By the time the rain started coming down, my stomach was back to its usual shape. The last of the goblins had been packed away into their new permanent homes within the confines of my guts, and I released a very satisfied belch sealing their status as nothing but fox food just in time for some trickling raindrops to be blasted away by the eruption. My self indulgent belly rubbing was interrupted by the brewing downpour, the sky darkening with gathering storm clouds that threatened to muddy the hiking trail marking the way back towards town. My fur puffed indignantly at the promise of soggy wetness, and with a disgruntled huff I quickened my pace away from the goblin encampment to find some shelter to wait out the weather.

My footfalls were soon making small splashes in developing puddles as I hurried through the woodland trail, peeking from side to side looking for a promising alcove to huddle under. And by luck my sight landed upon a cave, a welcoming opening carved into the mountain crag! As I rushed towards it I couldn't help but observe that the cave looked anything but natural, the hole in the rock was too smooth and uniform, someone or thing certainly created it rather than being a natural formation. I didn't slow my steps at all though, rather I simply readied myself for a likely confrontation with whatever resided in the cave - surely they wouldn't mind sharing their shelter for the storm, and in return I would provide them with much more comfortable long term lodgings!

Just before I made it into the cave the downpour had truly started in force, so I lead a drip trail across the natural stone floor while I stomped inside. Pausing at the entrance to shake off the water, the movement making my well fed potbelly wobble around likely making for quite a jumble to my countless residents tucked away inside and working up some fumes to slip out in a small burp. Peeking back over my shoulder looking out from the cave, the entire outdoors was blanketed in a sheet of water raining down from the sky that I could barely see the nearest tree. A second too late and I'd have been soaked! Letting out a sigh of relief I trudged brazenly into the depths of the cave, content to hunker down until things cleared up but also all the more confident that whatever had created this cave was waiting for me to introduce myself as well!

My deduction was confirmed when I rounded a corner of the cave and found torches alight nailed up on the stone walls, leading deeper into the mountain through wide uniform hallways. A wide grin grew across my lips as I followed the trail, and started sniffing out a distinct draconic aroma. A dragon had carved this cave out for themselves, without a doubt! My stomach began to grumble with anticipation at the promise of a massive hoard of a meal, and I braced myself to stumble into a vast treasure hall to find my new spicy lizard feast waiting for me upon a pile of gold as if he was plated in wait just for me!

And soon enough I found my way to a massive open cavern carved out of the mountain stone, the perfect size for a dragon and his trove to make their home! Only there was no dragon or treasure. I glanced around in curious disappointment, finding torch and candle lit sconces and even a brilliant chandelier hanging from the ceiling providing a light source. But the hall was barren, not even a single golden coin to find on the ground, and yet there were loose scales left behind from shedding and claw marks in the rock indicating where there once had been a mighty wyvern, but as I stepped out into the open space there was nothing else to be seen. At least until a sudden sound rang out from the corner, and with a startle I turned about.

And found myself looking over a huddled group of fat bottomed kobolds! The diminutive collective of scaled critters stared up at me while nestled into a secluded corner of the cavern, naked and unarmed and looking quite destitute. They regarded me without emotion, no caution or fear nor surprise or interest. I counted out an even thirty of the monotone critters, and their expressions remained blank even as I gave them a warm smile and strode towards them. Their corner of residence was sparsely furnished, looking as if there had once been a fair amount of clutter to the living space allocated to the draconic servants but now it was stripped bare. It was apparent that the kobold clutch had definitely seen better days.

"Hey there, lil' buddies!" I greeted, kneeling over to be closer to their eye level. The group shuffled a bit in my presence but remained listless, ironically rather like a stereotypical flock of livestock. "You guys all alone in here? Is your master out and about?" I asked, curious about the desolate state of the cave but for all I knew their dragon was just relocating his hoard to a new home and would be back sooner or later.

