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From Badlander to Branded One

Chapter 2

For lightsun168

By Draconicon

The wild dog and hyena left Kero to his own devices after the first brand. Alone in his cell with nothing but the clean fires for company, the dragon was left with nothing but the raw ache of the brand on his chest and the weakness in his limbs.

It was like becoming a child again. Though he knew that he'd grown stronger living in the Badlands, soaking up the ambient power and smog and more that soaked the land and mutated it, he hadn't realized how much he had grown until it was taken from him. Once, Kero possessed the strength to lift boulders from the ground and throw them, tossing rocks as tall as him through the air to take down his foes, at least over short distances. He could kick heads off shoulders in the most literal sense, and he had more than once ripped someone apart with ease using only his bare hands.

Now, those days were behind him. The strength that the Badlands required for survival was sealed behind the mark on his chest.

He stared down at the jagged spiral that cut through his scales, glaring at it and biting back the single tear in his left eye that wanted to come free. He would not weep for the loss of his strength. He would...he would...

Kero closed his eyes, clenching his jaw and his fists tightly until the shudders in his throat and chest faded. He would not cry. They would not see him crack.

So what if they had taken his strength? They had not taken his fighting skills. One way or another, he would find a way to escape Duba, and when he did...

The memory of the wild dog loomed large in his mind, and a tremor ran down his spine despite his best efforts to hold onto his rage. He tried to imagine a better fight, one that favored him, but so complete was his defeat at the hands of the wild dog that he couldn't even conceive of winning. It took all his willpower to imagine escaping the stranger, let alone actually fighting him to a standstill.

How was the dog so strong? All those sigils and brands should have limited him, he was sure of it. How was he so strong when he was marked even more than the soldiers on the wall?

There was no clear answer, and he doubted that he would be given one. As a prisoner, he doubted that they would want him to know anything that might lead to his escape.

And so, he hung there, half-asleep, half-awake, the pain fading over time. When it was dulled enough to allow him to sleep, he dozed, never truly drifting off. A warrior of the Badlands knew better than to allow the world to pass by without being aware of it.

So, when the door clicked hours later, he was awake instantly. He stood up straight, toes pointing into the ground, and glared as it opened.

Chidike passed through, the hyena shaking his head. He shut the door behind him, and this time, there was no sign of the great key that he'd carried before.

"Couldn't sleep?" his captor asked.

"One does not sleep in the care of their enemy."

"You should. Those brands don't settle easily."

"I have adjusted."

"Heh, that'd be - wait. You're...you're not just boasting, are you?"

Kero refused to answer that. Yes, there was still discomfort around the site of the brand, and yes, he was weaker than he liked, but that didn't stop him from feeling like he could fight. He lowered his head, putting on a smile that was slightly larger than he really felt the confidence to wear.

"Shall I show you?"

"..."

"You are afraid of me."

"Anyone would be," Chidike said, shaking his head. "And you nearly kicked me through the wall, so I have double the reason to be afraid."

"And yet, you're still here."

"Let's just say that I have a damn good reason to see you bend and break."

"Hmmph. It will not happen."

"You say that, but Faarax is very good at his job. Very, very good..."

"...What is he?" Kero asked. "He is not one of yours."

"No, he's not. He's a Badlander, like you. A Branded Soldier."

If there was a moment for incredulity, it was then. Faarax? A Branded Soldier? Considering the number of brands on him, Kero could just about believe that the wild dog had been someone from the outside, and he could even believe that the dog had been a Badlander at one point, but a Branded Soldier?

"You're lying."

"Believe whatever you like, but he is. He's on loan from the Walled City of Shura, helping us with some of our soldiers."

"...Helping you."

"Some were faltering. He's here to ensure that they do their job."

A shiver ran down his spine, and he imagined what it would have been like if he had been here without the wild dog to stop him. The other soldiers on the wall might have been sufficient to slow him down, but Kero knew his own strength, and he believed that he might have been able to break through their lines if he'd been alone.

But with Faarax here...

Why would someone that insane be kept as a Branded Soldier, though? Why would anyone trust someone that marked, that obviously sadistic?

For he was different to the soldiers that Kero had seen before. He had more freedom, more personality, and through that, more insanity than any of the others. He should have been one of those chained in the bottom of the Wall, brought out only in cases of dire need when the Wall was at risk of being overrun and the greatest fighters were needed to sweep the foes from the walls. The fact that he had the freedom to move around made him wonder what sort of brands were buried on the dog's flesh.

Chidike interrupted his ruminations by grabbing him around the neck. The hyena's fingers were more brutal this time, or was it merely the fact that the dragon was weaker? It was hard to tell, and he gagged as his captor choked him.

