Untie My Wings

About this chapter
This is a story I've been working on for about seven or eight years now. It takes place in an Antrho setting, meaning all of the characters are anthropomorphized animals.

This story is about Alleah, a bat who was kidnapped and sold as a slave at a young age. In this chapter, Alleah finishes her journey to a far-off country that will be their new home, and becomes concerned for her mental stability and Vlad's ability to manipulate her.

Chapter 6: The Desert, the Sea, and the Fortress

The desert would take five days and six nights to cross. Somehow, through the first night and the following day, I grew to grudgingly tolerate Vlad's all-too-close presence behind me, whereas before it had been very literally suffocating. I suppose the heat and the harshness of the traveling was distorting my vision of reality.

Aside from a few too-brief breaks for water and rest, we'd been traveling for nearly a solid day before we finally stopped for a significant length of time. The sun was due to go down in a few hours, the intense desert heat finally beginning to break. I was vaguely aware of Vlad's movements as he dismounted the camel, and ordered the three of us to do the same. Rishi and Anete, not being bound to their camels were able to dismount immediately, I however had to wait for Vlad to untie me, which he waited quite some time to do.

It was such a sense of pure relief to have more than a few inches separation between Vlad and I while we made camp for the night. Apparently not wanting his shiny new possessions to die en route to his homeland, Vlad finally allowed us food. For the majority of the night no one spoke.

Anete and Rishi eventually fell asleep, but I persevered through the night. I wanted to try and wait out Vlad, hoping he would also fall asleep eventually, and I could steal a camel and flee. I knew I wouldn't have enough supplies to wander the desert for very long, but there was a hope I could escape and find a town, a village, an oasis... unfortunately, Vlad seemed to sense I was planning something, and stubbornly stayed awake as well.

At one point during the night I grew tired of watching Vlad and turned away from him. After a moment, perhaps wanting my attention back, I heard him chuckle softly to himself. Not particularly caring what was so funny, I didn't look back at him, hoping he would just silence himself soon.

"I told them not to take you."

Still I didn't answer, figuring he would become bored with whatever game he was playing and stop trying to make me react. I laid my ears flat, trying my best to shut him out, at which point I became aware of him shifting behind me.

"The other benefactors of Alec's will. I told them to leave you there for me. I thought it would be... entertaining, to get your hopes up. You certainly were amusing."

Despite my anger at his deliberate manipulation of me the day Alec died, I still tried to ignore him. clenching my teeth so tightly my jaw began to ache. Always having a sense for these things, Vlad seemed to know how angry I was, and exactly what to do to make it worse. I could hear him move closer behind me, but still I forced myself not to react, even as he reached to brush my hair over my neck softly, the action inducing anger in me so powerful it was nearly painful. Even as he whispered in my ear, which very literally made me ill.

"I made you mine long ago."

Despite how enraged I was, I forced myself not to respond to him. All I did was pull away from him slowly, and lay down in the sand. Despite not wanting to give him anything to be satisfied about, Vlad still seemed amused. While I lay there, and the anger seemed to dissipate after a time, I began to wonder... was he so entertained by the fact that he made me so angry, or the fact that despite the intense rage I was feeling that I didn't retaliate?

I tried to convince myself that Vlad hadn't just manipulated me into taking his mental abuse without any form of retaliation. I would get back at him some other time.

I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew Anete was waking me up. Vlad was busy re-packing all of our supplies onto the camels. The job was done quickly, and he ordered Anete and Rishi onto their camel. Apparently, he considered them obedient enough to not require binding anymore. He didn't think so highly of me, however, and perhaps to humiliate me more he decided to bind my hands behind me this time.

The journey seemed to take forever. Vlad constantly found ways to assert his dominance over me as we traveled... ways to remind me I was his now. One day I endured his arm around my waist for the entirety of that day's traveling. It was some kind of warped parody of an affectionate gesture, having everything to do with reminding me that I couldn't move away. That, and perhaps he enjoyed the fact that his touch still made me very literally ill.

Even as we reached the small trading town on the edge of the sea he refused to untie me. Our journey was nearly over, but it still encompassed another full day of traveling, this time by water. We didn't waste any more time than absolutely necessary in the town, instead heading straight for the docks and boarding the small ship that was to draw us ever further from the memories of my friends I had made when Alec was alive. As I remembered that there were others who went to new owners, I became very bitter that I was still trapped by Vlad.

The short trip by sea was relatively uneventful, aside from the fact that the opportunity to rest and the small amount of privacy afforded by the tiny cabin gave Vlad an opportunity to assert his dominance over me in baser ways I was more accustomed to while Alec was alive. I, as the others, had learned long ago that resisting only caused more pain, in turn only leaving Vlad more satisfied.

