Page 9 of The Lost Child

I shook my head, refusing to think that way. A big, fierce name for a big, fierce warrior. I just hoped he wasn’t done fighting. Not yet.

Four

CANAVAR

Iwas on guard. Humans meant either food or fighting. It soon became clear they weren’t here to feed me, so I growled at them to go away. Master was there with a new human though, and that was different. A … female? They were rare. I didn’t come across them much when fighting. And I wasn’t allowed to kill them unless they fought back.

She smelled similar to the master. Part of his bloodline? But that is where the resemblance ended. Unlike the master, I liked her scent. It was fresh and light, different from anything else I had ever smelled. She was so… small. I could break her spine with a flick of my wrist.

And yet … the thought of that happening made me angry.

I wanted food. Maybe he wanted to show her how vicious I was. How good of a fighter. I puffed up. If I did a good job, it would please master. When master was pleased, I was fed.

I crashed into the bars, snarling and baring my teeth like a demon. Fear flashed in her eyes, and for a moment I didn’t feel any excitement from scaring her like I did with the others. For that brief second, I didn’t want to scare her. It was wrong.

I backed off, memorizing the details of her scent and body; the brown hair twisted against the back of her skull, curly and unruly in a way that was different from mine. The eyes that were a mix of green and brown, and the middle parts that held a hint of black.

Something about her jolted a deep part of my brain, but I ignored it. That path only had pain. Master would beat me when I went down that path.

So I shoved it away.

My stomach rumbled. Maybe the female would feed me? I stared between her and the master, waiting for further instructions. The hunger wasn’t bad now, not like it had been in the before times.

The lesson from those days stuck with me like a wound that wouldn’t heal.

Obey. Kill. Eat.

This was the way. I followed it without question, terrified of being that hungry ever again.

I jerked back. The female inched closer. I readied myself, pouncing on the balls of my feet. Perhaps this was a test. If she came into my cave, I would kill her. I had to. It was the rules. Unless … unless it was a test of master’s rule about not killing females?

My head pulsed with pain.

I roared suddenly and loudly right into her face, only the bars between us. The female made a sound of distress, but this time I didn’t feel guilty. I was warning her. Her gaze met mine as she stepped back, and I was intrigued by what I saw there.

She wasn’t afraid of me… well, maybe a little. But there was also curiosity.

Oh, she had jumped when I roared and when I rushed the bars, but that was mostly her body and instincts. Every living thing had those. This look was different.

Most of the humans I encountered always reeked of fear, the pupils in their eyes pinpricks as they waited for death.

This female’s eyes simply held sadness with a spark of something else.

My chains suddenly tightened, dragging me away from the door but not all the way to the ground. I writhed but didn’t scream, some small part of me still wanting to impress her. Nonetheless, a mild terror filled the hollow in my breast. Awful, horrible things always happened when I was strapped down.

The crank paused, leaving me able to move my arms and legs, but not move from my position. They walked away.

Sweat poured down my body as I was unable to fully grasp my luck. It had stopped. The chains had stopped. I backed up further into the darkness as the female turned to give me one last glance, alone and without the master.

I was confused. I was unnerved. Every pattern had been broken today. The rules did not seem as fixed as they once were. My mind was unsettled. Why? Why had today been so different?

The female. It had to be her.

I met her gaze without flinching. She turned her head and kept walking, arguing with master. I couldn’t help but grin around my fangs. Anyone who argued with master was a fierce fighter indeed!

The dark and quiet calmed me, reassuring that no one would bother me for a while. The darkness was soothing. The quiet was my friend.

My stomach rumbled uncomfortably, but I ignored it. I’d just eaten yesterday, so I had no room to complain. Not yet.

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