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My back and head rested against the cold stone. I had my legs laid out in front of me, and my arms were chained together above my head. Every few seconds water would drip from the rocky ceiling, eventually pooling in the middle along with the piss and fecal matter from my fellow cellmates and me. Only the smell of death was strong enough to mask the stench of waste. Unfortunately for us, the scent of rotting man often fell over us, the cellmates and I that is.

There are five of us in total, each spread out evenly in the circular prison cell. All of us were bound by our wrists, longing for the freedom we so desperately craved. Though, my personal ambitions for freedom had severely diminished over the past few weeks.

I sat fourth in line starting from my right. At my right side was a murderer, a thief, and a wizard; though I seriously doubted the legitimacy of his sentencing, there was no such thing as magic.

All the men to my right were new arrivals, especially so when considering the man to my left. Howard, he goes by. Howard is different from the other men and me, the reason being is he doesn’t deserve his punishment. Howard was in this cell with us because he stole medicinal herbs from the medic.

At the time Howard was a poor farmer who tried desperately to cure his daughter’s illness. He managed to get his hands on the herbs but was caught well before he ever made it home. His daughter died shortly after, and he’s been imprisoned ever since. Howard mentioned he stopped counting after thirty years, and by the looks of him, he’s pushing his sixties in age. How a man could be locked away for so many years for trying the save the one he loved most was wicked.

He does not deserve such a cruel fate.

Part of this, and many other factors, are the reasons I have come to despise the kingdom I once served.

I am a knight! Or at least… I was.

I enlisted as soon as I could on my 14th birthday alongside all my friends. Every boy wanted to be a valiant knight who could protect and serve, and above all save his loved ones. I was no different in that aspect, I held the very same dream. For five years I lived out my dream, only to watch it grow into a living nightmare.

We were at war, and I was on the front lines. I led my friends who had quickly grown into family, those who I held closest to me, to an early grave. We were taught to fight with dignity and die with honor. We had to fight until our blood stained the grass and the light faded from our eyes. Through this war I lost everything; my brothers, friends, even enemies who didn’t deserve such a fate.

The King says we are winning this war, but I cannot see it. All I see are spent lives.

Through all the bloodshed, the kingdom is able to send out new soldiers to replace the old like we’re nothing. It’s only a matter of time before they perish as well, or worse… they end up like me.

Without an end in sight to my repeated cycle of leading good men to their deaths, I ran. I broke the code, considering my high rank, typically it was the drafted lot that would run. It didn’t matter though; I would not fight for a prick who sacrifices their men for a new plot of soil.

It was my turn to be a coward.

I hid on the furthest outskirts of Ascot soil alongside the farmers and peasants, with men like Howard.

I would stay in one house for a night, and in another the following night. When I couldn’t find a place to sleep, I slept in the forest or in the tall grassy fields.

Eventually a bounty was placed on me, one large enough to impress the poor workers. Ah, I don’t blame them, how can I? Who doesn’t love coin? My time on the run very quickly came to an end as one farmer alerted the high court for my immediate removal and arrest. They nabbed me while I slept, clever bastard that farmer was.

By the next morning, I was within the heart of Ascot bound by my ankles and wrists in front of the King.

Of course, I was tried for treason and imprisoned, though I was sentenced to The Den rather than your typical prison cell. The Den is the cell I lay in now with my four cellmates. Well, Howard and I rather. There were other men who were in such poor health, that their bodies could not survive the harsh conditions of The Den. As such, they perished and were quickly replaced.

The Den was different from other cells. The Den was for prisoners who were deemed to be deserving of being offered up as sacrifice to the dragon that roamed the grounds. Only one man was chosen to be the sacrifice, and that choice belonged to the dragon.

The sacrifice took place once a year and was a widely public event. As a matter of fact, the ceremony attendance was mandatory for those in government and military positions, and heavily encouraged for others (middle and poor class). The victims, at the most basic level, were simply a means to strike fear into anyone that opposed the King. If you crossed the King, you were going to be turned into an example. In this case, a meal for a dragon.