During this last part of the trip towards our new home, a frightening thought occurred to me. There was no one Vlad needed to answer to, no one he needed to hide bruises and scars from. It was very likely he would be abusing us much more frequently. Sadly, Anete seemed to realize that as well, and long before we reached port, she had thrown herself overboard. I'd like to hope she managed to survive, somehow, and that she lives free, somewhere far away... but in my heart I realize she probably didn't.

Aside from a vague annoyance from Vlad, he seemed not to mind that one of his slaves had 'escaped'. I got the feeling that he was mostly interested in me instead of Rishi, since I was the only one still alive that ever actively resisted him no matter what he ever did to me. It frightened me more now that I realized he would probably ignore her in favor of attempting to get me to break, which thus far he'd been mostly unsuccessful at, although I think we both realized it was only a matter of time. I frantically tried to reassure myself I would escape or kill myself before that happened.

The ship pulled into port in the middle of the night. Rishi, Vlad and I departed the boat. Although it was dark, I found myself in awe of the land we'd arrived in... I'd spent most of my life in an arid, desert climate, where forests were nearly unheard of. This place was lush, and green, and the climate cooler... trees towered over us, filled with small birds, and I found myself forgetting to breathe at least once.

There was still a small amount of traveling to do, and we each received horses. Although I was finally given my own transportation, Vlad still didn't trust me, and bound me to my horse, which he kept the reins of. Rishi, ever obedient, didn't require such treatment, and was allowed to ride behind him.

It was only a few hours before we reached Vlad's town. It was small, nestled in the middle of a vast forest, but nearby was an intimidating fortress wall. Vlad was apparently someone in good standing in his hometown, and various inhabitants (mostly wolves) came to greet him. I didn't understand the language they spoke, but I wondered a moment if they were perhaps part of his extended family, or if he was just highly respected. Either way, I came to think very, very little of the inhabitants of this town.

Vlad apparently also lived inside the fortress walls rather than in the outer town. As we approached them, Rishi and I seemed intimidated by their height. Far, far too high to climb over. I began to wonder if my limited flying abilities would allow me to make it over them if I was ever able to escape Vlad's house.

As we reached the heavy gates that intruders from the fortress, the guards greeted Vlad as one of their own. I took note of their appearance... everyone in this area seemed to dress extremely differently than I had seen before. They also had weapons at their sides. The thin, swift sabres I was accustomed to in my homeland were replaced by broadswords, and more frighteningly they each had crossbows, a powerful weapon I was aware of but had never been confronted with. I now seriously doubted my ability to fly over the walls - if I did I was sure they would shoot me out of the sky.

As we entered, I noticed the huge walls appeared to be there for the benefit of an amount of people who lived inside it, the actual fortress within the walls on a hill in the center. Vlad's house, though it was by no means anywhere near the size of the mansion we'd come from it wasn't small either. It was a dismal looking stone structure, much like the other houses nearby, which all looked like they had been chiseled in pieces off the larger ancient castle fortress in the center.

For a moment, Rishi and I just stood there, just staring at the red painted door with the lead castings of bat wings adorning it. Vlad didn't tell us to enter, busying himself with unpacking our horses, but after he was done he cast all our supplies to the ground near us and ordered us to pick them up. Rishi began to immediately, but I hesitated. Only a second, though, until I noticed Vlad was giving me a look that was vaguely threatening, like I was going to meet the back of his hand yet again. At that point I quickly began collecting the various things we'd brought like he'd ordered. Once we had, he opened the doors for us, and waited for us to enter, which we hurriedly did.

I was only barely paying attention to where we walked, Vlad leading us through the house. Rishi and I, weary from traveling, seemed almost ready to collapse under the weight of the packs we carried by the time Vlad finally ordered us to put them down. We did so carefully, rather than dropping them, afraid that he may punish us if we were too careless. We were in no condition to fight back.

Soon afterwards, we reached another room, and in Vlad's usual manner we were simply shoved into it, the door slamming shut loudly behind us. There was nothing in the room, and it reminded me of a giant stone box we'd just been sealed in. It was not unlike a dungeon, with a single, high window providing minimal light and fresh air. Rishi and I were exhausted from the trip, and hadn't eaten yet that day. Not expecting Vlad to feed us any time soon, and, if he did, expecting some kind of scheme against us, we opted to simply try and sleep, curling up on the floor near each other. I fell asleep almost instantly, dreaming dreams of freedom and hoping I awoke anywhere else than the awful place I'd fallen asleep.