Fight or Flight

[Carnelia]

He is as ugly as I remember him. He glares down at me, his pock-marked face covered in soot, his clothing in charred tatters around his chest. Reaching down he pulls me up by my front.

“Where is he,” he spits in my face. “Where is your dragon?” He shakes me, rattling my teeth. “WHERE IS YOUR DRAGON!!”

Clawing at his hands, I begin to kick and scream. He shakes me again.

“Nothing to say, you stupid wench?” he continues to shout. Kicking out, I hit his groin but instead of buckling over in pain, he laughs in my face.

“Your master made sure that would never be a problem for me again,” he barks. “Decided that I needed to pay for ever touching you.” Pulling his hand back, he slaps me hard across the face, forcing me to bite my lip. “I wonder what he’s going to do once he finds out…” he slaps me again, harder this time, my head ringing, “...that you were here?” He slaps me again. “He can’t hurt us anymore, we’re already dead!”

Throwing me down to the ground, he lands on top