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Servant

Part 1

There it is! -Mervyn thought. Kroden -well at least what’s left of it. The destroyed town nobody dared to talk about. If the counts and kings had it their way there would be no one to even know about this place. But its existence is obvious. When traveling down the road from the Capital to the town at the coast you’ll come past a path which splits away from the main road. Looking into the general direction you’ll see it: Kroden -the town that has been burned to the ground -from one night over the other- some long time ago. The town’s walls seem to be stable but the destruction within is still visible -caused by the few structures which are high enough to reach above the walls. Structures as burned trees, which still haven’t grown back their leaves, a few buildings with the roof or top levels collapsed and the remains of the town’s chapel. It used to be so big you could see it reach above the West Weald if you’d’ve stood in the right angle. But the main tower broke off during whatever the hell happened here. Nobody knows what happened here! Mervyn has spent days asking citizens and travelers but nobody seems to know anything. Strangely enough, when he asked a guard or someone with a higher position such as a court’s servant from the countess they always denied the town’s existence. Especially when asking the guards, he felt like he was being lied to. Like they were forbidden to tell anything about this place. He thought that they would do that to keep raiders out or bandits who were known to settle down in forsaken forts and buildings.

It has taken him weeks of inquiring until a sorcerer of some king somewhere way out in the East, where he used to live, was so friendly and secretly had a letter sent to him which read that this place, Kroden, is not to be talked about in any way and that it would slumber between the Gold Coast and the West Weald approximately at the height of the Colovian Highland. It also expressively said that no one should dare to enter this place on any occasion. When he was heading towards the old town he repeatedly met travelers who warned him about the Colovian Highland. It would be full of dragons and the West Weald was often where they would go hunting. But that was probably another rumor set in to keep people from discovering Kroden. However the regions more towards the west were darkly rumored in general. Entire clans of dragons in the highlandands mountains, packs of kobolds -and more dragons- in the wealds and bandit groups -and even more dragons- at the Gold Coast; and sometimes they would all come in fight with each other. Maybe something of that is in relation with what happened to the town. Now where he has discovered Kroden’s remains he surely would be in the middle from all that drama. But he refused to believe it until he saw it himself.

But if it’s true, a human wouldn’t be welcome… or welcome in a different matter. Welcome as prey or another thrall.

Screw that, I ain’t bailing! -Mervyn thought to himself. The reasons he has come all the way to this lost town in the first place were pretty different from each other. On the one hand he wanted to find treasure and wealth but on the other hand he wanted to find out what on earth happened here. The kings are hiding something…

In addition, this place would also be a neat spot to settle down. Mervyn has thought about, instead of taking place somewhere in the human society, he could go down into the wildlife and sort of become part of it. Be a free man for once. He read about it in some books in his youth and became obsessed with the thought of not having to stick to all those restrictions no more and not having to work until he’d drop dead. He’d rather listen to mother nature than some dull kings. For his trip he even packed in some survival guides from people who have played that game and made it out alive. He ignored the fact that every book said at the beginning that settling into the nature all among predators and beasts would be nothing to recommend to anybody. Humans were group-animals and being in the wildlife alone would therefore be difficult.

Having spent multiple minutes staring at the outside walls and structures on the hill the town lay he finally decided to move in. He better gets going now, the sun was already setting and made the sky look orange. He felt uneasy before but now heading straight towards the ghostly dead town he felt more anxious with every step he took. He was constantly looking around, checking the skies, watching his back and avoiding stepping near any bushes because something could leap out of it anytime…

He would have preferred it if he would’ve been able to get to the main gate of the town without having to use the main path which lead to it. But the hill on which the town was built on was too steep. With all the things he was carrying with him in his knapsack there would be no way he could somehow get up there.

The path itself was also precipitous. He felt the muscles of his thighs begin to hurt after some while as he stepped up the old cobble stones that were overgrown from weed at some points. It was obvious that for a long time no human being has lain a hand on this place. It seemed like that this place someday might become so overgrown it would turn into a part of nature. Eventually covered in trees, grass and bushed that it would leave the town hardly visible. All those thoughts rushed through his head as he got closer to the lost town.

