“Whatthefu–” I began. I didn’t have a speech prepared for this situation, but I was willing to swear extemporaneously.

  “Be silent and do not move!” barked the high-pitched voice from my shoulders. My muscles locked up. My wings were half cocked, having risen in anticipation of the downbeat needed to launch myself into the air.

  “You sure got him, Glitterbuns!” called a new voice from the shadows. My eyes rolled as I tried to find a way to focus on where it came from, but my neck was locked in place.

  “Damn straight Rainbowshaft, can you believe he fell for the lady of the bog routine? Fucking noobs.” The tiny weight on my shoulders shifted, and something fluttered over my head to hover at the end of my snout. It was a male version of Kat. A foot or so tall, vestigial butterfly wings that still somehow managed to keep it in the air, brightly coloured trousers and tunic, and a look in its eyes that made it clear genital punching was some kind of hereditary pixie trait.

  The little bastard hovered in front of me, crossing his arms, a sneer etched across his tiny face. “You will speak only to answer my questions, and you will answer them truthfully,” he intoned. Get fucked little dude, I thought fiercely. I needed a way out. I had no magic as I hadn’t learned to cast without saying the words, and I couldn’t move to swat the little shit into the earth or blast him with a breath attack. “What is your name?”

  I fought it. I really did. Something compelled me.

  “Robert Robertson,” I ground out, despite intending to yell Collumna Fumi and blind the little shit with smoke.

  “Ha! Did your parents hate you? That is such a shit name!”

  “I hate my name. I didn’t get along with either of my parents. Mum was too controlling, and my dad was a power-mad arse. It’s why everyone calls me Bob.” Oh shit. I really hadn’t meant to say that.

  “What was the worst thing your daddy did to you, Bob?” asked Glitterbuns with malicious glee.

  “When I was thirteen, I was in love with Bethany, the babysitter. He… he was having an affair with her.” I needed this to end right now.

  “You got a lady dragon?” called the voice from below. Rainbowshaft didn’t have the power to command me, so I didn’t answer.

  “Shut it, Rainbowshaft, I’m the one with the key to the binding chains, I ask the questions!” snarled Glitterbuns.

  “I’m Tricksylicks’ favourite! You should give it to me! I’ll make sure she knows who made the catch!”

  Glitterburns pivoted in the air and shot out of my sight. There was the sound of a scuffle, tiny fists bashing against no doubt delicate body parts. The occasional oof and squawk, followed by a short silence.

  “Any more questions?” demanded Glitterbuns. As it wasn’t directed at me, I didn’t have to answer. “I thought not. Pinklebottom still calls the shots, simp. Dragon, get yourself onto the hill. You’re too fat to fit in the hide, but we can use you to skip the long road. Rainbowbitch, go get the other cargo. We’ll fly to the last drop, then bring Scaly over there back for Pinklebottom to sell to the arena.”

  I slithered out of the water, keeping my belly on the ground was the limit of my rebellion. Whatever the hell was around my neck had put me completely under the power of this little shit. I briefly pondered how much biomass the thing was worth, and whether it would be better to swallow him without chewing, or douse him in acid and let him melt.

  The other pixie crossed my vision as he fluttered into the gap beneath the tree. There was a blast of invective and barked orders, then silence for a moment. The first slave to emerge was a human woman, bedraggled and filthy. Her clothes were torn and smeared with dirt, as was the skin on her hand and face. Blood mixed with muck made it look like she’d been living wild for months.

  Behind her followed half a dozen men and women, all looking equally hard done to. Their clothes would have passed as middle-class in the city, well-made despite their state of disrepair, but not elaborate enough to mark them as nobles. Five children followed the adults, which was bad enough, but then another creature emerged.

  He was taller than the rest by half a head and whip-thin. His slender build didn’t hide the easy grace of his movements. Long green hair was tied back, revealing long pointed ears that reached higher than the crown of his head. They all had chains wrapped around their necks.

  “Elf, and three of the bigfeet, up on the back. The rest of you are riding in the claws!” barked Glitterbuns. “Dragon, don’t damage the cargo!”

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  The tall elf and the required number of adults climbed carefully onto my back. They all had blank faces, and none of them spoke, but the terror in their eyes was visceral. Their gazes radiated abject fear, whether it was of me or the fate that awaited them, I couldn’t tell.

  Four adults lined up next to my right foreclaw, five children next to my left. I wasn’t sure I could carry them like this; I’d be crushing them together to avoid dropping the poor sods.

  “Rainbowshaft, head back to the hub. Let Pinklebottom know I’ll be back earlier than planned, and with a feathered dragon as well!” said Glitterbuns as he settled on my shoulders.

  “What about Tricksylicks? She’ll be pissed to be left out of the loop,” Rainbowshaft said nervously from out of sight.

  “Fuck her. I mean that literally. We work for Pinklebottom; he’s the boss. If you want to piss him off because you’ve got the hots for Tricksy, that’s on you.”

