Vincenz looked at the egg that contained the fourth of his creations. He was hoping this one would be a success. A human dragon hybrid that would have all the mental capacities of a human and be fully armored as a dragon. The large egg-like capsule enabled him to watched the development and he could tell that this would be another failure. He could already see areas of flesh forming without scales and cursed aloud.
His assistant Darryn cowered from his temper. He himself was a prisoner here, a former experiment though not a creation as this was. Vincenz had sent hunters in search of a Changeling and they had taken his DNA, his blood, his hair, even his teeth in an attempt to create humans who could shapeshift at will into anything. But, they had discovered that such a thing was not possible and they kept him now as a worker by keeping him half starved and weak.
He watched the pod open, signalling that the lifeform within was able to live outside the pod. The water spilled out and the woman fell to the floor in a heap coughing and gasping for breath. Vincenz went to her and lifted her chin, "Damn it!" he spat at her, "Rise slave. I am your creator. You will obey any order given you by any man that you encounter, not matter what it is. Do you understand?"
The woman nodded.
"Perhaps you will be of some use to me, though I highly doubt it." He turned from his in disgust and his hand flew in Darryn's direction. "See she is fed well."
Darryn nodded and prepared a feast for her, though he had not eaten in three days. He took it to her and set it before her. "You must eat." he said quietly.
She looked at the food and put pieces of things to her lips and chewed, but she felt it not settled well in her stomach and stopped.
"Please...you must eat. I will be punished if you do not."
She regarded the man and continued to eat though she felt as if she would not be able to keep it down. She had been told to obey any order a man gave, and so she did. She did vomit, but she then returned to the food until it was gone.
He removed the tray and cleaned up the vomit and placed her in a large cage, but not large enough to allow her to use her wings, or even fully extend them.
It become open knowledge that a hybrid was available for any male that wished to order her to do his bidding and before long every male in the facility was making his way through the caverns to have a turn at her. She had no sens of this being wrong or improper, since she was not given that information upon 'birth', so she obeyed blindly.
One day a man came to her and ordered Darryn to release her from the cage. He took her to a secluded cavern and chained her to a huge stone. He then ordered her to fly up out of the cavern with the rock. Then he watched as she tried again and again to obey him. Her wings, were weak from lack of use as were the muscles that moved them. But she continued to attempt to obey for nearly ten hours before she fell upon the rock , bloody and exhausted to the point of unconsciousness. the man returned to Darryn and shrugged, "Go get her...I am not carrying her anywhere."
Darryn went where the man said she was and he could not believe the condition she was in. He unchained her and tended the more serious wounds to her legs and the tear in her wing. He was gentle and kind as he ministered to her and finally he rolled her onto a stretcher and returned her to the cage. He did not lock her in though, but he tended to her giving her water and bits of food until she was able to sit up again on her own.
The man eventually returned and Darryn looked at him but dared not speak. "Is she strong enough to be out yet? I have another test for her."
"She is not. She only today can sit."
"Not as strong as Vincenz believed then."
"If she were able to use her wings and exercise them, perhaps she would have been able to lift the stone."
"Maybe. But it seems to me not. She is not as strong as a dragon. But Maybe she can serve other purposes."
"And it doesn't bother you at all that you nearly killed her?"
"Not at all. She is a creation of science, not a person after all. She has no feelings or understanding of anything other than what she is told. When will she be strong enough for ... sensual commands?"
Darryn felt bile rising in his throat, "Three days."
"I will return then."
Darryn frowned and went back to tending her. She had the most amazing eyes, and she was gentle and kind. He didn't believe she was without feeling or thought, and he was going to prove it. "How are you feeling?"
She met his eyes, "I feel pain."
"I am sorry. I will try to find something to ease that for you."
"Why?"
He lifted his head at her question, knowing this was proof that they were wrong about her. "Because I can. And because I have been used as you are and I know it is horrible and cruel."
"I do not understand horrible or cruel..."
"Horrible is something that is not right and should not be, and cruel is when you do things that you know will hurt another person and do not care."
"You have been treated in this manner?" When he nodded she frowned, "Are you bound to the creator as well? Are you a failure?"
"No. I was free and captured because of what I am. I can change from the form you see into a bear, or I could. They do not feed me enough to allow the transformation for fear i will escape. They long ago ceased using me for experiments, I am not sure which state is worse."
