Clink, clank, rattle.

  My body awakens in fright. To see myself on the ground in the tunnels, a dark place with only the lantern’s flame giving me light. Its familiar still air almost makes my mouth yack from the unwanted memories of my enslavement.

  ‘No!’ I mumble to myself, patting myself down to see if I am still alive. So far, nothing is out of place. Well, not injury-wise, even my scars are gone. My grey fur is not there as well, reverting to its original dark-brown coat. Even my right eye seems to be okay, perfect even.

  I help myself up, scanning the tunnel for anything. Further confirming my isolation in this hostile place. There has to be a way out of here, a path to my freedom. Yet, the scratching at the back of my skull tells me something different. Urging me to explore. To understand.

  With nothing to do, or understand why I am here and how. I walk in a random direction. Navigating through the familiar labyrinth, regretfully recounting my time in the mine. How the scarred earth is caused by my people trying to harvest the black ore. The endless hours and days harvesting and melting them into bars for them to take.

  Does the Cinari even have a use for the ore? Do they even build with the stuff or do they give it away? If they never have a use or purpose for black iron, why was there a quota my people are forced to follow? Most importantly, what was the purpose of my people being here? Was there a purpose to any of this? Or do they only keep us in chains because they only see us for what we were. Property, a tool to be used at a later date.

  The food court, the place that will have thousands of Dogs in the same place to collectively eat, is abandoned. A chuckle escapes my lips upon realising the centre is still dark. Oh, the memories of that place, good and horrible. It was a place of community.

  We eat there, shoulder to shoulder, crammed in a small place and always under watch. One of the few places we can have a break. It will also be here where my people chose to stand for me. I could’ve died there; instead, they stood in my defence. In a way, I owed them everything.

  I walk past the sleeping quarters that lay empty still, with only claw marks on the walls reminding the world of who used to live there. There were multiple of them in the mine. Some house the elderly, the men, the women, or pairings with the prospect of producing offspring. It will be in those places where most of us were born. In a cold, dark, rectangular room. The few unwanted children and I would be abandoned in the furthest tunnels or depleted sections of the mine to die. Alone and afraid. I never blamed my mother for doing that, leaving me to die. What could she do when she had no means to look after me? With the long hours and the brutal workload she would’ve gotten, I doubt a young mother would have the time of day to take care of me. Who is to say she even wanted me and I am not a product of forced conception? She would have a million reasons, and I would understand them all. I never met her, but I wonder if she ever noticed me. Would she be happy knowing May existed? It makes me wonder if she didn’t abandon me, would she love to meet her grandchildren?

  The centre of the mine takes my breath away, the entrance to the surface world. The wooden stairs and platform connected to the surface world, now rotten and fallen apart. Trapping me here for all eternity Tools lie around haphazardly, as if the people who once lived there left in a hurry. But there is nothing useful to help me reach the top. I’m stuck. My personal sleeping quarters are in view, a small burrow overlooking the entrance. But it won’t be the same without May.

  This must be my afterlife, the place where I was born. A sick punishment, to return to the place of my enslavement. Alone, and without my people. But there is no point in being angry, no point in fighting on. All I can do is sit down, take a few breaths and accept my fate. I suppose it was a good run, even if I didn’t achieve much. Maybe this is fitting for me, to be alone in a world that was given to me by the Cinari and their false Gods. If the Gods are punishing me, I might as well smile while I’m here. Took them long enough to bring me down.

  ‘Dad?’

  Turning around, the smile on my face disappeared as I saw her for the first time in forever. May, my beautiful girl!

  I hop off the ground to run up to her, holding her tightly as I spin her around with laughter and joy. My hug engulfs her, filling my heart with the life that has been missing for two years.

  I’m here! Here with my little girl. Oh, how I miss those green eyes, those floppy ears. My sweet little angel.

  ‘I’m here, I’m finally here with you.’ I whisper to her, trying to hide my watery eyes and hazy breath. Collapsing to my knees so I can embrace her after so long.

