Myla stared at the shimmer of the magical shield, and at the pulsing, fleshy walls just beyond it. This wasn't how this was supposed to go.

The shield was supposed to protect her. It was supposed to be completely invulnerable. If a predator came along, she could just put up the shield, then wait for the predator to get bored and leave. It was foolproof.

So when the fox had come after her, Myla had been confident, even haughty. She had bragged that nothing the fox could do would be able to penetrate the shield. Her sword would just bounce off, probably getting damaged in the process. Myla was completely safe, or at least, she should have been.

She had not anticipated that the fox would put down her sword, pick up the shield itself, and swallow the whole damn thing.

Now she could only watch the stomach walls surrounding her. The faint glow of the shield highlighted every crease and curve. She could almost feel the sizzle of the stomach acids trying to get through the protective aura. The pressure had compressed the shield, leaving her without enough room to fully stretch out her legs.

And it was slowly dawning on Myla that she had no way out of this.

Yes, the shield was protecting her right now. It was, after all, impenetrable. She had designed the spell to wait out a danger like this -- the magic guaranteed she would have enough air, and it could last for over a day, if necessary. But it couldn't last forever. She hadn't anticipated that a predator might carry her around -- Myla would be the one waited out, not vice versa. The fox wouldn't even have to do anything, she could just go on with her day. And if Myla tried to cast any other spell, this one would immediately end, sending those eager walls crashing into her body. She couldn't even kick or fight to attempt to make the predator sick: the shield would prevent that, too.

"N-Not fair..." she managed to stammer, knowing that the fox couldn't possibly be able to care less.

All Myla could do was watch those walls, listen to that heartbeat... and wait.