Kaz groaned as he woke up, his hand immediately finding the back of his head before he could even open his eyes. The pain stabbing through his skull was dull, yet somehow also intense. He couldn't remember why the back of his head hurt so much, but he could imagine that it was probably due to someone knocking him out by striking him there.
He kept rubbing his slightly swollen scalp as his other hand came in contact with something heavy and cold around his neck. That was when his eyes snapped open.
He looked down even though he could barely see the metal collar, both of his hands running over it, and the encased crystals attached to it. He felt despair fill his heart as he leaned against the wall, his fingers still hooked under the offending piece of metal.
Of course, they wouldn't leave him with the ability to use magic, and therefore shift into his true form and break through whatever defenses they had in here, wherever it was, but it was still horribly disheartening to find out that he was powerless. He had never heard of a negating collar being used on a dragon, but the possibility that he was the first one didn't make him feel any better.
He'd read a lot about these collars, and from an academic standpoint he'd even been impressed with how successful they were at suppressing magic in humans, but his appreciation of them had been ruined when he'd seen Elaya wearing one of them. And now he was wearing one himself.
He hugged himself as he scooted back into the corner of the cell he was now locked in, casting a sorrowful glance at his surroundings. The entire room was fairly large, though it was dark and empty, save for several cells that were one next to the other. His own was at the end of the room, right across from a hallway, which had no doubt been intentional.
He wondered how many people would come to spit at him or mock him. But he didn't care. At least he'd saved the people most important to him. Even if Rhen might no longer feel the same.
He let out a sigh, closing his eyes as despair clawed at his heart. He wondered if the dragons would have him executed. That had been what he'd been told when he'd been banished, and now he had willingly helped steal money from the Dragon King. So the odds weren't looking so good for him.
But he couldn't even get himself to care. He was too numb inside to manage it. Rhenor probably hated him now that he knew what Kaz was. He had seen the shock and betrayal in his eyes back on that ship. And Elaya seemed to need him much less than he needed her.
A sad smile appeared on Kaz's face. That had always been true, hadn't it? He'd just never really realized it. Everyone used to treat him as someone important, and so did Elaya, but when it came down to it, he really wasn't that.
All of his importance had always come down to being the sole heir of his clan, and the one who was supposed to continue it. But he'd never had any interest in taking part in clan politics or female dragons, the latter of which had been the much bigger problem in his father's eyes.
Kaz was glad that his father had passed away years ago. At least he didn't have to witness his clan's honor be completely ripped apart. Kaz himself didn't care much about that, but he knew his family had, so he couldn't help but feel a little regretful over it.
But why did he even care? The Astranno clan was likely going to end soon.
He squeezed his eyes shut tighter, trying to push down everything he was feeling. For a moment he wondered if he should have just stayed away and not tried to go to Sigallah. He probably wouldn't be facing certain death then.
The dragons could track down any use of magic by him, and unlike humans, dragons had very specific signatures when using magic. That made it possible to tell if a dragon had used magic, and more specifically which dragon it had been. That was the whole reason why he'd gone to Arlow in the first place. He had planned on leaving Istamid, but when flying over the mountain village, he'd sensed the cloaking spell. He hadn't realized why it had been there at the time, but it had allowed him to transform without the Dragon Mages noticing.
And now without magic, stuck like this, he was close to useless. Rhen always tried to make him feel better by implying that his knowledge was just as useful as Rhenor's survival skills, but Kaz had never believed it. And he doubted Rhen did either. But it had been a sweet gesture anyway.
His eyes stung as he thought about Rhen. He needed to stop doing that. It didn't help him at all. He would never see him again, so there was no need to agonize over what had happened.
No, he decided. Traveling to Sigallah hadn't been a mistake. Thinking he could keep his true nature from Rhenor was. Kaz should have just immediately rejected thinking that they could have something more than friendship the moment Rhenor had made it clear he hated all dragons. And he had good reasons for it as well, so Kaz couldn't even blame him.
