A Dragon's Retribution [Book 3 in Rising Dragons]

Chapter 12: Seeryath IV

WARNING: Dragon abuse (not explicit).

The feeling of contentment after a good meal had faded by now, disappearing along with my adrenaline. I landed, folding my wings and glancing at Thirak. Azrael landed next to me, emotions loud – I could see his anger and fear in his stance, but he was also amplifying his own emotions. Fear, hate, and anger were pressing down on me, confusing me about what I felt.

"Why does this effect you so much?" I asked Azrael.

Azrael visibly hesitated, glancing between Thirak and myself. "I've been... in a similar position before," he eventually murmured quietly, tail coiling around his legs – a sign of worry or apprehension. "I was born as a work dragon," he continued, words slow. "Such a life... it isn't easy.

"There are no choices to be made, no decisions to decide. You are born and that is it. You get nothing else. It's just the way everything is. If you're lucky, you hatch in a good place, somewhere they actually care about you, look after you. If you're unlucky, you hatch in some hellish place. From the moment you hatch, if you're one of the unlucky ones, there is no time to relax, no time to be young and free. You learn, and if you don't learn quickly, well... There are some things I wouldn't wish on anyone.

"The main issue," Azrael continued, "is the training. Humans tend to see us as less intelligent than them. They see us as nothing more than animals, unable to believe that we are intelligent, unable to believe that we can actually understand them. When training, we are the ones who figure out tricks and ways to get around it. For the lucky ones, this is fine because the humans they are with are kind. For those unlucky, humans come to this perception that maybe pain will teach what they cannot. They are correct, but only because we want to avoid the pain.

"This is what they call training, and so we learn, and are therefore considered 'trained'. At first, we all keep our anger, hoard our strength, we grow resentful, but anytime you try to strike out you learn you shouldn't; that doing such a thing is painful. We grow fearful, grow hopeless. The situation itself is hopeless, because there is nothing you can do and you are stuck, forever, in the same place, doing the same thing, going through motions and unable to do anything else and hating every second of it.

"I was forced to work in the mines, hauling whatever they took from the earth and bringing it into the light of day. It was a terrible job, the mines were dusty and smelled horrible. Everywhere was cramped, and we spent long hours hauling heavy carts up and down steep slopes. The mines were sparsely lit with lights along the paths we constantly travelled, and by the time we were used to the dim light, we would be outside once again and being blinded by the bright light of day. There was one thing we all looked forward to – getting back to the stables and being able to sleep for a few disturbed hours.

"I escaped from everything," Azrael revealed, and I found myself reliving memories from something that felt like another life, reliving memories I had forgotten. I swallowed and waited for Azrael to continue sharing his own story. "I was hauling one of the carts up when there was a cave-in – or, at least, that's what I'm assuming happened, I didn't know at the time and I certainly never went back to find out – and everyone was heading back to the surface. The cart driver, my so-called handler, left me behind as they headed out. I could do nothing but wait as the ground shook and dust rose. I wasn't idle during that time, I was straining against the harness and the cart.

"It was the first time I had been left somewhere that wasn't made to withstand a dragon's might. Finally not underneath the gaze of a human, I could use my claws to break the leather – and it worked. I left the harness behind and took off, sprinting to the exit. And once I was there...Well, there are no words to describe what it feels like, finally free, finally unrestrained. I took off and flew, flew far away, before I got to the mountains. You found me a while after my escape." Azrael fell silent, and Thirak looked like he had no idea what to say but wanted to say something.