User blog:Ikoter/The Price of Freedom

THE PRICE OF FREEDOM

A convoy of shipment was travelling along the demon realm. A large group of Lizard woman’s guarding and walking alongside it. Its shipment, human men, of variable ages.

Some were young, others a bit older, but most were still able to procreate. And this is why they were taken. To be brought to those who could make use of them.

Weeks ago, a large request of this nature came directly from the royal demon realm. As a response to this request, a large group of Lizard women gathered.

Being highly trained and strong in terms of physical power, they were the ideal candidates for this task. The one leading them was none other than the dragon Captain Miria.

She planned each strike against human settlements in Order territory. The men there harbored much healthier life force for the young in the demon realm to feed upon.

As it currently stands, they had nearly a hundred humans in their pens and cages. Aye, they were put in cages.

The reason being the fact that they had abducted both men of brute strength and heroes who could topple mountains. So much for all that strength of theirs, since they were in a cage made of demonic metal.

What’s the use of raw power when you have the brains of a cactus? Skill alone was enough to outmaneuver and capture these mindless brutes.

The dragon had barely any part to play in the attack. Just the order: “Attack.” was enough. Except one thing…

A Geomancer would have nearly turned the tide of battle, if Miria hadn’t instantly knocked him out.

And so, the green scaled women had been taking prisoners for weeks and bringing them to the royal demon realm.

Many of them still lacked husbands though. But they would get one, eventually.

“Hei.” There was talk in the pens and cages, quiet whispering among the prisoners. “Where are they taking us?”

“How should we know? HEI BITCH! Where we going?”

A lizard woman turned head to look at the man. “Were taking you atop a mountain to throw you into a bottomless abyss and watch as you fall to your deaths.”

The prisoners jumped back, afraid. The lizard laughed.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Wasn’t that a bit harsh?” Another lizard had asked the first, remotely concerned about the wellbeing of the prisoners.

<p class="MsoNormal">“They need to learn obedience.” The captain spoke. Miria approached, and the two lizards took a serious pose. As their superior, she demanded respect.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Captain Miria!”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Stop the convoy. We’re setting up camp here.”

<p class="MsoNormal">Her orders were obeyed. The convey came to a stop, though the sun was still up on the sky. It was doubtful why the captain ordered the stop. The manomo there were forbidden from tasting the men while on the road.

<p class="MsoNormal">Firstly, the prisoners were for the denizens of the royal demon realm. Secondly, the convoy could be under attack at any moment, so they had to pay complete attention around themselves.

<p class="MsoNormal">Order troops could assault the convoy and free the prisoners. Not that any hadn’t attempted it yet. They had in fact.

<p class="MsoNormal">“It is midday, start some fires, make meals for all our sisters.” Miria ordered. “And for the prisoners.”

<p class="MsoNormal">Truth is, the convoy had been moving since early in the morning. All this time the captain kept everything running smoothly, with the handicap of not killing the foolish Order soldiers which attacked randomly.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Send patrols around us on a two hundred meters radius.” Half the manomo scattered in all directions to form a perimeter and keep it under constant super vision.

<p class="MsoNormal">Any attackers would be easily dealt with. The captain first gave mediocre amounts of food to the prisoners, to keep them vigorously alive.

<p class="MsoNormal">In the scenario where the manomo were left without food, it would be good if the men are at least healthy enough to have an erection.

<p class="MsoNormal">As a manomo’s body goes, the requirement of bodily fluids takes priority over food. That means that they can live for weeks if the only thing they digest is a male’s stuff.

<p class="MsoNormal">As the food was being cooked, the prisoners whispered among themselves.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Where?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“A demon realm. Somewhere.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“For what?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“I heard they convert us into their slaves.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Oh God, I don’t wanna be a slave.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“QUIET IN THERE!” A lizard beat with her weapon against the cage’s bars. She was envious that she couldn’t have a taste of them. “I’m gonna make you into a slave if you don’t shut up.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“No, you won’t.” She turned head and peered at the captain.

<p class="MsoNormal">“A-A-Ah, C-Captain Miria! I-I-A-A was just joking.” She forced a laugh before the captain, who was patiently looking into her eyes.

<p class="MsoNormal">The captain vigorously watched over the pens, making sure none of her subordinates break the iron rule. The order to haul so many untouched men came directly from one of the lilim’s. Miria’s honor was at stake here.

<p class="MsoNormal">She picked up a bowl of food. The captain approached a cage at the end of the convoy. One single human rested in it.

<p class="MsoNormal">These cages were spacious, made to hold around ten to fifteen men. Yet only one stood in that cage.

<p class="MsoNormal">He hadn’t said a word. Hadn’t even raised his head to look at their surroundings.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Prepare yourselves.” Miria said as she walked to that cage’s door. All of the Lizard’s took out their swords, staves and handcuffs. And lots of rope, just in case.

<p class="MsoNormal">Many of them remembered… they remembered when that man stood in the path of their convoy.

<p class="MsoNormal">What looked like a single Lizard’s job quickly turned into a storm of chaos and disorder as nearly all the lizards bore down on the man to restrain him.

<p class="MsoNormal">They only succeeded when the captain intervened, in her dragon form. The whole weight of a dragon was required to keep him down.

<p class="MsoNormal">During all that, each of the captain’s subordinates had earned a series of new scars and bruises on their face, belly, and hands. The kind of wounds that didn’t look like they would be healed with just a spell.

<p class="MsoNormal">Many feared him, because he alone beat them into the ground, into a pool of their own blood. But that didn’t mean he could defeat a dragon.

<p class="MsoNormal">Miria approached, taking the series of keys resting at her waists and opened the door to the cage. The noise the rusty door made was excruciatingly painful to the ears of some, aware of the beast lying within.

