Luna Bubbles's Arc

Chapter 2 of 4

Luna sat between the two men, her belly still warm under their hands. Dylan's palm pressed steady on the left. Axel's hand stayed flat on the right. The relief from the last burp was already fading. Another wave was building under her ribs. She had two who passed her test, and she still had not picked one. She did not get the chance. A shadow fell over the bench. Past the diagram, on the rise above the path, a stone tower stood where no tower had stood that morning. A bright glass bottle sat planted in the dirt at its base, label turned toward Dylan, bubbles catching the light. Luna had not seen it appear. She had not heard footsteps either. The air went heavy and hot. A red hand closed on Dylan's wrist and lifted it clean off Luna's belly. Voracia stood over them, white hair loose, black horns sharp, her own huge belly straining the spiked armor. She moved Dylan's hand to her own stomach and held it there. Axel pulled back on his own. Luna's belly clenched without a hand on it. She fidgeted with her fingers in her lap and did not speak. Voracia looked down at Luna and burped. It was loud and long and aimed straight at her face. The sound rolled across the clearing and rattled the diagram stake. Voracia did not blink. "Dylan is mine," she said. "Bring your belly near him again and you will be my next meal. Then my burps will be the ones he loves." She said it flat. She did not raise her voice. Dylan kept his hand where she had put it and said nothing. His hazel eyes went to Luna once, then away. Luna's ribs locked. The burp she needed climbed up and stuck. She looked at Axel. Axel looked back, steady, and gave the smallest nod. He set his hand on her belly again, slow, in front of Voracia, and rubbed a short circle. The burp broke free, smaller than the last, and the pressure eased. Voracia watched without moving. Then she turned Dylan toward the tower and walked him up the rise. The bottle stayed planted in the dirt behind them. Luna pressed Axel's hand flatter against her stomach. One suitor was gone. The choice she had been turning over all morning was not hers anymore. Her belly was already filling again, and only one hand was left on it. "Stay," she said. Axel said, "I'm here." She did not look at the tower. She looked at the diagram, at the last line she had drawn three times, and counted the seconds until the next burp.