the Exile Dragon king

chapter two

Chapter Two: The Tamer's Lash

Xavier woke to a boot in his ribs.

"Get up, gutter rat." The voice belonged to Jax, the head tamer, a mountain of a man with a face like cracked leather and fists like hammers. "The dragons do not feed themselves."

Xavier groaned and rolled onto his side. His body was a symphony of pain, every muscle screaming, every bone aching. The escape from the temple felt like a fever dream now. He had been recaptured the next morning, dragged back to the dragon pens, and thrown into the mud like a sack of garbage.

"Why do not you just kill me?" Xavier rasped, his voice barely a whisper.

Jax grabbed his collar and hauled him to his feet. "Because that would be too easy. Death is a mercy. You do not deserve mercy." He shoved Xavier toward the enclosures. "The hatchlings need cleaning. And I want them spotless. If I see one piece of dung, I will whip you until your skin peels off."

Xavier stumbled into the hatchling enclosure, his legs nearly giving out. The young dragons were restless, their scales dull with sickness and neglect. They were kept in cramped pens, their wings bound to prevent escape. The empire treated them like livestock, breeding them for their scales and their fire.

His heart ached as he looked at them. These creatures were the children of the ancient dragons, the same creatures that had once soared freely over the empire. Now they were prisoners. Just like him.

He grabbed a bucket of water and a rag and began to clean. The work was mindless, but he did it anyway, his hands moving on autopilot. He scrubbed the floors until his fingers bled, then he started over again.

"Look at him," one of the other tamers said, leaning against the pen's fence. "Like a little dog, doing whatever he is told."

"Pathetic," another said, spitting on the ground. "You used to be nobility, did not you, Knight? How the mighty have fallen."

Xavier kept his eyes on the floor. He had learned long ago that responding only made things worse. He just let their words wash over him, let them sink into his skin like poison.

His hands trembled as he worked. He could not stop them. The storm energy was still there, lurking beneath his skin, waiting to burst out. He could feel it pulsing in his blood, a constant reminder of what he had become.

"Whoa, look at this one." One of the tamers was pointing at a hatchling in the corner, a tiny creature with dull grey scales and sunken eyes. It was barely breathing, its ribs visible through its skin. "That one is dying. Probably should just put it out of its misery."

Xavier's heart stopped. He knew that hatchling. He had fed it yesterday, had held it in his arms and whispered to it that everything would be okay. But nothing was okay. Nothing ever was.

"Leave it alone," Xavier said, his voice sharp. "It is just sick. It needs food and water and a clean pen."

The tamers laughed. "Look at the gutter rat, defending a dragon. Are you its mother now?"

"Leave it alone," Xavier said again, stepping between the tamers and the hatchling. His hands were shaking, and the storm energy was rising in his chest, pushing against his ribs. "Please. It has not done anything to you."

The head tamer, Jax, walked over. His eyes were cold and hard, like chips of flint. "You think you can give orders in my pen?"

Xavier's voice was barely a whisper. "I am not giving orders. I am asking."

Jax grabbed Xavier by the throat and slammed him against the wall. Xavier's head cracked against the stone, and stars exploded behind his eyes. "You do not ask. You do not speak. You do what you are told and you keep your mouth shut. Are we clear?"

"Clear," Xavier gasped.

Jax threw him to the ground and walked away. The other tamers followed, laughing and jeering. Xavier lay in the mud, gasping for breath, his vision swimming. The hatchling in the corner let out a small, pitiful whimper.

"You and me," Xavier whispered, his voice cracked. "We are the same."

He dragged himself over to the hatchling and reached out a trembling hand. The tiny dragon recoiled, its eyes wide with fear. Xavier forced himself to smile, even though his whole body was screaming in pain.

"It is okay. I will not hurt you. I am not going to hurt you."

He placed his hand on the hatchling's flank. It flinched at his touch but did not pull away. He could feel the warmth of its body, the weak flutter of its heart. The little creature was dying, just like him. They were both dying, slowly but surely.