It’s not a pleasant sight watching naked men tied up to a pole being devoured by the beast. Agonizing screams and pleas would rage through the air, only to be silenced shortly thereafter. What made the whole ordeal worse was the men who had been spared by the dragon were stoned to death afterwards.

Today we would all meet our fates; of this I was certain.

I sat up slightly, pulling on my metal binds. The chains rattled, breaking the long silence. As the metal clanked off one another, they caught the attention of the other cellmates. One cellmate ignored the noise, another pulled on his own chains.

“Shut the hell up you damn child! I’m trying to sleep!” The gruff voice belonged to the grizzled murderer who sat closest to the cell gate. I paid no attention to him. Instead, I chose to give the chains another yank. I had grown accustomed to the pain caused from the metal that cut into my wrists. That or the calluses on my hands provided enough of a buffer.

I knew well enough that if my bindings hadn’t broken before, they certainly weren’t going to break now. Still, the human part of me held out hope.

The murderer’s chains rang out as he sat himself upright from his formerly slouched position. “Damnit boy! I-,” Whatever insult he had prepared was cut short by the intermittent clanking of steel on steel. Our collected attention fell past the cell entrance, and down into the hallway.

There were four men, each armed and dressed in metal, soldiers no doubt. They walked two by two in our direction. One soldier in the front row had his sword in hand, letting it clumsily hit between the metal bars of the other cells that lined the sides of the hallway. I took a hard swallow.

“It’s feeding time boys! And guess who’s on the menu?” Said the lead man, his sword still unsheathed. He clearly has fun doing his job.

The lead soldier unlocked the cell and pulled up. The bearings on the door whined as the metal was lifted, bits of rust fell to the ground by the soldier’s feet. He stepped under the low hanging door and began to unchain us, starting with the murderer.

On cue, as soon as his hands were freed, he head-butted the soldier and ran. He was instantly met with cold armor and steel piercing the skin of his shoulder. A pained scream escaped the murderer as he fell back into the dirt.

Us other cellmates shared quiet glances with one another. With the precision that the soldier had downed the murderer, we knew escaping was an impossibility.

The soldier removed this sword from the downed man, and crimson streaks began to flow from the wound. The murderer was then forced upright by the main soldier who had now fully recovered.

“Don’t try anything else you might regret.” He advised. Still the murderer tried his luck. He spat directly onto the helmet of the soldier, who in turn slammed his saliva coated visor into the murderer’s nose, shattering it with a sickly crunch. Twin streaks poured from his nose that seeped into his mouth and dripped from his chin. Finally, the man cowered under the soldier and begged for mercy.

Another nameless soldier brought over new shackles and bound the murderer’s arms without further incident. The rest of us prisoners were then unchained ourselves and placed into similar but individual restraints.

From our cell we were led down the hallway and into unseen territory. We were lined up in a single line with two soldiers in front and two behind. They took us through tunnels and corridors, up and down stairs and around bends, even across bridges and along ledges. Eventually we were led into a relatively large room with oversized doors that opened to the outside world. I could see the sunlight bleeding through the gaps in the door.

I hadn’t even considered that I’d be back outside. The outside world that I had not seen in months. It would also be the last time I’d ever see it. A sad thought, but an unavoidable one.

The two soldiers in front stopped and turned as we reached those doors. The one in charge stepped forward, “Remove your clothing.” His voice was flat.

Silent glances were exchanged throughout our group. For all our time in The Den we had worn thin leggings that could hardly be considered clothes, but we were never truly in the nude.

As such, no one moved, that is until old man Howard removed his garments, proudly exposing himself to the soldiers. A visible look of disgust filled the soldiers’ eyes, to which Howard smiled. I smiled too but in the direction of the head soldier, he seemed unperturbed by Howard’s actions.

