“Is it better to out-monster the monster or to be quietly devoured?”

― Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Lyra couldn't move, but that didn't matter anymore. The men had a firm grasp on her now. The cursed collar on her neck suppressed her power into a useless haze. The pair of slavers dragged her towards the upper deck, their conversation a drone that she ignored.

Each step they took scraped like glass in her wounds. Her blood fell below in a thick trail. At least it will be over soon. She would die from blood loss, and then the pain would be gone.

"I won't let you die, you know that."

Lyra winced, the voice within her mind an unwelcome reminder that she was never alone, never allowed a single thought to herself.

"I know," Not even a whisper of sound marked Lyra's words. "But maybe you should."

Lyra had been a bitter one. This was where her story ended, fed to the birds until she rotted into the sea. She'd seen the slaves, nailed to the rails of the ship like trophies. This was her fate.

"Never..."

The word rang in her head like a bell, a blow to her already fragile awareness. Lyra forced open her eyes to find the sun in view and the sea below. Her body was numbed, as if she sat behind a veil and observed herself. She hadn't even noticed when the men hoisted her over the rail and drove home the spikes in her wrists.

"Don't worry, little pup," The hoarse voice spoke, kindness in its tone. "The pain can be for me alone."

Tears welled up in Lyra's eyes, swallowed by the dryness there as if they had never been. Starved for moisture, her body refused any waste.

"But..."

"This pain is nothing to me, pup." A hint of amusement played through the voice. "I have suffered more than you can imagine, nothing these disgusting men can do to us can compare."

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Within her mind's eye, a great wolf rose to its feet. Jaws wide in a grin, it stepped closer. Its midnight blue fur shook. The half-broken chains that covered its body jangled and scrapped as they dragged across the landscape of her mind.

"We will survive," It growled, its black, hungry eyes locked onto her own. "We will destroy these humans and eat their meat."

"I don't want to eat people though..."

Lyra sighed as she curled up in a ball within her mind. Without the burden of the pain she embraced the arms of sleep, her mind stuffed with warm cotton and the flicker of dreams.

"Sleep little pup," The wolf growled as it looked out from Lyra's eyes, into the sea. "When you next wake we'll have had the most wonderful dinner."

Lyra smiled and let the darkness take her. The wolf curled between her and the dangers of the night, its gaze fixed outward. Her friend would keep watch, while she took a short nap.

"Thank you... for everything."

The wolf glanced at her. Lyra's gratitude softened her face as the girl slipped into her dreams, and the wolf cuddled closer.

"We are one, little pup. I would do anything to help myself, so I will do the same for you."

Lyra didn't respond, already lost to her fatigue. The wolf turned its eyes back to the outside world, waiting for the chance it needed to free them from this cursed place.

I won't be branded a slave. Freedom was her greatest joy, and she would rip herself to pieces at the slightest chance. Never again... The chains on her navy fur jangled as if to mock her. She'd lived with them for so long. She would not add more.

So she waited, and watched, for the right moment, the chance to sink her fangs into the enemy and rip this collar from Lyra's neck. The girl had freed her from her last prison, and she would not let the young woman fall.

"Don't worry, little pup..."

Her fur itched, Lyra's pain beneath her skin. A thousand ants on a march without end. She grinned, a savage joy in her heart as she remembered the taste of the slave minder's face. His nose had crumpled beneath her teeth and slid down her throat before the man understood what happened. She'd added both his ears and much of his neck to the feast before the others had arrived to ruin her fun.

"Grrrrrrrrrrr"

The canine's stomach growled. She was hungry still, and the small tidbits, ripped from her oppressor's flesh, did nothing to sate it. It could never be resolved, this deep-seated drive to consume. She'd been born with it, and it would be her final companion.

Her 'father's' gift, this hunger, gave her purpose. Until she'd met Lyra, it had been her world. Even in her dreams, she feasted on the stars, until she stood alone in the universe. She would be complete, and the gnawing hunger faded away. Then she would wake, and it returned, this terrible need she couldn't escape.

The wolf glared at the ocean below, eyes locked on the shadows there, drawn in by Lyra's fresh blood. Come closer little fishes, A meal would go a long way to healing Lyra's body. As it was, suppressing and delaying her death was the limit.

"We will survive, little pup."

The wolf strained Lyra's hands against the thick metal spikes that held them in place. She worked her wrists, ground her flesh against the rusted nails, and widened the wounds. With each twist, she shaved away meat and bone. She would be ready, no matter the cost.

"We will escape," The bones in her left hand popped, shifted out of place by her efforts. "And we will eat the world."

She focused on her other arm and wrenched it back and forth, until the nail would slide free if she gave another sturdy tug. Now we wait, little pup, The wolf narrowed its eyes as it settled back down within Lyra's mind, cuddled against her unconscious form.

"It will be wonderful..."