He wished he could have just transformed into his real form back on that ship. They wouldn't have managed to stop him then. But there were many reasons why he couldn't have. For one, his dragon form was too large for the ship to handle, and those soldiers didn't look like they could swim well in their armor. Kaz hadn't wanted them to die. But he would also have been too large to not step on someone, or hurt someone by accident, and he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he'd hurt Rhen or Elaya.
And even beyond that.... He hadn't wanted Rhenor to see him like that. The looks he'd given his ears had been enough, and in the split second Kaz had had to decide what he'd do, that had intimidated Kaz much more than it should have.
He'd been confident he'd manage to get away, though. Like most dragons, he was good at fire magic. But someone must have knocked him out before he could escape.
In hindsight, the entire thing had probably been unwise, but there was little he could do about it now. That didn't mean he wouldn't try to get away, however. Just because Rhenor hated him now didn't mean that Kaz would let his jailors do whatever they wanted with him. He wasn't sure what he could do, but he would do it as best he could.
Getting up, he closed his eyes for a moment as his head spun. Once the dizzy spell wore off, he walked over to the door to the cell, gripping onto the rusty metal bars. There was no handle, only a padlock. And unfortunately, he wasn't good at picking locks. He had read about it at some point, he was sure of that, but he didn't even have a tool that could be used in this situation, let alone know how to pick a lock properly.
He looked around his cell for anything useful, but the stone floor, while certainly not clean, didn't offer much of anything aside from a layer of muck made up of things he'd rather not think about.
It was only then that he noticed a body lying in the corner of the cell next to his. He walked to the bars separating them, pushing his face between them to get as close as possible.
It was a woman, though he couldn't see her face as her back was facing him. Her bruised arms and torn tunic were enough for him to get an idea of why she was unconscious, though. Or was she dead?
Grimacing, Kaz tried to squint through the darkness to see if she was breathing. It took him at least a full minute to notice some movement of her chest, but he let out a breath when he finally saw it. So at least she was still alive.
Who was this? There was no one else in this dungeon, as far he could see. Surely, if this was just the city's dungeon, there would be more people here. He didn't hope there was, but in general, the dragons were too strict to not have full prisons. He needed to find out where he was.
There were small, rectangular windows in the wall, but they were fairly high up, and while Kaz wasn't short, he certainly wasn't tall enough to get a good look. He didn't let that stop him, though.
He leaned onto the cold, stone wall, getting up onto his toes as he tried to get as high up as he could. But all he could see was the morning, pink-ish sky. Letting out a huff, Kaz strained harder, finally catching a glance of green trees.
Well, that explained nothing.
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"Lord Astranno," said a voice behind him, making him flinch and turn around. There were two guards there, right outside of his cell, both looking at him with the same mocking expression. Kaz glared at them, which just made them smirk more.
"You'll be coming with us," the guard said, as the other raised heavy-looking manacles. Two pairs of them, presumably one for his ankles as well. They weren't taking any chances with him, despite being about as capable of escape as an average human would be at the moment.
And if the people escorting him away were to be the two men, both bigger than him, it was very unlikely he would manage to even put up a fight.
The guard who had spoken to him unlocked the door, swinging the cell open with a loud squeal of the hinges moving. Kaz automatically took a step back, but after that, he didn't move another inch. He didn't feel like giving these humans the satisfaction of having him back away from them in fear.
Even though he was afraid. Terrified, really. But he would do his best to hide it under a scowl.
He winced as the guard grabbed his wrists with bruising force. He pulled against their grip, trying to get away, but he only ended up gasping when the pressure intensified. The guard was now grinning at him. Kaz wondered if the man was sadistic or simply reveling in the fact that for once in his life he was in a position of power over a dragon.
He yelped as he was pushed against the wall suddenly, his arms painfully pulled behind his back. He tried not to let out a sound as the cuffs were roughly clamped onto his wrists, his face pressed up against the sharp stone.