It took a few moments of the kobolds blankly staring at me before one of them scooted out in front of the rest and answered me. The representative kobold being on the larger size relative to the rest, and his voice was hoarse and scratchy as if it had been a good long while since the last time he had spoken. "Master gone. Been gone. Long time gone. Not come back." He answered, roughing it through a monosyllabic response. I'd have to do a fair bit of filling in the blanks to get anything out of this conversation for sure.

"Do you know how long ago that was?" I asked, but the entire group of kobolds just shook their heads to answer no. At least that meant they could all understand me! "Did he say he was coming back...?"

The speaker for the kobolds flinched and looked down at his feet, folding his hands behind his back, looking as if he was being scolded. He seemed to feel ashamed of admitting what he was about to tell me. "Master would always come back... but never came back. Not come back even when greenies came in and stole all his shinies. Stole our pointies. Stole our spits and kindle. We waited for master to come back, but master never came back even after mean greenies took everything."

I nodded and rubbed at my stomach, putting the pieces together. And feeling a slight rumbling from my stomach as the goblins in my guts felt sheepish about their antics being recounted. So their dragon master had gone away and never returned, and in the absence of a big fire breathing beast to guard the hoard those troublesome goblins had muscled in and stole everything in the cave that wasn't nailed down.  They had caused even more problems than the quest giver had realized! I stifled a chuckle and groped at my chub, tut tutting my devoured prey for their past crimes.

If the dragon had left his hoard behind for long enough that it was all looted without retribution, that likely meant the beast was never coming back. Odds were good that it had run into a ravenous black hole of a predator like me, and was currently curled up in a cramped little stomach until the end of time. And now the kobold servants that used to tend to that dragon were left all alone! Such was a constant source of anxiety for me when it came to the prey I devoured, to be honest - I always fretted about separating families and friend groups. If ever I could help it I always wanted to make sure that I would eat everyone who had ever known my prey, ensure nobody would ever be missed! The sorry sight I saw before me, of a helpless little group of kobold servants lost and alone in the world, was exactly what I worried about. Seeing them all like this, instead of being cuddled up in a nice churning stomach alongside their dragon master, broke my heart!

"Aww, poor little guys. Nothing in the world sadder than kobolds without a dragon to worship." I said sympathetically, the group of scalies whimpering in agreement and shifting where they stood. It was clear that without their dragon around they had no idea what to do with themselves, and had spent however long just sitting here in this cave on standby waiting for orders that would never come.  I gave them a warm smile and walked over towards the representative kobold, and reached out to lift him up by his hips. He gazed up at me with wide eyes as I manhandled him, but didn't even stir in my grasp as I raised him up to my eye level. "Well, I'm no dragon. But I can definitely be all of yous master. And you can all worship and serve my needs and in return I promise to keep each and every one of you safe and warm and loved for the rest of eternity. How does that sound~?"

The kobolds eyes widened more and more with every word I spoke, until by the time I punctuated the final question he was positively beaming with twinkles in his watering eyes. The other kobolds reacted much the same, scrambling closer towards me with cooing interest. Despite the cave, these little lizards had been without a home ever since their dragon had left them. And no here was big hungry me coming along to provide them with their proper place in the world! The kobold in my hands stuttered and tripped over his words, unable to put the words together to accept what I was offering them. But food didn't need to talk anyway! With a bemused chuckle I simply opened my mouth wide and began lifting him into the drooling abyss of fox maw, letting a crass dry belch gust out directly into his face for half a minute.

The excited kobold squealed into the yawning wet entrance of my digestive system, his legs kicking excitedly into the air as he couldn't contain his excitement. Without another word I chomped my jaws over his upper body, wrapping my lips around his torso and engulfing him face deep into the undulating sinkhole of my gullet. I huffed through my nose and purred while my tongue lathered over the smooth scales of his body, drinking down the meaty and spicy flavor of the draconic morsel.  His body squirmed beyond the confines of my lips while drool drenched down his body and dripped from the tips of his tail and toes while they flicked and kicked in the air, and he rubbed himself against the slurping and chewing grind of my tongue and teeth helping to spread his taste throughout my maw. 

