Chapter 1

It was getting late in the day as Sre wandered about the woods outside of the town she lived in. She'd been thrown out of her job just that morning. She had worked at the Dancing Pig Tavern for the past 4 years in exchange for housing and food. But the tavern owner, an old friend of her father's, had tried to cohoarse her into his bed. She had refused him, and in a rage, he'd forcibly thrown her out. She had nothing but the clothes on her now. She'd come out into the woods hoping to find some summer berries to ease her hunger. Tired, she stopped at a small creek and knelt down, cupping the cold, clear water in her hands to drink. She felt her hunger pangs ease slightly, but she knew she couldn't live on water.

Sounds drew Sre's attention to the other side of the creek. Curious, she hopped over the water and quickly crept up the bank to some bushes, where she lay down and squirmed in between the branches, peering out at a huge clearing. A booted foot stomped down directly in front of her face. Sre held back a gasp and looked up at a soldier in fear. He, however, didn't even notice her as he called out to a comrade and marched off. When he had moved on, she noticed a fire not too far from her. A chunk of meat hung on a stick that leaned close to the fire. It was unattended, and Sre began to consider possibly hopping out and snatching it before anyone noticed.

She tensed up, her eyes darting around, when the ground shook under her body. Her mouth dropped slightly as a soldier led a war dragon past her by a large chain hooked to the bridle around its head. The beast was totally tame, following- obediently and calmly- the puny human that it could have possibly swallowed whole if it had thought about it. With a snort, the dragon turned its head and looked straight at Sre, sensing her presence. Sre's heart pounded in fear, thinking the beast would pounce on her. But the soldier gave a sharp jerk of the lead and the dragon turned and followed. Although war dragons didn't always like the company of their own kind, their loyalty and obedience to their human riders was whole and completely without question or hesitation. Keeping all the dragons squeezed into the same glade took much effort, but the dragons were about as smart as parrots and it soon occurred to them that simply accepting each other was in their mutual benefit. A few even huddled together as the sun slowly set.

The particular dragon that had just passed Sre was a young female, apparently just come into heat as her scales took on a soft purple branding. Several males started to honk and bellow and tug against their chains to get to her, but only a single selected male got the honor. Sre could see the beast, a huge black brute with grand sweeping horns and a regal crown of bone and spines that jutted out slightly from the back of his skull. He eyed the female quietly unlike the other males, perhaps because he knew there was no reason that he needed to waste his energy to impress her- she would be bred with him whether she liked it or not.

Sre turned away from that, and went back to thinking about the meat that was obviously done, though most people had gone to watch the mating as females sometimes turned against the males as they were usually larger than males. This one was young, though, so everyone wanted to make sure it wasn't the male who turned against her. Just when Sre had made up her mind, a man went over, plucked the stick from the ground, tore into the meat and walked off.

With a deep sigh, Sre started to back out of the bush, deciding it wasn't worth the risk anyways. She didn't know what kind of punishment could come from stealing food from the army, but whatever it was, she figured she wouldn't like it so it was best if she just left now before anyone noticed her.

She was about to stand when an iron fist gripped her hair and jerked her to her feet. She gave a small cry of surprise and pain, and her head was pulled back so that she was forced to look into the dark eyes of a man. His face was thin, hard, and angular, his lips thin, his black eyes glittering angrily. Sre let out a helpless whimper of fear.

"Spying on my troops, are you, wench? Perhaps you have an appointment with one of the men?" His accent was that of the Eastern Plains people, deep and intoxicating. His straight black hair hung down to his ears and slipped forward since he was so tall that he had to bend his head down to look her in the eyes.

Sre gulped. It just had to be her luck to run into the talon commander. "N-No, sir! I-I was just hungry, s-sir. I-I was g-going to..."

"Steal from my camp? Than it is better that I found you rather any of my men." A strange light glinted in his eyes, making her shudder.

"I-I had no intention..." she tried to explain but the man's mouth came down upon hers with a punishing force, stealing her breath away. She felt that she would suffocate in the cruel lock of his lips, but at the moment her limbs began to feel weak, he pulled back. His expert eyes seemed to bore through her raggy clothing, inspecting her young body.

