So there I am, walking down a hall. Bound by manacles, lead with a chain attached to the collar around my neck. In front of me are two anthro dogs, named Nala and Lily. With my head downcast, with anger and hatred on my face. As we walk, doors and corridors pass us ether side. Occasionally we passed by other dogs, all wearing vests of all different colours. The saddest thing is that they all have bandages on their various limbs.

Alone in my thoughts, I think of how to get out of here. I thought of taking a hostage, but knowing that the pack leader punishes them. That might not work. 'I just need time, and now I have all the time I need.' While thinking to myself, I didn't realise we made it to the destination. A sudden jerk from the chain got my attention. Coming back to reality, I see before me a Cane Corso a hulking mass of muscles. Sitting upon a chair, Made from a collection of gems, of all different shapes, sizes and colours. You can tell that the chair is a new edition to this room. Since the gems adorning it, are a lot more vibrant than the ones in the walls.

I look back at the Cane Corso, shivering at the site of his malicious grin. I glance into his eyes, feeling the fire in them. Like daggers piercing into my skull. Makes me question my plan of escape, second-guessing my predicament. 'I'm fucked.'

I Look over to Nala and Lily, seeing that they are terrified of him. Steeling myself, I look back at the Cane Corso. Trying not to show any fear, I await what comes next. "Closer!" he points at me, hesitantly I proceed forward. Nala behind me holding the chain.

I keep an eye on him, seeing what his next move will be. He stops me as I get to the base of the chair. He looks me up and down, planning something. Then it happened, "send him to the mine." He snaps his fingers then two new dogs appear from an adjacent corridor. Grabbing the chain off Nala, they push me forward to my new life.

I'm lead by the two new dogs either side of me, walking I notice something different. they seem to be the same breed, I think a Pointer with mirrored faces. Their vests seem to be the same burgundy colour, and the collars are the same design. Since I don't know how long we will be walking, I start a conversation. "so... are you afraid of your pack leader too?"

They look at me for a second, look at each other then they spoke. "We serve the pack leader," the one on the right said. I reply "that doesn't answer my question." They look at me again, then at each other than focus on the path ahead. "Yes and no, some of us are, but we are not." 'Well, that's interesting. Some are not afraid of the leader, but I need some more info.'

I look to the one on the right, "how long has the pack leader been in charge?" She looks up at me, not saying anything for a moment. Then she replies. "3 seasons." I furrow an eyebrow, "and how long is a season?" The one on the light reply, "30 sun cycles." Ok so he hasn't been in charge for long, I would either need to defeat or kill him.

After some time we arrive at another opening, this one is different. There are other people, not dogs or humans. There are some horses, or maybe their ponies. In a kaleidoscope of colours, some with horns, wings and some nothing. They were not the only creatures, but what I can only describe as griffins.

The Pointers lead me to a cluster of rocks, then attach the chain to a pillar off to the side. "Dig," one of them said behind me. I look around seeing a pickaxe next to me, and I pick it up and get to work. Now I'm not the strongest man in the world, but I'm not the weakest. I worked at a wood workshop, but this will be more work than that.

I don't know how long I was there for, but ever sins the two dogs left. The other 'workers' wouldn't stop steering at me. I could hear them talking about me, but I paid them no mind. Often dogs would come in and whipped the ones not working. They didn't bother me because I was working. I filled A crate near me with gems, Wiping the sweat off my forehead. My body is glistening, from the light flickering off the torches. I propped the pick against the wall and sat down to catch my breath.

As I sat there and I looked up from my hands, to see Lily poking her head in from the entrance. She looks around her gaze stopped on me and walks over to me, with a cup in her hands. I stand on shaky legs, my head spinning. I slump back down to the floor, looking up at Lily, with a tired smile.

When Lily got closer, she stopped at my feet then hands me the cup. With a thank you, I reach out for the cup. Before I could get it, it's smacked out of Lily's hands by another dog. I look at the cup on the floor with a frown, then look at the new dog. This one was male, which was odd, sins all I've seen were female dogs.

The new dog looks like a German Shepherd, though he must be younger than Lily since he's smaller than her. He is staring at Lily growling a bit, "No, water not for slaves." He yapped at Lily. "You should know, place, bitch!" When he said that. Eye twitching, my vision filled with red. I stand, his back to me. I stare daggers into the back of his head. Lily must have seen my face, for she started to shiver. The German Shepherd, stands there smug, thinking that he was the cause of Lily's shivering.

I lift a hand and place it on his shoulder. I spin him around, facing me. Before he was about to do anything, I grab him around his neck and start lifting him. He is struggling, scratching my arm. I squeeze his neck a bit tighter, to make him stop. He holds my arm, attempting to relieve pressure on his neck. When he gets to my eye level, I bare my teeth and growl at him.

He goes stiff as a board his eyes lock on mine. "What is your name?" I say with a demanding tone. "D... Duke," he replies. Lily is pulling on my other arm. Looking at her, I see tears coming down her face. " Please, d... don't kill him. You get in trouble." Looking from Lily to Duke, and pull him closer to my face. "You do that ever again, and you will not last the night. You got that?" Duke nods furiously, quaking in my hand. I let go of him he lands on his rear. He yelps and runs away, tail tucked away.

I look back at Lily, "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me." I stand there waiting for what comes next. "Th... thank you for helping me, you will be punished for that, by leader now," Lily replied sadly. "I guessed as much, but there is nothing I can do about that now." I walk over to the cart full of gems and push it out the way. Looking around, Lily is gone, and the other slaves are looking at me. I can see that some of the looks are of admiration, horror, and fear. I 'sigh' moving one of the empty carts over to where I'm mining, And get back to work.

'Well, I wonder what will happen now. What will the leader do to me, injure me, Lock me up, or would he hurt Lily? I hope it doesn't come to that.'

Author's Note

Sorry for the long wait, and for the short chapter. Thank to all of you that favorited this story, I know there are better out there. Yet you are reading mine, so thank you. As always please tell me if there is any grammatical errors you can see.