After some while of exhausting wandering he eventually got the plaza in front of the main-city-gate of the town. It was usual for a town to have multiple city gates but Kroden for some reason only had one. And it probably was tightly sealed, despite the town being destroyed. The entire town probably has been locked away from the public. Mervyn, of course, was so providently and brought a few essentials with him that should somehow allow him a way in. From some lock picks, to get the gate unlocked, to a crowbar, to pry it open,

-and if nothing works a climbing rope to get over the walls easier.

As he got closer to the plaza he noticed some barriers. He knew those barriers, they were commonly used by the knight’s armies during conquering battles. Those must have remained from back when they tried to retake the town. Whatever has destroyed Kroden must have stayed inside afterwards and prevented the knights from reconquering it… Maybe it is still inside? Mervyn shuddered by the thought. But it didn’t quench his curiosity. Once inside he’d surely be able to make his way out again if he had to. But to get in there in the first place was the real matter now.

Mervyn inspected the gate. To test if it was locked he pressed himself against each of the doors. He didn’t expect anything to happen, it would be a given that they were tightly locked.

He almost flinched when he suddenly felt one of the doors move as he pressed. With widened eyes he stopped for a moment. Then he continued, pressing the giant door open with much effort, barely enough for him to fit through. He felt unpleasantly surprised that the doors weren’t even locked.

Just as he reached the other side he was astonished from the sight. Or more… shocked. The destroyed and burned buildings were clearly visible, not overgrown in plants like he had expected. In fact, there were barely any green plants in here! Almost everything was dark and black from the burns.

The main path which led through the gate would continue inside the town. But it was cut off. The top of the chapels tower, which has broken away was laying right on the street! Right in the middle! -Blocking it off entirely.

The buildings may were all destroyed but there was one on the left which was actually looking enterable. Well, almost all walls were missing and the roof was gone but the first and second floor weren’t entirely covered in remains and looked stable.

Since it was getting darker with the setting sun he thought it would be high time to set up some kind of shelter. Only a provisionally one, he would get past the chapel’s tower to completely settle down deeper in the town in the next day.

Before he moved away from the gate he discovered some various essentials lay at the wall around which were apparently made to lock the gate from the inside. But their appearance didn’t quite fit with the rest of this sinister place. They looked almost clean, undamaged. The good condition of the objects filled Mervyn with worry. Maybe there was someone in here? And those were used to keep intruders out?

Nah! Mervyn thought to himself to calm himself down. If someone would want to keep people out they would have attached those locks and wouldn’t have them lay around.

Despite being convinced that no one was here, he still felt very uneasy…

Without wasting any more time he executed his plan in using the okay-seeming house on the side as a shelter for the knight. Just after having climbed in the first floor he went for the only corner formed by the only two remaining walls. The second floor was some kind of roof over it so it would do as a place to stay the night. He could even overlook the gate from there.

He quickly dropped his heavy knapsack off. The objects inside made a dull sound as they hit the wooden floor. Mervyn sat down and pulled out a rolled-up bedroll he stuffed in, unintentionally pulling out various other things he has packed. By only pulling out the bedroll he almost emptied the entire knapsack. All kind of objects he has packed were laying on the floor. Food, some bottles and some tools including the rope he packed for climbing. He was too tired and exhausted from the long arrival travel to put those stuff back in. He used his last bits of energy to spread out the bedroll and make himself comfortable on it.

One more thing! -he pulled the short sword from his belt and placed it right next to his improvised bed, just in case. It sure made him feel safer.

He thought about packing out the survival guide and read in it once more like he usually did before going to sleep, but he decided that he was too tired to do that.

As he lay down on the bedroll he quickly shut his eyes, stretched his limbs and let out a sigh of relief. But the longer he was down there the more he felt the comfortableness slip away. He eventually opened his eyes again, nervously looking around.

The darker it got the more nervous he became. The fact that he still didn’t know what on earth has wiped out this entire town made him uneasy. For many minutes he just lay there with his eyes widely opened staring around the destructed interior and the gate he could barely make out in the darkness.

The tiredness got better of him and he eventually entered sleep.

Mervyn awoke to the sound of bird singing. Well, quite distant bird singing since there were barely any trees in this messed-up town. He hasn’t bothered to open his eyes yet, he just lay there listening to the peaceful sounds of the ambience. He relaxed to the winds rattling what’s left of the trees, the birds singing far far away and the sound of … heavy slow breathing coming from right next to him!?