It wasn’t that bad; we were dead in thirty minutes anyways. I let my leggings fall to the ground. The murderer followed, though he did so cautiously with his slumped arm. The thief and wizard were far less willing but yielded under the threat of steel; they covered their shame as they stepped out from their pants.

The head soldier then turned to the arched doors, and with the help of a fellow soldier, the doors were opened.

The light was damn near blinding for us prisoners. Even the light that bled through my closed eyelids was enough to give me a headache. Only when I used my hand to block the sunlight did I open my eyes again.

Just under my hand I could see the crowd of the coliseum, it was a full house. I didn’t notice at first, but as the doors opened the crowd erupted into cheer. As we were led into the light and onto the sandy ground of the coliseum, the cheers turned to boos and heckles. The circular shape of the stadium redirected the sound into a central focus where we stood, it was so loud one could hardly think.

As the sun beat down extensively on our skin, I caught the whiff of blood in the air, more than likely from the previous events held here, maybe there was a gladiator battle the day prior. It only reminded me that I was at my end. I was not ready to die, but at the same time I was not afraid. I had acquired that trait from my time in service.

A soldier brushed through the lot of us, reminding us to continue pressing forwards. As we did, I glanced behind us to see they had returned to being closed. At this point I did not know what I longed for more: My death under the sun, or a life of imprisonment in the shadows. Nevertheless, the decision was not my own, so I moved forwards.

Ahead of us there were five wooden stakes standing vertically from the ground. They looked to be between ten and twelve feet tall, and each had their own chains that patiently waited to be used.

As we reached our individual poles, we were tied up not unlike our time in The Den with our arms forced above our heads. Unlike before, the order in which we were tied up was different, but not by much. The murderer and wizard switched places, leaving myself lined up fourth between Howard to my left and the murderer to my right.

None of us made any efforts in resisting.

Once we were all properly tied up, the soldiers backed themselves away to predetermined positions at the far ends of the outer stakes. Only then did the King appear before the crowd. Cheering followed; I rolled my eyes.

The King raised his arm and the crowd reduced to murmurs and quiet buzzing. From his luxury box he shouted his words at us. They were likely about how our mischievous and disgraceful acts were a stain on the image of the kingdom. Whatever folly he cried I could not clearly hear. With the distance between the King and I, his meager voice simply melted into the ambience of the crowd.

He used his raised arm to then point out at us. He left his palm open to the sky as his hand swept across us prisoners left to right. He then turned and placed a hand on another soldier, then disappeared back into wherever he came from.

The soldier in the King’s box assumed position by a large horn. As he drew breath and exhaled into that mighty horn, a deep but equally loud groan cried its song into the air. The sound could surely be heard for miles. The sound reverberated off the stands, and the crowd burst into cheers once more.

Through all the noise, I heard the ever-familiar sob of clanking metal. The other fugitives, more so the thief and wizard, were frantically pulling on the chains. As for myself, not so much. I did give the chains a good pull, just to test how well they were anchored. It came as no surprise that I wasn’t going anywhere.

I turned to Howard; he was smiling like a mad man. I was momentarily taken aback until we made eye contact and he spoke, “This is the first time I’ve been outside in decades!” He laughed heartily at the end of his remark, I smiled alongside him. I was genuinely glad he felt at peace at his end considering what he’s been forced to endure.

Just then, somewhere in the distance, a screeching roar blasted through the sky overhead. A hush washed over the crowd, and us fugitives collectively scanned the sky for the origin of the cry.

A mere second later the source of the cry appeared overhead in the form of a dragon. As it passed over the walls of the coliseum, its form eclipsed the sun where its magnificent shadow was cast over parts of the crowd. With blistering speed, it circled overhead as it descended. When it eventually did land, many paces ahead of us, it shook the earth beneath my feet.

It began its slow walk towards the five of us. The hot sand between my toes danced at each step it took.

