Gairanda's quarters were a far cry from the strange, demonic motif that dominated the rest of the subterrainian city. They were sparse, missing all of the gaudy sculpture and lavish furnishings favored by the demonesses; instead there were a handful of weapons on the wall, a few scrolls, an armor rack and a simple bed. Laid deep into the floor of one corner was a bathtub (well, more like a bath-hole) in which Blast was splashing happily.

Here, where there weren't demonesses attempting to digest them, Ishiar was finally able to get a good look at Gairanda. She was a beautiful girl, but she wore it in an almost tragic way; her smooth, firm cheeks hid eyes that had a look that was sad and almost haunted. Her lips were a deep blue, perfectly matching the tight braid of hair that hung down her back. She was solidly built and looked like quite a powerful warrior. Her armor was mostly shed now, replaced with soft, knee-length pants and a navy blue robe emblazoned with the Ironbelly sigil. The change in wardrobe did make her a lot easier to talk to. Her forboding, almost demonic-looking armor was now hung on a rack in one corner.

"I'm sorry about your city," Gairanda said, having heard the details of the giantess' attack on Laurenti.

"It wasn't really my city..." Ishiar answered. "Though I did...lose some friends."

"We've all lost friends, it seems, in this war." Gairanda answered bleakly.

"What war?" Ishiar asked, suddenly very curious.

Gairanda looked at her intently. "There's a sorceress by the name of Aerothi. She has found a way to...well, we're not sure what she's done. Somehow, she can control enormous numbers of monsters. A charm spell is one thing, but this girl can enslave entire legions and keep them under her control. Even the intelligent ones, and even giantesses."

Ishiar had to keep her jaw from dropping. "Giantesses? I've never heard of any mage powerful enough to charm one of those."

"It has been done," Gairanda answered, "but it usually takes an exceptional woman to do it. Even the most powerful can only do it for a limited time, and would not have the energy to bind other creatures as well; it would just be too much. But Aerothi has no less than six giantesses under her power, and an overwhelming number of lesser creatures, including...several dragons. Ever since she appeared, we've been fighting a losing battle against her."

Ishiar mused quietly. If the attacks had come this far north from Ironbelly lands, they must have been going on for some time, or must be savagely brutal. From the look in Gairanda's eyes, Ishiar was guessing it was both.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Blast giggling blowing bubbles into her bathwater. Seeing Ishiar looking at her, Blast simply smiled meekly as her hands continued to play with the water. Though the petite redhead seemed to be, for all intents and purposes, utterly insane, seeing her this way--naked and happy, despite what she'd been through in the last few hours--stirred something in Ishiar's heart. There was a beautiful innocence about the girl that words would only seem to cheapen.

Reluctantly, Ishiar turned back to Gairanda. "So what are you doing with, um..."

"The demons?" Gairanda finished for her. "Well, that's complicated." Gairanda held out the ironbelly emblem on her neck. "We Ironbellies see it as our duty to protect others from the predations of monsters. This is easier said than done. Our clan is not naturally magically inclined, so we have pacts with both angels and demonesses to teach us to focus magic. Most Ironbelly valkyries learn to specialize in either angelic or demonic magic. I just happen to have an aptitude for the latter."

"Do you think you can trust them?" Ishiar asked.

"It's not an issue of trust so much as understanding," Gairanda said. "We know we can't trust them, so we ensure our relationship doesn't require it. They're perfectly accomodating of this. The surprising thing I have learned, though, is that some demonesses are more honorable than you might think. Their culture is surprising in many ways, actually..." Gairanda caught herself. "I'm sorry about what they did to your friend. Queen Kikagon can be...impatient."

"Well, she doesn't seem to be any worse for the wear..." Ishiar said, looking at Blast again. Her skin already seemed to have healed from it's time in the succubus' belly. Her thoughts strayed back to the one who wasn't so fortunate, and she looked over to Sudvana, who had been sitting silently in a corner for the whole conversation. She had done little but stare at her own knees.