"We're going for a walk. You should see the world within the Wall, if only to understand what makes it worth protecting."

"Nnngh...nothing is worth protecting...the way that you do it."

"It is. You might not understand yet, but it is worth it."

"Then why don't you wear the brands?"

"If you don't break, then I might just have to."

The hyena squeezed his throat for a few more seconds, then released him. He resisted the urge to gasp for breath as his body wanted to, forcing himself to stay quiet instead. He tilted his head back as Chidike pulled a collar out from a pack at his waist, forcing it around his throat and pulling it tight. The shackles were lowered, replaced by wrist-bindings that were chained together, and he was free. As free as he could be, at least, with a collar to lead him by.

"Follow."

"I could break you."

"..." Chidike smiled. "Try."

He did. Kero lunged forward, shoulder-checking the hyena in the chest. Chidike stumbled back, but was already grabbing him, rolling the blow sideways. What would have cracked ribs before barely pushed the air out of the soldier's lungs, and the hyena seemed to know how to handle that.

Kero, however, was still well-trained by the Badlands. Even as Chidike threw him over his shoulder, the dragon was rolling, hitting the ground and spinning back to his feet. He brought his tail up, catching the first kick, but took the second to the guts, stumbling back and wheezing from the blow.

"You're the same as me, now. No more super-strength."

"Mmmph...so you can fight." Kero nodded. "At least you aren't too weak."

"I can take you."

"Try."

The hyena lunged for him next, and he caught him with the chains between his wrists. He spun them together, wrapping the metal in a loop around the hyena's wrist before pulling him forward. Kick, knee to the gut, followed by a toss of his own. He spun, bringing his leg down -

Crack.

And nearly shattered his ankle as he hit the stone floor rather than his captor's stomach. Chidike had already rolled back to his feet, panting and shaking his head.

"Okay...okay, you're still fast. We can deal with that."

"You're faster than I expected, as well."

"Have to be, to stay unbranded."

"Hmmph."

They exchanged several more blows, each one more of a testing exchange than a serious attempt to hurt the other. Each time, Kero learned more about his current weaknesses, finding that he had less power to each blow than he thought and that his grapples no longer were so iron-clad. They could be escaped, they could be slipped through. That was worth knowing, even if he took pain in return.

Then, he made a mistake.

He lunged forward, grabbing for the hyena's shoulders. It was a classic move, something meant to shove the opponent down and slam him into the dragon's knee, the sort of thing meant to break a nose and shatter the enemy's concentration.

There was just one problem. He forgot about his shackles.

His hands rebounded, his strength no longer sufficient to break the chain, and he missed his grab. The hyena, however, did not. His hand went down rather than up, and -

"NNNGH!"

He grabbed Kero by the balls, squeezing tight enough to leave the dragon wheezing, gasping for breath as his stomach threatened to leap right up his throat. The nauseating feeling of pain and pressure down there nearly took him to his knees, and he struggled with shaking legs to stay upright.

"I told you..." Chidike shook his head, rubbing his bloody lip with the back of his free hand. "Told you that I could take you."

"Nnngh..."

"Now...fucking...kneel."

Another squeeze, and the dragon fell, gritting his teeth and hissing through them. It was the first time that someone had gotten in that close, and the first time that he had felt so completely vulnerable. He'd thought that his training could compensate for his lack of strength, but...

But even with his speed, even with all the tricks that he'd learned staying alive in the Badlands, he'd made mistakes. He still fought with the same sort of energy and techniques that he was used to using when he wasn't bound up, which meant that he was going to keep making mistakes. He had to learn. He had to figure this out.

As the hyena attached a leash to his collar, Kero shook his head.

"Why...why did you..."

"Why did I what?"

"Why did you have to capture me?"

"Does it matter?"

"You lied to me over and over again. You told me that there was a choice. You told me that this was worth it. Why did you capture me? And no lies this time."

He looked up at the hyena, glaring at him. His captor shook his head, started to turn, then paused. The hyena tapped his chin, glancing back at him.

"If I tell you, will you be good for this walk?"

"..."

"Or I can just force you to come along, anyway."

"You will tell me, honestly, if I promise?"

"I don't see any reason why not. If it'll keep you quiet, and good, and well-behaved."

"...I promise."

"Okay." Chidike nodded, breathing out slowly. "I captured you...because if I didn't, they would have come for me, instead."

"...What do you mean, come for you?"

"There's never enough soldiers on the Wall. Either we find more soldiers to put up there, or they come for someone that has at least a bit of fighting skill, and the next Tournament is three months out. I'm not losing my freedom. I'm not."