As it neared, its great features became known. The beast was covered in not entirely silver scales, but rather silver scales that appeared as if the beast had been rolling around in the dirt. Still, the sunlight glinted from its multicolored scales, suggesting that wasn’t the case. Its expansive wings were attached to its forearms, and as it walked, they would displace some of the sand into the air in small vortices. At the end of its long and muscular neck was its massively proportioned head. It possessed many horns; some straight some curved. The horns transitioned from a dark cream color at its base, to a milky white at its points.

It was a large beast, large enough for any one of us to fit within its jaws. It may have some issues with the murderer as he was the largest of us five, but as I had come to know, the dragon had plenty of razor-sharp teeth that were more than capable of shearing flesh from bone.

It stopped its advances in the middle of us and it used its long neck to maneuver its head to the far-right side of me. It laid its yellow eyes onto the so-called wizard who in turn froze in place. His breathing had quickly grown into a garbled rasp. It was like the wizard was choking on the air that surrounded the dragon. The dragon eyed him over before looking unimpressed, it moved on to the thief.

The thief was even more of a coward as he forced his eyes shut and tightly pursed his lips. The dragon crept in close, exhaling its hefty breath in the face of the thief. The thief craned his neck away from the dragon and whined to himself as his hair was displaced. Still, the dragon proceeded down the line as it weighed its options. Next up was the grizzled murderer.

It was at the murderer where the dragon paused a moment. It appeared to smile as it leaned in close to the still bloodied man, eyeing him closely. The dragon’s tongue then leaked from its jaws and washed over the man’s bloody arm and face. The murderer did what he could to resist, but the dragon had easily gotten its way. A red smear was left across the man’s face, but his blood also stained the pink tongue of the dragon. I cringed at the sight; it was not an entirely pleasant one to see.

But still the dragon was not satisfied, or maybe the dragon simply wanted to consider all its options. Whatever the case, it was now my turn to be judged.

The dragon’s eyes fell over mine, and its nostrils flared when its head closed in the distance. While it gathered my scent, I straightened my leaning posture; my back drove itself into the wooden stake. It paused its advancements in response to my movements, choosing to watch me intently instead.

Our gazes pierced each other’s as I returned its searing glare with one of my own. Something was different about the way the dragon looked at me compared to the others, however. It held a look I could not decipher.

Without turning its head, it eyed the old man to my left. Very quickly they dismissed Howard and transfixed themselves solely onto me. Its sleek body repositioned to be completely in line with itself. It smiled, this time the points of its irregularly shaped teeth spilled past its lips. A creeping anticipation began to burn under my skin. It was as if we were the only two living creatures in this world. Like a jester alone on stage, no one else existed in this moment.

“You.” It spoke, its voice deeply masculine.

My body spasmed involuntarily as my feet gave out. If the chains did not hold me upright, I would’ve surely fallen to the dirt. As my eyes fell to the ground, I could hear the many sighs of relief from the fellow dead men… ironic.

“Why choose the boy!? He’s just a child, pick me instead!” Howard valiantly begged, much to the beast’s dismay.

From just at the edges of my vision, the beast didn’t even bother turning his head as he snarled at Howard, “Quiet old man! I’m the one deciding fate here.”

I couldn’t see the expression Howard formed, but I imagined it as one of shock and awe. I appreciated his words, but I already knew the dragon’s choice would not be swayed. It was not simply a dragon thing, nor was it exclusively a human thing; when a killer wanted to kill, they would, and this dragon was a killer.

I now knew what I was facing; if the dragon wanted me, I would give it no satisfaction in its choice.

I closed my eyes and steadied my shaky breath. I grabbed the chains just above where my wrists were shackled and pulled myself back upright. I stood at attention when I reopened my eyes; already the dragon’s irises cut into my own. Still, I held my head up high, I would not let the beast ruin my spirits.

“No cries, screams, begs for mercy?” He taunted whilst smiling.

I shrugged and gave a pained laugh, “If this is to be my punishment for my wrong doings, then so be it. Though, if you’re willing to honor the request of a dead man, I only ask that you make it quick; I’d prefer to not die screaming in agony.” I firmly ended what I had to say.