A deep purr vibrated into his body as I enjoyed my meal thoroughly before tilting my head back, and shoved down on his plump scaley rump to feed him down my throat. My neck swelling with the mass of meat sliding into the ravenous embrace for the watching group to see as their comrade disappeared behind my drooling lips. A muffled chirp of excitement from beneath the layers of flesh and fur while I slurped him down and away, feeling the wet warmth of my insides spreading down more and more of his frame as he was stolen away from the outside world forever. My jaw stretched around his hips as they filled into my maw, and I paused to chew at the juicy mass of plump prey meat squeezing out every last bit of caked up flavor he had to provide while the stimulation caused the lump in my throat to wiggle helplessly. A final suckling slurp echoed through the cave as I sent him spilling down my throat, practically drinking him away with the ease that he flowed down into my waiting stomach in the blink of an eye!

The outline of his body dropped into my gut which barely bulged from his presence curling up inside, only slight lumps from his movements within visible through the layers of padding. He shifted and squirmed around looking for a comfortable position within the confines of my stomach, but soon he settled and my belly was still enough that his presence inside couldn't even be made out. The oozing ridged surroundings of my gut were much more hospitable than the damp dragonless cave, and the warmth of my presence radiated all around him constantly. The savory and spicy little kobold let out a quiet sigh and nestled happily into his new home, not making a sound and staying as still as his excitement could allow, wanting to be a good little meal for me and food didn't move or speak. Food just filled up my belly and digested, and that's all the little kobold intended to do from now on.

I groaned and pat a hand over my belly settling the newest meal settle in, and a rush of gastric fumes raced out to release in a short wet burp. The release caused the remaining twenty nine kobolds to quiver in front of me, and they trembled with excitement for their own turn to take the one way plunge into my body while gazing up with wide grateful eyes. I smiled at them and gave a tease by gripping my fingers into my stomach and jostling the chub in front of them causing them to squeak with excitement, and with no coordination to speak of they mobbed up and encircled me. Dull claw tipped hands pawing at my flank and rubbing at my belly, and the kobolds in front of me raised up their hands and bounced on their tippie toes while making strained little grunts. Demanding uppies, wordlessly pleading to be plucked up and swallowed away on the spot! I was only too happy to oblige, humming affectionately as I grabbed one of the kobolds at random and lifted them up.

Without any ceremony or delay, I popped the next kobold into my mouth. Chomping my jaws around them and lathering my tongue over every inch of their body while they moaned into my throat and spasmed with uncontained excitement. I pushed them in until their wide hips and plump rear mounds filled my mouth, I chewed at their flank juicing it for as much extra flavor as I could until the gushing spicy taste dripped down my chin, then tilted my head back and slurped them away as easily as a scaley string of spaghetti. They flowed down with ease and spilled into my stomach, plopping ontop of the kobold already inside. The pair giggling as the new arrival squirmed about until they curled up comfortably in the confines of my belly, cuddling against their kin and lounging into the curve of my churning stomach like the good food they were.

Without missing a beat, as soon as my throat was clear I reached my hands out to snatch up the next kobold from the amassed group and lifted them to my jaws. Opening my mouth wide in front of them while their wide eager face gazed inside, then a deep gastric rumble emanated from the back of my throat and I released a harsh blast of belch fumes right into their face. Before they even had a chance to swoon from the preview of what the rest of their lives were going to be, I snarfed my jaws around them and began to gulp them away. Same as the previous two, I molested every inch of their body with my tongue chewed on their fat rump and then gulped them down packing them into my gut to squirm into place. The yet to be devoured kobolds chirped with glee as my stomach began to stretch out from the presence of prey filling it up from inside. The outlines of their bodies cuddled together visible through the barrier of flesh containing them, keeping them claimed away from the big wide outside world from now on.

