Imperial

Chapter 1

How dare he! Threatening to render my eye useless! Even if I could still fly, escape would have been even more impossible with only half my vision. Furious, I huffed in Master's face. Had it not been for the muzzle, I would have snapped at him.

"Not a wise idea, beast," Master smirked at me, still holding the bloodstained knife in front of him. Even as I watched, he swung his hand up towards my head. "Don't think I won't stab this in your eye. You only need one eye to haul coal." His voice was serious, but his eyes gleamed insanely.

Master was right; he would stab my eye if I did not continue to work. Snarling at him would not stop that. Shivering at the thought of only having one eye, and being half-blind, I drew my breath.

Lashing my silver tail in frustration, I restarted my journey across the trampled fields. All around me other dragons were in similar situations. Each dragon had heavy steps, and sagging heads. And I knew that I was exactly the same.

I hated dragging the heavy coal. Hated the human tugging my chains, threatening me with torture whenever my exhausted body faltered. Hated that there was nothing I could do to escape this miserable existence. The humans would not kill me – not so soon, and especially not without pain.

No matter how hard I tried, my already sluggish speed slowed further. There was nothing I could do. Even as I lifted a leg to drag it forward, another buckled. Grunting, I barely had time to flare my wings and remain balanced.

All at once, Master muttered a curse and whirled at me. "Listen here, beast. If you don't do the required amount by sunset, we'll be out here all night" he glanced towards the already sinking sun with a yank of my chains. My shoulders sagged, and my large wings drooped towards the ground.

Another punishment, I sighed to myself, eyes clouding with remembered pain. After twenty years of such treatment, I should be used to such things. But more punishments, especially when conditions were already bad still scared me.

The human turned towards me once more, still wearing a dark scowl. His gloomy eyes were dark with insane amusement as he continued. "Careful or your workload will double."

Snapping my wings shut, I regarded the human silently. It was not the first time I had been given such a punishment, nor would it be the last. Nonetheless, I whined a pleading response.

I doubted I could heave the coal any further. The wagon was a dead weight. It didn't even have wheels - I had lost them as a punishment a few weeks ago. A particularly cruel punishment, because I was still required to haul the same amount each week. And now, I was getting yet another.

My exhausted body had reached its limit.

But as always, Master ignored my quiet protest. "Hurry up!" he snapped again. Bony hands tugged at my chains, forcing me forwards. I struggled towards my destination, faltering with each step.

Despite knowing it would be far, far away, I dared a glance towards my supposed destination. I doubted that I would actually get there, but I could only hope. It was a small station where several humans were sorting through the coal, before reloading it onto other dragons. What the coal was for, I did not know. Nor did I care.

Aside from food and water and rest, the only thing I really cared about was escaping. There was nothing I wanted more, needed more, than getting away from this horrid place.

Years ago, several stronger, older dragons had attempted to escape, only to fail. But time had not at all clouded my memory. I could remember each dragon's face and colour and how their eyes had sparked with horror as they realised that their plan had been foiled. Even now, their screams of pain as they were slowly tortured to death haunted me every night.

That was not the only thing, either. After that day, we were no longer permitted to fly. Within hours of my friends' death, a metal ring had been clamped over each dragon's tail fins. Should a dragon make it into the air, steering would be impossible without a human riding us.

Nonetheless, I clung to the small hope of freeing myself from this ring and evading their watchful eyes. I waited for an opportunity. Any opportunity.

But first, before I escaped, I needed a name. None of the dragons were called anything – other than beast. According to the humans, we had no right to an identity. But if I was to escape this place, I wanted to leave a name to haunt them!

Ignoring Master's relentless commands, I glanced over my shoulder, peering at my silver scales caked in dirt and mud. Disgusting - that was what I looked like. Disgusting, gross, and filthy.

But I knew my silver scales had the potential to be beautiful. Knew that I had the potential to be beautiful. With a good clean, enough food and time to rest and fly, I'd eventually become as majestic as a dragon was supposed to be.

With this knowledge in mind, I named myself. The name echoed through my mind, and for a second, I could imagine myself flying through the sky with a sleek flank covered in shining silver scales.

All at once, the daydream was gone. Replaced by Master roaring at me. But a single word still echoed in my mind. A name; my name.

Argentum. 

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1601 words

Thanks @Shreya_VA for the cover!

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