That is all I had to say, now I could only hope to have my request granted.

The dragon’s eager expression faded into a frown as he considered my words. I watched his eyes as they darted in varying directions beneath his narrowed eyelids. After a few seconds of silence, his eyes finally locked back in place. He smiled more deviously than before, so much so that I could see past those horrid teeth into the black shadow that was the inside of his maw. His chest lowered, and I could see his tail twitching from behind him. Like a cat hunting a mouse, he was ready to pounce.

I gave a sad smile, this was it.

All in one instance its winged arm flashed over my head. The wooden stake above me splintered, and the chains that once held me in place had now fallen to the ground. Now the dragon towered over me at full height. Not even the fire in the beast’s eyes could free me from my frozen posture.

Its arm then returned to sweep across the ground beneath me, very quickly I was knocked from my feet and into the sand. I swiftly rolled over to distribute the force on my fall and to help myself back up, but just as quickly did the dragon bring its wing down atop me. With its wing across my back, I was effectively pinned to the earth. I could see the sun bleeding through the translucent membranous flesh of the dragon’s wing. When light entered at the right angle, the intricate crisscrossing and meshing of veins could be seen as they danced through the thin skin of his wing much like a bolt of lightning.

Just as the dirt began to settle, I felt a sharp and wet tug on my ankle. I turned to see the beast’s jaws agape, and its pink and red tongue firmly wrapped around my ankle with its lips making their way over my shin and calf.

Without thinking I frantically reached for the lower half of the now broken stake, I was able to hook my elbow around its base and anchor myself. I felt my leg be pulled again but my grip on the pole was strong, I did not budge. Before the dragon could make another move, I used my free leg to kick his snout.

My foot collided with the tough skin, and he groaned an annoyed growl. I pulled back ready to strike again, but as I extended my leg, he swiftly opened his jaws and clamped over my foot. Now both of my ankles had fallen past its teeth.

My blunder had cost me significantly, and the dragon took advantage of my mistake by thrashing to the side. My seemingly firm grip completely gave way, and I was dragged across the sand. Before I could gather my senses, he took further of me in. I had now been enveloped up to my upper legs.

I then felt myself be forcibly yanked from off the ground. As it swung its head into the air its grip on my body relaxed, and I was thrown into a momentary state of freefall. Time seemed to slow as I rose part ways out of his opened jaws, perhaps just below my knees, not nearly enough for me to fully slip from his reach. During my brief time in the air, I looked down to see the sun fully illuminate his mouth.

A thick, red, and pink spaded tongue flexed beneath me, all the while its similarly colored surrounding flesh quivered as it led to the black pit at the very far end of its maw.

Eventually I began to fall back down, with the added momentum my feet slid across his thick tongue directly into that black void. I felt my feet penetrate the opening to its throat. Before I could piece together what was happening, his throat locked around my ankles and his muscular lips clamped over my torso. It all happened so quickly, there was no chance of escape.

I felt him lurch forwards which pushed me deeper. With an audible swallow I was taken up to my knees. I could feel the points of its teeth digging into my upper torso, just below my ribcage.

Its tongue now began to work tirelessly as it explored my body. In a matter of seconds, the part of me that I could not see was coated in a thick layer of dense saliva. I didn’t need to see it to be able to feel it. Already the heat of his interior overpowered the heat from the sun. I could also feel his tongue as it passed over my groin. I swear the dragon laughed as he did; I felt it rather. The throat vibrated around my ankles, and its tongue quivered from under me.

I couldn’t just let him have his way with me; I placed my arms on the lips of his upper and lower jaw respectively as I pushed with all my might, hoping to force some separation.

Slowly its jaws began to part as I kept pushing, and the grip it had on my torso was eliminated. The dragon gave a pained snarl as its lips were pushed back to where I could see where its teeth sprouted from its dark, fleshy gums. I doubt he took a liking to that.

