Right beneath your name, you consider your role as a knight the most critical piece of information about you. Make no mistake, the road here was far from easy, and there were many times the idea of quitting and going home crept into your mind and tempted you to throw away your life’s work. But it was well worth it to be officially knighted by none other than the lord himself. It took years of becoming proficient in archery, horseback riding, hand-to-hand combat, nearly every type of handheld weapon, chivalry, warfare tactics, and even ballroom dancing just to get to such a point. When you finally earned your knighthood, you felt as if your life’s work had been completed. But earning the title was only half the journey. Now, you must prove what your work was for. The Lord had assigned you and a small platoon of other knights to a village within his realm. It’s nothing particularly large or extravagant, but it’s larger than the average serf settlement, and it had stone buildings to boot. As the lord decreed this to be your task, you were ready to lay your life down for it. Come what may - goblins, orcs, rival armies - you made a vow that none of them would even scratch anyone in this village. And then a dragon appeared. In your life, dragons have been used to scare children into doing what they’re told, and even now, some of your colleagues become visibly uncomfortable by the mere utterance of the word ‘dragon’. After hearing what they’re capable of, you suppose it’s not completely unreasonable. They are reportedly three to four times larger than the average house, and not that much smaller than the average castle. Predictably, they also have the strength to match such gargantuan size, being able to reduce great towers to rubble with just the swing of their tails. If that wasn’t bad enough, they also have the uncanny ability to spew fire from their mouths, reducing anything in their paths to ash within seconds. And even assuming you're facing a dragon with the advantage of numbers and weaponry, hurting it would be an uphill battle of epic proportions. Their scales were hard as steel, with even a catapulted boulder barely phasing a dragon. For all of this, the few people you’ve met who have faced off against a dragon have told you horror stories about it. A colleague of yours once told you that fighting a dragon was similar to fighting a hurricane; utterly pointless. Some say it was better to just kill yourself at the sight of a dragon and spare yourself the agony of being crushed or burned to death. But despite the terror and despair that dragons strike in most folks’ hearts, you remain undeterred by such stories. Some called it bravery, most called it stupidity, but you were confident that, with your training and the teamwork of the other knights, you could manage to become legends for killing a dragon (or, at the very least, driving it back where it came from). But nothing could have possibly prepared you for that day. When you heard a little girl scream out “DRAGON!”, you initially thought it was nothing more than an overactive imagination at work. At least, you hoped so. But in only a few seconds, your thoughts and hopes were dashed as you saw the great crimson beast descend from the sky. The rumors about its size were not an exaggeration; going by your rough visual estimate, it was about a third of the size of the village, and its wingspan expanded from the west end of the gate to the east. It came crashing down with a ground-shaking thud, destroying the blacksmith’s shop and a couple of houses in its wake. Its mouth twisted back into a snarl, revealing razor-sharp teeth the size of jousting lances, and bellowed a ferocious roar, causing the villagers to flee screaming in terror. Shaking yourselves out of shock, you and some of your platoon mates run to The Captain and ask for orders. The Captain, to this point well-known by your platoon for his stone-cold, no-nonsense demeanor and acute knowledge of any possible situation, was silent, his face betraying something other than his usually knightly professionalism. He was scared. The Captain was scared. The thought alone was enough to cause whatever determination you and the other knights had to waver and diminish. Remaining silent, he calculated his options in his head, but not for long. After all, you, him, and any other knight worth his salt, knew there was only one possible option in such a situation for a knight. “Men,” he said, his voice ever determined even with the hint of sorrow audible in it, “grab your weapons and strike the beast with all your might. Fight ‘till your very last breaths.” With the quiet sentiment that this battle will more than likely be your final one, you and your platoon armored up and got ready to go out swinging. Most of you grabbed arrows, knowing a sword or other melee weapon likely would, at best, mildly cut The Dragon’s skin, and that archery could at least land a hit on The Dragon’s eyes, throat, or other hard-to-reach yet vital areas. You stormed out and began your siege on The Dragon, pelting it with arrows. They harmlessly bounced off it like raindrops, and all your attack accomplished was drawing its attention toward you and your comrades. It snarled once again, and you and a few other knights were just able to dodge out of the way of its fiery breath. You watched the ones who didn’t get engulfed in flames, screaming and writhing in pure agony as they were immolated. As The Dragon stopped its fire and the men fell limp, becoming smoldering corpses, there was barely any reprieve as The Dragon swung its tail around, knocking several more buildings over. You and another knight managed just barely to duck out of the way of the tail. Gabriel wasn’t so lucky. With the force of a meteorite, he was swept off of his feet and smashed against even more buildings. If he wasn’t going to die from the smashed ribcage and squished organs within, he was certainly dead as he was buried under piles of rubble. Finally, you took the initiative to retreat. This wasn’t to say you surrendered, however. Far from it: you merely needed a moment to