And I'm freeeee~! Freeeee-faaalling--WAIT, WHAT?! [M/TW]

[SilmeriaElemred]

''Yes Master'' Mei said and kicked the sword away as she knelt down in front of the woman. ''Trust me. You're going to wish you were dead by falling off your dragon.'' Mei said in a soft almost tender whisper before she gave the girl a hard smack against the side of her head to knock her. Of course far from enough to cause a serious injury. But it would most likely be a bump for sure.

''Regarding the dragon. What will we do about that? I heard squares of dragon scales go for quite the sum at armormakers.''

[Rhindeer]

Khaiya only had time to register that they knew about her dragon--

And by then, it hardly mattered, because the woman's fist struck her head and her eyes rolled back as she slumped bonelessly to the ground.

[DaGlobster]

"We're just here to test the weapon, and the weapon worked swimmingly, although..."

Smed looked at Khaiya, at her armor, and then back at Mei. He smiled. He knew that dragon knights loved their dragons so very much, and he was feeling particularly cruel that day.

"I think the gang would enjoy a good dragon stew."

He cleared his throat, motioning to two of the goblins in their little hunting party.

"Take her back to the ballista. Tie her, gag her, blind her, and keep her unconscious. Rouse her up if you hear my horn."

The two goblins nodded, and they hoisted Khaiya up and took her away, back to the rest.

"The rest of you, we're gonna put that dragon out of its misery."

And they set off again, traveling in the direction the dragon had fallen.

[SilmeriaElemred]

''Dragon stew huh?'' Mei said with a chuckle. ''Does not sound bad.'' Mei said and looked at the tip of her whip. She would make a new one. Dragonleather sounded rather appealing right now.

Mei had not often seen a living dragon and she usually would not mess with them but now, she felt like she could take on the world.

[Rhindeer]

Jasper had, indeed, fallen quite a distance from where Khaiya had ended up.

And when the Mei and the goblins eventually found the area, it would be pretty obvious--for a great swath of trees had been flattened and splintered, leaving behind an impressive clearing in the middle of the dense forest. There was blood everywhere, and gouges in the soil from claws and a massive, spiked tail, and a few scales remained embedded in the soil--

But there was no dragon.

There was, however, a bloody trail, the soil and anything that had been growing in it scraped clean as though the beast had been dragging itself, and the trees had been smashed into a narrower path as the dragon had walked straight through them. The trail continued for a while, before it went cold.

It lead to the edge of some cliffs leading further down the mountain, and then nothing.

[DaGlobster]

Smed remained alert as he followed the trail, aware that dragons were as cunning as they were wise. It was slow going until they reached the cliff, and that was where Smed dropped his guard. The scene at the dragon's impact point was grisly, and this bloody trail could only indicate that the beast must have been bleeding out.

A torn wing like that was already bad enough, as wing tissue was veiny. Accounting for any injuries the beast must have sustained in the fall (At best, the dragon was crippled!), and guessing that the wing injury would only have gotten worse, Smed presumed the creature dead, by suicide of all things.

"Let's get your little toy back to camp," Smed said, and he jostled a small pouch full of dragon scales.

"These should be enough for a new whip."

With that, he turned back around, and he started to head back to the ballista.

[SilmeriaElemred]

''Yes Master. She fought back nicely. It was fun. I am glad you brought me with.'' Mei replied with a smile. She wondered though if she should fly down. The scent of blood filled her nose clearly. ''I recommend to mask Khaiya's scents. Surely people are going to look for her and I do not think we'd like tracking hounds.''

She gazed down one more time. Pity the giant lizard took this route but if Smed did not order her, he would not find it nessesary either. She followed him back. ''So tell me Master. What are your plans for Khaiya?'' She knew she had plenty.

[Rhindeer]

When Khaiya came to, she woke to a world of pain.