  “Fine, Glitter. You know best.” Rainbowshaft was clearly not happy about it, but the resignation in his voice suggested he’d do what the tiny sociopath gripping my horns ordered.

  “Damn straight I do! Dragon, pick up the cargo carefully! Then we fly northeast. Do you know which direction that is, you massive moron?”

  “I know it's the last fucking direction you’ll ever go,” I snarled truthfully.

  “Ha! Stupid beast. You will only speak to me with respect!” I felt the new instruction settle into my mind and knew that I now had no choice but to kiss this mammal's ass. All my inner demons had set aside their differences and were gibbering and raging at the new bonds on my mind. Could I use that? Let one of them take over? I didn’t like the idea, but they weren’t under control; I was. Were the aspects of myself strong enough to get me out of this? Wrath was incandescent at being under the power of a puny creature, and regret was egging it on.

  Would I be able to take back control of my mind if I let it slip away from me for even a minute?

  “Yes, Sir Glitterbuns. I know the direction. I am concerned I will damage these people if I have to carry them far in my claws,” I ground out. The instructions were becoming contradictory. Tell the truth, carry the mammals, but don’t damage them. Maybe this was my way out, and I could keep my draconic instincts penned up? I could do the ‘contradictory programming’ bit from all the good robot stories.

  “Pick them up. The children are the least valuable; if any of them have to fall, drop the kids. That’s an order! Now, let’s go!”

  As my wings beat, I curled my hands around the groups in front of me, careful to avoid catching them on my claws. The adults ended up packed together, clinging desperately to each other, but they didn’t scream or wail. Tears ran down their cheeks, yet they didn’t make a sound.

  The children fainted. And pissed themselves. This made them both easier to carry and more slippery. Once I cleared the trees, I swung a tail through beneath me for each kid, wrapping them gently but securely. I brought my forelimbs together so I could hold the three adults in both hands. I hoped it was enough. It made flying awkward; my shoulders weren’t free to move naturally, but it was the best I could manage.

  Glitterbuns yanked on the chain around my neck and yelled directions at me. At first, we just kept the setting sun behind us. After true night arrived, he must have been navigating by the stars and the faint glow of towns far below.

  I flew for hours, ordered to make minor course adjustments as we went. I had no idea how far we had gone, or if we were still in the empire when he finally told me to drop down.

  A lake nestled between rising hills and moonlit mountains that made Mount Bob look like a molehill stood further to the east, blocking out the sky as we descended. The water of the lake gave a near-perfect reflection of the clouds above that glowed in the moonlight.

  I was ordered to land in a meadow off to the south of the lake. I hated this little shit. I was not to be commanded. I was a fucking dragon. Greed, Regret, Wrath, Lust, all the little goblins in my mind were salivating at the thought of revenge. And they were throwing up some interesting ideas.

  Lust… well, the lust-monkey’s ideas were not something I was interested in indulging. That dude was weird. Which probably meant I was weird as well. Wrath had some great ideas that mostly involved incinerating things, but they weren’t currently practicable. As soon as I was free, that fiery monster was going to get his wish. Greed and Regret were quietly scheming. The goblin presented me with an idea on behalf of the pair, and it was good. It was ‘let there be light’ kind of good, and I felt like a complete idiot for not having thought of it already.

  As my back feet touched down, I carefully laid the three adults who had dangled beneath me for hours on the ground, pumping my wings to buy time to drop them and then slam my forelimbs down to either side of them.

  “Don’t move!” Glitterbuns barked at me. “The rest of you, off the stupid dragon.”

  “This shipment is early!” called a gruff voice from the shadows to my left.

  “Caught a big fish!” a tiny hand slapped a scale on my shoulder. Glitterbuns was going to pay, and pay hard for that comment.

  I felt the slaves slide down and heard them thump to the ground. I couldn’t move, but the owner of the new voice waddled into view. My first instinct was to congratulate him on a splendid beard and moustache. Curly, oiled, and sculpted. It was a competition winner back home. He stood perhaps four and a half feet tall and was almost as broad. Heavy mail was laid over the top of a rich green tunic, and he sported a pointy leather hat on his head.

  “Hurry up! The greenies are acting up, been harassing us for weeks. You sure this thing is under control?” asked what I assumed was a dwarf.

  “See the chains? Can’t speak or move unless I tell it to! Where’s the gold?” snapped Glitterbuns. Greed perked up and once again began to scream at the back of my mind. Not only could I be free, but I could steal from the rich to give to the richer. Namely me. They were slavers; if I could get richer eating the bastards, that was just a win-win.

  My erstwhile passengers filed past me, being guided towards a small wooden hut by the dwarf, who was surprisingly gentle with them. There was no abuse or slapping. Just quiet instructions and questions about their welfare.

  I put Greed and Regret's plan into action. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t speak to cast magic, but I had one trick up my sleeve that would let me dodge those instructions.