Captured By The Dragon
Episode 62

Dylan

“Leave it. It’ll heal.” I said when Patara tried to press her small hands against my wound. I knew that there was no time to fix me, I could barely feel it when my adrenaline was this high anyway. Once this was all over, perhaps I would finally collapse and let my body rest.

“It won’t heal that fast!” Patara said. Her eyes were wide as she looked me over. “It could kill you if it doesn’t close. You were already hit in the side and now this! Dylan—“

“I’ve had worse.” I said and gripped her hand. Our child was close, I could feel him. One of our team searched the bodies for a key and went to start unlocking the cells of the children. I knew our son wasn’t on this level, he was far below.

“We’re going down. Try to get as many children out of here as you can.” I said to them. I watched a few of them look me over with a surprise as if they didn’t realize I had shifted back into myself. At least they didn’t cower away from me like I thought they would.

I pulled Patara after me, she still clenched the small knife in her other hand until her knuckles turned white. She almost tripped over herself to keep up but I don’t think I had ever found her more beautiful. She was fierce and ready to take on the world with nothing but a small dagger.

I could hear more anti-shifters not far off from where we were. They spoke in nervous whispers and harsh tones about what their next move was. It didn’t seem like they had many left to protect this place. It didn’t matter how many men they had— I wouldn’t let them leave here alive. Not after all they had done.

I didn’t hesitate, I came out of the shadows like their worst nightmares and plunged one of their own knives into the closest man’s neck. He g*****d and fell back against the stone floors, but not before I was already on the next man.

I struck out like lightening. Patara was always close enough to my side that I knew she was fine. But still, my ears burned for her more than they did for anything else. I had to make sure she was okay.

“Dylan!” She shouted. I turned just in time to see her stick her knife into a man that tried to tackle her to the floor. He fell at her feet and I picked him up to throw him over the edge before I grabbed her and hurried down the hall. If I had more time, I would have done much worse to him for even touching her.

“He’s close—“

There. The door looked like all the rest, but to me it glowed as if it has all the answers I was looking for—and it did.

I ripped the bars from the door as if they were nothing and threw them to the side. Patara ran in first and scooped our baby up with a cry. I couldn’t help but observe the disgusting cell he was kept in.

A thin blanket on the floor was his only warmth in this freezing weather. He wasn’t even given a real bed and all of his plates were on the floor as if he was an animal. The worst part… was the smell.

“Oh my—it’s him!” She said through her tears. I slowly approached them with a sense of caution as if I was afraid that this moment would be ripped from me. My heart cracked in my chest when I saw my baby for the first time.

He was dirty and terrified. He was the size of a four year old child and had Patara’s wide gaze as he looked up at me and her. He must have been frightened of what we would do to him.

My first sight of my child shouldn’t have been him dirty and scared—not unless it was when he came out of her for the first time. He was dirty and scared because they did this to him. They tortured him and didn’t care if he relieved himself in his pants.

Patara hugged his small body close to hers and whispered over and over again that it was going to be okay. I closed the distance and wrapped them in my arms tight enough to remind them that I was there for them.

I had the sudden urge to burn this place to the ground. I kissed both of their heads and guided them out of the cells and back up to where the rest of the group were still getting out children. I left Patara and our baby with them and got to work.

First, I made sure that every single cell was empty of children and put in the safe vans we had brought for them. They were filled with cushions and toys, not the horror that Patara and these children had once been forced in.

Once everyone was out, I went back in.

“Wait—“ Patara grabbed my sleeve. Her eyes were red and still filled with tears. Somewhere she had changed our baby into clean clothes, but his skin was still caked with dirt. “Where are you going? I thought it was all empty.”

“I’m doing one last sweep. I don’t want there to be a child left in there somewhere that we missed.” I said simply. I wouldn’t let emotion touch my voice. Not until we were far from here.

Patara let me go and I went straight back into the belly of the beast. I searched every room until I found gas. I spilled it all over the floors as I made sure there were no children left. I could hear g****s from anti-shifters that had gotten bested but hadn’t died yet.

I ignored them as I dropped gas over their bodies and continued down. I didn’t stop until I reached the bottom and there were no more rooms. I threw the empty can and made my way back up.

I tried to block out the rooms that were covered in urine and vomit. I tried not to think about all the children that died from starvation or from the wounds they suffered—and they suffered a lot of them. Their b***d stained this place more than anything. No matter how hard the anti-shifters tried to scrub it out of the walls and floors, it was still as strong as ever. If we hadn’t killed them, the b***d would have stained their hands forever.

Once I reached the top, I looked down the dark hole once more. Even with my vision, I couldn’t see the bottom from here. I only wondered how many more places like this were out there. How many children were stuck underground wondering why they were there?

I lighted a match and tossed it on the puddle of gas. It quickly followed the trail down and ignited everything it could touch. The whimpers I had heard turned to screams.

Soon the darkness matched the temperature of hell. I turned away and locked the doors behind me.