"Are you alright, Sudie?" Ishiar asked.

"Hmm?" Sudie said quietly as she looked up. "Oh, yeah, I guess so. I'm just sorry about Latella, that's all." She tried to fake a reassuring smile. It didn't really work.

Seeing this, Blast pulled herself out of the tub and, still dripping wet, walked over to Sudvana and wrapped her arms around her. This seemed to shock her enough that her facade broke and a tear fell abruptly from her eye. She did her best to bring her arms up and reciprocate the sudden hug, patting Blast awkwardly on the back. Blast put her hand around Sudvana's head and led it gently to her shoulder. At this point, Sudvana finally lost it and started crying wholeheartedly. Blast held her close, rocking her back and forth, never saying a word.

There was a long moment of silence before Gairanda turned her attention back to Ishiar. "Where is your village?" she asked.

"It's a few miles northwest-ish of Laurenti." Ishiar answered.

Gairanda nodded, looking down and saying nothing. She didn't have to--the look on her face told Ishiar everything she needed to know. Their home would have been overrun by now, by the same army of monsters that sacked Laurenti.

"So it seems we have nowhere to go." Ishiar announced dejectedly.

"I wouldn't say that." Gairanda replied. "In fact...quite the contrary. What you stumbled upon up there was hardly everything you'll find down here."

"What was that room, anyway?" Ishiar asked.

"The Chamber of Trial," Gairanda answered. "When demonesses capture their enemies, they'll normally enslave or eat them. What most people don't know is that if you ask a demoness to release you, they usually will...for a price. Kikagon's favored way of doing things is to put you in the chamber of trial with a few other starving prisoners, then come back a day later. If you haven't been eaten, she'll let you go. If all of the starving prisoners have the willpower to resist eating each other, they all go free. But most of the time, the one who wants to escape has to eat the others or be eaten themselves."

"I'm glad she didn't do that to us," Ishiar said simply.

"Well...it's hard to say what she would have done with you. Normally they won't do that to just any old girl, just enemies. She had presumed that you were invaders who worked for Aerothi--most of the world above is under her control now."

"Well, we're not--wait. What do you mean 'The world above?' "

Gairanda smiled. "Let's just say our planet is a rather unique one."

"How do you mean?"

Gairanda smiled. "Let me show you."

*****

Ishiar almost caught her breath as the four girls finished their trek through the halls of the subterrainian palace and exited into an enormous cavern. It was larger than any cave Ishiar had ever seen. Beneath it's obsidian cieling was a city--a full-sized collection of spire-like towers, jagged buildings and white-cobbled streets. Pale white and orange lights glowed from windows and lanterns hanging along the road, illuminating the dust of the cavern and giving it an almost mist-like quality. There were succubi, demonesses and girls clad in black walking through the streets, paying no heed to the appearance of the four girls.

"Welcome to Kikagonroth," Gairanda said.

"They built this whole city underground?" Ishiar asked.

"Yes. What we just came from was Kikagon's palace," Gairanda said, gesturing to the grand doorway behind them. It was carved into the smooth, black rock of the cavern and flanked by two enormous demoness statues, and two almost-as-enormous demoness guards.

"My goddesses," Sudvana said, looking in wonder at the grand cavern. "It must have taken one hell of an Earth mage to carve this out."

"Actually, it was already here." Gairanda answered.

"Seriously?" Ishiar said.

Gairanda nodded. "And this isn't the only one. A long time ago, there was an enormous space monster, larger than any that had ever been seen. It lived for so long and became so powerful that when it died, it's carcass was too strong to be self-destructed like most monsters do. Well, this monster, like most, was filled with holes and chambers and places to keep it's numerous organs. After so many years of life it's insides had become stronger than enchanted obsidian, and after it's vital liquids vanished it's petrified body remained, hanging in the void like a gigantic organic labyrinth. In time it collected dust and material from other worlds, giving it a rounded surface of earth and plant life just like any other world. At first nobody knew there was still a whole universe beneath it, already teeming with life."