With the adrenaline out of her system, she could feel the full effects if her injuries now: the broken rib, the bullet in her side and shoulder, her torn leg. She started to gasp out from the shock of it, but kept her mouth shut and her eyes closed and let her breath out softly through her nose. Wherever she was, it wouldn't be good; she could feel the gag set between her teeth, the bindings wrenching her arms behind her back, and when she opened her eyes...

Of course. Blindfolded. Fantastic.

But she still had her ears, and she strained to listen to the sounds around her even as she remained slumped over and lifeless, and she kept her breathing deep and even to fake sleep. Okay. So she was a captive. But now more than ever was the time to keep a clear head. And so she mentally began to do a tally of her condition and her equipment.

Condition: bad. Equipment: still there.

She was swordless, but her armor was still in place. Had they searched her? She felt at her bindings, then felt at the small button enlaid in her vambraces and pressed  a finger against one.

A blade slid out, and Khaiya's heart did a flip flop of nerves and relief. She kept it hidden between her hands and her back, still straining to listen, and then carefully maneuvered it and started to saw at the bindings even as tears burned in her eyes from the sheer pain of it as it jostled her wounded shoulder.

[DaGlobster]

Smed returned to the ballista, still focused on the baggy of dragon scales. They had Khaiya away from the ballista, up against a tree and out of the way so they could disassemble it in peace. Smed's face indicated disappointment, although there was a certain bit of pep in his step.

New toys were always great!

He gave Khaiya a cursory glance, and then looked to the disassembling ballista. He blinked a few times, and he looked back.

He squinted, and he could've sworn he saw her move a bit. He looked to Mei, smiled, and put a finger on his lips.

He motioned to a goblin, and it tottered over to him. He repeated the finger on lips motion, and started to walk with it over to Khaiya.

"Gone, yeah. It's gone." Smed said, and the goblin nodded a bit. He was speaking so Khaiya could hear it.

"The dragon?"

"Yep. Chased it off a cliff."

The other goblin chuckled, and they came to a stop around ten feet away from Khaiya.

"So, when you says it's gone, boss..."

"Dead. Damn shame, too. Skull would've looked nice on my tent."

They both looked at Khaiya.

"Least we got this one," Smed said, and he picked up a stick.

"You kickin', murderer?"

He jabbed the stick right into her shoulder wound, grinning like a madman.

[SilmeriaElemred]

''Master surely hit the beast well.'' Mei purred as she stood behind him. ''Do not worry though, his wounds gave him a good and painfull death. A bit to slow. But can not always have influence on that. You though, make sure you do not die. When my Master is done with you I want to have my type of fun. Woman on woman bonding time that is. I hope you are just as exited as I am. And if not I will get you to that point my own way.''

[Rhindeer]

Voices caught Khaiya's ear, and she quickly stilled and hid the blade again. Each movement was agony, but this was life or death, and she fought hard to keep her breathing deep and even. The words were muted at first by distance, but then they grew clearer as the creature approached--and Khaiya's blood turned to ice when she could finally make them out.

They were talking about Jasper.

No... she thought, her chest going tight with the first hints of grief. Chased off a cliff. Dead. Gone. No. That couldn't be...that couldn't be true. She would have felt it, right? She would know!

But she had been unconscious, too. Unconscious after the fall, and unconscious after her capture.

Maybe she hadn't felt it because she hadn't been awake.

"Jasper?" she sent out again as her fingers tightened around the knife. "JASPER! Jasper, answer me, damn you!" He'd said her name before! He'd answered before she'd been caught, so he'd still been alive then! But he had sounded weak, and if...if they'd chased him off a cliff...if he wasn't answering now...

"Jasper, please..." Dragons were more than just beasts to their riders; they were their companions, their friends. Their family. And for Khaiya, Jasper had saved her life. He'd chosen her, chosen her when she was little more than a frightened slave girl. They'd grown up together. She forced her breath out evenly through her nose even as emotion wanted to choke her, constricting her throat.

He couldn't be dead.

