Enslaved

Chapter 3

The sound of a scream ripped her from blissful unconsciousness and she lifted her heavy lids slowly, blinking a few times in the light. The slaves were standing in a straight line in a courtyard, their assumed resting place for the day before they started their forced walk again at sundown. The sun was slowly rising around the mountain, sending streaks of vibrant yellow light racing across the ground and lighting up her hair a luminous golden despite the dirt that caked it. She resisted the urge to stare up at the sky and watch the sunshine, knowing if she did that the slavers would not be pleased. Still, it had been so long since she had been outside, since she had even seen any light other than the torches in those wretched tunnels. She blinked again and slowly got her feet under her, her knees buckling as her legs quaked and stung with a thousand little scrapes from being dragged through the tunnels. Her eyes remained on the floor even as her vision swam with black and she struggled to keep her chains from being too loud as she stood up and shuffled to get her balance. 

She finally stilled and blinked a few times, trying to rid the black that was crawling over her eyes as it tried to force her back into sleep, knowing that she had to stay awake. Just as the black started to recede she heard footsteps nearing where she stood and she froze with her eyes glued to the ground, putting all her effort into making the chains still and quiet. The footsteps stopped only a few slaves away from her on the right and she repressed a shiver at their proximity, remembering full well the sting of their whips. Her left knee buckled again and her chains clanked around her as she struggled to heave herself back up into a standing position, her head ringing with alarm as panic erupted throughout her body. 

Without warning, a warm hand closed around her left forearm and steadied her, easing the chain's noise and holding her steady while taking most of the weight off of her knee. Her eyes were wide with both panic and surprise and without thinking about it, she turned her head slightly to see who was holding her arm, her hair tumbling over her shoulder and forcing her to look through the golden strands. The hand that was encircled around her arm was the same one she had studied on the male in front of her, the tendons standing out as he used his all of his strength to keep her upright. She turned her eyes upward by a fraction and met his deep brown dragon's eyes, a question burning behind her gaze as she tried to ask him without speaking why he was helping her. 

The black scales that snaked along his cheekbones caught the rising sun and glittered warmly, making her wonder what hers looked like since she had never seen them. His eyes softened just before they flicked to their right and then quickly back down to the floor, his hand releasing her forearm and nearly causing her to fall as her weight crashed back onto her knee. Her own eyes looked at him for only a second more before going back to her feet, her chains shaking slightly with the rest of her. She then registered the absolute silence that had fallen over the row of slaves and the slavers alike, the absence of the crack of whips and angry voices causing a spike in confusion in her exhaustion-muddled and slow brain. 

Then she heard the breathing. It sounded like over a dozen people were standing in front of her, all only a few feet away. Her eyes flicked off her feet to the ground in front of her and saw the whips curled on the ground like sleeping snakes, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. She looked back to her feet and sent up a silent prayer just before the whips whistled through the air towards her.

Crack! Crack! Snap! Crack! Snap! Crack! 

One after another the slavers drew their whips back and snapped them forward on whatever they could see, not caring if it was scales or skin. She flinched backward after the eighth harsh bite of the whips and all of the slavers cackled, not ceasing their assault.

"You think that you're allowed to look off the ground, peasant?!" The slaver that had yelled at her earlier in the tunnels screamed and she felt flecks of their spit scatter across her right arm, causing disgust to flash through her briefly. "Haven't you learned your lesson?! You are pitiful scum, not deserving of this very sunlight! Your eyes are to always be on the ground, where they belong!"

Crack! Snap!

Tears started to slide free from her eyes, trailing down her face through layers of mud and dust to reveal her scales and smooth, clear skin like that of a rose petal. All of the slavers laughed at her show of emotion but still, no sound escaped her own mouth, her teeth clenched shut and lips sealed tightly together. As if she could say anything anyway, she didn't know how to speak their language; only how to understand it. None of the other slaves made any movement, none of them even daring to even look up at what was going on or who was being subjected to such torture. She squared her shoulders and locked her eyes on the ground, halting the path of her tears and watching as the last one dripped off her chin and caught the sunlight, sparkling before it landed on the ground without so much as a sound. Her mother had asked her to be strong, had begged her to be strong. She had to at least try to be. One-by-one the slavers slowly lost interest in her and walked away, their voices ringing out over the courtyard as they returned to their designated stations, laughing and talking the whole way. Her whole body was trembling with pain and terror, her breathing ragged and coming in spurts.

"You see what happens when you disobey orders?" One shouted, their voice guttural and filled with barely suppressed glee at the thought and feeling of torturing them. "Do not take your eyes off the ground! Do not speak to anyone, ever! Do not stop walking unless told to do so! And never under any circumstances, are you to look anyone in the eyes! Is that clear?!"

Silence pierced her ears as the slaves kept their eyes on the ground and stayed stationary while the slavers slowly stalked back to their positions. 

Crack!

She held back her cry as the only slaver left lashed his whip through the air and brought it down hard along her neck and chest. They snickered before walking away down the left of the line and snapping the whip along the ground in front of several slaves. Blood seeped into her torn shift from her chest as the blood on her arms dripped steadily down her skin, leaving what looked like green tear-tracks. A green droplet dripped off her index finger and pinged on the ground, landing a few inches away from where her tear had. Her whole frame was trembling with the effort to remain standing and in control of her emotions, making the chains sing with loud, abrasive noises.

 A single tear slid free despite her efforts and dripped off her chin, landing on the ground her eyes were never allowed to leave.