"Slow down there, sister. Are you saying that this planet is a giant space monster?"

"No, but it was once, long ago. All that remains of the monster itself is the network of petrified caves that now run through the mantle of the planet. There is a whole world down here; this city is only one out of hundreds."

"Then why hadn't I heard--" Ishiar stopped. She suddenly thought back to a vague memory of someone she knew talking about some sort of cave city. She had assumed it was just a single city built in an underground cavern, but now that she thought about it, the idea of a giant series of caves running beneath the earth would explain a lot of the weirder things that same girl had said--like how there were supposedly tunnels leading between it and several other underground cities. "Oh wait, I guess I have heard of it."

"A lot of surface girls have never been down here anyway." Gairanda replied. "There's a few places that lead from here to the overworld, but most of the cities are so deep that nobody wants to travel all the way to the surface or vice-versa. You can't exactly fly between them. Only the really big undercities have portals to one another, and there's only one or two that lead to surface cities."

"So you live here?" Ishiar asked.

"I live here for the moment. Eronmar is my home city, but I haven't been there in weeks. It's actually on the surface, and has a portal to Kikagonroth for ironbelly demonwings to come through."

"Wait. Did you just say 'Demonwing?'"

"Yes. It's what we call ironbelly valkyries who train in demonic powers. I am a demonwing, and this is a demon city. I know that may frighten you, but they shouldn't bother you unless you give them a reason. Most of the overtly hostile demonesses don't live in cities--they just wander the wilderness looking for people and monsters to devour. If they know you're with me, they won't harm you. Come on, we need to show that pendant of yours to my commander."

Gairanda started walking down the white cobblestone path into the city. She was back in her jagged black armor and was now wearing a long, rune-encrusted blade on her back. Blast scampered after her, now wearing a brand new black silk dress presumably "borrowed" from one of Kikagon's succubi. It was sheer and form-fitting, embroidered with an elegant white bat-wing pattern. It looked rather comical underneath Blast's overstuffed potion belt. Ishiar and Sudvana quickly followed after, not wanting to get lost in a city full of succubi, "civilized" or not. A few of the frighteningly sensual creatures smiled at them as they passed by, some going so far as to wave and say hello to Gairanda as they walked.

They approached what appeared to be a garrisson of some sort, though it's design seemed rather odd. There were obvious stairways and other easy methods of entering the structure, none of which looked defensible. As Gairanda led them inside, the mystery deepened--all of the fortifications in the circular garrison seemed to point inward, not outward, as though it were designed to protect against an attack from within. It wasn't long before she realized this was literally the case--as they passed through the inner section, she saw the portal, surrounded on all sides by the walls of the armored garrison. It was clearly designed to stop invaders from pouring through the portal; staggered rows of spiked pits surrounded it, covered by planked wooden bridges that looked like they could be removed at fairly short notice. For the moment, though, there was brisk traffic in and out of the portal, and the gates that led into the garrison were wide open.

Sunlight poured from the portal, illuminating the area in the inner garrisson yard like it was day. It was an enormous archway, easily twenty feet tall and wide, looking like a window into another city. At first glance it appeared as though a similar fortification had been built on the other side; the portal's view of the city was obscured by a massive wall.

"Is this what you meant when you were talking about ensuring trust?" Ishiar asked.

Gairanda smiled. "Sort of. Officially it's to protect both cities, in case one of them gets overrun by a mutual enemy. It's also to make sure that one of us can't spontaneously betray the other. But Kikagonroth and Eronmar have been allies for many years; at this point the garrissons are seen as symbols of mutual respect more than anything."

You Ironbellies are weird, Ishiar thought.

The four girls crossed the spiked pits to the portal, passing by several other groups as they did so. Aside from a gentle wind, there was no particular sensation to passing through it--it was rather like stepping through a city gate. The smell of damp Earth and torches gave way to a more open scent of flowers and stone. The bright orange light of the primary sun, Idjana, poured onto them from above, filtering through the pinkish haze of the clouds.

