Enslaved

Chapter 9

She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned slowly, being careful of the shackles that were still around her neck and came face to face the male who had stood in front of her for most of her life. A grin cracked through her filthy and aching face just as his face broke into a smile at the same time and he wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. She just held the male that had steadied her during that day out in the sun and breathed in the scent of the wind off the mountains until she heard footsteps approaching them and she felt herself tense ever so slightly. She cracked open her eyes and locked gazes with the black eyes she had seen while flying through the mountain pass, this time seeing his whole face. She felt the smile melt off her face as she stared at him, watching as surprise flitted across his face before his eyes changed again. She felt something stir in her chest and she barely resisted the urge to frown. What was happening?

He was beautifully, heart-wrenchingly handsome, with wings that just peeked above his shoulders and reached the tip of his head that had a mess of hair so black that it seemed to suck in the light around it. With a blink of surprise, she noted that his wings were the same size as hers except they matched his tall build and muscular frame, whereas on her they looked like they had been taken off someone else and glued to her tiny, rail-thin frame haphazardly. The male she was hugging pulled away and stepped back, breaking her view of the black-eyed male who had not broken eye contact with her since she opened her eyes. She blinked as if coming out of a trance and looked up at the male who's light brown eyes were filled with a haunted kind of happiness. She forced her face into a pleasant expression, hoping he couldn't see through it.

"You're okay!" He exclaimed, his voice full of an actual seemingly tangible happiness and relief. "I'm so glad to see you made it. My name is Valik."

She gave him a small smile she hoped reached her eyes that pulled at the whip mark on her neck and brushed a strand of her long, golden hair out of her eyes, trying to ignore the fire of the wound.

"Valik." Her voice was rusty and cracked on just his name from not being used for most of her life, her Draconic sloppy from disuse. Her mother would be disappointed. "Thank you. For today, and what you did. My name is Kaida."

Valik's eyes shuddered at her raspy voice but they quickly brightened again when he heard her name.

"Kaida! Little dragon- I love it." He rubbed the back of his head as his wings shuffled against his back as if he were nervous. "We're friends, right?"

Kaida nodded, a true smile erupting her face and pulling a flicker of pain from the harsh line the whip had cracked along her skin. She opened her mouth to say something else when Valik looked over his shoulder quickly and moved to the right, allowing that black-eyed male to take a step forward so he was in front of her but slightly to the left. She blinked at him as he extended a hand towards her, his wings shuffling on his back slightly and she realized with surprise that his eyes weren't actually black, but a green so dark they looked black from a distance. His slightly different-colored armor was caked in the red blood of humans and she winced, not raising her hand. She couldn't touch their blood, she wouldn't no matter what he was offering her.

"I couldn't help but overhear your name, Miss Kaida." His voice and Draconic were rich and smooth, completely at odds with his muscular build. "My name is Ryuu. I'm the leader of this camp and the rebellion."

Kaida blinked again, processing this new information before her thoughts landed on something else he had said. She continued to ignore his outstretched hand, not quite knowing what he wanted from her.

"You don't have to call me Miss." She said quietly, watching as his eyes widened slightly. "Kaida is fine."

Ryuu's face broke into a grin and he moved the hand that she had not taken to his waist to give a slight bow before straightening up again and adjusting his filthy armor.

"Alright then, Kaida." His smile grew before his eyes flicked to her neck and they turned mutinous for a second before returning to her face. "I'll send a healer over to get rid of those shackles and help with your injuries. If you would excuse me."

He gave her a close-lipped smile before turning and walking away from them a little raggedly, like he didn't want to leave, his head turning this way and that as he searched for a healer. She looked back up to Valik and saw that his eyes were clouded as they looked back down at her.

"How did you get captured?" Kaida asked him, her voice curiously void of any emotion whatsoever as she thought about the interaction she just had. "You weren't there with me from the beginning."

Valik's eyes shuddered but cleared of those clouds that had plagued them. She wondered what he had been thinking about.

"How long were you there?"

"I was born there."

"You wer- what?"

Kaida nodded, her eyes still empty as Valik's own eyes grew cold.

"Oh Kaida, I'm so sorry." Kaida just shook her head as Valik apologized. "I got captured when they burned down my village a little bit after my fourth birthday. I've been, well, I was there until now."

Kaida nodded again and opened her mouth to reply when a tall, reedy looking woman wheedled her way in between the two, holding aloft a box that jingled when it moved.

"My dear, please let me get those chains off of you." Her voice was brisk but not cold, more like a mother who was worried about her child and Kaida's heart panged at that. "My name is Vivia and I'm one of the camp healers. That nasty slice down your neck and chest needs attention, too."

As she talked, she opened the box and pulled out a long thin metal strip that had a slight curve at the end along with another tool that seemed to have a switch on it. Kaida's eyes went down to the box and noted the bandages and ointment laying on the bottom before looking back up to Vivia and slowly nodding her head. She turned back to Valik and noted that his own neck was bandaged as her senses registered the smell of the ointment on his wings around the places where the bands had held them shut for years. The woman's cold fingers touched her neck feather-light and seemed to dance along her skin until she found the minuscule lock that held the metal band together on the right side of her neck near the back.

Kaida shivered at her cold fingers and resisted the urge to bolt away just as the sound of metal scraping sounded in her ears. She looked up at Valik and he gave her a look of encouragement, noticing the anxiety in her eyes. Her fingers started shaking as the woman's hand continued to work around her neck and she felt the air start to constrict in her lungs. She started hyperventilating slightly just as her whole frame joined in the trembling and she barely felt the woman take a step back and the lukewarm air that kissed the inflamed and burning skin around her neck. She looked back at Valik without seeing him before the world seemed to fold in around her and her knees buckled, her mind going blank as she fell towards the dirt.