Owned: An Eternal Flame

Meet the boss

I crossed my arms and huffed, leaning against the sturdy bamboo, I could feel Julian's hand brushing my hair.

I glanced back at him, he seemed deep in thought, I sighed and leant against the bars, moving slightly so that I wasn't putting much pressure on my injuries.

"Oh! Finally boss is here!" Exclaimed Julian, he stood up, I watched him.

The boss must have a car, the only thing fast enough to get here so quick.

I watched as hunters rushed to their huts and guards stood at attention, a suited man walked towards the cages.

He stared at it all, he seemed to be a vampire, his eyes sharp and attentive.

He saw Julian.

"Ah, Julian, you called me here? I wouldn't have expected you to be captured" he tutted, Julian grabbed the bars.

"Oh that's not why I called! I called because of the blue quill!" Exclaimed Julian, I felt that if he'd of been in his wolf form, his tail would be wagging.

I decided to make a risk, the guard watched in shock as I opened the cage, Julian rushed over to his boss, leading him towards the bird hut.

I quickly followed, Noelle had her arms crossed as she examined the newcomer.

She stood by the bird hut, the Boss stared in wonder at the discovery.

"You've seen the coupe, now you can leave us alone" she huffed.

The boss stared at her, as she were a flying pig.

"What do you mean? This obviously needs to be protected, not by the likes of some savages" exclaimed the boss, Julian cringed, watching Noelle expectantly, she used her professional face.

"Oh, you misunderstood, if you dare ruin this colony, these birds or dead" she said simply, the boss furrowed his eyes, glaring at Noelle in confusion, Bluey, her personal messenger landed on her finger once more.

She handed him a nut, and made a shooshing noise, put her hand over his head and twisted violently, a cracking sound easily heard, the boss and Julian gaped in horror.

I cringed at the harsh sound, the bird was alive, it learnt play dead, it probably used the nut to make the snapping sound.

She removes her hand and the bird shook it's head, happily tearing the nut apart, Julian sighed in relief.

"How dare you threaten an endangered species! You'll be sent straight to the mines" spluttered the boss, Julian cringed at that.

"Oh, we're the only ones who can raise these little things, need such specific stuff to survive, we won't tell you anything, and you'll be the ones killing these precious birds" she stated, her voice still calm and professional, Bluey climbed up to her shoulder.

"Boss, I think it's best" mumbled Julian, he looked at me, he seemed heavily concerned, he had such a love for animals, he probably wants to give the birds their best chance to survive.

"Ugh, fine, consider yourselves owned though, I don't know what will happen to these birds if one of you got taken by one of my employees because you walked to far" he growled, I was surprised by his willingness.

"You know what, as long we can live freely, hunt and eat whatever and wherever and no one tries to take over, you have a deal" she bargained, the boss grumbled, seeming to hate the deal, he held out his hand and Noelle shook it eagerly.

"Great doing business with ya" commented Noelle.

"You all will still need to wear collars... Hear me out! Damn savage, if someone finds one of you, you will be taken away for processing, and if you want to avoid that, collars must be kept on you" he argued, Noelle growled but let him finish, she nodded slowly.

I shuddered at the processing word, being taken to a large building, getting prodded, stripped and tested, its very uncomfortable and humiliating.

"Release them" called Noelle, the other employees walked out of their cages, looking even more confused then before, with their boss shaking a humans hand.

I sighed in relief, Julian looked down at his feet, I felt at my collar, fixing up the strap so that it would stop dangling and rubbing against my chest.

Two fingers could easily be fitted but I struggled at latching it there, it fell through in my hands and I grumbles about annoying things.

Julian approached me and helped me fix it up, Noelle looked angry about it, yet she didn't say anything.

"To make this completely honest, I want to sign a contract, we can read, I will not be having any supposed tricks being pulled" commented Noelle, the boss, huffed and irritably agreed.

Noelle rushed to her father, the chieftain and explained everything that was happening, from angry yelling I could tell he was furious, yet he silenced, he must have accepted the situation.

Noelle ran back over.

"Let's get going!" She cried out, looking excited to see more than the colony and the hunting grounds, we followed the boss to his car, I've never been in one before.

"What does endangered mean?" I asked Julian.

"Oh, that means an animal is slowly dying out, so there's not many of them left in the world, there is a good chance there will be non of a certain animal in the future" explained Julian, I nodded my understanding.

We climbed into the car, it seemed so weird, Julian sat between me and Noelle which annoyed her.

He said to tighten my seatbelt, I just stared at him, about to ask him what a seatbelt was.

"Its that thing beside you, here, I'll do it" he explained, I let him reach over me and pull a strange object, it slid out and clicked into something else, Julian wore one as well, it mustn't be like getting tied up then, Noelle took the initiative to do her own.

We drove along a dusty road slowly, we never came out this way, they must have extended the road in preparation for building a new area.

We drove along, I looked out my window in amazement, I was short in the car, which bothered me, but I quickly got over it.

We sped up when the road changed design, approaching a town far quicker then if we were being taken by a horse and cart.

We got closer, the boss pulled up beside a building, after having us exit the car, the boss began leading Noelle in, Julian and I weren't allowed in.

We paused as a scream could be heard, we rushed to see what was going on down the road, I gaped in horror, Julian shouted in surprise, an elf collapsed, a deep stab wound in their chest.