile, the other Pokemon spoke once again, continuing to drag its horn through the snake's carcass to create a passage for me to escape.

I tried to move, but the remnants of acid left in the stomach made movement impossible- if I walked in any direction, I would leave the protective bubble, and the acid would most likely overpower me.