"But mine was fair to take."

"How could it be that different for you? You fought the monsters in the Badlands. Now you do the same thing, just working for us."

There were a hundred differences, a thousand, but he doubted that the hyena would ever see them or admit them. He closed his eyes, shaking his head as he was pulled to his feet.

True to his word, he was quiet and did not fight the leash around his throat as he was pulled from his cell. Naked, branded, restrained, he was led down the narrow corridor to the plaza from the day before, and through it, to the exit on the far side. They avoided the stairs that led up to the wall, and passed instead through the great stone gate that defended the other side from those within the Wall.

As it opened, he was finally able to see what the Walls of Duba protected, and it was impossible.

The world was green and yellow rather than red and black, with pools of blue that stretched into rivers. A city of white and blue stone and white-gold rooftops stretched out before his eyes, each street lined with a canal, each canal dotted with trees the likes of which the Badlands hadn't seen for tens, if not hundreds of years.

He looked to the sky, and saw none of the smoke. The black clouds of the Stacks to the west and the other sources of smog did not breach the tops of the walls, and instead, the sun shone on the people within.

And there were people. Many, many people of varying species, running this way and that. Children shrieked, but without the tone of terror of those that lived outside the walls. They ran, they pushed, they played.

And yet, there was something else to it. Every time that the children started to play in any competitive way, he saw the way that their parents honed in on them. He watched as a pair of cheetahs rolled and play-fought with each other. It was innocent, lighter and nicer than anything that the offspring of the Badlanders would have done with each other, but the moment that one of the cheetahs formed a fist, the parents of both children descended immediately. They pulled the children apart, looking left and right as if they were afraid of having been seen, and hurried on as if they had never interacted at all.

The streets were filled with men and women in garments that flowed like robes, with even the tunics that they wore dropping down to the knees and drifting like water. Bright yellow, vibrant greens, and more colors that were no longer possible outside the Wall dominated the world, and it burned his eyes to see them so powerfully.

"This is what the Wall protects," Chidike said, pulling the leash and dragging him down by one of the canals, the cool air so chilled compared to the outside world. "This is what's worth fighting for."

"Hmmph. And the children?"

"What about them?"

"The cheetahs, just now."

"A price that has to be paid."

Kero gritted his teeth, but kept to his promise to be good and quiet. If there was more to learn, he imagined that he'd be told eventually, or he could weasel it out of the hyena when there was less honor to be lost. For now, he would just follow along.

He did his best not to allow his shame at being kept naked to affect him, but there was only so much that he could do as he walked the streets of Duba with nothing to cover him, not a stitch to hide him. His shaft swung back and forth between his legs with abandon, slapping his thighs and reminding him of what everyone else would be made to look at. His modesty meant nothing to the hyena, nor to anyone else.

For that matter, with a leash and collar around his neck, the same people that ran in fear from him the day before looked at him as if he were some curiosity, an attraction to be studied. He tried not to meet anyone's eyes, but he could feel them all over him. It was both humiliating and depressing.

They followed the canal for a half-mile before Chidike came to a sudden stop. Kero almost ran into him, only to be pushed back. He growled in response, only for the hyena to look at him with genuine fear.

"Kneel," Chidike said.

"What -"

"You promised to be good. Kneel!"

If he had been any angrier, or more secure in his situation, he might have chosen to force the issue. Instead, he went with it, kneeling and putting his knee to the stone below him.

No sooner had he done so than a figure walked around the corner of the street, a great wolf that loomed taller by a head than Chidike did. The gray-furred canine looked older than the hyena, too, at least a decade more, and his gray fur was streaked with silver across his muzzle and back between his ears. One eye had gone slightly lazy, while the other was as sharp as any blade.

Caught in a maelstrom of gold and purple, the wolf stopped and let his clothes come to a halt, resting in layers over him before turning to the hyena properly. Chidike had his head lowered already in a standing bow.

"Great One."

"Hmm. Officer Chidike, of the Spotted Pack?"

"Yes, Great One," the hyena said.

"And this is your...prize."

There was such disdain in the wolf's voice that Kero had to fight the urge to growl in return. He managed to lower his head, instead, feigning a respect that seemed to work. The wolf turned his head back to the hyena.

"Hmmm, so you avoid your responsibilities once again, hyena. It is the Spotted Pack's turn to offer up soldiers to the Wall."

"That responsibility can be fulfilled several ways, Great One."

"Yes, and it is once again your choice to hunt others for it rather than offering your own people."

"It is a choice that was made above me, Great One."

"Hmmm, was it? Or did you offer this solution?"