Mervyn quickly ripped his eyes opened as he noticed the unfamiliar odd noise.

He shrieked loudly as he spotted a dragon watching him, sitting back on its haunches just a few feet away from him. The orange scales with light-grey ventral scales immediately caught his eye. The beast was huge. It even had to keep its wings tight to its back so they wouldn’t graze the ceiling.

It was just sitting there and stared at him, watching everything he was doing.

Mervyn quickly tried to get up but resulted in twisting around and awkwardly rolling to his front. He couldn’t move his limbs for some reason. To find out what is preventing from moving him he tilted his head down to discover that he was wrapped in a rope -in his climbing rope he packed with him! He shrieked again. That bastard! -He thought. He had no idea how, but that dragon somehow tied the climbing rope around him while he was asleep. It even tied the ends to a knot. And now he couldn’t move at all!

Mervyn quickly began to panic with that dragon around and not being able to defend himself. He tried to move around, to somehow squeeze his limbs out of the rope but it was too tight. Despite pulling all body parts he could control he didn’t even move out of the rope an inch.

Realizing how hopelessly trapped he was he gave up trying after some time. His body eventually came to a rest. But his heart was still pumping like crazy in adrenaline.

Mervyn glared back up to the dragon in shock.

It still was just sitting there -but now drawing a seemingly evil smirk in addition. A grin so wide it bared many of the sharp teeth. That dragon seemed to be entertained by watching him fail to free himself.

This dragon must find this funny! Mervyn continued trying to get out of the rope, still showing little result. He stopped as he heard the dragon emit a pleased purring sound, as its grin intensified. It dug its claws into the wooden floor and twitched around with its tail. It obviously found pleasure in the helpless human not being able to free himself and must be thinking of ways to exploit it. He felt terrified about that the dragon would abuse its power for mere entertainment by making the weak struggle. A usual dragon would have immediately attacked him or forced him to submit -according to the survival guide. But this one wanted to see him suffer and despair.

It must have seen the opportunity with the rope laying there and took it. This treacherous son of a… He just shouldn’t have packed this silly rope with him. Then he wouldn’t be in this mess. He probably would be dead but he wouldn’t be tied up by a sadistic dragon. Words like those rushed through his mind as he failed to get himself out of the rope.

Mervyn soon gave up all tries to move. He remembered that the survival guide he read said that if you should happen to be completely hopelessly trapped then the only thing to do is to stay as calm as possible and move as less as possible -instead of constantly trying to free yourself- so your body will stay active for as long as possible which increases the chance of being eventually found and rescued. But this situation was different. Way different. There was no hope of being rescued. Even if somebody should happen to come by… even if it would be a knight -which is very unlikely itself in this place- even then he wouldn’t have a chance to do something- against that dragon. It looked strong, muscular. Stronger than other dragons. And Mervyn was in its control… All he could hope for is that this dragon would eventually release him -or make him die a quick and painless death.

Mervyn stared back up to the dragon in horror. It was nervously twitching with its tail even more as its breaths became uneven in addition. He felt an alarming feeling of anxiety as he could do nothing but wait for the dragon to do something to him. But it was just sitting there on its haunches, watching him struggle. Probably even fantasizing about the many different ways it could take advantage of his hopeless situation.

The dragon suddenly got up from its haunches. It positioned itself right over the tied-up human, looming its enormous body right above him. The forelegs were each on the sides next to his him. Mervyn found the gigantic claws right next to his head. To not give the dragon what it wanted he tried his best to hold his fear back.

The dragon began to lower its head, focusing on his eyes. Soon its head was right in front of him. Mervyn still tried to hide his fear as best he could, as his fright would get the dragon even more going. But it felt so scary, looking the scaly beast directly in the eye. Having those sharp teeth so close to him he even could make out old stains of blood on them. And that gaze it had. It was lurking at him. Looking at him in desire. It probably wanted to see every detail of horror in his face. This beast must have intended to make him more scared by bringing the enormous head closer to him!

From its grin suddenly the maw opened, as it would be preparing to speak.