Gairanda led them up a set of wooden ladders to the top of the wall. Girls in indigo-colored armor patrolled back and forth, looking as uninterested in the portal as the demons had been. Some carried spears, a few swords, and a lot of them had enormous, two-handed hammers slung across their backs. The curved, two-handed sword hanging off of Gairanda's shoulders seemed almost dainty by comparison.

Aside from a few glances and greetings to Gairanda, nobody paid the group much heed. They descended the other side of the wall and entered the city proper. The buildings were built of mighty slabs of grey stone, almost like boulders that had been coaxed together, buttressed by frames of iron and steel. Every building looked strong enough to withstand a siege, and half of the homes had arrow slits carved into them. Mighty banners, emblazoned with the Ironbelly sigil, flapped above the larger buildings.

Looking behind them, Ishiar noticed that Eronmar was built at the base of an enormous, steep cliff. The city appeared to be built in a circle around a massive, multi-levelled fortress built right into the cliff's wall. Another, outer wall was visible even from here, looking like it must have covered the entire city.

Gairanda led them towards the military quarter; the area immediately surrounding the central fortress. Stopping in front of a large, imposing-looking garrison, she turned to face the group.

"Wait here," she said before stepping into the towering structure, leaving them alone in the unknown city.

The Ironbelly guards on either side of the garrison entrance looked them over, their faces unreadable and their lips silent. Almost everyone in this part of the city seemed to be a soldier.

Several minutes passed. Eventually, Blast stepped away from the others and walked close to one of the guards. She peered curiously at the guard's face, her head cocking this way and that, her nose a mere inch from the other woman's cheek.

"May I help you?" the guard said bluntly.

Blast covered her mouth with her hand made a giggly noise, then scampered back to the group and hid herself behind Ishiar. She peeked over Ishiar's shoulder at the guard, who was still looking right at her. She laughed meekly and ducked her head behind Ishiar again.

The awkward moments that followed were finally broken as Gairanda stepped back out of the garrison.

"Well," she said, "we can put you up here from now on. You're free to go wherever you want, but the area you came from is...well, let's just say your worst nightmares would no longer be an exaggeration. You should stay here, at least if you want to live. We have plenty of extra rooms; most of our soldiers are off fighting Aerothi's forces. Now I know you three aren't soldiers, but we are going to need some help, so if you want to make yourself useful there's things we can have you do around town."

The three girls glanced back and forth. Well, Sudvana and Ishiar glanced at each other. Blast just pointed at a bird and grinned like it was giving her head.

Home seemed so far away now, though it had only been a few hours. But it had been a hell of a lot longer since Ishiar had slept.

"Gairanda, point me towards a place to crash and I'll do whatever you say forever."

Gairanda almost smiled.

*****

Ishiar was snoring gently, her azure hair splayed out across a bed covered in pillows and furs. While she normally didn't like the vulnerability of sleeping naked, her armor was the only clothing she had with her and she had long since grown sick of wearing it. Instead, two or three furs were pulled over her, along with the warm, heavy pall of slumber. She had been sleeping for a long time--she didn't even know how long--letting the events of the last few days slowly drain out of her.

She awoke momentarily, startled by something. Too hazed with sleep to investigate in any serious way, she merely let her eyes trace a slow, bleary line across the room. Nothing seemed to be happening. She let herself slip back into sleep.

A minute later she awoke again. Something tugged at her mind, but she wasn't sure what it was. Moving her heavy head slightly to the left and right, she again confirmed that the room was empty but for the torches that burned on the walls. She listened for a moment; nothing. She closed her eyes and let her head go limp again.

She was halfway back to sleep when something woke her up again. This time, she was almost sure something had touched her. Her flower felt strange--was that where she'd been touched? That tug was still in her mind, like she almost remembered the feeling of someone...kissing her there? She sat up and looked around. Nothing.