I looked for its eyes, hoping to see some form of hesitation at my strength within them. But when I looked into those eyes, they burned with a feral animosity I hadn’t yet seen. They narrowed to where his formerly vertical slit pupils were cut into a thin horizontal strip. In an act of pure defiance, he clamped down hard, nearly to where his teeth pierced my skin. I cursed from both pain and anger. My arms of course completely gave way.

This dragon was a professional in the art of torturing his victims. He gave me a glimmer of hope, that maybe I’d escape him yet by yielding to my strength, only to take it away by demonstrating his raw power and control over me. It enraged me, but it also made me realize any further attempts at resistance were futile.

He swallowed again, now up to my hips, leaving my waist in line with the ring of muscle. I let my arms slip into his maw as my throat came directly in line with his teeth. This was it, assuming he respected my request.

I expected a clean decapitation; quick and painless. I closed my eyes and held my breath, waiting for my life to be spilled.

Though my death did not come, and once more it swallowed. My waist disappeared beneath me, and my head fell completely into its jaws. Very quickly I came to realize that he was going to deny my request, instead choosing the furthest thing from. I was going to die in the most painful, agonizing, and scarring way possible; I was going to be eaten alive by a dragon!

“NO!” I yelled, but it was too late. His jaws clamped shut, and I was shrouded in darkness.

My heartrate spiked and my breathing grew hoarse. The tongue under me flung upwards, pinning my face into the roof of his mouth. I could feel fluids being pressed between the gaps where our flesh met as he suckled on my body. I pushed my palms into his bumpily textured soft palate, it only worked to press my body deeper into the muscle of his tongue.

I felt my body lurch downwards as he swallowed now up to my chest. I frantically moved my arms to the side and pressed as hard as I could against the back of his throat. Unfortunately, the comparatively soft flesh slipped from under me, and one of my arms immediately plunged into his throat. With the vice grip that ring of muscle had, pulling it free was simply not an option. In a frenzied haze I used my remaining free hand to feel around for anything, anything at all that my halt my inevitable descent towards its stomach.

My movements were so frantic that I ended up ramming my hand into a wall of teeth, jamming half my fingers, and bruising the remaining; I swore under my breath. But it didn’t matter how much damage I had caused myself, any hesitation I may have could be the difference between life and death. I winced through the pain and grabbed hold of a single tooth. From what I could feel, only my head and up to my free shoulder had not yet been ensnared.

It was ironic I thought, I had accepted my death as a fact, even accepting that it’d come at the hand of a dragon, and yet here I was fighting like my life depended on it, because it did. The desire to live was simply overpowering when facing an undesirable death.

Light reentered the dragon’s maw through the gaps of his teeth. I felt the part of my body lodged within his neck be forcibly shifted as his neck repositioned. When he opened his maw wider, I saw that his head was at the same height as those belonging to the remaining prisoners. I hadn’t even imagined what I might look like to them.

The thief refused to look, and the wizard and murderer held looks of pure unadulterated horror. Only Howard’s expression was different, it was one of only sadness and pain. The creature turned his head to the crowd; oh, how they rooted and cheered for my demise! Finally, the dragon opened his jaws as wide as he could and looked directly into the sky.

The pink fleshy vignette gave way to an impossibly blue sky; there wasn’t a cloud in sight. Off to the side, the sun had very little trouble shining through the gaps in the beast’s teeth, occasionally I could feel the sun’s warmth fall upon my face.

Even now the dragon tortured me, shamelessly sharing what would be the last time I’d ever see such sights or feel such sensations. It was a creature that was flawlessly designed to be a killer. It was God’s creation; it was death.

His jaws once more closed as I took a deep breath of the dank, weighted air. A single tear fell from my eye; how I craved for the blinding light of the sun over the infinite blackness of the dragon’s interior.

Seemingly no longer enjoying himself, he swallowed and finished me off. I fell downwards and the ring of muscle wrapped over my face. My free hand palmed across the slick flesh, incapable of stalling my descent. It too slipped past the point of no return, and I found myself entirely within his throat.