The guard didn't let go of his arms—he didn't let him move away from the wall even a bit—until his ankles were also cuffed together. Only then was he pulled away from the wall by his hair.
Kaz winced, gritting his teeth as the guard pulled his head up, forcing him to look him in the eye.
"Move, your lordship. Lord Grrikari wants to have a word with you."
Kaz's heart skipped a beat. Lord Grrikari? Oh no. Oh no, he didn't want to see her. Zriannis lir Grrikari was his cousin, but they'd only spoken once. And Kaz had been more than fine with that. She had come across as quite insane the first time. And now he was in her clutches, to do with whatever she wanted to.
Suddenly, he wasn't so sure that he would be executed. Her plans were probably much, much worse than that.
Kaz tried dragging his feet as much as possible as he was pushed out of the cell, but they quickly put a stop to that when one of the guards grabbed him by the collar and pulled him forward by it. And with the other pushing him from the back, there was no way for him to slow them down.
The chain keeping his ankles together was far too short to walk with any kind of speed, but the guards didn't care about that and walked at a normal speed, which meant that Kaz kept stumbling, even almost falling at one point when the guard in front pulled on his collar too hard.
Kaz wanted to look around the corridors they were walking through, but given everything he had to keep track of in an effort not to fall and most likely get beaten for it, there wasn't much else he could do aside from watching his feet and desperately trying not to flinch at every clink the chains made.
He felt like he was finally getting the hang of walking like this when they stopped. The guard holding the collar let go, walking behind him to grab his arm painfully. Kaz winced, gritting his teeth to stay quiet as he finally realized where they were when he saw her.
Zriannis was sitting on a golden throne in the back of the large room, surrounded by expensive carpets, tapestries, and mahogany tables, with a large, crystal chandelier hanging above. It took a second to notice all of that with how dark the room was being kept, though. There seemed to be a window right behind Zriannis, but it was covered with long, dark red drapes. Most of the candelabra were not lit either, although there were a few, which only made the atmosphere more ominous.
The long shadows cast by the candles, and Zriannis' general visage were more than enough to intimidate him. But Kaz forced himself to look neutral.
"Dearest cousin," she said, sounding almost bored as she got up, her dark brown hair falling forward. She looked more human than the last time Kaz had seen her, but she had still kept some of her dark scales around her eyes and on her neck, the large thin horns on the sides of her head pointing up, and the very long ears.
He found it very difficult to look her in the eye, but then, he wasn't really trying, preferring to watch the golden knife she was twirling between her fingers.
"I never thought we'd see each other again," Zriannis continued, a sharp grin on her face. "Especially not like this. Who would have thought you'd come by for a visit."
Kaz tried to pull his arms out of the hold of the guards as she reached him. She was shorter than him, but that made her no less intimidating. She was still playing with the knife as if waiting for an excuse to cut him with it.
"T-this is hardly a visit," Kaz forced out, doing his best to keep his voice steady. Though it was very difficult with the way she was looking at him. She almost looked hungry. Why couldn't this have been any other dragon? Maybe they could figure out a deal of some sort. It was unlikely, but still, it would have been possible.
Not with Zriannis though.
"Are you not enjoying my hospitality, Kazterrak?"
Kaz scowled as she smiled at him. He wouldn't answer that, though he wanted to. Her hospitality was currently leaving bruises on his arms. Not to mention how tight those shackles were.
"I wouldn't complain if I were you. I can make it much less pleasant."
Kaz ducked his head, his eyes falling on Zriannis' knife again. He certainly didn't want that. Though he didn't understand why Zriannis wanted to keep him around. Would he truly be that amusing to torment?
"What do you want, Zriannis?" Kaz almost flinched when those words left his mouth. Taking this attitude would not help him with anything. But thankfully, the other dragon seemed to find it amusing.
"I'm not quite sure what I'll do with you," Zriannis admitted, putting her free hand under her chin as she frowned in thought. "But the King hasn't given me any instructions aside from keeping you here." Then she smirked darkly. "I already have some ideas, however."