In the near distance, they could hear the two dragons pairing. It was noisy business. The female roared and screeched, the male growled and grunted. The commander drew back slightly to look at her better. She then noticed his dragon scale armor, the cruel spikes on his shoulders and elbows, and his black cloak rimmed with golden fur. He was most definitely the commander. And in that case, it was his dragon being bred with the young female. His would be the biggest, strongest, and smartest of the lot.

Sre tried to struggle out of his grasp but he jerked her hair even harder. "P-Please, sir, I wasn't going to steal. I-I was just looking..."

He didn't say a word, didn't seem to even hear her, he just looked at her, his gaze sweeping her thin slender body under the rags of clothing. She shuddered and tried to stammer an excuse of why she had to leave, but the commander cut her off with his lips. His gloved hand came up and touched her small breast. She instantly attempted to recoil with a whimper, tried to push his hand away, but his grip on her tightened until she thought her neck would surely snap if she struggled any further. She had no choice but let him touch her, let him explore her through the clothing.

His gloved hand was rough, and Sre sobbed, her legs folding beneath her to escape his touch. But the commander held her up. His hand began to undo the buttons of her blouse and she again tried to struggle, grabbing his large wrist and trying to pull his hand away. He pulled away to snarl something at her when they heard a man calling out. "Commander Roscrow! Hey, commander, where are you? Your dragon's had his fun. What should we do with him?"

Roscrow lifted his head. "Put him next to my tent. I'll deal with him soon enough." Sre saw out of the corner of her eye a soldier push his way through the brush but Roscrow snarled. "I'm fine. Just do as I command. I'm busy." The soldier stopped, and he seemed to think about it, still not seeing them, but decided to do as he was told.

"Aye, sir, I'll leave you to your 'business.'" Sre could hear a hint of knowing sarcasm come from him as he went off back to the camp. Roscrow glared back down at Sre, who trembled in his grasp. There were tears in her eyes as the realization that she wasn't getting away dawned on her. He growled and released her hair finally, both his hands gripping her shoulders.

"Well, now you know my name, it is only fair I know yours." He seemed to get a little gentler as she lowered her head in submission and a few tears trickled down her cheeks.

"S-Sre, s-sir," she stuttered softly, sniffling. She prayed it would be over soon, and that he let her live after he'd had his fun.

Roscrow wiped away one of her tears gently, a move that surprised her. "Have men hurt you before?" His voice was low and kind, as if he was trying to gain her favor rather than just having his way with her without her consent.

Sre shook her head weakly, wiping her nose on her sleeve. Roscrow arched a brow in sudden realization. A small smug smile crossed his face but he only became more gentle. When she felt his grasp loosen considerably on her shoulders, she trembled inside but she took her chance despite her fear. She kicked him on the knee cap, and he grunted in pain as he fell on the ground. Sre was surprised for a moment that it had worked, but didn't take long to turn tail and run as fast as she could into the woods.

She'd gone only a short way but she was already out of breath, and she had to stop and lean against a tree. Gasping, her heart pounding, she nearly missed the sound of Roscrow right behind her. Adrenaline gave her a second wind and she took off again, thinking briefly that this is how a doe feels when she is being hunted. As she thought about it, she lost her footing on a root and stumbled into a creek. The cold water shocked her and it took her a moment to get up. As she rose, her clothing and hair dripping, a strong hand grasped her arm and dragged her out of the water. Roscrow's angry eyes glared down at her.

"I was going to be gentle, but you just got me pretty damn mad. Now if you just behave yourself for the rest of the time, I just might leave you some clothing to put back on by the end of this, bitch!" He pulled Sre over to a dry patch of leaves, throwing her down in his anger. She tried to crawl away, but he fell to his knees and put his arm around her waist, wrenching her back against him. She felt his gender stab against her bottom. She turned to claw at him in desperation, but was met with his short sword against her throat as he leaned forward, his body poised over hers.