"It is not for me to say, Great One. I - I merely -"

"Coward."

"..."

"Heh. But you had best see to your charge. He is not broken, not yet, and I would so hate to see you brought up to the Wall yourself, marked and bound for service as he should be. I would say that it would be a loss, but we both know it would be hardly noticed."

"..."

"On your way, Officer."

"Yes, Great One."

And with that, the leash was taken up once more, and they moved. They moved quite quickly after that, and in the other direction, right back to the cell.

As Chidike hung him from the ceiling once more, Kero considered his word fulfilled. He looked the hyena in the eye.

"What was that?"

"What was what?" Chidike grunted.

"Everything. Him. The Spotted Pack. Everything."

"Why do you care?"

"I know nothing. Clearly. I want to know what is happening to me, and around me, and...everything."

"...Hmmph. I suppose I can finish answering your question, then." Securing the shackles, the hyena leaned back, resting his back against the wall. "Duba is defended by Branded Soldiers. Everyone knows that. But those soldiers can come from those outside the walls...or those within it. If we can't find our numbers with prisoners from outside the walls, then someone else has to make up for it.

"The heads of the great packs of Duba are responsible for its defenses, and they can contribute with money, with weapons, or with people. The Spotted Pack, my pack, is too poor to afford to give money, and we have no great weapons."

"So, you sell slaves to fight for you."

"My pack is powerful enough, Badlander. Don't forget who won in a fair fight."

"...This is...true." He nodded. "Then who was that?"

"The head of the Gray Pack, and the one that decided that it was my pack's turn to start 'doing its share.'" Chidike growled. "Half the men on the Wall come from the Spotted Pack, either from our people or from the prisoners we take from the Badlands. We've done our part, and then some."

"He wants you humiliated."

"The Gray Pack wants everyone to contribute but themselves. They haven't for years. But they're the ones that helped found Duba, so no-one cares. They're the ones with the connections to help keep it running, and they hold the water supply, so nobody will question them. Nobody will help anybody." The hyena shook his head. "And I won't let him have the satisfaction of throwing me on the Wall."

"Why would he care about you?"

"We're getting off the topic. And you...you're more curious than any Branded Soldier needs to be. Best you learn to just take orders."

"Grrrr..."

"And here I thought you were actually starting to learn your place." The hyena grumbled, shaking his head. "So much for that..."

The door clicked, the lock turning with a thump. They both turned as the door opened, revealing the wild dog. Chidike flinched and Kero barely kept from wincing as Faarax stepped inside, carrying with him another of the branding irons.

"Told that the prisoner recovered. Time to keep going. Time to bind him again," the wild dog all but cackled.

"I'll never understand how you enjoy that so much..."

"Not up to you to understand. Just let me work."

Shaking his head, the hyena stepped away from the restrained dragon. He knocked on the door, and unseen guards unlocked it, allowing him to leave. Clearly, they weren't trusting anyone in the cell with the key anymore.

Once they were alone, it was all the more intimidating looking at the wild dog. Even though Faarax had his back to the dragon, there was no mistaking all those rune-marks and sigils and brands that covered him everywhere that was exposed. It was painful to imagine so many burning marks being applied, and he shivered as he imagined bearing so many himself.

"...Why are you helping them?" Kero managed to ask.

"Hmm? Me? You talk to me, prisoner?"

"Yes, you. You're the only one here."

"Heh, nobody talks. Nobody wants to hear me talk."

"I..."

He didn't want to hear Faarax. He didn't want to hear the dog at all. The high, whining, grinding voice that he had, always on the verge of going into something like a sing-song, sent shivers down his spine and made him want to snarl and gnash his teeth all at once. It was a sound that he'd thankfully clear out of his head forever if he could.

But it was the only way for him to have a chance to get out of this. He clenched his hands into fists once more, trying to calm himself. Fury? Fear? Both roared through him, and he was only thankful that he was as angry as he was afraid.

"I want to know why you're helping them."

"This? This is what I do. I break people."

"Did you always break people? Did you break people out there?"

"Broke many things. Broke many people. Broke - ah. Ah. Ah!"

The wild dog slumped forward, gritting his teeth and pressing his hand to his head. Kero watched as the dog's fingers curled, claws pressing against flesh. They scraped against the brands, almost cutting through it, but something kept him from cutting his own flesh open. Something restrained him.

Eventually, the moment passed, and Faarax stood up straight once more. He breathed slowly, chuckling.

"Naughty naughty prisoner, making me think naughty naughty thoughts."

"How? What did I do?"

"You made me think..." He shook his head. "Can't talk, won't talk, won't talk. Oh, bad things to talk..."

