The Loyal

12- Scias Speaks

Sirath paced her stable angrily. Rogue men had manhandled her down into the dungeons where other, strange and mysterious creatures, were kept. She had an uneasy feeling that coming to Starhaven was a bad idea. 

Later, when Sirath's internal clocks told her it was evening, the handlers returned. This time there were more, with heavy chains and bracing irons. As she lay there watching them entering her cell, Sirath filled her fire lung and prepared to give the horrible people a piece of her mind. 

They seemed at ease and calm, so when two leaped forward, tightening her jaws with a strange cylindrical object, Sirath didn't react in time and only swallowed her fire instead of crisping the men. Sirath reared and thrashed around, using her golden claws to attempt prise the muzzle off her snout. 

Then men ran about, wrapping chains over her in her confusion. Sirath pushed all her energy into breaking the chains off but surrendered when she discovered that as Sirath moved, the bonds became tighter against her scales and cut deep marks. 

The man shoved each other around, laughing and joking, poking at Sirath's sides. She bit her tongue to prevent herself from crying and swallowed her pride. Dain will come, he won't let anything happen to you, she repeated over and over to herself as the men harnessed horses to drag her out. 

The pain of her scales being lugged across the stone flooring was almost unbearable, but Sirath kept telling herself everything would be alright, Dain will come, you'll be home tomorrow, Dain won't leave you, he'll try and find you, everything will be fine. 

The halls led to a large underground chamber. There were several large pits in the centre to the unlit room with iron bars built over them. Some more men ran forth and, using strange levers and ropes, they lifted one of the barred covers. Dread clawed uncontrollably at Sirath heart and she thrashed, trying hard to scatter the horses and handlers.

In the length of a second Sirath shut her eyes and felt her body being literally thrown into the deep cell and her shackles taken off. Almost immediately she stretched her wings out and lunged, not caring if she hit the wall, and discovered, they'd already dropped the bars back over her.

The men stood around the edge making comments and remarks about the she-dragon and one ran off with a message. Pain and frustration blurred her vision. Sirath struggled to remain on her feet, but some alien control and adapted in her body and Sirath fell to the shadowed floor, watching, for the first time, as spots clouding her vision.

Sirath felt her body slowly turn back on. Startled, she found herself in the pit, lying uncomfortably over her tail. Everything came rushing back as she discovered her scales were a dull blue instead of the usual sky. Relying on her ears, Sirath decided that the men must have left, but she had no way of telling how long she'd been asleep for.

Listening closer, Sirath cloud hear a strange clawing sound, accompanied with a mewling cry. She flattened herself against the wall and wished something would make the sound stop or get her back to Dain.

Suddenly, in the hall, torches caught light and voices filled the room. The handlers had returned, escorting king Scias. They all crowded around Sirath's cage and Itos began questioning the others on her behaviour.

"Let me free!" Sirath roared at them, making a grave mistake, "you have no right to treat me like this!"

Silence captured the room. The handlers stared at Sirath wonder, gaping as if they'd never seen a dragon before. Scias smiled from beneath his mask, "by Kazimir, I do believe the dragons talk havian! Oh, what great discovery this be,"

He strode away from Sirath's cell and, by Sirath's guess, he peered into another pit. "They've kept it from us well. But now this ignorant young one broke the silence!"