Fire

Chapter Twenty One

I figured that since I've gone so long without posting that there would be two in once night before I start the more regular schedule. Enjoy!

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It is the fourth day in a row that Emil has tried to replace my tattoo with his brand. Panting, I yank at the chains attached to my wrists. I know there is no use, but I like showing him that I will not roll over and be a good, obedient slave girl. It frustrates him, so that brings me an inkling of joy in this dismal place.

"Deary, stop resisting. The pain will go away if you stop resisting. Just give up already and let the brand stick," he hisses, yanking on my collar's chain.

"I've gone through pain a lot worse than this Emil. Do you think it's a cake walk being a fire mage? I have literally burnt off layers of my skin in one go to keep myself from burning up and being consumed by fire. And honey, you aren't making the fire containment much easier with your attempt at torture. Hel, if I wasn't so sure that I was a better person than you are, I would light you up and kill you. But killing you means I die here, changed up to this wall."

"Well deary, if you think that this is nothing, why not ramp up the power? I was only afraid of killing you buy inducing too much pain that your body shuts down. But now let's ramp it up," he says with an evil grin on his face. Pressing his hand on top of my tattoo once again, he increases the power put in behind his brand so much so that I go from hissing to screaming in pain. With a satisfied grin, he holds his hand there for a few minutes until my voice starts to go hoarse from screaming. Checking under his hand, he groans at his failure once again. At the sound of his groan, I smile, satisfied that he can't replace my tattoo with his disgusting brand.

"Don't worry sweetheart. We'll have that tattoo replace soon enough. We just have to breach your body's pain tolerance before we can do so. But I did promise that when I came back I would make it hurt didn't I?" he says as I glare up at him from under my curtain of hair. "Tsk, tsk. That's something else that needs to change."

"What does?" I ask hoarsely.

"Your hair, sweety. I can't have a long haired slave. All the others would be jealous and think that maybe I was treating you as more than just what you are, my slave."

I've never been too concerned about my looks while I was growing up. I was fairly pretty as a child and grew into a beautiful woman, or so I was told. My hair did bother me. Normally, I always had to tie it back to go train and it was always falling out of the ceremonial knots but having this bastard cut my hair was something I was not okay with. In our culture, having long hair symbolizes wealth and status. The shorter your hair is, the poorer you are. For slaves, their hair is chopped off close to their head so that all that remains is an inch or less of soft fuzz. Female slaves were left with about an inch or two of hair while males had their head practically shaved.

"Maybe once your hair is gone you will accept the fact that you are mine and will be for quite some time," Emil says as he comes back from where ever he went. In his hand are small shears, which I presume he is going to use to cut my hair. Grabbing a chunk of my hair, he begins to cut, going section by section as more and more hair falls to the ground beside me. After several minutes, he puts the shears away and just runs his fingers through my now short hair.

"Mmm... short, soft curls. And such a beautiful color too. Red, like fire. I will need to rename you though. As much as I love your actual name, it is customary for it to be changed." Pausing as he thinks, he continues to run his fingers through my hair. "I want to stick to the theme of fire. Hmm... Ooh I got it. Phoenix. The giant bird that rises from the flames of its rebirth. What a beautiful name, and it fits well with not only your hair, but your personality. But come now dear. We have somewhere else to be. We'll get back to branding later. It's time for you to meet the others," he says as he unchains my wrists from the wall and grabs the chain connected to my collar in order to "lead" me.

Walking through the dark recesses of what I assume is a cave, I am suddenly blinded by the radiance of a white light. Blinking rapidly, I try to adjust my eyes to the sudden brightness. Emil tugs slightly on the chain, silently saying to keep moving along. Once my eyes adjust, I see a giant natural pool where dozens of dragons are lazing about surrounded by chained humans. I only realize that I had gasped after Emil speaks.

"Don't mind them Phoenix. You will meet them in a bit. But for now we need to get you cleaned up," he says as I am practically dragged into another dark tunnel. The room, or cave, that we emerge into is absolutely stunning. The walls are made up of the most beautiful gems and crystals I have ever seen. Milling around the room are some other humans, both male and female, slave and free. They all seem to be bustling around carrying gems and fabric or creating beautiful clothes.

"Yes, it is quite beautiful isn't it?" Emil muses beside me. Still silent, he leads me over to an array of mirrors with a small pedestal in front of them. He helps me on top of it and then gestures impatiently for one of the other humans to come over.

"Yes, my lord?" a small slave girl asks.

"I wish for her to be outfitted with new clothes and chains. Better than the old one's things, mind you. I will be back in two hours to collect her and her things. Do a good job once again and I will speak with your mistress about a reward. And Phoenix, don't be afraid to pick what you like, no matter how extravagant." With that he turns around and walks back the way we came, his figure seeming to shift as he disappears through the exit. Turning my attention back to the other girl, I am startled when I see her eying me up. For what reason, I do not know. Meeting my eyes, I see that hers are a vibrant shade of blue that seem to glow once they meet mine. I then notice that her features start to change until she looks like Dalla except that her eyes keep changing from blue to the amber color that is the same of Dalla's.

"How are you doing that? Why do you have my best friend's face?"

Shaking her head sadly, the girl whispers, "There is a lot you need to learn."