She scuttled back in fear, her eyes wide, but when she felt her back bump into a tree, she gave a low sob. Roscrow stood and came toward her, his sword shining in the thin stream of light that filtered down from the setting sun. Tears sprang to her eyes and she cringed against the tree, squeezing her eyes shut, expecting any moment to feel the cold metal slicing her throat. She heard him kneel down in front of her, felt his hot breath against her ear, making her shudder. "Now what did I say about behaving, wench?" She couldn't move as his sword slid slowly down the middle of her chest, slicing through her blouse expertly, leaving no mark on her skin even though she could feel the tip of the blade, a warning for her to stay still.

Roscrow used his blade to move the thin cloth to the side, looking at her body. Sre gave a sob. She tried to turn to get on her feet, but Roscrow's hand reached behind her head and took hold of her hair, jerking her head back, laying his sword against her throat, its touch light but deadly.

"P-Please don't kill me!" Sre blurted out in a trembling voice, her only thought on getting out of this alive.

Roscrow drew closer to her until she could feel the heat of him, even through his armor made of large, overlapping dragon scales. "Then behave yourself." His whisper in her ear had as much of a blade to it as his sword. She felt his hand on her, his touch burning against her cold damp skin. Shivering, she could do nothing as his hand, which had released her hair, reached into her skirt and explored her, touching her intimately. The tiniest sound came out of her throat, and she thought she saw a hint of a smile on his stern face. A moment later, she felt his fingers slip into her and she struggled, giving a low cry of pain.

Before he could say anything, she aimed her foot at his jaw, glancing her slippered foot off the side of his face. Stunned for just a second, he gave a growl that froze Sre in mid escape. Now he was really mad. She was on her knees, trying to get to her feet, but the power of his anger made her stop and cringe. She was about to cover her head- a trained response from when her father would come home in a drunken rage- but Roscrow grabbed both her wrists, having dropped his sword, and twisted her arms behind her back. He shoved her forward and laid her wrists between her shoulder blades. She cried out in pain, but he pushed her harder against the scratchy leaves, and she knew he was in the perfect position to break both her arms. Either she quit struggling or she would wish she were dead.

She lay under him, trembling and sobbing, but finally subdued. She could feel him moving as he removed his groin guard. She closed her eyes, expecting ... she didn't really know, but she figured it was going to be painful. He pulled her skirt down, exposing her pale, round rump. His fingers gently moved away the folds of skin that hid the small organ that she had never paid much attention to til now. His touch was that of an expert, someone who knew exactly what he was doing. His fingers were callused from years of holding sword and shield, as well as reigns of dragons and horses, but he knew how to use that roughness to his advantage.

It really didn't take long for a warm tingling sensation to slowly make its way up into Sre's belly, causing her to squirm. She didn't know why his touch felt good, wondered if it was some kind of trick. A small moan left her before she could stop it and she heard Roscrow make a sound of humor. It was a cold humor, one without any care for her, and it scared her.

She suddenly, bucked, trying to dislodge him while his guard was down, but he was ready the moment she had tensed. "Damn it, girl. Don't you know when to quit?" he growled. He pushed down on her wrists hard, making her feel more like her back would snap, not her arms. She then felt the head of his member press against her. He was angry and he wasn't going to waste anymore time doing what he wanted to do.

"Please, sir," Sre pleaded between sobs. "I-I wasn't going to steal, I was just looking at the dragons. Please, oh please sir, don't do this. Please..."

Sre's words were cut short as she felt his length press into her. She cried out in a bit of pain, squirming uncomfortably. He pressed her harder, warning her to stay still. His movements were slow, purposeful. She could feel him tremble as he just barely contained himself from ramming into her. Ever so gently, he pressed through the barrier of her innocence, making her whimper in defeat. She wriggled under him, her arms hurting in the position he forced them in. But he didn't seem to notice as he moved faster and harder, eventually taking her as he chose.

She heard him gurgle in pleasure, felt the cold metal of his leg armor strike her ass again and again as his pace quickened. He moved with a tilt to his powerful thrusts, and soon Sre began to feel an odd warm feeling creep into her belly, slowly spreading through her. She realized that his free hand was gently rubbing in time with his thrusts. The bud was soon throbbing and aching for his touch, but he teased her when he felt her move, trying to get him to touch her more. She still tried to resist his gentle persuasion but the primal sounds erupted from her throat. She moaned and panted, straining to feel more. The leaves rubbed against her nipples, making them tingle and rise. She could hear him give a small chuckle when she whimpered unintelligibly her desire.

