Dread (Chapter Five)

Dread
Chapter Five

Dani sighed, wiping some of the dirt off of her face. She was on farm duty today, and- for once- Sven was on another job. Like always, Equius was looming in the background, watching the slaves. No matter the job, Equius seemed to be coming around more and more. It worried her.

Thoughts of the blue-blood aside, she went to the table where the farm owner was waiting. Daniela dumped her basket of crops onto the table, waiting for the Troll to inspect the basket's contents. He growled, notising the leaves were broken, and some of the fruits and vegetables had hidden bite marks. The Green-blooded male snarled. "I'm not paying you to contaminate my crops with your saliva!" The human frowned. "You're barely paying us at all." "Are you talking back to me?" The male troll stood, back handing the teen.

Dani's head whipped to the side from the force, the rest of her stumbling to the side. The troll stood, knocking Dani over. The girl grunted, feeling the pebbles digging into her skin. "Who did you feed them to?" Daniela looked up, growling. "Like hell I'd tell you." That recieved her a kick to the side.

While Dani got her breath back, the green-blood went over to talk to Equius. 'Great,' Dani thought. 'Another round of whippings.' The teen got up, a hand clutching her bruising side. Equius walked over, glaring behind his cracked shades. "What do you have to say for yourself, lowlife?" Dani growled. "Go fuck yourself."

The young Zahhak snarled, bringing the whip up and snapping it onto Dani's shoulder. The force knocked her onto her back, a sharp groan ripping from her throat. "You need to be taught how to speak to your higher-ups," Equius hissed. "Apologize, and I'll stop." Daniela glared in reply. Equius snarled.

"You asked for it."

The blue-blood brought the whip across the human's stomach, the shirt- and skin- tearing. He brought it down three more times, before stopping. "Now, apologize." Dani panted, swallowing thickly. "I... I'm sorry," she said. "I won't... do it again." Equius huffed, as if doubting her, and walked back to his spot.

A few children ran over- the ones she fed the food to- and helped her stand. She limped back to her station with them, and sat down in a thick spot of plants while the children worked around her. A young girl came over to help bandage the whip marks.

"Are you alright, Dani," the girl asked. "As alright as I can be." A boy sighed. "Why do you keep making them mad? It's gonna get you killed." "Getting killed is better than this," she grunted, standing up to continue her work. "Even so, we still need you around," the boy said. Dani smiled slightly. "You're like me when I was a kid, so, you'll be just fine, kid."

After some time- and a few more humans getting beaten- a teal blooded keeper got everyone's attention. "Any males and females over the age of fifteen earth years- and under the age of twenty five earth years- come to me immediatly." Half of the slaves, including Dani and two fo the boys she helped, went over to the teal blood. After looking them all over, two boys- one of them being her friend- and five girls were sent back. "The remaining humans follow us." 'Us' being the teal blood, two other blue bloods, and Equius.

The slaves in the group had their hands bound- a very uncomfortable position for Dani's aching torso- and were led towards the beach. The group whispered amongst themselves, wondering where they were going. The escorts growled at them to be silent.

Daniela looked back at Equius, surprised to find his head turned to her. He quickly averted his gaze, a scowl gracing his features. He said something in Alternian- a series of clicks and chirps she'll never hope to understand- and crossed his arms as he walked. The teen furrowed her brow in thought, before shrugging it off.

"May I ask, sir, where we're going," Dani said to Equius. The Zahhak grunted. "If you must know: Lord Dualscar is in need of new servants- both for him and his family. This is one of the first groups that's been recruited for the search." Dani huffed angrily. "Oh, great."

Equius rolled his eyes. "Be grateful for the opprotunity of being bought by Highbloods." "Taken out of a community full of friends and forced to be someone's house slave? Oh yeah, so grateful to possibly be bought by assholes." Equius hissed. "Be respectful of your higher-ups, worm, or do you like the sting of my whipe?" Dani smirked a little, getting risky. "I'd like it much more if it was in a more... intimate setting." The troll's cheeks flushed a deep blue. "Be quiet, you lewd mongrel." "Make me, horse boy." Equius' chest rumbled with a low growl. He almost struck her, but another blue blood stopped him.

"Lord Ampora asked that they have as little injuries as possible." Equius continued to growl, but just clenched the handle of his whip in anger. Dani let out a quiet snicker, before being shoved onto the deck of a boat. The humans were pushed into the tight quarters underneath, and locked in. The boat shoved off towards one of the Seadwellers' castles.

A few humans began complaining of motion, or sea sickness. Dani wasn't one of them, but her stomach did feel heavy. Whether it was from fear, nerves, or sea sickness, she did not know. She just leaned against the porthole, watching the clear water drift by. From what she could see, it looked like another city down below. Seadwellers swam by, as well as the strange creatures of Alternia.

Dani smiled to herself. Despite all the horrible inhabitants and the hardships she has- and will continue to- face, she thought Alternia was a beautiful planet. She felt her hands itch. The urge to draw was coming to her- not that she could do anything about it. Even if she could, she was running low on art supplies. She chuckled to herself. If she ever find an Alternian sugar daddy- or the female equivalent- she knows the first thing to ask for.

Byt the time the boat finally docked at the Ampora estate, Daniela was asleep. She- and over hald of the other humans- were roughly woken up by trolls dragging them out. Dani stumbled a little, her legs stiff from sitting in the same position for over an hour.

She followed the others- not that she had much of a choice- trying to fully wake up. She tripped and stumbled as the troll behind her kept pushing her to hurry up. She had half a mind to call him out on it, but quickly realized that it wouldn't do any good.

The trolls forced them into the white and violet halls of the Ampora estate, where Dualscar himself was waiting. Of course, everyone knows of the Amporas. They're nearly as renowned as the royal family. Dani knew of Dualscar, but seeing him in person made cold fear spread through her. His scarred face, imposing horns, and muscled stature made her feel like a weak child next to him. She didn't want to be in the same building as him, let alone the same room.

As she stared at him, two more trolls came out. His sons, from what she could tell. And, as she examined them, she realized.

She's found her target.