“Just look at you” the dragon said after a short moment. The deep threatening-sounding voice sent chills down his spine. As he felt one of the dragons paws gently caress the side of his face he flinched almost shrieking again. He wasn’t only frightened by the dragon touching him, he felt extremely awkward about being stroked so gently by such a scary-looking beast.

“Suddenly you’re not so fearless anymore now, huh?” it added as it noticed how taken up Mervyn was. “You so-called “adventurers” and your thrill-seeking urges…”

Mervyn held his breath from all the tense he was feeling as he found the dragon’s claw move from his face to the area of his throat. He couldn’t prevent to whimper a little as he felt his throat being softly grasped.

The dragon wasn’t choking him -yet. But having this mighty claw at this sensitive spot, without being able to remove it, made Mervyn feel so anxious it almost made him panic. Again, he tried to rip his arms out of the rope. He didn’t know if the dragon was going to tighten the grasp at his throat but he was expecting the worst. He tried to hide his horror as best he could, to avoid arousing the dragon even more, but he couldn’t prevent himself from heavily breathing in fear and having his eyes constantly ripped open in an expression of fright and concern as he stared up to the beast.

“So, tell me, human” the dragon spoke. “What were your intentions of coming here?” it asked as it slipped the claw a little more upward, grasping it more and having the claw even reach to his neck.

It took Mervyn a little until his mind began to process the question in this distressful situation. He knew what the dragon meant, yet he wasn’t sure at all what he should answer. He ended up just responding with a terrified glare.

“Answer!” the dragon shouted as it began to tighten the grasp, beginning to restrict the air.

Mervyn felt absolute terror. He tilted his head aside and tried to move his arms as best he could but nothing seemed to help. In panic he began to breath for air so heavily his belly was moving up and down -at least as far up the tight ropes allowed. And that wasn’t much. With his throat being pressed shut a little bit slightly restricting every single one of his breaths he panted so badly that every breath of his carried a tone of his voice in it.

Mervyn’s mind went wild. He had to answer that question! But he couldn’t think clearly.

The grasp around his throat was not fully preventing him from getting air, it just restricted it a bit. But that feeling not being able to fully breath was feeling so horrifying.

“I’m not going to ask you again” the dragon growled at him, sounding slightly annoyed about not receiving an answer despite having asked two times.

Mervyn tried to calm his mind down to think of something he could say. Something that wouldn’t cause the dragon to be even more upset with him.

“I just needed a shelter!” he cried out in a pitiful tone. Still having his head aside. Tears started to drop out of his eyes as he couldn’t emotionally stand this breathing torture anymore.

He just exclaimed the first thing that came to his mind when thinking about why someone could’ve come here.

“A shelter?” the dragon responded with a fearsome tone. “You are telling me that you came here, into my territory, just for a place to hit the hay?” it inquired. Mervyn responded by slightly whimpering. Inwardly, he instantly regretted having used that shelter thing as an excuse.

“Maybe it is not a shelter but an undertaker you need when I’m done with you”

Mervyn felt the grasp around his throat tighten even more. He shrieked in pain and tilted his head away even further. He felt the ropes limit his movements of his limbs again. The air he got was barely enough to keep his circulatory system going in this stressed state, he began to feel dizzy.

He couldn’t hold himself back from slightly sobbing within his attempts to get as much air as possible.

“Sheesh, if only you would’ve brought a second rope. I would strangle you with it” the dragon spoke in enjoyment as it watched the little human suffer. Mervyn did all sort of movements under the tight grip and ropes to try and get himself free but his attempts were all for nothing.

“Perhaps there is something else you want to tell me?” the dragon asked after some while of tormenting as it stopped choking him, allowing him to say something again. It removed the claw from his throat and grabbed his chin instead, pushing it up and forcing him to directly face the dragon, instead of tilting his head away.

Some time has passed in which Mervyn just glared up to the dragon. Not being choked anymore gave him some more clearance in his mind to think of a better answer. This time he didn’t insist on using a lie as an excuse, he thought about telling the truth.

“I…I wanted to get away” he said between his heavy panting.

The dragon tilted its head in interest. “Go on”

“It’s those kings. All I want is to be free from being restricted and controlled…” he added, looking down. His motivation seemed so clear to him before but now he had no idea how he should explain it.