Sre began to feel a pleasant ache in her belly and she didn't understand the feeling. It continued to grow and fill her consciousness until her body was wracked with convulsions, pleasure so intense she felt like she would surely explode. She cried out, whimpering and moaning, unable to express herself in words. She continued to quiver, even as Roscrow slowed to allow the spasms to pass. When he quickened, she felt him tremble as if he were holding himself back, his breathing labored. His powerful thrusts pushed him deeply into her, leaving her breathless and panting heavily.

Yet again she felt her body begin to tingle and tighten. As he moved just perfectly, she felt her belly swell with the bliss until she was sure it was going to burst any second. But the Roscrow stopped. Trembling, so near to bliss she wanted to cry, Sre squirmed, grinding her hips, confused. She tried to talk, but could barely get out a few whimpers. She felt the vibration of his laughter as he bent over her. He suddenly released her wrists and pulled her up against him, resuming his movements slowly at first, agonizyingly slow. His hands traveled up Sre's thin body, taking advantage of her position. His rough, strong fingers expertly manipulated her hardened nipples, making her cry out in unexplainable pleasure. She tried desperately to get him to go faster, but he continued to move slow, purposeful. Just when she thought she'd go crazy with the nearness of Heaven, he grinned behind her and rammed her just right, tweaking her nipples at the same time. She very nearly screamed as she felt her body consumed by the pleasure, completely and utterly lost in the intensity of the orgasm. She couldn't stop herself from begging for more, trembling under him.

Sre felt him chuckle more than heard him this time. He bent over her, his hot breath against her ear making her shudder along the full length of her spine. "Be careful what you wish for." Sre sobbed with the pleasure as he quickened, his muscles straining. He gripped her hips, pulling her back into his thrusts, sheathing himself entirely within her. It took little time at all before Sre felt the sea of bliss close in over her head again, but this time, she heard Roscrow groan deeply, his body quivering against her. They were both panting, their skin shining with perspiration. Slowly, Roscrow slipped out of Sre, causing her to shiver with memory. With a grunt he sat back against a tree trunk, replacing his groin guard before reaching out to Sre, trying to pull her to his lean, hard body.

For a moment, caution forced its way into Sre's mind, and she tried to resist Roscrow's gentle hands, but her own lust made her weaken and the moment was gone. She leaned against him, her head resting comfortably against his chest, the scales of his armor warm. She sighed and closed her eyes, listening to his heartbeat, knowing that what she did was dangerous. He didn't care about her. He had only done everything for his own pleasure more than for hers. If she attached, she would hurt ever so much more. But she couldn't help feeling safe in his arms, even if for a few moments. One arm held her close to his warmth as the night chill descended upon them, making her shiver. The other hand stroked her hair soothingly. She barely remembered him pulling his cloak over them as she drifted off to sleep along with the sun.

When Sre awoke, the sun shone down warmly on her skin. She opened her eyes and realized where she was. She sat up and looked around, but the talon commander was no where in sight. Sighing sadly, she pulled her knees to her chest, feeling very alone and dejected, even though she had known this would happen.

She looked around for her clothes but only her skirt was intact. Whimpering, she pulled on her blouse anyways, holding it together with her hand. She went over to the creek and knelt down to get a drink, letting it refresh her. Her stomach growled even louder and she sighed again. It seemed like nothing was going right.

She stood and turned, then gasped and jumped back. Her employer stood grinning at her. He was an ugly man, overweight and cruel. "How strange that I should find you in torn clothing and tangled hair but yards from my tavern. I was, in fact, searching for you. Your father died just a few nights ago and he still owes me quite a bit of money."

Sre's jaw dropped and Jeboc's grin only got bigger. She put up her hand. "But I can't pay."

