Beneath them

Without a word, a beast behind me grabbed my collar — thick fingers tightening like iron hooks.

He leaned in close. I couldn't see him, but I could feel his breath against my neck — hot and heavy with cruelty.

"Better start walking," he whispered in my ear.

I didn't wait for him to shove me. I began to walk.

I couldn't see where I was going — just followed wherever the abominations led me, each step echoing beneath my boots.

Once outside.

The sun's rays bled through the filthy rag wrapped around my head — faint, but enough to sting. I could feel its heat dancing on my skin, mocking me with warmth I didn't ask for.

But that wasn't the only warmth I felt.

Not even a moment after I stepped onto the street, a rock — medium-sized, by the feel of it — struck the right side of my head.

I couldn't see it, but I felt it.

Felt the warm trickle of blood sliding down my temple. Fresh. Hot.

I tilted my head slightly to the left — just enough to ease the pain.Not far enough to appear weak.

"Kill the bastard!" a man's voice rose above the roar of the crowd.

"I hope that beast rots in hell!" another shouted, anger thick in his throat.

"Those things aren't safe around our children!" a woman shrieked, her voice sharp, full of fury masked as fear .

I walked for what felt like hours.

Each step dragging me deeper into the village throat — where the filth was thick, and the voices thicker. The stench of sweat, piss, and rot clung to the streets like fog. Flies buzzed. Trash burned in nearby barrels. The boots of my captors clanged against the cobblestone in rhythm — like a funeral march played just for me.

I could hear a shuffle from where the abominations gathered.

They hurled insults like stones — some actually did throw stones. Laughter rose, spat in my direction. Phlegm. Slurs. One beast who's kick felt like a child's even ran up and kicked my shin before vanishing.

But none of it mattered.

If only they knew what I carried — what they'd all regret ignoring.

Man. Child. Woman.

They all fear death.

And I will remind them why.

For now, I listened to their insults.

Each word — each slur, each laugh, each threat — carved into memory.They will all be remembered… for when their time comes.

I kept walking. One step after another.It must have been an hour. Maybe more.

And then, slowly, their voices began to fade.

What was once a blaring storm of hatred dulled to distant noise —muffled by stone walls, narrow streets, and the turning of the path. 

Until they were all gone.

No more shouting. No more spitting. No more stones.Just the sudden slam of a heavy door's behind me.

But I kept walking — now in silence, the only sounds being the faint squeak of my rubber soles and the heavy clank of their iron boots echoing through the corridor.

Then… we stopped.

"Ready for a fun ride?" one of them snickered behind me.

Before I could answer — or even breathe — I was shoved forward.

My balance vanished.The ground dropped beneath me.

Stairs.

My body tumbled like dead weight. I couldn't brace. Couldn't stop.My face smashed into the stone again and again — each hit worse than the last.My lips burned. Split open.My teeth felt like they'd been punched a thousand times.My bones screamed under the pressure of my own weight crashing down onto itself.

By the time I stopped, I wasn't sure if I was still whole… or just scattered pieces in a heap.

I could hear footsteps approaching — but not from the stairs above.No.They were coming from the floor I had landed on.

Then — a sharp kick to my stomach.

Pain surged through me.

"You still alive?" a voice asked, low and careless.

I twitched — barely.

"I guess so," he muttered.

He lifted me — with what felt like one arm, as if I weighed nothing.

I felt his grip: sharp, scaled fingers digging into my torso.Tiny punctures tore into my flesh, each one sending a wave of pain through me.My shirt ripped in the process, threads snapping like twigs.

But my coat — and the medals still pinned to it — seemed untouched.

I could hear them.Still jingling softly with each movement.Still with me.

We walked for what felt like only a few seconds — ten, maybe forty.Time meant nothing in the dark.

Then, suddenly — light.

The rag was yanked off my head, and vision returned in a blurry haze.My eyes burned, smeared with blood and sweat, but I could see again… barely.

Not that it mattered.

Before I could even register my surroundings, I was airborne —lifted and hurled like a ragdoll straight toward a brick wall.

My shoulder hit first.

The crunch echoed before the pain did — sharp, white-hot, all-consuming.

My left arm bent at an angle it wasn't meant to.Something inside popped. Maybe shattered.

I collapsed onto the ground, face-first, gasping.Spit filled my mouth. My vision flickered.

And yet, through all of it…I could still hear the faint jingle of the medals on my coat.

"Ha ha ha!" it laughed.

"Aaahahahaaa!" — louder, crueler the second time.

I tried to look up, to see the bastard who did this to me—only to be greeted by the bottom of a scaly foot slamming down toward my face.

Before I could react, it grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked my head upward.

Its yellow eyes burned down into mine — wide, gleaming with mockery.

"Aww, are you gonna cry?" it cooed in a fake, sympathetic tone.

He jiggled my head left and right like a toy, grinning all the while.

Then he leaned in, opening his jagged mouth far too wide.

"Your arm looks dislocated. Want me to fix it?"

I didn't answer.

His grin faded — flipped into something darker.

"Don't wanna talk?" he muttered.

Still holding me by my hair in his left hand, he raised his right arm slowly…lining up a punch I wasn't sure I'd wake up from.

But then—

"Mr. Larno," a voice called out from behind.

He turned his head, still gripping me.

At the doorway stood a fox-tailed woman — young, confident, ears perked.

"What is it, Silv?" he asked, half-irritated. "Can't you see I'm having fun?"

"I see that," she replied coolly. "But there's another human who needs your hands."

She paused, letting her next words sting."She's female."

His expression shifted instantly — annoyance melting into a twisted joy.

"Really now?" he said, voice dripping with anticipation."Lead the way."

And just like that, he dropped me to the ground without a second thought.

I hit the floor like dead meat.He walked off, following her out the cell and slamming the iron door behind him —locking it tight with a dark-gray key.

Now it was silent.

I lay there, unmoving.Broken.Used like a practice dummy.

But in that silence, one thought burned hotter than any pain in my body:

I won't forget this humiliation.

I'll show him the face of hell.