//------------------------------//
// 04: Home Invasion 
// Story: Demon of the Deep Wood 
// by Argonaut44 
//------------------------------//

The cave entrance ahead was all the evidence she needed. This was Gorgo’s lair.
Val crouched beside the others behind some thick foliage. The late afternoon sun beamed down through the silk sheets that stretched along the forest canopy, casting strange grey shadows down on them. 
He’ll strike any moment. Val considered telling the others all she knew about this beast, this demon, the monster called Gorgo, but she decided against it. Cat had not run away yet, but if she was to know about Gorgo, she’d sprint off without a second thought. 
“We have to get inside,” Val said, “I know this creature, the one that dwells here. He’s smart, he’s big, and he’s dangerous. Our best bet at getting out of this is sneaking in and retrieving the others without giving ourselves away. He’s probably already eaten by now, so we can only hope he’s sleeping right now.”
Cat was unconvinced.
“I wasn’t paid for anything like this,” Cat said, “You said I’d be watching for pony-made traps along the road. We barely made it past those creatures from before, if the thing in there is more dangerous, then we don’t stand a chance. I say we cut our losses and spend the evening outside of something’s belly.”
Before Cat could blink, the tip of Val’s sword was resting against her throat. With the slightest pressure, the sword would pierce her jugular.
“You’re not worming your way out of this, thief,” Val said.
Val retrieved her sheath and dropped it to the ground.
“We’re not turning back without the others,” Val said, “Shara and Amalza won’t be long, they’ll have turned around by now to see what went wrong. In any case, we can’t wait for them. He might feed again soon.”
Val meant to continue, until she picked up on the sound of squishing and sloshing from nearby. 
“Ready yourselves. We have some slimy friends to deal with,” Val said.
The source of sounds revealed itself, when two giant worms came slithering out from the brush. Each was about as wide as Val’s arm, and twice as long as she was tall. They were the color of common earthworms, but each had a drooling funnel maw that opened and closed as they slithered towards the mares.
“Worms!” Val growled, “Don’t let them grab you!”
One of the worms reared up with half of its body, and prepared to launch itself towards them, while the other continued slithering along the forest floor towards Cassandra.
Cassandra had never encountered such a beast, but luckily her weapon had a universal effect. Her spiked morning star came down just as the worm entered striking distance, smashing its head into bloody paste. Its body writhed in agony as she buried the mace deeper into its flesh. The other had managed to grab Val by her left hind knee, but before it could gain any ground, she decapitated it, leaving its body gushing out blood, flopping around on the ground. The severed head continued sucking on her leg until she could violently pry it off with her blade.
“What vile creatures,” Cassandra remarked, yanking her mace from the worm’s head, before smashing it again just to be sure. 
“I can’t tell you how many ponies we’ve lost to these vermin,” Val sighed.
Val stood over her fallen foe, examining it. Giant worms were a common nuisance. Unlike most beasts, culling did little to significantly thin their numbers, and larger areas of the forests and swamps were completely infested with them. Thankfully, they also happened to devour each other, as otherwise every pony in Equestria would have been digested already. They varied in size, from just large enough to ingest insects and mice, to huge beasts that could swallow an ox whole. There were even some disturbing rumors of fishing boats and carriages disappearing, and large vomit piles riddled with wood and bones left behind.
Despite how simple their physiognomy was, giant worms had a certain level of low cunning, capable of ambushing prey, or even sneaking into bedrooms to devour ponies in their sleep. They even knew to play dead, waiting to snatch up carrion birds or passerbys. 
“It’s time,” Val said, “Let’s move.”
The trio crept up to the entrance of the cave, stepping over piles of bones and avoiding sticky strands of silk.
“Thief,” Val said, glancing towards the ground.
Cat had seen it too - spider silk tripwires. Cat knelt beside them to disable each of them, as well as some of the alarm strings that had been cast near the entrance, to protect their escape.
Cat then took to slicing a hole through the wall of silk that blocked the entrance, large enough for them to crawl through.
Val shoved her out of the way, and dove into the hole, struggling through the sheets. Cassandra reddened and turned away from Val’s posterior bouncing back and forth as Val crawled her way inside. 
Cat was next, her purple tunic and skirt collecting strands of silk as she made her way through. Finally, Cassandra entered, and the three mares paused in the entryway. 
Val took in her surroundings, her sword raised. There was silk everywhere - hanging in lines, sheets, and webs. She could hear two distinct noises - the deep register of a loud snore, and the occasional groans of gagged mares. 
“This way,” Val whispered, as she crept towards the whimpering victims in the dark. Cassandra was about to shine her light, but Val quickly shot her a glare. 
“No,” she whispered. They couldn’t risk it; they would have to rely on the light that refracted across the cave from holes in the ceiling. 
Cat was terrified. There’d have to be one hell of a bounty at the end of all this.
The sounds of the mares rustling and groaning grew louder the deeper the trio pushed into the cave. Val opened a silk door into a side room, what must have served as a pantry, where she found the four cocooned mares squirming helplessly in a silk net, dangling next to each other. There were only four of them, when there was supposed to be five, and so Cat knew that Val was correct. Somepony had been eaten already. What if it’s still hungry?
“Thief, cut them down,” Val whispered.
“As you wish, your highness,” Cat replied, sarcastically, before kneeling down beside the closest girl. Cassandra grabbed her gently by the shoulder.
 “....We should carry them out as they are. It will take too long to free them here. Plus they might scream if we do. Who knows what they’ve seen,” Cassandra said.
Val eyed her.
“Hm. For once, I agree with you,” Val said.
Cat stood beside one of the girls and said “Don’t worry, we’re here to get you out.”
The girl replied with an excited “Mmmph! Mph!” Her lips stretched out the silk, and Cat imagined it as a ‘thank you.’
“We need you to stay still and quiet, OK? We have to carry you out of here,” Cat said, gently.
Cat’s dagger was as sharp as could be, but it wouldn’t do much to slice through this thick material. After a considerable effort, three of the girls had been cut down from the net. 
“This is enough,” Val said, “We’ll carry them out and come back for the fourth.”
The remaining girl protested and struggled on the web. 