"Exactly." He grabbed her wrist with bruising force, making her gasp in pain. The grin on his face twisted with cruel intent. "And that means that you are my slave."

The tavern was full with soldiers. They had all been on the front lines for long months and now they had some leisure time. The serving maids showed their gratitude of the soldiers' bravery and sacrifice in every way imaginable. The noise in the tavern was almost deafening.

Sre sighed and tried to stay out of sight. "Sre! You lazy bitch, get your ass out to the well and bring some water before I belt you!" Sre jumped and lowered her head, hurrying away from Jeboc, who had very well established himself as her master. He had even had a metal collar made for her so that she could never escape, especially since he had had the lock fused. By law, she would have to be his slave until he felt her father's debt had been paid, which she knew would be never as long he lived.

She had to pass several soldiers to get out and they all tried reaching for her. Cringing, glancing back toward the kitchen to make sure Jeboc wasn't looking, she slipped past them and out the door. Shutting the door behind her, she leaned against it, sighing sadly. How her life had gone downhill. She headed for the well slowly, not looking about. She dropped the bucket into the well and brought it back up, struggling. She'd placed the bucket on the ground when she heard what sounded like war dragons.

Curiosity took hold and she figured she could go take a peek. The giant creatures always inspired her and made her feel better. Glancing around the barn, she saw them all tied down, several eyeing each other suspiciously, others dozing on their backs in the sun, still others staring at nothing. There was one that slept but a few feet from her. His great breaths filled the air like a blacksmith's bellows. Sre reached out carefully, wanting to know what they felt like.

She was only inches from the snoozing dragon's head when its eye, golden and piercing, opened and looked straight at her. She suppressed a scream and backed away as the dragon rolled to its feet with a roar, going for her. Sre squeezed her eyes shut, figuring it was the end. Not that it really mattered if it was. She figured anything after death had to be better than this hell, so she didn't even bother trying to dodge the beast.

A strong hand grabbed her arm and jerked her out of the way. The dragon gave a pitiful sound and reared back as a man's voice began commanding it in a spidery language. It backed off and bumped into another dragon, who snarled and turned to snap at it. The first dragon yelped and hunkered down, showing weakness. Immediately the whole talon was up in roars and they were all attempting to kill each other. The chains that held them to trees were snapped, and some of the trees themselves shattered. The noise was deafening as one large female pounced on the male that had been the one Sre had tried to pet. With a mighty roar, a huge black beast with golden stripes lumbered into the brawl, grabbing the female by the back of the neck and tossing her like she was toy. She went crashing through the trees, her cries of surprise turning to pain as her wings were torn by her thrashing to gain her feet.

Sre, stunned by the power and brutality of the creatures, backed away and then turned to run back into the tavern before anyone noticed that she had been the one to start it. Her only thought was not have Jeboc find out about this. Soldiers were running toward the battling beasts, even though the giant black dragon had already cowed all the others into noisy submission.

She had just reached the door when the same gauntletted hand that had saved her took a hold of her wrist and spun her around, slamming her against the wall of the tavern. She looked up in surprise and fear.

"Do you realize how much trouble you just caused, wench?" The voice was so familiar and so was his face. Tears swelled in Sre's eyes and she looked down at her bare feet. Jeboc gave her barely enough clothes to cover herself with and certainly no shoes. Roscrow's eyes narrowed in annoyance. He gave an angry growl, moving as if he meant to strike her.

"I-I'm sorry!" Sre cried, cringing. She squeezed her eyes shut, trembling as she felt his hard body against her shift in obvious irritation. "I ... I just ... I thought..." She really didn't know what to say. Nothing seemed like it would be a good enough excuse to save her.

Roscrow moved, making a sound that stopped all her thoughts about saving herself. She realized at that moment that he held the tag attached to her collar and, risking a quick peek, saw him staring intently at it. Only then did any emotion flicker in his cold black eyes. He looked up at her and sneered. "Let me guess. You were a runaway when I met you and then you were caught and your master stuck a collar on you?"