  She hugs me back, her warmth that was once a distant memory is now here. I break our hug to look at her face. May smirks after she wipes a tear from my cheek. I suppose I wasn’t able to hold back my joy.

  ‘So, that is where Alex gets his crying from.’ She lightly jokes.

  I can’t help but laugh, her small comment forcing me to be my rugged self again. It is good to see her again. ‘I suppose he did.’

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  An awkward chuckle escapes me, my voice becoming heavy as I try to reconcile. It has been so long… so long since I’m with you.

  My heart aches, trying to find the right thing to say at the moment. But I’m lost. Where can I even start?

  ‘We missed you, Dad.’ She says.

  ‘I missed you too.’ I choke on my own words, struggling to say what I need to say. ‘I was so lost without you, I’ve lost my little world. It’s… it’s good to be with you again.’

  Knowing how I am feeling at the moment, she gives me a gentle hug to calm my weeping soul. ‘I know, we all do. But it’s okay, we’re not alone anymore.’

  I raise a concerned brow, ‘who else is here?’

  ‘Well, mum, Dust, and even Alex is here.’

  I sigh in relief, so this isn’t a punishment. I am truly in heaven, to be with the people I love.

  ‘Where are they, darling?’ I kindly ask her.

  May takes my hand and gestures her head to follow her. ‘Somewhere else, somewhere nice at least. With flowers, snow, the open sky. A lovely place for everyone.’

  A place without violence. A paradise without the need to kill. Yes, I love that thought. I think it might be time to accept this outcome and be happy with what I have. With a smile, I hold her hand, my soul free and ecstatic. No more war, no more monsters. Just the people I love.

  She leads me to the other end of the mine’s entrance to the tunnel by the foot of the wooden structure. It seems new, like it is meant to bring me somewhere better. A warm breeze escapes from the tunnel, making it more pleasant and welcoming the closer I get to it. For the first time, I’m ready. It is time to move on and be somewhere better. Everything has to have an end, and I want this to be mine. I’m now where I want to be. To be with my child.

  Crack!

  My legs lock into place. Like a command from a higher being demands I stay in place and don’t move a single muscle.

  May looks at me with concern. Unsure why I even stopped. ‘What’s wrong?’

  Crack!

  The familiar snap of the whip echoes from behind. It is coming from that tunnel, where I emerge the moment I sound our revolution. How we slaughtered our way to the surface. It glows a dark red, and faint sounds of marching emanate and grow louder with every passing second.

  May tugs on my arm, trying to gain my attention. ‘Dad, what’s wrong?’

  ‘It’s nothing,’ I lie, trying to shake it off. ‘Just something I thought I heard.’

  Crack!

  The moment I take a step with May, the whip cracks again. Cinari! That is the whip they use! The heat from my chest rises to my face. I try to move with May again, but the closer I get to leaving the entrance of the mine, the louder and the closer the whip gets, and the brighter the red glow becomes. It is calling me! Those beasts are here! I let go of May’s hand to face the red tunnel. To see who dares follow us.

  ‘Dad, we have to keep going. Please, let’s just move on.’ May pleads to me, but I pull away from her.

  ‘No! I have to deal with this. I will not let them go near you again!’ I stomp towards the light, grabbing a pickaxe to face whoever is there.

  May shouts for me to stop, to come back to her. I need to fight them! I block out her cries for me to return so I can rest. No! I will not rest if those monsters are here! They have to go, they have to die.

  With a step towards the red tunnel, my blood boils. With every crack of the whip, it reminds me of the man who controlled me, the man who murdered May! If they are here, I need to kill them one more time, I have to!

  I follow the red light, growling as I can smell them nearby. ‘Where are you!’ I yell, my fangs drooling for the hope of violence. One final kill, one final Cinari to put down at last. That is what I need. It is what I require to move on.

  The red light blinds me, yet its intoxicating aroma makes me salivate. They are there! They are all there ready to die!