Page 28 of The Dragon's Pet
“They envy you being able to humiliate and use me.”
“We are dragons. We hoard things of beauty, power, and worth,” Vyktor said. “Humiliation and use, these are concepts you are sensitive to, as a human. When I put you on display before my men, it is not to shame you. It is to show what a jewel you are, and to motivate them to preserve others like you.”
Aria found herself believing him, though she knew his way with words could mean that she was being misled. When he touched her, when his eyes fell upon her skin and his lips curled in asmile of pure pleasure, she felt valued. From the beginning, he had taken care of her and with her, ensured that no harm would come to her.
“Vyktor!”
A voice in the hall summoned her master. He rose directly, with a kiss to her lips and another to her forehead. “Get some rest, pet,” he said. “I will return soon.”
“Okay,” Aria said softly. Her eyelids were heavy and she could feel herself drifting into a dream.
* * *
Aria would sleep for hours, Vyktor was sure of it. Their sex often seemed to exhaust her. He suspected that human males did not have anything like dragon stamina. He was impressed at her sensitivity to his word-working. She had a great deal of potential that was yet to be tapped, and he was looking forward to discovering her hidden depths.
“Spending more time with that human?” Eldor asked the question with a sneer.
“Yes, I think she will be ready for another presentation soon enough.”
“We have greater matters to attend to than your display of your human,” Eldor snapped as they walked into the command office he had carved out for himself. It was a relatively small space with sheltered openings that looked out onto the wider terrain. Cold at the best of times, but Eldor had a greater tolerance for cold than most of them did.
“What matters are these?” Vyktor nodded to the other dragon present—Eridos. He was a young but promising technician and he and Eldor were already making excellent headway toward understanding the human manipulations of matter, the machines they created, their weapons of war and of peace.
“We have observed a rumor in some of the human media. Apparently, the humans may start using their most terrible weapons on us.”
“One would have thought that they would have used them already,” Vyktor noted. “What are they?”
“They claim to have a weapon capable of obliterating entire cities. A weapon which would destroy all life—including our own. We have found footage of one such detonation upon that which they call a ‘tablet’ device. Eridos found it near an evacuated settlement and spent some time searching what they call their ‘internet.’ These humans are connected globally, Vyktor. They can speak to one another at very great distances, and conduct conversations with thousands, or even millions of participants all at once.”
“Impressive,” Vyktor said, watching as pictures began to dance across the surface of the slim device. They showed images of a great explosion, followed by a mushroom cloud that towered high above a desert very much like the one where the portal was located.
“They call this the destroyer of worlds,” Eldor intoned.
“I do not believe it.” Vyktor shook his head. “They are capable of manipulating anything visual. We have seen that many times. Their movies depict all manner of impossible acts.”
“According to their histories, this was real,” Eldor said gravely. “They have threatened to fly this weapon through the portal and deploy it on our world.”
“Nasty little things, aren’t they.”
In the corner of the room, Eridos began to laugh.
“What is so funny?” Eldor snapped the question.
“You looked at the effects of the weapon, but you did not look at the specifications,” Eridos laughed. “These weapons are capable of serious detonations, yes, but their main byproduct is…” he let out a very un-dragonly giggle, “…ionizing radiation.”
The dragons looked at one another, then burst out laughing.
“So their plan is to drown a fish with water,” Eridos chuckled. “Oh, they are almost adorable in their evil. So determined, and so very misguided.”
“If we could spank them all one by one, we might get through to them,” Vyktor grinned. “Though as it is, I have my hands rather full with my pet.”
“She is not entirely terrible,” Eldor admitted. “And I must credit you with helping us to see these humans for what they are. I think, once we have brought them to heel, they will flourish under our guidance. Perhaps, in a few centuries, they might even attain some form of true civilization.”
CHAPTER 8
Days passed into weeks and Aria remained Vyktor’s captive. As the initial excitement of being taken and held began to fade, being owned by a dragon started to become the new normal of her existence.
From roaming the skies to being confined to a cell, the change was almost unbearable at times. Aria found herself staring at the walls, her desire to escape so strong, and her ability to do so completely lacking.