Suspiciously, she laid back down and closed her eyes, but this time she remained awake, waiting for whatever it was to happen again. Several minutes passed before it happened, but happen it did. This time Ishiar squealed and kicked--it felt like something warm and wet had momentarily wormed it's way into her. Bolting upright, she pulled up the sheet of furs that covered her and looked.

Hiding under the sheets was a diminuative little face, wide-eyed, her lower lip curled beneath her teeth, hiding her chin behind her fists like a frightened squirrel. She smiled nervously and waved.

Ishiar scrunched her eyebrows, not sure how to react. She considered getting mad, but the whole thing just seemed too surreal.

"Blast?" she said.

Blast nodded gingerly.

"What are you doing?" Ishiar continued, rather rhetorically.

Blast's eyes darted sideways for a moment, her cheeks blushing furiously. Reaching behind her, she pulled something out and offered it to Ishiar.

It was a flower. It was half-smashed, but somehow it still seemed pretty.

Ishiar just stared at it. Blast looked at her pleadingly, holding out the flower like it was the most important thing in the world.

Awkwardly, Ishiar reached out and took it.

"Umm, thanks?"

Blast looked at her searchingly for a moment, then suddenly scampered forward. Before she knew it, Blast was sitting upright on top of Ishiar's legs, her lap just barely touching Ishiar's navel. It threw her off balance enough that she had to thrust both her hands behind her just to stay upright. Blast still had that searching look in her eyes, a lopsided smile creeping across her face.

"Blast..." Ishiar said as quietly as she could, "do you..."

Blast reached around and took hold of Ishiar's right hand, cradling her back with her other arm. Gently tugging her hand off the floor, she carefully began lowering Ishiar onto the bed, her skinny body falling slowly with her as she rolled Ishiar onto the sheets. Rising up again, Blast held Ishiar's arm tightly against her chest. Ishiar could feel the warmth of the girl's skin through her dress, rising and falling with her breathing. Blast closed her eyes and affectionately ran her face along Ishiar's hand. It lingered there for a long moment before her eyes opened again, locking with Ishiar's, still holding that questioning, almost pleading look.

It dawned on Ishiar that she wasn't just trying to tell her something--she was asking her.

She was momentarily taken with the sudden realization that she was still buck naked. Blast, on the other hand, was still wearing the black dress she'd "borrowed" from the succubus. But somehow, even with Ishiar being buck naked and defenseless, Blast was the vulnerable one.

Ishiar decided to give her answer. Blast did save her life, after all. She took Blast's left hand by the wrist and lowered it to her mouth, giving it a kiss, a smile, and a nod.

The smile that Blast gave in return seemed to light up the whole world. It was bigger than all the insane little giggles the girl had ever given, her teeth shining underneath the bowed, joyful lips like perfect white pearls. She swooped down and delivered a merciless barrage of gratitude kisses all over Ishiar's chest and neck. Despite their quickness, each kiss seemed to linger on Ishiar's skin as a subtle tingle.

"Ack!" Ishiar giggled at the sudden bombardment. Her whole neck began to tickle as she wriggled under the onslaught.

Suddenly sweeping the furs and pillows off the bed, Blast positioned herself on top of Ishiar and pulled her dress over her head in one quick motion. Underneath were a pair of white silk panties and a bra. Ishiar was a bit nervous by this point, but figured she'd just go with whatever happened.

Of course, her hastily-constructed definition of "whatever happened" did not include what actually did happen. Blast took her fingers into her mouth--which was fine and all, it was warm and wet and felt kind of neat--but then something happened. It felt like an invisible force yanked her hand forward, and then her whole arm, and then her whole upper body, and then her entire body. In only a few seconds she had been yanked forward and propelled past Blast's lips, into her mouth and down her throat. There was a split second of sensation as the esophagus shot past her skin and the spongey wall of the stomach hit her like a wall. And as she bounced back from this wall, there was another on the other side just waiting to pin her down. Before she knew it, she was engulfed in flesh, her limps awkwardly splayed about, held in place by the thick stomach mass.

