The 'Dragon Master'

A Clean Slate

I scowl at my captors as they shove me into a room on the ship. "We captured him, sir. Their dragon escaped, but the Dragon Master is finally here."

I'm forced into a chair in the other side of a desk to a man who I don't seem to recognise. "Well well well, we've been waiting for you a long time," they tell me. "Hope my boys weren't to hard on you, eh? They tend to get a bit rough at times."

"That's one way of putting it," I scoff. "Anyway, I am not giving you any information, no matter what you do to me, so you might as well just let me go and I'll give you a head start in getting away.

The man chuckled. Ugh, I already hate him. "Let me introduce myself, Dragon Master. My name is Slate. And I'm going to get you to talk one way or another."

I scoff. "Never would I dare say a word of good use to you. Go ahead. Torture me. Kill me. Do whatever you like to me. I have other ways of getting out of here."

"You mean your little Berkian 'friends'?" He sneers. "We didn't even bother to send anyone to hold them off, even with a Night Fury on their side they'll never find us, they'll never be able to stop us, they'll never even know you were captured."

He paused for a moment, then leans in closer. "Though of course that'll never matter, will it? Because you're not one of them. You push them away, they couldn't care less for you. You're nothing to them."

I pretend that his words effect me, though of course I'm not gullible enough to fall for a dragon hunter's lies. I've been captured once or twice before and I always got out of it by helping out the captured dragons they attempted to blackmail me with.

Sure enough, a caged dragon is brought out, an axe to their neck. I hold back my anger at its condition. It's definitely seen better days, the poor Changewing.

"What have they done to you?" I sigh to it. "They're horrid, aren't they?" The Changewing makes a small, sad rawk. "This Changewing is one of many dragons we've captured," Slate states proudly. "If you tell us everything you know, we'll set it and every other dragon on this ship free.

I pretend to think, though I already know my 'answer'. "You know what? I'm not going to make you decide right this second," Slate grins. "I'm a patient man. I've waited this long, I can wait a little more. Besides, this gives you a chance to explore your new accommodations."

Two men grab my arms and start to drag me out, but Slate snaps his fingers and they pause. "Remove their bindings," he orders. The ropes are dropped immediately, though the men restrain me still.

"Remove their weapons," Slate demands. My sword is pulled from its place on my back and tossed to Slate, who inspects it. "Blade's soaked from your little swim, what a pity," he remarks. He almost touches it, then shrugs and lays it down. That's the real pity.

It's not water. It's the Slitherwing venom.

"Still, lovely handiwork," he continues as though this is some kind of trade opportunity. "Wouldn't mind having one of those myself. I'd take this one for myself, but where would my manners be?"

"Wherever you left them before you captured an innocent," I retort. He lets out a throaty laugh. "Fair enough, fair enough. I deserved that one. It looks like things will be a lot more entertaining with you here. It'll almost be a shame when we see your face when we capture your dragons."

"That Razorwhip isn't coming back," I snap. "She's fled already. She's safe from you." "Really?" Slate cocks a brow. "I would've guessed that it would be back with a pathetic little stunt to try and save you. Some loyalty that dragon shows."

"Oh trust me, she's loyal," I say. "She's proved her loyalty several times over, including now. She left because I told her to. I trust her to take care of herself and she trusts me to do the same."

"Or she just flew off at the first sign of danger," he smirked as though he knew everything. "No... no, it's not true..." I say it as though he's getting into my head. He isn't, though. If I let anyone and everyone get into my head I'd be discovered by now.

"You know, you must be furious with it," Slate continues. He's clearly trying to manipulate me and I can't make it obvious that I'm only playing along, so I shake my head. "No, she's loyal to me and I'm loyal to her. I can't doubt her. I won't doubt her."

"It abandoned you the moment things looks like it would fail, it just left you, possibly to your death for all it knew," he said. "Doesn't that make you feel betrayed?"

I just grunt.

"Let's see what's behind that mask of yours, then," Slate eyes me curiously. The men move around to remove it but I slam my fist into one of their faces and kick the other in the sweet spot. The both groan out in pain and drop to the floor. While Slate is still surprised I grab my sword back and slice off their heads.

"Dark, but a quick death," I remark. "Pretty much painless. That's more than what they deserve for their cruelty to dragons."

I turn to Slate. "But you? You really think I didn't know what you were doing? Like I said I will always be loyal to my partners. That still stands. She may not be here and she may not be coming back, but I'm not going to let her die just because she listened to me."

I jab the sword at his neck to make sure he knows that I'm ready to kill. "But still, I'll be merciful. For your actions you'll receive a mere tap on the cheek."

He seems confused when I only run the blade down his face, though it only lasts a few seconds before it all kicks in and he's screaming, clutching his damp cheek and shouting curses.

I crouch beside him, pulling his hair up so his face is level with mine. I pull down my mask, letting him take in my face. "You wanted to see what lies beneath? A woman. And you should know that making any woman angry is a death sentence."