Whatever bound the dog to obey had clearly done something else to him, something that had hurt him just thinking of the past. He didn't understand, but before he could ask, the wild dog turned to one of the clean fires, shoving the branding iron into the flames.

"Not talking. Not talking about that. No, no, not talking about that. No talking about that..."

Whatever it was, it had clearly done something to Faarax's head. It was a weakness, perhaps, something that he might be able to use against the wild dog if they ended up fighting again.

But even if it was a weakness that he could exploit, all it took was one thought of how the wild dog had beaten him so badly when they were still debatably equal in strength for him to forget that thought. He had already lost when he was far stronger than he was now, and even if he came with all his skills, every trick that he had ever learned, with a weapon while the dog was unarmed, he doubted that he could win. Even now, with that little secret, he felt like he would just be testing his luck, teasing the dog to take him down even harder.

He sagged in the chains, shaking his head. Was there any hope? Chidike had every reason to keep him here, the hyena saving his own skin by sacrificing someone else, while Faarax might have once helped him, but the Badlander had been broken in, shattered by all the brands that covered him from head to toe. If there was any honor left in him, then it was splintered and shattered to such a degree that he doubted that the dog could ever recover.

"What will this one do?" Kero asked.

"The brand? Heh...you will hate it."

"Mmph. I already do."

"You will hate this one more. Soldiers have to be controlled. No temptations. No rewards without being allowed."

"Hmmph. What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means, no pleasure."

"...No, no, you can't -"

"It means, no pleasure for you. For us. For anyone."

Faarax pulled the front of his trousers down, revealing yet more shaved flesh. Right there, right over his shaft, was a sigil that had been burned in just barely above his cock. Kero stared with mouth agape.

"Keeps you soft. Keeps you down. No distraction, no relief. Not without permission."

"..."

"Obey or ache. Obey or ache, that's all you get."

The brand came free of the fire. This one had a shape that was more distinct than the one at his chest. It was shaped like a lock, one that was sealed closed and burned painfully bright to his eyes. The wild dog stepped closer and closer, and the heat and what it signified terrified him.

They were taking more than his strength. They were taking his manhood from him. With every brand, they were going to take more of his choices and his independence from him. Every new brand would strip him of some other choice, taking away what he could do without being told to do it. Where would it stop? How little freedom would he have left when they were done marking him?

"No! NO! Stay away!"

He tried to swing his tail, but Faarax caught it effortlessly. The wild dog moved closer, and then -

Hsssss!

Kero screamed as the brand burned into him, searing into his crotch right over his shaft. He could feel the darkening scales, the soft yellow-cream turning red, almost black as the pressure increased, driving the hot metal against him, searing the symbol so far into him that he swore it was going right into his soul.

Then, it pulled back. The soft crack of scales snapping, pulling loose, coming off almost left him teary-eyed, and he sagged against the chains.

"Another done. One a day. Soon. Soon, another."

"You can't..."

"I am the Breaker. Faarax the Breaker. I break things. I break - no, no. Hss. Can't...can't..."

The wild dog turned away, growling and gripping his head with both hands. He dropped the hot iron, shaking his head as he pulled his pants back up, but Kero couldn't get the air or the courage to say anything. Whatever was happening with his torturer, there was nothing that he could do to take advantage of it.

Instead, he looked down at his groin, staring at the burning brand that was already losing the glow and becoming just one more mark. It was already working, too. He could feel that low-tension that every male was familiar with fading away, replaced with something that was so relaxed that it was almost numb. He could barely feel his cock between his legs, and it was as if one more thing had been taken from him, one more piece of his freedom removed to make him a better soldier.

"Rrrr..."

"Nngh...nngh? Angry?" Faarax turned, looking at him again. "Angry? The prisoner is angry?"

"You stole...you stole it from me...of course..." He gritted his teeth through the pain. "Of course I'm angry."

"Heh...hehehe..."

"What...is so...funny?"

The laughter stopped as soon as it started, and the wild dog grabbed him by the jaw, squeezing so hard that it almost broke. Kero grunted as the torturer pulled him close.

"Nothing's funny. Nothing. Never funny."

"..."

"Never."

"Never funny."

"Good. Good...good..."

As the wild dog let him go, he wondered what that was about...and worse, what would happen next.

The End

Summary: The torment of the first day continues into the second, and Kero learns what is hidden behind the Walls.

Tags: M/solo, Humiliation, Nudity, Exhibitionism, Dragon, Hyena, Wolf, Dog, Bondage, Torture, Series, Branding, Pain, Fighting, Chastity,