I sank deeper and deeper as guided by the constrictive peristalsis, nearly incapable of movement and breath. The heat began to rise as I neared closer to his stomach, where I’d surely meet a horrid fate. I could already envision what it might be like to be digested alive; my skin would blister over and melt away, puss filled bubbles of flesh would form only to pop as my skin boiled, relentless pain that would exponentially get worse, and the threat of potentially drowning in whatever viscous fluids lay within.

While certainly too late, I thrashed in retaliation. The esophageal flesh responded by forcing me back into place; very quickly I exhausted myself, and had flesh and saliva forced into my mouth as I struggled to catch my breath. If I had any luck on my side, I’d pass out before ever reaching its stomach. But I was never a lucky one, as seen by my current position.

A second after the thought escaped me, my feet pressed into another compressive ring of muscle, this one much firmer than the throat. My legs nearly crumpled as my body forced entry into his stomach. The heat that crawled up my body made me want to recoil, but I would have to endure as the rest of my body fell past the sphincter with relative ease.

I landed within its stomach as the throat fully expelled me. The stomach seemed to be expecting me, as it stretched out beneath me before contorting to reform around my frame. I took a breath to subdue the fire building in my lungs, but I only managed to choke on the stale air’s taste. Breathing in through my nose was of no help either as the acrid air singed my nose hairs on the way by, akin to the burn of ammonia.

As I sputtered and eventually caught my breath, I wiped the spit from my eyes, only to be welcomed to pure darkness. This came as no surprise, but how I wished it weren’t the case.

Cautiously, I pushed against the flesh. It would initially distort under my touch, then as I added more pressure, it would forcibly rebound back into its original shape around me. The fluids along the wall were unnecessarily slimy, so much so, that when I grabbed hold of one of the fleshy folds, it just as quickly slipped from my grasp.

Without a sense of sight or smell, my hearing was heightened. A booming heartbeat echoed around me that in between beats would give way to the active ambience of the beast’s internals. Faint groans from the stomach and the heavy whirring from the dragon’s lungs were the most noticeable.

I felt the organic prison I lay in begin to shift from side to side, was it walking? The stomach then suddenly lurched upwards, and as it did, I was forcibly thrown into the stomach floor, and the world around me began to shift.

The organic chamber wasn’t large enough for me to become airborne and leave its embrace, but I ended up in a constant state of being thrown up then down over and over again as the cycle repeated itself. It was in flight I presumed, taking me to who knows where. I confirmed this idea as occasionally I’d get a pitfall feeling in my gut.

The predictable bobbing and intermittent freefalls lasted for what felt like hours. I was constantly afraid that the fluids that pooled beneath me and lined the walls would begin to burn. Or perhaps the chamber would fill with fluids up to the point I would drown. Neither were ideal, but at the same time, neither got their chance to do so.

I was thrown down once more as the chamber shook violently, only to return to the familiar side to side undulations I had experienced before. The stomach walls then pressed inwards on me harshly, compressing me from all angles. Eventually it pushed in such a way that I was forced back through the sphincter that had initially sealed me away and back into its throat. I traversed the passage once more before arriving back within its mouth. From there I was spat out, along with the fluids that had accompanied me from my time within the dragon.

As I came to rest on the ground I gasped in a needy breath of air, filling my aching lungs with the oxygen they so craved. I wiped the spit from my eyes with my pruned hands, opening them to a dimly lit cave. The same dragon from before loomed over me just off to my side; he turned away and began to walk himself to one of the cave walls.

As I tried to upright myself, I slipped on the slick fluids that still clung to me, falling back down in the process. With much more caution, I stood and came face to face with the dragon, who was now lying down on his side a few paces away from me. Only one thing was on my mind.

“Why didn’t you kill me?” I calmly asked.

Silence.

I asked again, this time more firm, “Why didn’t you kill me?”

No response.

“Tell me!” I yelled desperately.

Again, nothing. He simply watched me curiously, observing my movements, how I responded.