“How ironic” the dragon said while chuckling and looking the tightly bound ropes over, drawing this creepy smirk again and placing the claw back at his throat.

“What is your name” it then suddenly asked. Mervyn was surprised by the change of matter.

“My name…?” he quietly replied in disbelief.

“Yes, your name, human. I trust your fragile mind can handle telling me your name”

“I’m Mervyn…” he forced himself to answer in fear of being choked again. “Mervyn, huh?” the dragon repeated. It felt weird for him having his name said by such an intimidating creature.

“Well Mervyn. If you want to have hope of being free once again you must deserve it. And it is not going to be easy” the dragon explained. Mervyn felt relieved that there is a way out of his current situation. A way out which wouldn’t result in him being killed.

The dragon suddenly let go of Mervyn’s chin.

“I will explain the details to you later. You will be very useful… But for now, you surely want to get out of your rope, don’t you?”

Mervyn instantly nodded his head.

“Maybe I can help...” the dragon suddenly reached behind with its claw “…with this?” it added, grasping a sword within its claw.

That son of a ***** has my sword! -Mervyn thought. The dragon held the sword he took with him right in front of his face, giving him that evil grin in addition.

Suddenly it lowered its claw with the sword, again to the area of his throat. Mervyn held in his breath in tension again as his eyes tracked his sword the dragon was holding.

“I wonder how you use this thing” it said as it moved the edge of the sword closer to him. I just after a second the dragon held the blade right at his throat. Mervyn tilted himself away from the sharp edge as far as he could.

“What, is it dangerous when I put that there?” the dragon sarcastically asked. Mervyn didn’t respond, he just stared at the blade with widened eyes. He tilted his head behind so strongly he felt his neck aching. Being in that state of desperateness again he started to breath heavy again. Once more his sorrow was exploited by the dragon for its pleasure.

After some time the dragon finally put the blade aside. But instead of simply laying it on the ground the dragon tossed the sword away. Mervyn quickly turned his head to the direction he heard the steel hit the floor boat, being worried about that he didn’t know where it landed. But his concern quickly fell back to the dragon who was staring down to him, thinking how it could continue exploiting the lack of resistance of the human…

The dragon leaned forward, bringing its face closer to the human once again.

With its claws it held his head upright, forcing him to look right into its scaly face. Despite having the sword removed from his throat he was still full of fear, full of panic. He glared up to the dragon terrified, hoping it would have mercy with him.

“Oh, do you want me stop?” it asked with a mocking tone, following with a humiliating giggle. “We are just getting started now”

The dragon had its head tilted seductively. The eyes lids were only halfway opened and the evil grin was still there.

Mervyn was stunned as his gaze wandered to the area between its hind legs. He saw an erection emerge out of the slit. His panic intensified. The fear of the unknown plans the dragon had became stronger. What the hell was this scaly beast going to do with him?!

“My eyes are up here” the dragon suddenly interrupted his thoughts as it pushed his head up with one claw at his chin. Mervyn went pale. He has thought that this couldn’t get much worse before but now he realized that the dragon was about to reach a whole new level of exploiting his situation.

He felt like he was paralyzed as he found the claws being gently placed on his cheeks, holding his head in place as the dragon lowered his.

Just shortly afterwards as their mouths touched and he felt something big and slimy enter his mouth. Mervyn’s eyes widened in shock. He tried to pull his head away but it was held tightly between the dragon’s paws.

He couldn’t believe that this was really happening. That its tongue was inside of him. That this beast is forcing him to make out with it now… Mervyn froze as he felt the dragon’s tongue touch his and move around.

All he could see are the gigantic claws each at the side of his face and the dragon’s head. In arouse the dragon had its eyes closed. It grabbed his face harder as it started to press the tongue in with more force. It must be enjoying this! He didn’t know what was worse; being violently or sexually abused whilst being tied up.

The dragon eventually came to a stop and pulled its head back up, still having Mervyn’s head held up right between its paws. Just like before, it seductively stared down to him with that diabolic smirk. Breathing so heavy from excitement that its chest was continuedly moving up and down. Mervyn, as usual in this situation, glared up expressing fear. Fear of what it was about to next.