<p class="MsoNormal">The door opened and the captain stepped in, bowl of food in one hand. Was it a wise decision to feed a beast which so furiously attacked them in the morning?

<p class="MsoNormal">“Food.” She stood in front of him, his gaze, while not visible, was pointed at her green scaled feet.

<p class="MsoNormal">She waited for around half a minute, for him to at least raise his face and look at her. But he hadn’t. He stayed still like a corpse. Miria dropped the food and raced her hands to the man’s neck, holding him up.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Look here you shit. You follow my orders. Or else I’ll feed you to the pigs.”

<p class="MsoNormal">Everyone outside, and even in the cages, looked at what happened there. The man who wouldn’t obey even after being captured. Or…

<p class="MsoNormal">He moved. His hands grabbed the captain’s shoulders. This shocked Miria for a second as it was completely unexpected and it left her thoughtless long enough for the man to head butt her.

<p class="MsoNormal">She released her grip and stumbled backwards. He ran out of the cage, keys in hand, and closed the door behind him.

<p class="MsoNormal">Miria woke up, realizing the stunt he pulled on her and rushed at the bars.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Open this cage.” She punched the steel bars, even hit them with her horns. She backed away and charged at the iron, which just didn’t want to budge under the force of the dragon.

<p class="MsoNormal">This was demon realm metal. The kind that the previous demon lord used to put dragon’s in chains. It was rusty, and would most likely fail its job today, was what the captain thought.

<p class="MsoNormal">But the metal didn’t budge. Her flames would not melt it should she try it.

<p class="MsoNormal">The man looked at her countless attempts at ripping it apart. The good thing was that if Miria breathed fire, it would reach the other prisoners as well and fry them alive. A thing she could not afford.

<p class="MsoNormal">Not to mention that a dragon’s flames could hurt Lizard’s, who were shocked right now, and scared shitless at the sight of the freed human.

<p class="MsoNormal">Even if he hadn’t eaten since morning, he could still pack a punch. Most of them still remembered how effortlessly and ruthlessly he beat them all to a pulp.

<p class="MsoNormal">When his gaze was upon them, they jumped back. The captain locked in a cage and with half their numbers patrolling the perimeter, retreat seemed like the only possibility.

<p class="MsoNormal">“YOU PIECE OF SHIT!” The captain shouted as a bright glow emanated from her chest. She had reverted to her draconic form, increasing her size massively. The cage was blown open.

<p class="MsoNormal">Some cages around the one in which she was, had bended from the force of a dragon erupting nearby.

<p class="MsoNormal">She took to the sky, hovering above the convoy. This restored the Lizard’s dignity and courage. They had begun approaching.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Surrender peacefully if you do not wish to end up as meat on a plate.” One of them had said, and the rest followed her lead, slowly approaching.

<p class="MsoNormal">The man made no move. He stood peering at the dragon in the sky and paid no attention behind.

<p class="MsoNormal">They were nothing if he could dispose of the dragon. But how can one dispose of a dragon? He found his answer, and turned at the soldiers behind.

<p class="MsoNormal">When the Lizard’s felt his eyes upon them again, they froze in place. Their confidence was washed away by that human’s expression. He made a face which screamed at them.

<p class="MsoNormal">A face that told them that he will beat them into submission even if that dragon is trying to stop him.

<p class="MsoNormal">He took steps forward, and the Lizard’s took steps backwards. He was increasing his pace, his objective being his bag.

<p class="MsoNormal">No lizard women stood in his path. The dragon roared loudly, signaling its attack.

<p class="MsoNormal">It inhaled air, gathering it for a powerful explosion. A gigantic fireball.

<p class="MsoNormal">Damn the Lizards, the prisoners, and the mission! This human went as far as to beat up all her soldiers, be captured willingly, refuse to do as he was told, locked her into a cage and now he was ignoring her presence.

<p class="MsoNormal">That moment, her pride was shattered, like her rationality. He had humiliated her without even saying a word or holding her under his boot.

<p class="MsoNormal">The human reached his bag, which luckily wasn’t emptied of its contents and grabbed into it. But it didn’t matter to the dragon, as the fireball was now approaching.

<p class="MsoNormal">Looking up, it seemed more like an entire sun was bearing down upon him.

<p class="MsoNormal">All the prisoners panicked. The Lizard soldiers scattered, trying to flee. Even they would not survive that explosion.

<p class="MsoNormal">The man put on his hand a gauntlet and bended low. With his hand formed into a fist, he threw an uppercut and intercepted the fireball.

<p class="MsoNormal">Blue energy surged from the gauntlet, covering a part of the gigantic fireball and sending it in the direction it came from.

<p class="MsoNormal">The dragon had no time to react as the fire approached swiftly. It had caused no damage, but it surrounded the dragon in a cloud of smoke, limiting visibility.

<p class="MsoNormal">The human went to a cage, near his, freeing the prisoners within. One of them came quickly and they shared a minimal conversation.

<p class="MsoNormal">A loud roar was heard in the sky. Miria was angry.

<p class="MsoNormal">The prisoner responded quickly, and went out in the open. More exactly where the one who freed him had stood previously. And where the dragon thought he still stands as it began charging blindly.

<p class="MsoNormal">The prisoner, having just ate, regained enough mana to cast geomancery.

<p class="MsoNormal">A massive earth pillar erupted from behind him, pointing defiantly at the sky, towards the direction the dragon blindly came from…

<p class="MsoNormal">Impalement. Everyone stood looking in shock as the geomancer succeeded. The dragon’s last breath marked humanities victory that day, as the Lizards signaled their retreat.