Owned: An Eternal Flame

The pain of words

We travelled along the road, we walked at a slower pace, he stopped for several minutes to speak to the black object, it sounded like someone was on the other end.

He finished up and stood, eyeing the stream in frustration, I wander what the conversation was about, I had ignored it.

He resumed walking, the ground was hard and my feet had begun growing sore from being forced to walk over all sorts of ground barefooted.

We begun approaching a large cluster of buildings, his pace quickened and I kept the same distance.

"Is this the border?" I asked, he shook his head, I would have preferred a verbal answer.

He led me up to a building and tied me up outside.

"Hey! Don't just leave me here!" I called, he ignored me and entered the building.

I tugged at the knot like he did and it barely budged, I groaned in annoyance.

I looked around at the streets, many of the non humans walked around, some with slaves behind them, others had pets, like dogs and goats.

A woman wore a pricey looking dress, she must have spent thousands of Seds on that, a human walked beside her, a man, more like a boy, he barely looked 18, he walked with a kind of confidence I wish I could have.

"Lady Juvene! You and your pet look wonderful today!" Called out a orc man, he stood at a doorway to a fancy shop, the human boy had well groomed hair and wore fancy yet comfy clothes, warm for the late autumn weather.

The Elven woman smiled beautifully, wonderful blonde hair flowed down past her shoulders, she stroked the boys head lovingly.

"Thank you! Isn't he the most charming little thing" she mused, she looked at the boy with so much love and affection, the way someone looks at their dog.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't jealous, warm clothes, and he looks healthy, most slaves become sick quickly, due to neglect, they don't live very long.

The collar was loose on his neck, she held the chain leash out as if she just wanted to show it off, he walked by her side proudly, is she controlling his mind or something?

A hand touched my shoulder and I looked up, Julian was looking at me with impatience, he must have been speaking, images of the man back at the trader's being beaten to death pushed itself into my mind.

It was almost a surprise when he just pulled the rope and ignored my mistake, interesting.

His eyes went to the lady and boy.

"I see, have you never seen a pet human before? Only the rich could afford such things" he grumbled, I gazed at him in confusion.

"But anyone can apparently buy humans" I muttered, eyeing him, looking out for any anger.

"Yes, but a pet needs to be trained, or raised, and there's the vet, registering them as a pet, provide them with shelter, owning a pet human follows the same animal abuse laws as any other pet, and then there's other things" he muttered, I stared at the woman who entered the shop and patted the boys head, she tied him up outside and gave him a kiss on his forehead.

He sat loyally, outside with the orc, who stood at the door like he was guarding it.

"What are you doing today?" I asked, he seemed too distracted to answer.

I yawned quietly into my hand, slaves followed behind owners, they wore electric collars, beaten down by labour and abuse, they had no will left to escape.

Julian didn't seem to notice or care, I was to entranced that I ended up bumping into someone, I quickly looked up, opening my mouth to apologise, it was a werewolf, some of the hay that had clung to my rags had gotten onto him, it wasn't much, like two pieces, but by his reaction I mose well have tosses the whole pile onto him.

He snarled at me and I took a step back.

"I'm sorry, but It can be wiped off" I slowly told him, his eyes furious.

"Stupid slave! How dare you!" He roared, everyone turned to see what was going on, I stared up at him, trying to look more confident then I felt.

He reached for me and I jumped towards Julian, who wrapped one arm around me, I writhed against him, he eyed the wolf with a snarl.

"Back off" he growled, the other werewolf huffed his annoyance and stormed off, the crowd quickly lost interest.

"Watch yourself! Quite a stupid thing, weak, pathetic and stupid" he growled, the words hurt, how dare he, it was an accident, he didn't have to go so low as to insult me.

"I told you, I'm not pathetic" I growled, squeezing out of his grip, he eyed me, he seemed frustrated but kept himself together.

We headed further into the town and the whole incident was forgotten, I can't believe him, insulting me like that.

He tied me up outside of a restaurant, I watched him as he entered, the sign read no humans allowed, I was glad to be away from him, but the fact that I'd be surrounded by so many strangers made me shiver, humans sat in defeat, one had a bad cough, I looked around, they looked so defeated, the streets were quiet and the sun was beginning to set once more, it was getting cold, several slaves huddled together, shivering, the sick one stayed by themselves, looking incredibly pale and half dead, I stared at their rope.

With one of my most powerful tugs so far I managed to release it, I didn't have any strength left, they eyed me, weak and exhausted, I quickly returned to my spot, watching as someone left the restaurant.

They whistled and headed away, I looked back at the sick person, they stumbled away, the other slaves didn't care to notice, no hope left in them.

Julian exited and seemed tipsy, he handed me a bag, he had brought out leftovers, he released the rope and led me off, I nibbled on the fish and chips, hoping that the person could die without being tormented anymore.

We entered a hotel and stumbled up some steps, we entered a room, locking the door slowly he wandered off to collapse onto the bed, I stared at my bare hands, he very quickly began snoring, I should try to escape.

I explored the small room, tiny windows, a windowless bathroom, the main door led out to a building crawling with many of these people, I grumbled about inconvenience.

I eyed his sleeping form as I pulled a spare blanket out of a cupboard, and set it up on a two sweater couch, I crept towards him, stealing a pillow, I glanced at him, I finally sighed and flipped the blanket over him, I cuddled up on the couch, there has to be a better place to escape, maybe once we exit the border.

"I'm not pathetic, or stupid" I muttered to his sleeping form, the words had left their mark.