Precious

A light filtered in the blackness and I squinted, trying to visualize the source of unwanted brightness. For a moment I thought of the Realm of Light Sorcery, thriving in this same excessive light and heat. As long as I could still think of the outside world, my sanity line stayed straight. When the line started weaving, I would worry. 1

“Is the sorceress hungry?” An Orc called, keeping its distance as it waved the light back and forth in my face. The Orc made me feel like a dog and wish the lot of them had left me to starve like one. If this is what insanity feels like, I would prefer it left me alone. 2

“What are you going to feed me, dog vittles?” I snorted. Their idea of food could be poisonous to me. 3

“Nothing but the best for the little sorceress. It is important to keep the master’s new pet alive.” The Orc insisted.4

The Orc was honest enough to call me a pet to my face, but the way he called the other thing master made me wonder how bad torture would turn out to be. Besides, alive was a very loose term. Unfortunately right when I was going to refuse and say I was stronger than that, my stomach betrayed me and let out a low rumble. The Orc heard and his face twisted into a grotesque smile that crawled under my skin. As it walked over and unchained me, I smelled traces of sweat, dirt, and burnt flesh. Despite every instinct to run as fast as I could, I stayed put. If they caught me this early in the game, they would know how strong I was from the started. I needed the energy to escape when they thought me weak. 5

The Orc half kicked me up the dungeon stairs and through a corridor to my own kitchen. A chair was pulled out with a plate of food piled nearly a foot high. I sat down and took a bite, reveling in the taste of something other than blood in my mouth. The pleasure ended quickly. I felt my stomach lurch as the food traveled slowly down, blood coming as an aftertaste that I knew took days to wash out. The food was cooked with a blood poison, and I had a feeling I would know which one soon enough. 6

My stomach lurched again and I turned to the side just in time to vomit, clutching the side of the table and the chair as my stomach tried to come out of my throat. My body shook from the force and my nerves grew so tense that my palms grew sweaty and white. My throat burned and my eyes watered, gasping for breath and some sort of method to stop the torture. The Orc howled with laughter along with a few friends as they appeared, trying to find out what the noise was. Personally, the problem seemed less than funny to me.7

“I forgot to tell you sorceress, you have to work for your food.” The Orc laughed, his voice sounding like a hyena bitten by a werewolf. 8

My heart grew cold, resentment seeping in. I would not be tortured in my own home… not without payback. I close my eyes and focused, then the room was silent. I looked up with a smile; every Orc in the room was glaring in fury under a layer of cold, smooth ice. Orcs none, Sorceress one. I felt another episode of vomit coming and froze my stomach solid. The cold felt uncomfortable, but it was a better option than hurling for another three hours. 9

“Well done, little sorceress, you prove smarter than we thought. Now, if you work hard, you can get your real food in the dungeon.” The ‘Master’ Orc hissed. For some reason, I hated the idea of the enemy agreeing with me. 10

I followed the Master Orc, more out of fear than obedience—let him think as he wanted—as we traveled down to a different dungeon. Right before the door, the Orc smiled at me.11

“Little Sorceress, I would like you to meet your new playmate, Precious.” The Orc hissed, then he threw me in and slammed the door shut, locking it behind him. 12

Precious was more appropriately named Terror With Teeth. Seconds after the door locked a set of gleaming white teeth and a massive snout snapped at me. I knew from meeting Blaze that this creature was a dragon, but my brain told me this one was less than friendly. I held my hands together fast, palms out, and sent a spray of ice at the new antagonist. The dragon jerked back, roaring in annoyance, then slashed me hard across the stomach with stained claws. I screamed and a low rumble came from the dragon’s throat as it licked its claws, yellow eyes glaring from the shadows. I felt blindly for the wounds on my skin and found open slices running deep on my stomach. Slowly the wounds started to heal, but the dragon attacked again, slicing across my face and sprawling me across the wall as it snapped its teeth at me. Apparently the dragon missed breakfast too. 13

The dragon started to attack again and I reacted, forming a wall of ice between us. The wall wasn’t very thick, but it was thick enough to hold his claws, and I took the chance to freeze another layer of ice. The dragon proved stupid enough to try his claws again, and by the third layer, the dragon’s teeth failed as well. I watched in fear as the dragon tried again and again to break the wall around me. Eventually, I knew the creature would succeed, so I waited with my eyes closed. 14