The Lost Boy II - For the love of a dragon

06 - The snowflake

He had lost track on time. Several days must had elapsed. He was sure of it, but how many ? Joke couldn't say as his cell had no opening on the outside, he couldn't see when the sun was rising and setting.

He was alone, almost always kept in the dark. He could hear some prisoners speaking in the neighbor cells, but he never saw them as his had no bars, but walls. He had learnt he was locked where all the new slaves were kept before they had been 'trained'.

The only moments Joke was pulled out of his hole was to go to the Square. The jailor was still coming back and trying to make him obey, but Joke was still fighting. He refused to obey, and even more to give the jailor the satisfaction of screaming under the hits.

Weirdly, Joke had the impression to getting used to it, not feel them anymore, as if his back was getting numb. The other prisoners were getting less noisy too, as if they were getting used to the show, as if it was getting boring. And Joke still refused to obey, he even refused to talk.

He was walking by rote when he was dragged to the Square, and back to his cell. He wasn't counting the goings and comings anymore, he was slowly shuting himself from the rest of the world, as if his brain was shuting down and was entering in a waiting mode. He was doing so, actually, somehow. He was waiting for the dragon riders to rescue him.

Joke hadn't lost hope to see his friends come, he refused to loose hope. And that was why he refused to obey, no matter how many times he was beaten. He even proved an incredible insolence one day : as the jailor was about to give him the order to kneel, the boy had placed himself against the pole, lifting his tunic in a clear sign of 'Beat me, I don't care.' And, obviously, he had been beaten.

He could bare the pain. Loneliness, it was already a bit more difficult. But what he really couldn't stand was the fear. So he was chasing it away with hope.

He kept on waiting, and he was getting used to the wait. Slowly, he was getting used to this new life.

One day, the door of his cell was opened. Like everytime, he let his heart pounding with hope, lifted his head to check out who was there, but found the jailor. Yet, like every time, he didn't let sorrow sink into him and just went back to the wait. He didn't fight and let the man drag him in the corridors, not even noticing it was not the usual path they were taking.

He found himself standing in the middle of a room he didn't know. His brain started to notice something was wrong as the ground was actually soft. Joke looked downward and noticed with surprise he was actually standing on a fur. He lifted his head and looked at the room.

It was not the Square. It looked like a bedroom. Jack tensed up without controling it, a new worry made him shiver, it was the first he got scared since he had entered this waiting-mode. His brain bustled about and his heart beat faster with anxiety. What was he doing here ? Why wasn't he at the Square, like all the other times ?

When the door closed behind him, he started but forced his body to stay still, then he heard footsteps coming towards him. Joke stayed frozen as he could feel the man's presence just next to him, too close for it to be comfortable.

The man was almost against his right arm, while his voice spoke just above his ear.

''You really are brave, I have to admit it. Noone has ever hold on as long as you did, and you still had not obeyed the first order.

Joke hated this closeness. The jailor was invading his personal space and was speaking so low his tone was almost sensual. He tried not to swallow hard and slightly turned his head on the left, not wanting to look at him.

''You've been here for weeks now, and you still haven't obeyed the first order. Though it's the most simple of all : kneel. Just kneel.''

The end of his sentence was nothing more than a whisper, and Joke tensed up feeling the man's breath on his ear. He was too close !