The process repeated two dozen more times and then some. I reached blindly into the mass of kobolds around me and lifted up the first one I grabbed. I lifted them to my jaws and let the displaced gasses from my previous meal erupt out in a hard belch right into their face. I stuffed them down my throat and chewed on their fat little butt to savor their flavor. I gulped them down and packed them away into my stomach to join their kin where they quickly got comfortable in their new home. Over and over and over again, guzzling them down one by one, making sure none of the tasty little lizards were left behind. My stomach bulging out with kobold after kobold stretching it out from inside. Though after the first fifteen the bulge in my gut evened out and with each new prey swallowed the outline they made under the layers of chub simply became more distinct and taunt. But I had more than enough room for every last one of them, they would all stay together in one big group within the churn of my belly.

The entire hoard of kobolds were cramped and cuddled together within my stomach. The digestive muscle flesh shifting and grinding against them all from all angles, oozing viscous juices that soaked into their scales and puddled in the basin of the gut. They hugged into one another or spread themselves against the walls of my stomach as best they could, not an inch of elbow room for them to move against one another or push back against the hungry undulations surrounding them. But not a single one of them felt the urge to do more than tremble with glee, after all they were all food now. My food. And food didn't need to move or talk or think or dream. All food needed to do was digest, and the kobolds were happy to surrender to my stomach and let it digest them from now on.

My eyes were rolled into the back of my head as I teetered back on the balls of my feet while I tilted my head back to slurp down the final kobolds. Sending them down as a lump along my throat to join the party in my gut, slurping up their tail and then gulping hard to pack them away. Leaving nothing behind to prove that a cluster of kobolds ever even existed whatsoever! All they would ever be from now on was a mass of meat in my stomach. I panted hard as my throat was finally clear, and I rubbed my hands over the corpulent protruding stomach that overhung in front of me. Feeling the curves of over two dozen kobolds curled up inside, comfortably digesting without a care or desire in the world. I was their everything from now on, their master whom they would serve simply by virtue of existing and worshiping my endless hunger for their bodies for the rest of their days. The spicy mass of fulfilling lizard meat causing my stomach to rumble and gurgle as it went about ravenously digesting them, sending up a rushing wave of fumes to escape in a heavy loud belch that rang through the entire cave.

"HWWUUOOOOOORRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPP!"

I panted hard catching my breath as excess drool dripped down my chin and my eyes were fogged over in a daze of predgasmic delight from having oh so much food filling my belly. I stumbled a bit and lumbered towards the wall of the cavern and leaned against it, sinking down to the floor and sitting with my stomach in my lap. Rubbing my hands over my paunch feeling at the meal within, groaning softly. Thirty whole curry flavored reptiles in a row was a bit much, but oh so worth it! And they would be easy to digest thanks to how compliant and obedient they were, letting my stomach have its way with them, getting them packed away into the inescapable depths of my body. Over the next couple of hours they would be churned up inside while my stomach shrank down to its usual size, and they would be settled nice and cozy into the embrace of my warm hungry body never to be seen again. Serving their purpose of existing by being my dinner while I waited out the storm. By the time they would be done digesting and were tucked away happily into their personal belly, the rain would surely be passed and I could safely head out of the cave and make my way back towards civilization and turn in my successful quest.

I smacked my lips and smiled, patting my well fed gut as it grumbled contently. I had completed my quest, and had enjoyed a wonderful breakfast lunch and dinner to boot! A ravenous little fox like me couldn't ask for a day better than today had been. And to think, there were even more scrumptious little cuties out there just waiting for me to swallow them all up tomorrow! I let out a humming sigh as I groped over my gut and coaxed out a muffled squeak from the digesting kobolds and goblins and harengon beneath my pelt, and licked my lips as I already was starting to get hungry with anticipation for my next meal...