The dragon suddenly let go of Mervyn’s head, resulting with the head hitting the floor. He didn’t bother anymore to hold his head up. He was too drained from the recent events. He just lay there, staring up to the ceiling. Trying to get as much as possible out of this moment in which this scaly beast wouldn’t torment him.

But his view was soon filled with the orange scales of the dragon again. But this time it wasn’t the head he saw. He noticed how the long tail was getting closer, being held above him. Mervyn tilted his head up to look what the hell this dragon was going to do now.

He was stunned again as he spotted the enormous hindquarters being exposed to him with the tail lifted. The dragon had its head turned around, peeking around its body trying to see the horror in his face. The smirk seemed evil before but now the Mervyn’s jaw dropped as he realized what it was like a full smile which had its mouth corners at maximum height. The smile wasn’t evil in anymore, it was excited, in a very eager way.

One more time Mervyn tried to free himself from the ropes. Wiggling around and pulling all body parts, trying even harder than before in alarm. But his attempts were quickly shut down as the hindquarters were dropped on him. Almost his entire body was under the dragon’s butt. Mervyn saw nothing. Nothing but the specific scales of this area. Being trapped under the dragon he twisted and squirmed. He tried to move his face away from the tailhole which was uncomfortably close to his face. But soon he felt far more than just the uncomfortableness. The weight which was put on him increased. It felt like it was crushing him. Now not only the ropes made him unmovable but also the dragon’s weight being pressed on him. His entire body hurt from being pressed into the wooden floor. The pressure on his chest made it difficult to breath. He had to constantly tilt his head to the side as far he could so his mouth and nose wouldn’t be buried. But air soon got rare. He felt how the air he got became less and less.

Next to the alarm he could feel how his consciousness decreased over the time. His head not only hurt from the weight but soon from the lack of air and energy.

It got progressively became harder to continue moving as far as the ropes allowed. Soon he gave up moving. The panic has left his head as he became more unconscious from the lack of air. He couldn’t even hold his eyes fully open.

His view began to black in. The field in front of his eyes was surrounded by blackness as it began to enclose it more.

Just as he barely saw the rest of light he could see in the middle of the blackening view field he suddenly felt how the weight was gone. The scales surrounding him were gone. The dragon finally got off him.

For some seconds nothing in his view field changed. Then, as he got more air, he felt his consciousness starting to get to him again and the blackness slowly slip away.

He flinched as he suddenly felt a warm liquid splashing on his face, followed by a loud groan of the deep voice. A groan so full of resonance of the large dragon body it felt like it made everything vibrate. He instantly turned his head to where it came from to see that the dragon’s crotch was just a few feet above him. The large claw tightly grasped the lengthy shaft which had white liquid constantly exiting it. As he looked it didn’t stop, some drops were still dripping down to him, continuing to cover his face and parts of his upper body. He had to tilt his head away whilst shutting his eyes to prevent getting the seed into them.

Right after he opened his eyes again after some time he spotted that the dragon who has apparently tumbled over to the side, was now laying down on its back next to him. Its enormous belly moving up and down from panting in exhaustion. It had its head just rested on the floor, facing upwards with its eyes closed and maw opened in relax.

Mervyn would clean himself from the liquids which were all over his face but, as any attempts to move, the ropes prevented it. Again, all he could do in this situation is wait for the dragon to make another decision and hope it wouldn’t be so tormenting as the agonies before.

In the time the dragon would just lay there next to him he surely would have some time without being abused. Mervyn used that time to think clearly about what just happened and what would be most likely to finally get him out if this misery.

He remembered how the dragon said that he’d have to deserve his freedom. Maybe that, what just happened, was required to do for the dragon to let him out of the ropes and grant his freedom once again? No, it can’t be that simple, Mervyn thought. It had another thing coming. But he couldn’t think of something remotely close to what it could be. He was till in this sort of situation in which he couldn’t keep a clear head. He found himself anxiously waiting again, glaring over to the dragon to see if it was up to something. Not like he could do anything about it, he was still trapped.

His head still hurt from when the dragon sat on his face and almost suffocated him. His upper body was hurting from the weight exposure as well. He felt the spot aching where the dragon grasped his throat. The pain made him a little more afraid about the dragon’s next move.

