He knelt before her with his wrists shackled and red where they've been rubbed raw, arms covered in dirt and blood with streaks in the filth where sweat trickled down. What clothes covered his thin frame were tattered and drenched in sweat. The cave where he was facing punishment was intensely hot. The heat pouring from the dragon's skin and the coals surrounding her nest made it difficult for him to keep focus on the large creature. Her narrow pupils stared down at him like he was nothing more than dust, his mere existence to her barely registered. He was disposable. Useless. A burden.
In reality he was exactly that. He was nothing more than a lowly convict about to receive due punishment. You don't disrespect the rules set by the Elders and expect to walk. You were brought forth after a month of confinement, forced to make the travel to the Elder's lair with no rest, no nourishment, not even shoes to stand before them as they decide whether you'll be exiled or if there is some greater form of reprimanding necessary. Those who
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Your apology is pathetic. Extend your hand lest you want to just die.” Aphae snarled at him. Frewin felt his stomach lurch at what was to happen. He's heard tales of people who faced the dragon's wrath. No one ever returned after infuriating the Elders. Frewin did a he was told and pressed his arm toward Aphae. She pulled her lips back even further to expose row upon row of teeth and drool. If Frewin had it in him at that moment, he probably would have wet himself. The dragon darted forward at such a fast pace he didn't have time to register what had occurred until the sickening snap, splatter, and tear. Pain flared up his arm as if someone was ramming a hot iron straight into his elbow. He tore his eyes from the beast before him to look down at his arm. Or, rather, what there was of his arm. Everything below his elbow was gone, leaving a blackened stump where the monster's saliva had burned the