Are these bitches serious??
Raquelle thrashed in her silky prison. They were going to leave her alone here. The fury she felt for these three was greater than anything she had felt for anypony prior. She heard Val’s voice trying to comfort her, so she tried to kick at her in response, though she was still anchored to the web. 





Cassandra looked on fondly. Her group has almost escaped. Surely Celestia was with them. She glanced over in amusement at Val picking at the strand of silks that had gotten stuck to her body, quietly cursing. But the priestess’ joy came to a swift end when the attack came from behind. Her vision of the room disappeared behind a wall of red flesh, and then darkness took her completely.





Val’s eyes widened as Cassandra cried out. She turned to see the priestess standing in the doorway of the pantry, a giant worm’s mouth wrapped around her head. Its drooling maw stretched over the top of Cassandra’s head, covering her eyes. Val broke into a sprint to help free Cassandra, but was met by another worm. She quickly slashed to the side, decapitating it. 
More were coming. One, two, three, too many. They slid past her behind the webbing walls, out of sight. 
Val couldn’t help Cassandra, not yet. She turned her attention to Cat, who was fending off a worm by the cocooned mares. 
“Cat, we have to protect them,” Val said, raising her sword, “Don’t let them near mmmmmmph mmmmmph!”
The captain’s orders were cut short when another worm engulfed her head and shoulders in one swift, sloppy motion. The worm’s body stretched around her like some sort of horrible slimy fleshy garment.
Nearby, Cassandra wrestled with her worm, dropping her mace as the worm’s maw slipped down over her head and neck. A thick, sticky drool began to coat both girls as the hungry beasts worked on consuming them, collecting in their chests and running down their shapely bodies. 
Cat had managed to haul one of the cocooned girls back up onto the web, before a worm slid over the Cat’s left hind leg. 
“No no no! Fuck! Get off!” Cat yelled, stabbing another as it made its way towards another of the helpless mares. But her dagger wouldn’t wrench free, despite her struggling. All around her were horrible sucking and slurping noises, as her two companions were busy being eaten alive. Val fought with her assailant as much as she could, but the worm had already slid over her chest and thrashed against her until she dropped her sword. Cassandra stood nearby, flailing her legs in panic as the worm stretched over her shoulders.    
Cat kicked at the horrible worm with her right hind hoof, causing the worm to slide back down her ankle. 
She glanced up in horror as more worms began to spill out from the walls, descending upon the helpless cocooned mares. The beasts quickly began gobbling up their defenseless prey, snagging one by the head, and another by the hind hooves. Without free limbs, they were easy targets. 
Val was pulled to the ground with incredible force, and with another gulp she had been swallowed down to her stomach. Val grasps her hooves futily before being lifted into the air upside down. 
Cat saw Cassandra dragged roughly to the ground as the worm engulfed her chest. The muffled screams and slurping of the worms made Cat want to scream or faint or cry, or all at once.  
Cat continued kicking at the worm as it slid up her leg. Her boot mostly protected her from the slime, but she could feel the disgusting warmth of its innards. With a hard yank, it dragged her to the ground.
Cat fell hard on her ass, but kept fighting with all her strength. She kicked at the beast as hard as she could with her free leg, her shapely thigh powering vicious strikes at the creature. Her heel landed on the slurping monster with a squish. But after three powerful strikes, her right hind leg slid right into the pulsing funnel maw as it opened wider. The warm sticky maw began working its way up her thighs, and she felt the horrible drool all over her bare hind legs. She felt the pressure compress her legs together and let out a scream of terror. She tried to bludgeon the beast with her foreleg hooves. Her strikes sounded like a butcher pounding meat, but only caused the worm to drool more and more, coughing up dribbles of green phlegm onto her body.
The poor cocooned mares had fared the worst, with no ability to resist. 
Cat gave one more spirited punch to the worm’s mouth before feeling the hot breath behind her. Before she could assess her situation, another worm had grabbed ahold of her by the head. She caught a glimpse of its pink innards before her vision turned to pitch black. She grasped at its slimy flesh, yelling out before its undulating maw stretched down further over her head, silencing her screams. Cat had never screamed so loudly. Every one of her senses was being assaulted. Thick drool coated her entire body, and made its way into her nose and mouth. All she could hear was a deafening wet squishing noise, and she felt the enormous tightness as the worm’s body compressed her.
She struggled without success as both worms continued to consume her. They began tugging on their ends, fighting for the right to their meal. She cried out in pain as she felt her body being stretched. Just before she could be ripped in half, however, the pressure released and she was violently thrown back into the light. She was pulled from the maw with a loud pop, like a wine cork breaking free. 
Gorgo’s larder had turned into a bountiful feast for the worms. The room was filled with the sounds of the worms sucking and slurping and sloshing about, as they all finished off their meals. 
Cat continued screaming as she fought her attacker, which had now stretched up over her chest. Cat grasped for anything she could, and ended up grabbing onto a strand of webbing. She screamed and screamed until she was red in the face, and fought with all the strength that remained to her. 
The worm mercilessly sucked her shoulders in, and dragged her free from the webbing. Cat continued screaming as she watched the worm’s flesh slide up over her grasping forelegs. She was being dragged down a dark wet tunnel to her doom, and as the worm worked its way past her hooves, the world turned dark again.