And then something jabbed her wounded shoulder and Khaiya let out a cry--but it wasn't one purely of physical pain.

It was one of rage.

Her blade slid through the last thread of her bindings and with the last vestiges of her strength, she ripped off her blindfold and threw the knife at Smed's chest. She didn't really care if it killed him or not. He was the one the demon called "master". He was the one the other goblins deferred to.

He was the one she wanted to hurt.

[DaGlobster]

Smed could've dodged the knife, especially since Khaiya wasn't exactly catching him by surprise. But, in all honesty, it'd been a good while since the last time he'd died, and he figured a couple months was a bit of an extended stretch anyways.

Smile as big as ever, the knife went sailing right through his chest, destroying his black little heart and spurting blood onto the grass. He fell backwards, cackling, giggling until the light left his eyes.

"Let her watch, then knock her back out," Smed said.

Oh! My heart's stopped beating. Back in a jiff," he gurgled, and his body went limp. By now, everybody in his organization, including Mei, knew that Smed was a goblin who couldn't die. In fact, dying was a bit of a fetish for the deranged little creature.

Either way, he laid still for a couple seconds, before suddenly, he sat back up, eyes as sharp and alert as ever.

"Woo! Haven't had a rush like that in a while," he said, and he pulled the knife out of his chest, tossing it behind him as his chest wound sealed.

He looked to Mei.

"I mean, I've died before, but this time, I just died."

He hacked up a bit of blood, shrugged, and continued.

"Hell of a throw."

[SilmeriaElemred]

Mei giggled a bit. ''Waste of your knife. Master can not die. I was quite suprised he can't even by my... energy consuming ways. I bet his head could be chopped off and he would get up in no time.'' she said and dashed to Khaiya giving her a punch in the abdomen before grabbing the girl's wrists forcing them behind the back. ''And we were so nice to at the least let you keep your clothes on. Maybe we should strip you naked. I do warn you. The sight of female flesh makes goblins rather hungry.''

Rather then knocking the woman out though she brought the woman in front of her to face Smed and pushed her boot in her knees so Khaiya would beforced on the ground. With what was left of her whip she started to bind Khaiya's hands tightly.

''But then again. What is a lifeless playtoy.''

[Rhindeer]

The blade flew true, and sank into the goblin's chest, and Khaiya felt a brief moment of victory as she pulled free her gag. If she was to die--and surely she would, for killing their leader--then at least she'd take him with her. At least there was that. It was small consolation, but it was something.

That feeling died when she saw the way he smiled. Heard the way he laughed.

Back in a jiff.

W...what?

And then he was upright. Awake, alert, and pulling the knife free, and Khaiya felt sick. Felt like she could puke when she watched his wound heal, heard him speak so casually about dying, like it was a game. Like it was funny. And no one seemed surprised about this!

Her head swam, throbbing from where she'd been hit earlier, and she was still processing what she saw when the demon punched her in the gut.

Khaiya doubled over choking and wheezing, hands clutching her belly, but a second later they were wrenched back behind her back and she let out a yell of agony as her shoulder screamed. Tears rolled down her cheeks, half from pain, half from grief, and her cries soon gave way to hiccuped sobs as she was brought to kneel before the goblin on one good leg, and one mangled one.

All while the demon spoke of...horrible things.

She turned her head away, tears dripping off her chin, fighting back her shudders. She didn't speak. She had nothing to say. What was she supposed to say, anyway? Beg for her life? Beg for a quick death? As though they would honor her requests. No, she kept quiet instead, determined to go gracefully and proudly and not give them the satisfaction of hearing her beg.

And even if she did have something to say, she didn't think she could speak past the sobs that choked her, making her whole body shake, because Jasper was dead.

[DaGlobster]

"Oh, don't cry..." Smed cooed, and he crossed his arms.

He had to admit, now that he actually had a dragon knight captive, it was quite tempting to take revenge for his people, to just slash her throat and fill it with dirt. He closed his eyes, picturing goblins being skewered ruthlessly by dragon knight lances, villages being burned by dragon knight flames.

