The Dragon and the Fox

Chapter 12: Prison



The Dragon raised the chains to her face for the hundredth time, trying to spot a hole where she could use her magic or insert her teeth. She found none, and lay her forearm back on the floor, sighing.

She tried to stretch, but her back scraped against the wall. She had to curl her long neck towards her tail in order to fit, and her wings were aching from being confined for so long. The stone wall seemed to contract slowly, trapping her, swallowing her…

She would never get out.

She would never see the light of day again.

She would never get to say goodbye.

No, she thought fiercely. I can’t think like that. I will get out. Someone…someone will help me.

But would they?

The chains clinked on the cold, rough floor, seeming to laugh at her.

You are ours. You will never escape. You will never be found. You will die here.

Oh, why can’t I do anything? The Dragon thought miserably.

She began to cry.

“I hear you,” a voice said in the darkness.

The Dragon lifted her head up as much as she could without hitting the ceiling. Her ears perked up. Had she listened right? Was there someone else down here?

Maybe I’m not alone.

“Who are you?” the Dragon asked, her voice trembling.

“I’m nobody,” the voice said with melancholy. “I was taken long ago. No one remembers my name, and I don’t think I remember either. Sometimes I want to die, just to get it over with, to take away the pain.”

The Dragon knew what the voice was talking about. She remembered the burning metal they pressed against her skin, the whips and knives slicing through her scales. Her blood decorated the floor, covering more space every day. She thought that if it went on any longer, she would die—but apparently her fate was worse.

“Why are you here?” the Dragon asked. Who was this creature?

“I disobeyed my master,” the voice answered. “He took me from my family and enslaved me, forcing me to do his bidding in a place where I almost lost my sanity. He corrupted me with his magic, and now I suffer more and more each day. I’m almost glad that I’m here instead of where he is, though. I thought I was alone, but I was wrong, I guess.”

“Why are you talking to me now?”

“Because I know who you are,” the voice responded with a giggle, which the Dragon thought was highly unfitting for a prison of this quality.

“You are Deya.”


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