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Drip. Drip. Drip.
It’s been years; you would think by now ‘Nick the Seltenvoge Dragon’ would be used to the way everything was around here. At any rate, he still couldn’t get over the stench of the old, tarnished basement they put him in. Not disregarding the substance that trickle from the ceiling, the mold creeping up the walls. The barking coming from the guard dogs outside was the worst. He couldn’t see pass how he got here; trust would cost him his life. Still, he had to get home to Florence and the girls, he couldn’t stop fighting.
Hearing feet shuffle outside the door, Nick turns his body in the opposite direction. “We’ll be giving you a day to heal, hopefully tomorrow you will change your mind and tell us where your wife and kids are. After all it is close to that time.” He hears the door close. The voice belongs to Zayn, the man torturing him for almost a year now.
“What a waste of time” Nick thought. Yet he said nothing as usual.
Nick hears the scrapping of chair legs, without a glance over his shoulder nick knows Zayn is seated behind him. “All we want is the unbesahlbar, you don’t have to die. We won’t harm your kids or your wife. If you don’t give us what we want, two people will die you and your wife. I mean cause without you does she doesn’t stand a chance at surviving.” He says.
Stagnant, Nick says nothing.
“Alright doc, this won’t be painless, and it won’t be over soon, but it will end eventually.” Zayn mutters. Walking up to Nick’s weak body he pushes a needle full of manticore venom into his system.
Nick lets out an ear piecing snarl as the venom forced its way into his bloodstream, setting ablaze everything in its path. He convulses on the floor but the handcuffs they put around his wrist and ankles, does not give him leeway to move.
Nicks not sure how long the pain went on, but it never passes, remaining at an excruciating level. He prayed for himself to pass out. After a while he stopped moving. He kept his eyes clasped shut, gasping severely as his body temperature rose and fell at dangerous levels. They gave him nothing to relieve any pain. He swore he could hear muttering all around him, but the ache was too great, and it distorted all his senses.
It felt like eternity, but he couldn’t tell how long he laid there, trying and failing to focus on anything but the pain. He tried to think of his family, but that just reminded him of how long he doesn’t have. The only thing worth thinking of was the end, not caring if the pain simply stops or for death to reach him. The strength he held on to was for Florence and the girls. He knew he had to get back home, no matter what.
Soon enough the pain felt like a soft ember instead of a roaring fire. “It’s been days can we just kill him already?” A voice spoke beside Nick. It sounded fuzzy, like someone had stuffed his ears with some type of cloth. He could make out male voices, but there was nothing familiar about it. In dismay and curiosity, he forced his eyes open, blinking quickly at the sudden brightness of the room.
He caught movement to his left and darted his eyes that way. Zayn stood a few feet away with another man watching me. “Good your awake. How do you feel?” the unknown man spoke. Still Nick said nothing. He laid still, unable to move as his limbs felt like they were deadweight. Staring at Zayn he allowed himself to close his eyes aging letting his body fade out of consciousness.
As time passed the restraints became useless and they would leave me in the basement to bear the pain alone, afraid for their safety. Nick had given up a long time ago on fighting them, they were smart enough to keep serum on them as a weapon against him, never letting his body build an immunity to it. So, it would forever be a threat.
“Kill him” a voice yelled out. Nick wasn’t at all deaf to the fighting and shouting going on. Opening his eyes, he realized they had moved him. He was in a cage outside; several fights were going on between humans and creatures alike. Fire was catching hold everywhere, pools of blood were on the ground, bodies lay dead or in half. A full-on war was raging while he was stuck in a cage.
“NICK” he heard someone yell. Nick whips his head around, searching for the voice that sounds like his wife. Running through the middle of the war, was his wife Florence, neck bulging. Nick was not happy to see her, he was more worried by the size of her neck. It was almost time, and she was here. No. Nick thought.
“Nick watch out” Florence yelled.
All around he saw Zayn and other men surrounding the cage with needles in their hands. “You shouldn’t have trusted me” Zayn said with a grin.
“That’s the thing,” Nick smirks back, “I didn’t” he says. Nick watches Florence and the others he recognize get closer.
Zayn inches back, “People can do worse things than kill you, they can hurt someone you love” he retorts.
Nick rises to his feet pulling at his restraints, wings flapping, mouth trying to open wide. Zayn eyes go wide, realizing what Nick is trying to do. “Chargeeee” he yells. All the men rush towards him with spears. Clank. The mouth guard falls off. Clank. The restraints fall.
Nick stands tall, mouth wide he spins in a circle shooting out dragonflame. All the men including Zayn were set on fire, but the damage to nick was already done. He falls to the ground Florence is yelling for him to get up. “The girls are waiting” Florence tells him. Nick knew that they were now safe, and so was Florence.
He felt so far away that when he started to feel nothing, he welcomed the sensation. The fire had found a home within him.
About the Author
Raven Oner is a Film Writer pursuing her BFA in Creative Writing from Full Sail University. She is well versed in fantasy, comedy, romance, drama, and action. She has not published any of her writing material. Although, she is a member of Full Sail’s Black Student Union and Creative Writing Club. Sometimes she helps her home church with their yearly festival. She also sketches and paint in her free time, even though she’s not at the selling stage yet.
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