He opened them back up, and he grinned.

"You need to save your tears, keep them all nice and bottled up for later..."

he passed a claw under her chin, quickly, so he could take a droplet of her tears. He looked at it curiously, before licking it up. A shudder passed through him, and he giggled like a schoolboy.

"Because I am going to milk you dry."

He drew Anklesnagger again, and he flipped it over in his grip, so that he held it just above the sharp bits. Using the blunt end like a club, he swung and Khaiya's head again, intent on sending back into the world of the unconscious.

[SilmeriaElemred]

Mei held Khaiya where she was and looked at Smed after the blow had been dealt. ''I know the history of Dragons and Goblins since you told me. What would you prefer. Her spirit broken? Or her dead. Truth be told I will find it amusing if she joins with Rena and Selka. She could infiltrate other dragon riders that way, lure them out. To bad the survive rate is so damn low. Then again. Her fighting spirit is something nice. Rena and Selka certainly don't fight back at all and get right on the tasks given to them.'' she gently patted Khaiya's head and took a nice long breath to pick up the girl's scent.

The siege weapon was as good as dismantled. ''Lets bring her home with us. We can always decide later what to do. Unless you have a plan now.''

[Rhindeer]

Despite pride and sorrow keeping her quiet, Khaiya was only human, and she wasn't fearless. She shrank back from the goblin's stroking claw, feeling sick as he tasted her tears and promised worse to come--and then brandished his wicked cudgel. The one he'd used on her before.

Please, no, she thought, so she wouldn't say it, but she could do little more than watch as it was raised, and close her eyes and clench her fists as it began to fall.

A different kind of darkness claimed her then, the black behind her eyes going darker, and she slumped into Mei's arms as, once again, blessed unconsciousness claimed her.

[Since she's out like a light, feel free to skip me 'til she wakes! 8D]

[DaGlobster]

"Rena and Selka are common whores. This one's... different. Heart of a soldier, with such a strong mind. It takes a strong mind to command dragons, you know."

"I don't want her dead, not yet, but I can't exactly get to work out here, either. I don't like not knowing where that dragon is, so I'd rather we get the hell out of here, post-haste!"

Smed clapped his hands, and the goblins all assembled to move out, each carrying an equal burden of ballista parts.

Smed gave Khaiya a detailed search via pat-down, and, after much deliberation, decided to just strip her of her vambraces and stuff them into his own bag, along with any other sharp objects she happened to have.

"Gag her, blind her, plug her ears, and make sure she's all tied up," Smed instructed, and he procured a small bottle of scent masker from his belt. He originally intended to use it against the dragon, but seeing as how that avenue was exhausted, he just applied it to Khaiya instead.

"That goes the same for all of you. Hide your scents, I don't want us getting tracked."

[SilmeriaElemred]

''Of course Master'' Mei said. She blindfolded and gagged the girl. She plugged the ears as last.

True. It took a strong mind to command dragons. But Mei did not mind having a go at someone like Khaiya. At least. She could have what was left of her when Smed was done. If there was anything left.

After the scent masker was applied by everyone, it was onwards to home sweet home. The two girls were waiting. She knew. Either patiently or screwing around. Litterly. ''Just please let her keep her limbs. I like her body whole at the least if possible. Healing tonics to repair limbs are expensive.'' she said with a smile.

[DaGlobster]

"Don't worry, Mei. I'm not gonna butcher her. Just... acquaint her to goblin hospitality. We can take turns!"

Smed turned his head to Mei, who had the task of carrying Khaiya. For a strong, demonic woman like her, though, it'd be a trivial task.

"With your pheromones, we're going to drive her absolutely insane! No holds barred! You see, I was playing around with the last girl, Einin, but with this one?"

Smed laughed.

"She's going to suffer, Mei. Gonna make Einin's stay look like a bed of roses."