Chapter 2
The group of Hyenas marched toward the edge of the woods, the leader dragging the struggling dragon.
“Let me go, you jerks!” Spyro yelled. He twisted and pulled on the chain. Putting all his weight into it, he finally shifted the leader’s weight causing him to stumble.
The leader stopped and turned his head staring down at the dragon, annoyance in his eyes.
Spyro smirked “finally got your attention huh? Now get this collar off of me before you regret it!”
The leader said nothing, instead nodding to a Hyena behind Spyro who grabbed his whip from his belt and swung it at Spyro’s flank. The cord hit its mark and tore through his scales, leaving a crimson streak of blood in its wake. “Ow!” Spyro yelled, bringing his wing down on the injury. There were tears in his eyes, in all his time of being the hero he’d never been hurt like this.
The leader looked down at Spyro with zero pity. “Don’t want pain? Then walk purple, or get worse!” He tugged on the leash, nearly knocking Spyro off of his paws.
Spyro looked back in the direction of home and then back toward the road ahead, and began walking.
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The day dragged on as Spyro was taken farther and farther from the Dragon Realms, the sun was starting to set. He tried to keep track of where he was, but it was becoming harder and harder. The woods were long gone , the lush forest long replaced by an expansive desert.
The sharp pain on his flank from the whip strike had dulled to a throb that was exacerbated by every step he took.
As dusk fell, the party arrived at what appeared to be a vast hole in the ground. As they got closer Spyro could see it wasn’t a hole, it was a quarry with hundreds of beings moving below. Hyenas dotted the pit, the rest were the slaves consisting of various species: Fauns, Satyrs, even a few Gnorcs. They were not working though, they were all being herded into cells dug into the side of the quarry, apparently it was the end of shift.
Descending into the quarry Spyro worked to map it out in his mind, but the more he saw, the more impossible escape seemed. Hyenas were everywhere all as strong if not stronger than the one holding his chain who had tossed him around like he was nothing. They all carried whips and clubs too.
Up to this point Spyro hadn’t been scared, not after his capture or getting whipped or even being so far from home with no clear way back. But being down in the quarry, seeing the looks on the faces of the other slaves: exhausted, broken, some looked like they were near death, like they wouldn’t last another day here.
Spyro trembled, he’d been in some tough spots, but nothing like this. “What am I going to do?” he whispered.
The party approached a tent near the bottom of the quarry. A massive Hyena, even bigger than one holding Spyro’s chain, emerged from it. The slaving party’s leader knelt in front of him, keeping a tight grip on the chain.
“Overseer,” he said in a highly respectful tone. “Find new slave, strong, pull carts well.”
The overseer looked down at the purple dragon seemingly unimpressed.
Spyro stared up at him, refusing to show fear.
“Purple creature not look strong,” he said, circling Spyro. His eyes locked onto the glowing collar around Spyro’s neck. He turned to the slaver leader. “Why collar?”
“It breath fire, very hot,” the slave leader said, never looking up at the overseer, Spyro could tell he was afraid of the larger hyena.
The overseer raised an eyebrow at this revelation, clearly intrigued by the dragon. “Can fly?” he asked looking at Spyro’s wings
“Never tried when caught, must not know how,” the leader said.
“Must watch this one carefully,” the Overseer said, “very strange lizard.” He pushed his foot against Spyro’s side, causing Spyro to stumble.
“Hey!” Spyro shouted, regaining some of his courage. “Watch it mutt!" And I’m not a lizard, I’m a dragon and you better…”
The overseer shot his hand out and grabbed Spyro by the horn and lifted him off the ground, the dragon flailed his paws to no avail, there was fear in his eyes as the overseer brought him to
to eye level inches from this face “slave not know place” he said. Flecks of saliva hit Spyro’s muzzle, it smelled rank. “I teach place.”
He then slammed Spyro into the ground, knocking the wind out of him. The dragon struggled against the crushing weight on his head, scrabbling his paws against the dirt, his eyes wide. He wasn’t sure what would break first, his horn or his skull.
“Please...stop,” Spyro said through gasps.
After several more seconds the overseer finally let go of Spyro and stood up. The dragon couldn’t even stand at this point, he just lay there whimpering. Spyro watched out of the corner of his eye as the Overseer paid the slaver leader in gold. The latter walked away along with the rest of his crew.
Spyro then heard the click of the chain being removed from the collar and felt a furry paw grab his tail and pull him along the ground. He did nothing to resist, he was too exhausted to do anything.
After several minutes, the pulling on his tail stopped. He didn’t look back, he knew what was coming next. As if on cue he heard the creak of an iron gate open and then strong furry hands grabbed him by his torso and tossed him into the cell and the door slamming shut behind him.
For a time Spyro just lay there, not moving. His head ached, his flank throbbed from where the whip had struck him. He took in the sight of the cell, it was a few square meters of space, the walls were jagged, just a hole cut into the earth. The floor was caked in dust and there was a small bowl in the corner with the remains of some substance, flies swarmed it.
Finally, he rose up on all fours and walked over to the iron bars of his cell. He looked out at the vast quarry bathed in the warm glow from the various campfires that dotted it on every level. He looked at the equipment sitting idle, the Hyenas milling about. He listened to the mournful cries of the slaves.
Spyro took a deep breath. Despite the pain, despite how scared he was, he maintained his resolve. He gripped the iron bars of the cell door, his claws scraping the metal “I’m not done yet,” he said sternly. “I’ve taken on tyrants and sorcerers, I always come out on top. I won’t let this…pit beat me.”
Spyro took one last look at the quarry outside his cell and laid down to sleep.