And then it happened. A spark of energy leaped from Xavier's fingertips and sank into the hatchling's scales. The dragon let out a small chirp of surprise, its eyes suddenly bright. Its scales, dull grey just moments ago, began to shimmer with a faint blue light. The little thing was waking up.

Xavier stared at his hands. The storm energy was pulsing through him, and it had just saved the hatchling's life. He had healed it. He had somehow used his power to bring the creature back from the brink.

"Please," the hatchling whispered in his mind. Its voice was soft and childish, like a newborn baby. "Please do not hurt me."

Xavier's jaw dropped. The hatchling had spoken to him. It had spoken in his head.

"I will not hurt you," he said, his voice filled with wonder. "I promise."

"What the hell do you think you are doing?"

Xavier spun around. Jax was standing in the doorway, his face twisted with rage. He had seen everything. He had seen the spark of energy, the healing, the sudden transformation of the sickly hatchling.

"You touched it," Jax snarled. "You used your filthy magic on my dragon."

"It is not magic," Xavier said, scrambling to his feet. "I do not know what happened. I just touched it. That is all."

"Liar." Jax grabbed him by the collar and threw him across the pen. Xavier crashed into a stack of buckets, and the metal clattered around him like thunder. "I saw you. I saw the lightning coming out of your hands. You are a witch. You are a Sovereign."

"I am not," Xavier said, his voice shaking. "I am just a tamer. Just a nobody."

"You are a monster." Jax picked up a metal rod from the ground. "And I am going to beat the monster out of you."

Xavier tried to run, but he was too slow. The rod came down on his back, and he screamed. He heard his own ribs crack as the metal made contact with his flesh. The pain was excruciating, white-hot and blinding, and he collapsed to his knees.

"Get up," Jax snarled. "Get up and face me like a man."

Xavier could not get up. His body was broken, his lungs refusing to draw air. He looked up at Jax through a haze of blood and tears, and he saw the man's face twisted with hatred. This was the moment. This was where he was going to die.

But then the hatchling let out a loud shriek. The little dragon had grown. Its body was now twice its original size, its scales crackling with blue electricity. It lunged at Jax, sinking its teeth into the man's arm, and the head tamer screamed.

"Get it off me!" Jax shouted, trying to shake the creature loose. "Get it off!"

The other tamers rushed in, grabbing the hatchling and pulling it off. The tiny dragon fought back, its claws ripping through their clothes, but there were too many of them. They pinned it to the ground and held it down.

"Kill it," Jax snarled. "Kill it now."

One of the tamers drew a knife. The hatchling's eyes met Xavier's, and he saw the fear in them. The same fear he had seen in his own reflection.

"No!" Xavier shouted, but his voice was a whisper.

He felt the storm energy surge through his body. It was stronger than before, more violent. He could not control it. He could not hold it back.

The electricity exploded outward in a wave of blue light, throwing the tamers against the walls. The hatchling scrambled to its feet and ran toward Xavier, pressing its tiny body against his. He could feel its heart beating against his own, the connection between them growing stronger.

"Go," Xavier said, pushing the hatchling away. "You need to go. They will kill you."

The hatchling looked up at him, its eyes full of something Xavier had never expected to see. Gratitude. Loyalty. Love.

"Xavier," it said. "Xavier Knight. I will find you. I will always find you."

And then it was gone, disappearing through a crack in the wall. Xavier collapsed to the ground, his body broken and bleeding. The storm energy was receding, leaving him empty and hollow.

Jax was struggling to his feet, his face a mask of pure, unfiltered hatred. "You are dead," he said, his voice low and dangerous. "Do you hear me? You are dead."

Xavier smiled. It was a broken, bloody smile, but it was real. For the first time in a very long time, he felt hope.

"We will see," he said. "We will see."

He closed his eyes and let the darkness take him.