Sre gave a small sob. How could he think such a thing? Hadn't it been he himself who had taken her innocence? Well, better that it was him, not Jeboc. She stuttered in fear, "My-my father died with debt t-to J..." she lowered her voice should her master hear her speak his name, "Jeboc and I couldn't pay it. I wasn't a ... a slave..." She hated that word.

Suddenly, the door flew open next to them and Jeboc stepped out, his large belly making it out the threshold first before they could see his ugly face. He looked with worry at the dragons who had been making quite the racket as they were shocked into submission by the humans. He then turned and noticed Roscrow standing near him. Roscrow towered over him, his powerful, lean body hidden by the dragonscale armor. His broad shoulders were made broader by the spiked shoulder armor. His black metal gauntlets went up his strong arms and ended in spikes at his elbows. Those black eyes of his could pierce the soul. Jeboc was immediately cowed.

"Uh, g-g'day to you, s-sir. I-" he had to pause to gulp the lump out of his throat- "I hope the dragons aren't to rowdy. I-I would hate for them to ... crash into my barn and hurt themselves!" He peered around, making a show of vigilance when really he just wanted to look away from the commander.

"My dragon, Granger, has the talon under control. My soldiers can easily put them back in their places. You've no need to fear about your barn." He stood straight and tall, his figure so demanding and powerful that Jeboc found himself more afraid of the man than of his dragons. The large sword at his hip certainly didn't make him any less intimidating.

Taking a moment to get himself together, Jeboc looked about the courtyard, noticing the bucket of water still sitting next to the well. "I don't mean to bother you with my petty problems, good sir, but have you seen my slave about?" His eyes turned back to the commander in time to see Sre step out from behind him, her head bowed. His eyes narrowed, but she didn't need to see that to know she was in trouble. "You had something to do with those dragons, didn't you, Sre?" The anger in his voice made her tremble.

"Quite on the contrary. She alerted me to the fact that Tins had been harassing one of my smaller males until it looked like a fight might break out." He looked down at Sre who was too shocked to say anything. She heard his voice take on a sarcastically humorous tone. "You could say she saved your barn."

Taken by complete surprise, Sre could say nothing. Jeboc gave a sneer and waved his hand toward the inside of the tavern. "For that, perhaps I'll feed you tonight. Now get that water into the kitchen now before I change my mind!" Sre quickly fetched the heavy bucket and struggled back into the kitchen with it. She glanced up at Roscrow as she passed him, still confused about why he would lie for her. He only lifted his right brow slightly before turning at the sound of his name as a soldier came up to him to report about the situation with the dragons. The only part of the conversation she heard was " ... no idea what set them off, sir..."

The evening really wasn't any quieter or less busy. Some soldiers had passed out and were snoring, leaning over the tables, others had retired to their rooms. Most, though, were still at it. They sang old songs and spoke of their battles with other patrons.

Sre was reaching the end of her endurance when Jeboc finally waved her into the kitchen. "Here. Eat and then get your ass into the barn. And stay away from those dragons!" His glare sent a shiver down her spine and she muttered "yessir."

After she'd eaten her meager meal- little more than stale bread, water and some cheese that didn't smell that great, but it was better than nothing- she hurried to her bed out in the barn. There were only a few horses being housed there at the time and they were still nervous by the smell of the dragons that were so near.

Sre sank onto her bed of hay with an exhausted sigh. She had been expecting a black eye at least from what had happened today, but she'd gotten away with a meal. The air was getting chilly as winter approached and she drew her old wool blanket up around her shoulders. It was smelly and moldy and had seen much better days, but it was all she had to stay warm. Shivering a bit, she could hear the chorus of horses whinnying softly, the dragons murmuring and the many bugs out in the woods. The laughter and music in the tavern was muted slightly by the other sounds.

Sre was on the verge of sweet oblivion when she felt a hand touch her shoulder. Fear clenched her, thinking it was her master changing his mind about letting her get away without any punishment. She turned quickly, her eyes wide. No, it wasn't her master, but it was just as bad. Three soldiers stood over her. They had snuck up on her silently and now they trapped her into the stall that was her room. Fear made her heart leap into her throat. Normally, she wouldn't have been quite so scared but for the thick smell of ale and whiskey that wafted off of them.