Kaz shivered. He didn't like the sound of that in the slightest. She was probably trying to do just that—unnerve him and make him fear her. But it didn't matter that he could see through it because it was working very well anyway.
"I do have a question for you, though, cousin." For the first time, she glared at him. And it was just as frightening as he could imagine. "How is it that a dragon goes around stealing our taxes?"
Kaz scowled again. This was none of her business. And he'd done none of the stealing, anyway. He'd just been watching from the distance and had to do something when he'd seen soldiers heading for the ship.
"And helping humans, no less." Zriannis laughed, turning away and taking a few steps away as she stared up at the ceiling. There were frescos on it, all of dragons, some breathing fire. It was interesting how often he saw that motif, even though they couldn't actually do that. At least not as pictured.
"You Astrannos are a disgrace to our kind. Truly."
This was no doubt supposed to make him jump to defend his clan, but Kaz wouldn't bother. He just didn't care anymore. What did it matter, anyway? This insult only concerned him, after all.
But he just couldn't make himself stay silent. Unfortunately for him. "That might not be such a bad thing."
Zriannis turned back to him, tilting her head to the side as she closed the distance between them again. She looked even more amused now. "Oh, is that what you think?"
Kaz glared at her again. He needed to learn to not say anything. The more he said, the more would be used against him. But he had meant that. Completely. He'd known that the ruling dragons weren't the nicest to their human subjects, but he'd had no idea just how bad the situation was. And it was no wonder—he'd never bothered going out into the world and seeing what it was like. He'd just stayed inside, his nose in a book.
"So you are a human sympathizer. How adorable," she mocked him. Then she raised her knife, putting the tip under Kaz's chin and forcing him to raise his head to avoid getting cut. Though from the sharp pain running through his, that had happened anyway. He didn't make a sound, though. "I knew it wasn't only about that friend of yours."
Why did Zriannis know so much about him? Yes, they were cousins, but that didn't mean a lot aside from the fact that they shared blood. They never talked, or even lived close to each other to have the opportunity to talk. Not that Kaz would have taken it.
He'd had no idea that Zriannis lived near Sigallah at all, though. He'd always preferred learning about dead dragons and their achievements, rather than those of the ones still alive. It was less messy and generally more objective that way.
He gasped as the knife was suddenly removed, letting him lower his head again. He wanted to touch the place where it had cut him, but he couldn't do it with his hands cuffed behind his back.
"You are a traitor to your own kind, Kazterrak. Are you proud?"
Kaz kept his eyes on his boots. He'd always felt like a disappointment when it came to his clan and species, so he supposed it didn't make him feel any worse than he already had. But he kept that to himself. He didn't want to provoke her out of fear of getting stabbed by that knife. He had no doubts that she'd do it.
"I'd just like to understand what drives someone to do that."
Kaz didn't bother looking up. He knew very well that she wasn't interested in discussing philosophy or morality, and that she was just trying to humiliate him.
"Who was that human you came to Sigallah with?"
Kaz flinched as the tip of Zriannis' dagger touched his throat. He swallowed thickly, looking in the other dragon's far too happy eyes. Was that what she wanted? Information about Rhenor? Kaz wondered if this was her wanting to know because talking about Rhen would hurt him, and she somehow knew it would, or if this was something the King had put her up to.
Rhen was after all one of the humans who had managed to steal from the King, so it would make sense for the dragons to want to track Rhen down and have him killed.
But either way, Kaz wasn't going to tell Zriannis anything about Rhen.
He set his jaw, giving her the best defiant look he could manage at the moment, which was probably not very effective since there was a knife at his throat.
"You don't want to corporate?" Zriannis said with a faux sad tone. Then she laughed and pressed the knife against his neck hard enough to draw blood, making Kaz struggle to keep his pained yell as quiet as possible, resulting in a choked-off cry. "That's okay. I have time."
Kaz squeezed his eyes shut,swallowing down a whimper. He wouldn't talk, no matter what. He could do this.For Rhen. For Rhen....