In their Clutches

I was born somewhere dark. Somewhere the light hardly touched, in a building hidden deep in the city of Kroni, a place where no dragon could find without a map or the knowledge of its existence. The building was kept a secret for reasons I didn't quite understand as a hatchling. Being the small, naive Fae that I was, I didn't actually pay attention to those things until I was older. But listen to me, I'm getting ahead of myself here. Let me start over.

My name, is Morticia. Well, that's my name now. When I was born into that dark, hidden building, the name they gave me was "BloodMoon". Why that name, you might ask? I don't know. But now, being as far away from that place as I am, I do not want any reminders of the time I spent there, so I changed it.

Anyway, I grew up in that dark building, but I was not alone. The dragons that kept me there had many other dragon eggs and hatchlings, in only what I assume to be the creation of their army. A yellow and green Tundra, whom they named "Leemado", hatched right around the time I did. His eyes as bright red as mine. Children of the Plaguebringer. That's what our captives called us. They seemed somewhat displeased at this realization, however.

Leemado and I grew close as we grew up. He was tough, and since I was so small, he more often than not had to protect me from many of the other hatchlings who liked to play rough. I felt embarrassed and even ashamed that I couldn't take care of myself. I often heard the other hatchlings mocking me for being "small and weak". It made me want to climb into Leemado's fur and weep. Leemado comforted me as best he could. He was not the comforting type. But no matter what, he was there for me when I needed him. And that, is all I asked of him.

~~~

When we grew out of being hatchlings and into adolescence is finally when our captors "real side" showed. They took us out one at a time to do something they called "experiments" on us. It didn't hurt in the beginning, but as we grew older, they started pushing us harder. I wasn't uncommon for them to push us to the breaking point.

I was so tired by the end of my session one day that I didn't want to eat. I floated into the room so tired and drained I went directly to our sleeping area. They had me working on some spells that drained all my energy. They wanted results from me, no matter what the cost. So they pushed me extra hard, but no matter what I did, they didn't seem pleased.

And then one night, something changed, like they had finally given up on me. I had just finished up my session and was told I'd be escorted to back to my room. As I waited for an escort, I overheard two Bogsneak scientists talking on the other side of the room.

"She's terrible," quietly whispered one, his dark arcane eyes glinting under his spectacles as he moved his head to look at a scroll he had in his hand. "I don't know why the boss keeps pushing her. She's not worth the effort. He should just get rid of her." He flipped up the scroll to look at the second page underneath, eyes narrowing in what I can only describe as disgust for what he saw on the page.

"I know," replied the other, looking at his lab coat where a ball of my plague magic had burned a hole in it. "I've recommended it on her form here." He points to the scroll near the bottom with his large clawed hand. "I'll take it up with him again -."

Their words faded as my mind filled with fear and questions. I'd heard stories from other hatchlings of dragons disappearing after failing their experiments. They had terrified me so much I couldn't sleep for weeks. And now, it seemed I was going to be killed for my weakness' just like they were. I was quiet as my escort came and finally led me to my room. Leemado met me at the door, and noticed the terror in my eyes as soon as I entered.

"Moon?" he asked in a hushed whisper as soon as the Bogsneak escort had closed the door. "What's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."

I huddled into his fur, gripping tufts of it as I sobbed. "They want to get rid of me. I heard two of the scientists talking and they think I'm weak."

A fire burned in Leemado's eyes as he wrapped a paw around me and led me to our bed. It wasn't much, a tattered old blanket shoved into the corner of the room. Leemado curled up with me and stroked my fins. Somehow, he made me feel safe and calm, even with the thought of them killing me in my mind. "Moon," he whispered, nuzzling my face. "I have a plan to get you out."

~~~

"Lee," I whispered, nuzzling his soft chest fur. It was later that night, the moon was high in the sky and all the other hatchlings were asleep in their beds. Leemado had told me of his plan as we climbed up the piping on the left side of our room. He wanted to sneak me out through an air duct. He'd noticed the screws were loose on one high above our head. I was still nervous. I didn't know how I'd get out through there, but he told me it was our only choice. "I'm scared. I don't want to go alo-"

Leemado pulled me tighter into his fur. "Moon," he whispered into my fins, making them twitch. "You have to go. If you don't, you'll be killed. This way, perhaps we'll meet again." And with one final shove, he pushed me into the vent and shut it, making sure he put it back the way it was. And then our eyes met, as I took one last look at him. There were tears in his eyes. I'd never seen him cry before and it broke my heart.

He was the one who finally broke eye contact and climbed back down the piping system to our bed. I watched him curl up solemnly and stare at the wall. I wanted to bang on the gate and beg him to let me out, but I knew that I needed to get to safety if I ever wanted to see him again. So, I turned and wandered through that duct for what felt like days. Lee had saved his food from that day to give me something to take with me, in case I got hungry. I nibbled on some insects as I turned what felt like the millionth corner and finally, I saw it. Light. I nearly dropped my bag as I flew to the grate and pushed. I was free!

I flew into the sky, zipping around, making cartwheels and spinning. Finally, I landed on a building, looking at the grate I escaped from. "Lee," I said, setting my bag of food down beside me. "I will get you out of there. I am no longer the frail, weak Fae that I was as a hatchling."

And with that, I turned and flew off into the dark night sky.