A/N: I haven’t yet touched on such unsavory aspects of Thanguur such as slavery yet, and I felt like writing such a fantasy story. Review, and I will update faster.

Chapter 1: The Fire Extinguished

The collar rubbed at my neck, irritating the already inflamed area. I glared down at my ‘master’, a filthy human nobleman. Stupid humans think they are better than everyone else, and keep us magical creatures as pets. I’m an elf, but they are forever capturing more exotic species such as pixies, wood sprites and centaurs to keep them entertained, sometimes even the occasional demon, and every breed of elf.

This particular nobleman, Lord Lywatch, particularly likes his pets, and he likes them obedient. He has one of every kind, and no more. I am his prized Flavian elf, but he has beaten all the fire out of me. Nearly. I refused to be beaten down entirely. I am his personal pet, so I wear a chain ‘leash’ like all of the pets did. He had said he liked my fire and spunk, as the sicko stroked my long ebony hair sycophantically. My charcoal-gray eyes are streaked with blue, very uncommon for a Flavian, so I suppose that increases my value.

He doesn’t take the best care of his ‘pets’. I’m in the second best shape out of all of us, and even I am alarmingly thin. Some of the others act as actual slaves, doing the cleaning and cooking and serving. Next to me, T’Kely gave a hopeful draconic keen and jerked at his collar when the window was opened, bathing his face in the cool light of the stars.

T’Kely is the best off out of all of us by quite a lot. His ‘master’ is Lady Lywatch, who treats all the slaves kindly and dotes on him immensely. He has a comfortable corner in which to sleep in the Lady’s room, many fancy clothes and other effects, is snuck fresh food from the table, and is allowed to do mostly what he wants, if he asks for it. She calls him her baby. T’Kely is a pretty Skelvian elf, with the reddest and longest hair I have ever seen on a man and the most golden eyes. I think he used to be a Skycatcher, but was caught and his dragon was killed, which must have really torn the poor guy up.

“Not now, dear.” She said without looking up, in answer to the rattle of her pet’s chain. “Sit.” He sat down next to her chair immediately, and she snuck him a chicken leg under the table. Luckily the Lord didn’t see her, he is always angry when she does that. Apparently we are fit for nothing but the scraps scraped from plates. She always just smiles and leaves plenty on her plate. She looked at me sadly. I know she wants to treat me well too. I am lashed often for things barely even considered misbehaviors, while the Lady has never allowed T’Kely to be lashed, and tries to save the other pets from the whip as well.

“Allow Flarilin to sit down. He looks exhausted.” Lady Lywatch said to her Lord.

“All your care about is the damn pets.” He snarled. “But if it will please you, so be it.” He jerked my chain. “Sit.” I sat down on the floor next to T’Kely, who was practically inhaling the chicken. He had to learn to eat fast so the lord wouldn’t notice.

The Lady slipped me a leg as well, and I dug into it hungrily. I knew I would be the one in trouble if I got caught with it, not her, and I would be whipped. The Lady knew this, but was not about to see me starve. If she could have slipped chicken to any of the other slaves, most even thinner than I, I knew she would do it.

A beautiful pixie girl with clipped wings walked past, carrying yet another tray of food. I heard the chains on her ankles clank under her skirt. She placed a dessert on the table in front of the Lady, who immediately snapped two bites off of the cherry pastry and handed them to T’Kely and I.

Suddenly, the Lord stood up. “I will be heading off to bed now. Come, Flarilin. He jerked my chain. I hurriedly swallowed my bite of pastry and followed him, keeping close enough so that the chain did not pull on my neck. Dragging me inside his room, the Lord bolted my chain to its place on the wall.

“Am I not allowed some supper?” I said hopefully. If he decided to feed me today, I might even go to bed full.

“SILENCE!” He struck me across the face with the back of his hand. “We are traveling to visit another Lord tomorrow. It is a far distance and if I feed you before we go, you will become motion sick like you did last time.”

I had to suppress a scowl. I remembered that. It wasn’t my damn fault that salted pork did not agree with my stomach, and the carriage had hit a pothole about every five seconds. It was only the Lady’s kindness and persistence that had saved me from twenty lashes with my master’s beloved lead-lined whip.

I curled up in my corner, pulling the threadbare blanket tight around me. I soon fell into a light and restless sleep, and was woken at around midnight by a loud clank as the bolt holding my chain fell out of the wall. That was not good. I could not try to escape, as I knew I would be caught and rewarded for my efforts with a good beating, and about fifty lashes. I would likely be blamed for an escape attempt as well if I just left it or tried to put it back in the wall, and still receive such. I decided to crawl over to the Lord’s bed and tell him. Unbeknownst to me, the Lord was already awake, and as soon as I began to crawl, he said, “Trying to escape, are we now?”

“No my Lord, I, I,”

“ENOUGH!” He roared, leaping from the bed. “Obviously you do not learn your lesson so easily. Not just beatings for you, not this time. How pretty will you be with the sight burned from your eyes?”

My breath caught in my chest. “No… no, please! Please!”