"Free...what is free?"
He sighed deeply, "It is being able to decide for yourself what you will do with your time and your life. It is seeing the sunshine and feeling the breeze on your face. It is wonderful." She looked confused and he realized she had no idea what any of that was, having lived all of her shot life in the underground caverns. "Maybe one day I will be able to show you."
She nodded and watched him,not fully understanding everything but realizing that this one male treated her very different from the others.
True to his word the man returned on the third day but he was not alone. With him was another of Vincenz' slaves, a male who like the woman was a failed hybrid. The man ordered her to pleasure the other slave, but she could not allow him to have ease. This continued for hours, the male being tortured and then the man giving the orders looked at the woman and ordered her to kill the male.
For the first time she hesitated and stared into the eyes of the man giving the orders. "Why is this one to die?"
The man stepped forward and struck her with a barbed whip. "You do not question the orders of a man. You are a creature. Do as you have been ordered or I will summon the Creator."
Only one other time had the Creator been summoned, and it was when she had refused to eat something someone had ordered her to eat and that beating and the subsequent ones that followed had been an effective deterrent. Her gaze fell on the male who just nodded as if giving her permission and she obeyed the order. Her long claws buried themselves in his chest and she squeezed his heart, killing him mercifully fast but when she withdrew her hand blood spewed from him as well as many vital organs and bodily fluids covering her in the thick red goo and ooze.
The man nodded, "Well done. We may be able to see you as an assassin for hire. At least it will pay for your upkeep." He looked over at Darryn, "Clean that up..."
Darryn frowned and went and removed the male hybrid from the cage and put him in a separate space. He didn't know if Vincenz had plans for him, or parts of him so he left him there. He returned to her cage with warm water and soap.
"That was horrible and cruel...was it not?"
"Yes. It was."
She sank to the floor and her tail curled around her and so did her wings. She could not contain the emotions that welled up inside her at that moment and wracking sobs howled from deep within her. It was a mournful, aching sound and it echoed throughout the cavern. Not many howls echoed before Vincenz appeared in the pen, as he called it.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"She was ordered to kill one of the others like herself."
Vincenz looked at Darryn, "Did she do it?"
"Yes."
"Well then...that is a good thing. There may be hope for this one yet then." He went to the cage and rattled the door, "SILENCE!"
Upon hearing the Creator's voice give a command she attempted to stifle the cries.
"Since you obeyed, I will allow you a short reprieve. Choose a temporary master, and only their orders must be obeyed."
She lifted her head and then rose to her full height, covered in blood and gore. "I choose him." She said pointing to Darryn.
Vincenz laughed, "Very well. Two weeks." he looked at Darryn, "Enjoy your time ... and bring that other up to the lab."
Darryn nodded and grabbed a stretcher to move the male from the other cage and up to the lab. He returned and looked at her, "Why would you choose me?" He asked thinking how wrong it seemed for her long hair to be covered in blood and half dried filth.
"Because you are kind to me, and you promised to show me what freedom was."
"Oh wait...How can I do that? I am just as much a prisoner here as you are."
"If I share my food with you...you will be strong again. We can escape and be free."
He started to try to and discourage her from thinking that way, but then he saw an opportunity and nodded, "There is no harm in trying. Death is preferable to this life."
And so every day for the two weeks she shared her food with him and he grew stronger and stronger until the tenth day, when he could feel the bear calling to him, as he once had. He felt tears sting his eyes as joy flooded him. They formulated a plan, and a means of escaping through the garbage tunnel. This would be no problem at all for her since she was half dragon and the flames there could not harm her if she wrapped her wings about her body. But he was not so fortunate. They attempted to have her carry him wrapping her wings about both of them, but they were not quite large enough to cover him completely. So he stole a leather tarp and on the last day of his temporary mastery of her, they escaped down the flaming garbage tunnel.
Once they were outside her eyes were nearly blinded by the brightness of the sunlight and he had to lead her quickly into the forest beyond the exit of the cave. They ran and ran until their legs could not go further. She lay on the ground panting for breath and looked up at the tree canopy and smiled, "It is more beautiful than I imagined. Thank you."
He was lying next to her on the cool soft ground, "Thank you for allowing me to see it again."