He ripped his eyes open again in dread as he saw the dragon stand up from its short slumber. As before, it positioned itself over the human looming its mighty body over him.

The dragon’s claw grabbed him by the chin again, pushing his head up making him face forward.

“To regain your freedom you must do one more thing for me” it spoke as he stared down to him with a terrifying look on its face. Mervyn just glared up expecting him to go forward with what it was going to say.

The dragon suddenly got back to its haunches to have both claws available to untie the two ends of the rope which was still wrapped around him

“You will aid me” it said while unloosing the knot “You will aid me to take back what the humans took from us”

Mervyn frowned in confusion. Weren’t they in a city from which the humans were driven out of? And how is he supposed to help? And why is he supposed to help at all? Despite knowing that if he’d refuse or discuss too much he’d be killed, he didn’t back away from asking questions.

“Why me?” he inquired in a worried tone.

“Why you?” The dragon suddenly stopped what it was doing and gave him an angered gaze. The kind of gaze which read ‘did you seriously just ask this’ with only some facial expressions. Mervyn instantly regretted having asked such a thing.

“You are who I was looking for. Or someone like you. I believe that you are separated and independent from any of the human parties who are constantly attacking our kind. And also, you’re of no threat to me” it explained while it proceeded to untie him.

Yet Mervyn didn’t know what the dragon meant with ‘retaking what the humans took from them’. But he shied away from asking another question as he felt the dragon’s claw dug under his body and lift it up a little so it could wrap him out of the climbing ropes.

As Mervyn felt the relief of having control of his limbs again as he felt the rope loosen and leave the spot where they held his limbs in place. Some short time after he had his arms free and finally could move them. They felt a little numb since they were tightly bound for quite a long time. As he felt his legs again, when they left the rope, he noticed the same effect even a little stronger.

With his limbs just recently unbound and still a little weakened he could barely push himself up into a sitting position.

He felt almost as defenseless as before while he glared up to the dragon who was quickly curling up the rope and firmly put it aside, probably to be reused when needed. Then its head looked down to Mervyn who drew confused expression.

“So, what exactly did you mean when you asked me to help you with that retaking thing?” he inquired as he had the attention of the dragon.

“Ask?” the dragon replied in a threatful tone “ASK!?”

Suddenly Mervyn felt the area of his chin being aggressively grasped by the claw, pushing his head up to the face of the dragon, lifting him off the ground a little.

“I don’t ask you to do something, I COMMAND!” it growled, baring its teeth.

Mervyn shrieked in pain a bit as it yanked around with its tight grip on the bottom of his head.

“And as long you are mine you’re going to follow my orders unconditionally” it added, loosening the grasp on his chin a bit and bringing him back down. “And from now on, whenever you request something from me, you call me and refer to me as Master Kaxir, do you understand?” it added as it brought its head closer to him.

“Yeah…” Mervyn hesitantly replied, being terrified from the sudden change of the mood.

“I said: do you understand!?” it angrily repeated whilst tightening the grasp again.

“Err… Yes, Master Kaxir!” he pitifully shouted.

“Good.” The dragon removed its claw from his head, dropping him back down. “Now” it added “What was it you wanted to know from me”

Mervyn had to ponder for a short moment what his question was since he was a little taken up from the recent situation. And again as he thought how he could formulate his question as politely as possible so master Kaxir won’t be upset again.

“What exactly would my first task be…Master Kaxir?” It felt awkward for him having to force himself to call the dragon by its name with ‘master’ in front of it.

Kaxir drew a pleased smile. “Well, servant Mervyn, you will get to the human villages to spread the message later on. First, you use the rest of the morning to go and hunt so I have food. The guards who were here before still should have weapons you can use around in the castle, unless you want to use that wretched sword of yours” Mervyn got up without hesitation and began to exit the building. He may didn’t know how getting food for Kaxir was going to help taking whatever-it was-talking-about from the humans, but he was too intimidated to inquire. Just as he got up and moved a few steps he heard the dragon Kaxir shout something after him

“And don’t you dare to return with empty hands -and if you should attempt to betray me by not returning at all I will track you down and kill you and any other pathetic human who will have the misfortune of crossing my path, understood?”

Mervyn drew a terrified glare and nodded his head.

“Now, get moving. And if you should happen to find another rope bring it with you”