"B...Blast...BLAST!" She screamed. Suddenly squirming around in a panic, she felt terrified and hurt--almost betrayed. She screamed and tried to kick or elbow her way out, her heart pounding in her chest. Blast, suddenly just as agitated, wrapped her arms around her belly and made urgent "SSSHHH!" noises.

"SHH! SHH!"

"BLAST!"

"SSSHH! SHH! Ssshhhhh..."

In between her gasping, panicked breaths, Ishiar realized that Blast wasn't afraid of the guards coming--she was trying to calm her down. She was rocking back and forth, cradling Ishiar and saying "sshhhhh..." And, strangely, Ishiar realized she felt no pain--in fact, it didn't seem anything like the last stomach she had been in. While the Kari's stomach had been filled with foul, chunky sludge, splintered bone, and blinding acid, this one just seemed...wet. It was warm, and it was tight, certainly, but it wasn't painful, and it didn't seem to be trying to crush or dissolve her in any serious way. In fact, it seemed almost cozy, a fact being reinforced by Blast's slow rocking.

Ishiar waited for the noise of her own panicked breaths to die down in her ears. "Blast?" she said quietly, the stomach walls creating a strange, reverberating echo around her head.

There was a blop sound and a little something landed lightly on the top of Ishiar's head. Sliding her arm around, she felt upwards and pulled it down to see what it was.

It was the flower Blast had given her.

She began to hear another sound, this time from the outside. It was strange, unlike anything she'd ever heard before, haunting and pulling, almost like she heard it more with her soul than with her ears.

She realized it was Blast, singing to her.

The song seemed to make her melt inside. Blast's voice seemed to reach into her, past her skin, and touch the parts deep inside. It felt like her heart was singing along with her; giving itself to that incredible, delicate voice. She couldn't make out the words--she wasn't even sure what language it was--but she didn't care. The whole stomach seemed to resonate with the sound, creating a chorus like a thousand tiny angels. It felt like she was being taken up and heaven was pouring itself into her skin; into each breath she took, even though it was just a sound.

Blast rocked her back and forth as the melody washed the whole world out of her mind.

She had to admit--despite the rumors of acid and slow, painful digestive processes--that being in Blast's stomach was pretty damned awesome. Was this why she had swallowed her? Was she going to let her out?

Did she even want her to?

Ishiar slowly traced her hand along the soft, wet wall around her. If she had to go, this would be the best possible way, and something about Blast just seemed...right. Readjusting herself, listening to the beautiful sounds and feeling the perfect warmth around her, she smiled. Screw how things were supposed to work. She could make her own decisions.

"Blast?" She said, not even knowing if she could hear her now. "I just want you to know...you can have me."

Blast laughed, a sound somehow even more angelic than her singing.

You're so silly, Blast thought.

********

"Rise and shine, buttercup. It's time to go to work."

Ishiar opened one groggy eye. Light was blasting in through the doorway Gairanda was standing in. Things were still hazy, but...it was morning...wait...hadn't she just been digested or something?

She remembered Blast swallowing her, the singing, the warmth of her belly...she remembered letting herself drift back to sleep...she even vaguely remembered being pushed into Blast's intestines, and she distinctly remembered not having cared about it.

Had it all been a dream?

"Oh, and bring her." Gairanda said with a grin, motioning behind her.

Turning around groggily, Ishiar saw the back of Blast's head, still lying on the pillow.

She gently poked her shoulder a few times. Somehow, touching the little girl's warm, honey-toned skin sent little jolts up her spine.

Blast slowly roused and turned to face Ishiar. She was smiling, with a half-digested flower in between her teeth.

"You're not going to tell me what happened last night, are you?" Ishiar said.

Blast closed her lips and smiled broadly, blushing a bright red as she looked back innocently.

"That's what I figured," Ishiar said.