The Dragon's Kiss

The Dragon's Kiss - Chapter 7 - SEVEN: Filthy Animals

“Shhh they’ll hear you!” the hooded figure hissed.

“S-sorry,” Kel stammered, dazed. The man helped her back to her feet before gingerly taking her finger to inspect it.

“This is going to sting for the next several days.” He clicked his tongue. “So clumsy.”

Kel ignored his scoldings as she studied his emerald green eyes and light brown hair.

Dash.

So many questions flooded her mind, but she couldn’t bring herself to ask any of them. All she could do was stand and stare..

A sharp pain in her wrist broke her trance. Dash had moved on from inspecting her finger and was now investigating the burns on her wrists.

“This..” he stopped, releasing her hand. “Don’t run away again, please.”

“Dash…” Kel trailed off, unsure what to say.

“You have to stay, Kel,” he whispered, glancing over his shoulder nervously.

Kel swallowed the growing lump in her throat. “Can you at least tell me about the others?”

“They’re safe,” Dash answered immediately. “Just worry about yourself now.”

Kel opened her mouth to ask another question, but a loud voice cut her off.

“Well, well what’s going on here?”

It was the unpleasant soldier who had escorted her from the tent.

She hung her head in silence, knowing anything she said would only make the situation worse. Dash’s face instantly turned dark, and he aggressively grabbed Kel’s wrist.

“Is it your orders to let important hostages wander around the woods as they please?” he spat.

The guard glared in response.

“Good thing you just happened to be here, Sir Dashien,” he bowed mockingly before approaching them. “I’ll bring her back now.”

Dash snorted, handing Kel’s arm over to the soldier, who wasted no time dragging her back toward camp. Dash followed behind with his arms crossed as if ensuring the guard’s diligence. They seemed like they really were on the same side. But why was Dash acting like this?

Kel didn’t have long to ponder before they reached the tent and the unpleasant man shoved her inside.

“According to Sir Dashien here, it seems you were out of line,” he smirked.

The other guard, who had been observing the events lazily, suddenly became interested and drew closer.

“That means you’ll need to be punished,” the second guard grinned, licking his cracked lips. “Well not you exactly.”

He pulled a long leather strip out from where it hung at his side. A small crowd of soldiers had now gathered. They were all elated at the development.

Sadistic pigs, Kel thought to herself. The great Serin military was nothing but a bunch of filthy animals.

The man with the strap stepped toward the door, but the other guard stopped him.

“Let’s allow Sir Dashien to deal out the punishment,” he chuckled. “He is the one who caught Princess in the first place.”

The first man’s face fell a little, but he obediently handed the strap over to Dash. As the leather was placed in his palms, Dash shifted his gaze to Barclay, lying in his usual wheezing heap in the tent.