Rise of Fire: Dragons Reborn [COMPLETED]

Chapter 32

She was drowning. Burning. Blind. There was a roaring in her ears that wouldn't go away. She clutched at her chest, it felt as if she had been impaled. More than that it felt like her insides were burning up in an inferno of pain and shock. What had hit her? It sounded like a monster. Had the demons found them again?

'We're all going to die...' She couldn't help but feel it. Think it. She couldn't see and every second that passed was another second he could coming towards her. Another second he could be sinking his weapon into her back to finish the job. But she was a trained killer, a seasoned killer, her life revolved around survival and death. She wasn't going to let a monster end her in the shitty streets of Arboros.

"You're going to tell me where your dragon is little rider." She could smell his fetid breath as he huffed in her face. She could feel his enormity as he towered over her even without her vision. She placed her hands out in front of her as she tried to pull herself up. She could feel the rubble beneath her fingertips-- and the blood.

Her heart was racing as his thick fingers wrapped around her throat. He lifted her from the ground harshly before chuckling. She wrinkled her nose at the stench of him. It was almost like he was rotting from the inside out.

"I'll get the answers out of you one way or another half-giant. Maybe we'll start here..." He pressed a finger into her left eye. The scream he managed to pull from her felt like it was ripping her throat apart. She dug her fingers into his hairy meaty arm. Why was he so hairy? It was almost like... Fur.

"Put me down!" She screamed as she attempted to ignite him. The demons she battled before burned like dry tinder but no matter how much she tried to douse him in flame he just laughed. To be honest she wasn't even certain it was working, between her exhaustion and starvation she could hardly manage an explosive outburst.

"That's right... Physical pain won't break you will it? But perhaps..." He grumbled as he wrapped his huge hands on either side of her head. Somehow that was worse, her entire body felt like it was going to pull apart. She was about to ask him what his idiotic plan was but the piercing pain in her skull and mind shattering intrusion was answer enough.

She could feel him digging in her mind as he forced himself deeper and deeper. She had been assaulted by men multiple times, she had learned long ago to brush of their advances and their touches. But this was different. She had never imagined that one could have their minds raped.

"Get out of.. .My head!" She kicked out sharply only to connect with what she assumed to be a rock hard abdomen. Yet his assault continued. She tried hard to wall him off at every turn to no avail.

"I will find what I'm looking for... Or maybe she'll find me? Dragons are extremely protective of their riders after all." He laughed as she screamed again at the sharp twisting pain in her head. It was so severe that her vision was filled with white lights. She kicked again but her strength was waning. She choked on a cough as her own blood dribbled down her chin. She had never felt more aware of her own impending death as she did in that moment.

"Damn, you are everything they told me you would be." He grumbled as he tossed her back to the ground. In an instant his mind retracted from hers and she was her own once more. She coughed hoarsely as she tried to ride out the searing agony coursing through her body at the impact of hitting the ground. She blinked her eye slowly, her head was swimming almost as much as her vision. All she could make out was shadows.

"I can't break your mind, sprit, or body enough to get what I want. Not like this. But I know a little birdie who might hold the answers." What had he seen in her? What secrets had he managed to rip away? Her heart stammered as she wondered what he could mean by 'little birdie'.