Awaiting her fate, Laina took a deep breath. She sat on the cold dirt, shivering slightly. The adolescent only had rags and heavy chains to clothe her body. Laina was tethered to a solid stone wall . Her captors wanted to ensure she wouldn't escape. Not like she could get very far anyway.
The girl had been starved for weeks and was growing accustomed to a very sedentary life. She spent countless days in the same position, never allowed to stand. Laina had lost track of how long she'd been under their control. It was probably just over a year, but it felt like an eternity.
The monsters that kept her had punished her endlessly in the very beginning. They referred to it as the "initiation". It determined who was too weak to survive, and who they could break the easiest.
As much as she'd like to say that she was a kick-ass, feisty rebel, she simply wasn't. Laina had caved fairly quickly in the "domestication" process. She wasn't strong. She wasn't fearless. She wasn't admirable.
In fact, it was her fault that she was caught.
She knew she should have listened to her father. She shouldn't have left the safety of her hidden village. If only she had stayed, she could have continued a lead a happy, fulfilling life. Instead, Laina was doomed to soon be sold of as a slave, never amounting to more than mere property for the rest of her existence.
Laina wiped away a tear, taking a few deep and calming breaths. Her masters would punish her if they saw this weakness. She was trained better. The girl was conditioned to be the perfect house pet.
She could have thought for endless hours about her unfortunate situation, but she was ripped away from her thoughts when she heard the god awful screeching of the iron door.
Someone was here.
Immediately, she composed herself. Laina refused to take another beating today. She simply couldn't stand it. One more punishment, and she would surely break.
More light flooded in as the figure stepped in. The sound of crunching footsteps made her flinch. She couldn't take another hit. Please god. Don't let them hit her.
"Laina," the figure uttered coldly.
"Y-yes?" She croaked, clearing her throat. Come to think of it, she couldn't remember the last time she'd spoken.
"I need you to come with me." It wasn't a request.
Laina finally glanced over to the man. He was really average looking: tan complexion, buzzed hair, cold eyes, medium-to-large muscular build, and somewhat tallish. Well, tallish for a human, that is. Laina couldn't quite distinguish the slight differences.
Although she was used to seeing humans, she couldn't quite remember how she measured relative to them. She couldn't remember much these days. The lack of food, sleep, and interaction tends to do that to people. All she could remember that she was definitely significantly taller than her counterpart; as most giants were.
"Now." The guard commanded, a bit rougher this time. Laina was just glad he hadn't resorted to physical force yet.
She nodded weakly and prepared herself to stand.
It took a few moments, she had lost feeling in her lower limbs a few days away.
There were sharp, stabbing pains in her legs as she stood. Holding on the to wall for support, she rose to her full height, easily surpassing the human.
Her knees wobbled and she glanced down to the human, who came just about to her mid-thigh, for her next instructions. She would obey him. She wouldn't be beaten today.