My head was spinning, again he toyed with me. It was all a game to him, a mind game that he would win if I did not act. There was a medium sized rock nearby, I grabbed it and ran over to him, just a couple of feet from his snout. I hoisted my hand, threatening to throw the rock.

“Please! I’ve seen you tear men limb from limb and shower the ground in blood. You shoved no mercy to them, so why spare me!?” I was practically begging him for an answer.

He blinked, and there was a long silence that followed. He then licked his chops, and I heard his teeth clack together as they passed over each other. With an unfazed glare he spoke, “Throw it.”

I stepped back and let the rock fall to the ground. The dragon stood and towered above me, I felt small.

“Why didn’t you throw it?” he asked dryly.

“I- I don’t know. Why does it matter?” I responded.

“It should, you proved my point.” He claimed.

“Your point?” I asked curiously.

“We’ll get there.” he assured me. His tone changed as he spoke again, transitioning from relaxed to curious. “What is your name?”

“Ezekial.”

“How old are you?”

I sighed, “Nineteen.”

The dragon began to pace around me, “You were clearly the youngest there, what did you do to deserve such a fate?”

I covered myself as he eyed over my nude frame, “Treason against the King.” I informed him.

His long neck disappeared behind me, I turned to my other side as he began to speak, “So, you’re a knight then?”

“Was.” I said flatly, a pang of resentment in my voice.

He smiled as more of his body came back into view, “Ahh, I had my suspicions, but it all becomes clearer. Now why-?” The dragon started in a pestering voice, but I cut him off before he had the chance to finish.

“Why didn’t you kill me?” I asked once more.

The dragon stopped his paces and smiled, “Many reasons, you’re young, you’re strong, and you’re defiant.”

I crossed my arms, “No, not why you picked me, why you didn’t kill me.”

The dragon frowned, still, he remained composed and spoke, “Have you not figured it out yet?”

I thought over his words for a moment, “You didn’t kill me because I wasn’t afraid to die?”

The dragon curled his neck and crept in close, “No, I chose to spare you because you weren’t afraid of me.” He continued on, “Did you notice how you looked me straight in the eye? You saw death staring you directly in the face and you didn’t cower. People have begged me for mercy, claimed they have children, even threatening to have their families hunt me down. When I asked you to beg, you essentially told me to do my worst. You’re different, you’re like me.”

My blood ran hot, and I took a step back to create distance, “I’m nothing like you! You’re a beast, a monster, a demon from hell!” I spat out to him.

The dragon closed the distance just the same, “And you’re not? You were a knight, you said it yourself. You’ve killed before, those who deserved it and those who didn’t.”

I opened my mouth to rebuttal, but I could not find the words. My dead friends flashed through my mind, and my nameless victims nagged at my heartstrings. I fell to my knees; I didn’t want to believe it. I was a monster… I am the monster he described me as. Perhaps I did deserve whatever came to me. I wanted to throw up.

His talon found my chin, I met his yellow eyes once more. He spoke softly, “You asked me why I didn’t kill you… it’s for the same reason I asked why you didn’t throw the rock. I see in you what you saw in me just then, yourself.” He withdrew his talon from my chin and instead offered to help me up. I accepted the gesture and was once more on my feet. Our heads were in line with one another.

“But just because you’re a monster like me, doesn’t mean your cause is wrong.” He concluded.

The fire within me had extinguished, only the ash of exhaustion remained. “So, dragon-” I started in a defeated voice.

“Malakkar…” He interjected as he pulled his head back, letting his neck naturally take on the s-shape I had quickly grown accustomed to. “…you may call me Malakkar.”

I took a second to consider his name. It was unique no doubt, but it seemed to naturally fit him, the dragon part of him at least. I nodded my understanding.

“So, Malakkar, if you’re not going to kill me, what are you going to do?”

He blinked, “If you’re asking if I am making you my slave the answer is no. You will have your freedoms just as I have mine. But make no mistake, you belong to me.”

A chill ran over my body at his words.