"Hurry up, you foul beast!" Master yelled.
Cold black eyes glared at me, almost obscured by bushy eyebrows. His back was slightly hunched, and I was easily double his height. Regardless, he was completely in control, with his gnarled hands gripping my heavy chains.
For a split second, I focused on the chains that bound me closer to the human. How easy it would be to yank the chains and make him stumble! So easy, so tempting. But so dangerous.
Such an action always had a painful reaction.
Beside me, Master abruptly cleared his throat, jerking me out of my thoughts. One glance at him told me he was impatient, and in a much grumpier mood than normal. The harsh lines on his weathered skin sagged, and his dark, bristly eyebrows were furrowed. If I hesitated for any longer, he would undoubtedly punish me. Not daring to think of what he would do, I reluctantly heaved the heavy wagon forward. Slowly. Gradually.
Each step was like torture. Fire shot up my limbs, even as I rasped desperately for air through the metal muzzle binding my jaws shut. It did not help that my throat burned, craving cool water to soothe it. My stomach was utterly empty - as normal. For the twenty years I had been alive, I had survived on pitiful amounts of human leftovers, just like every dragon here.
And the wagon was heavy. Its weight dragged me down, even as I tried to heave it further through the desolate fields.
But the scorching pain was too much. The exhaustion was too much.
I faltered again.
Master kept barking commands at me, demanding me to hurry up. Narrowing my eyes, I glared at him. Rest – I just wanted to rest. To eat. To recover. That was all I wanted; all I needed. Cold, uncaring eyes stared back.
"MOVE!" Master hissed. But I remained motionless and defiant, instead holding his gaze venomously. Exhausted or not, he would have definitely felt my response had it not been for the metal muzzle clamping my jaws together.
Slowly, Master pulled out his knife. It was small, no bigger than my smallest talon. But he ensured its blade was jagged, to maximise the pain each slice would inflict.
Master's thin lips drew into a wicked smile - revealing brown teeth and gaping holes. Realising his intentions, I flinched away, my head moving as far away as the chains would allow.
Get away, get away! My mind screamed, each word more shrill and desperate than the last. I thrashed my head, trying to make it difficult for Master to make good on his threat.
Soulless eyes gleamed maliciously, savouring my fear. Gripping the knife, Master approached me, not at all scared as I started growling at him viciously.
Leave me alone, I wanted to hiss, but the muzzle was too tight. Furiously, I glared at the man responsible for my tortured life as he drew the knife closer and closer towards my eye.
Perhaps it would be like a victory, to die. To be released from a world so hostile and intimidating. No more humans, no more labour. No more torture. But that was not really what I wanted. I just wanted to escape; to be free. Surely that wasn't too much to ask?
"You see this here?" Master tapped the knife's blade against a grimy scale below my eye. I could see the dull metal glinting in the sun. "You do your work, or I'll use it on you."
The small knife hovered in front of my left eye. It was impossible not to notice the dried blood covering its blade, a painful reminder of my last encounter with it. In a last effort to protect my eye, I squeezed them both shut. And waited for the impending agony.
But nothing happened.
Cautiously, I blinked open my eyes. Still, the blade hovered in front of my eye. Curling my lips, I slowly started to draw my head away from the knife. Fortunately, the knife did not follow after me, and I threw my head back to be completely out of its reach.
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.
§
1601 words
Thanks @Shreya_VA for the cover!
∞
Whatcha think? Better than before (for those that read what it originally was)?
Thank you for picking up this story and giving it a shot! I hope you enjoy!
All votes and comments are appreciated!