catch your breath and strategize. As you hid behind one of the few remaining undamaged buildings gasping for air, you scanned the vicinity hoping you could find something - anything - to at least slow this monster down. Scanning the area, a rickety old watchtower catches your eye. That’s when you hatched an idea. Even in the heat of the moment, you knew it was a huge longshot, to say the least, but everyone was gonna die if you did nothing anyway, so you needed to try something. Grabbing a woodsman’s ax sitting on a stump and climbing a ladder as fast as possible, you scale the village wall and rush over to the watchtower. You watched and waited, hoping with bated breath that it wouldn’t take The Dragon long to get caught in your sights. Fortunately, it only takes a few minutes to get into position, and that’s when you get to work. As fast as humanly possible, you furiously chop away at the tower's support beams. A mixture of your immense strength and the degraded quality of the work made short work of the tower, and before you knew it, the tower toppled right onto The Dragon’s head. You stare in awe, an absent-minded smile forming on your lips, amazed it worked. In your head, you’re already picturing the fame and fortune you will receive for wounding a dragon. How everyone will hail you as a hero. But the victory is short-lived. After about a minute, The Dragon looks up at you and glares a hole into your soul. You didn’t notice earlier, but even beyond the beast’s size and teeth fiery breath, it was its eyes that were its scariest features. Two thin slivers of glowing yellow cut through the inky black sclera. They stared at you with such precise and primal fury that even being someone as brave as yourself, you were shaken to the core. You snapped out of it just in time to dodge another stream of fiery breath. You nearly lept down the ladder, and both your mind and body were racing, scrambling to figure out another course of action. It’s all for naught, though; as soon as you were in The Dragon’s sights, it used its mighty tail to trip you flat on your back. Remembering how one swing was enough to topple buildings over, you wondered why it didn’t kill you outright, but your question was soon answered as you felt the tail wrap around your leg. Before you knew it, you were flung into the air and caught by The Dragon’s clawed hand. Though they were almost comically small when compared to the rest of the body, they were still more than large enough to wrap their fingers around your body. The Dragon carelessly plucked your helmet off and tossed it away without a second thought. It brought you up parallel to its face and once stared at you with the intensity of an earthquake. You could only stare back in fear despite yourself, knowing all you can do at this point is hope your death is a relatively painless one. But death doesn’t come. You waited and waited, the seconds passing glacially as you maintained eye contact, having no idea what The Dragon wanted from you. Your initial assumption was that it wanted to eat you, but why the hesitation? Did it want to see you tremble in fear? Or did it have some other, even more, nefarious purpose in store for you? Still constricted by the monster’s hand, you were unable to do anything other than accept whatever fate would come, as it was out of your hands now. You weren’t sure what to expect next, but what did was never anything you would ever expect in a million years. “How would you like to strike a deal, knight?” Your eyes went wide and your jaw slacked as the words bounced in your head. They were less heard as they were more so implanted directly into your mind. It was like having someone besides yourself using your head to think, and it was such an odd feeling that you weren’t sure even the greatest poets could describe. After about a minute of processing what you just ‘heard’, you finally squeak out “you… d-did you…?” “‘-Say that just now’? Yes, I did. Even if I can’t communicate through speech like humans and other species can, centuries of life have taught me a few tricks to get around that. Now, answer me; would you like to strike a deal?” “W-what?” you croaked weakly. “I will leave this village, sparing it from even more death and destruction than it has already seen. And in exchange…” It brought you close to its nose, and you cringed as you felt hot breath hitting your skin. “...You come with me, be mine, and do as I say unconditionally. In other words, be my pet.” Your mind went blank for a few moments as what it had just said hit you. What it was asking you - relinquish your sense of self and become its possession - was nothing more than a fate worse than death. To not only strip you of your knighthood, your life’s work, and your greatest passion, but to also waive your humanity and self-will to become property. Pet. The word made you sick. The idea of lowering yourself to the level of a dog, of degrading yourself from a mighty knight to a helpless pet, to be owned by a monster, the notion of it all made you sick. But then you looked down at the villagers still alive. You remembered your oath to protect the village and its inhabitants by any means necessary, even if it meant death. Perhaps the village was brought to the brink of destruction, but it wasn’t destroyed. Amidst the rubble and corpses, there lived families still alive. Newly-made widows, widowers, and orphans. A few of your platoon mates were still alive. To say no then would forsake them, forsake the lord, forsake yourself. If your humanity, dignity, and honor were the price to pay for the remaining villager’s safety, then you had no other choice but to oblige. With a great deal of reluctance, you turned back to The Dragon and almost whispered “I… Agree…” Its mouth contorted into something that could be construed as a smile. “Excellent. I had a feeling you would agree. Come along now. You have a new life to start.” Not wasting any time, The Dragon spread its wings and took off eastward. You took one final glance at the village as you flew away, still in The Dragon’s grasp. A new life to start. The words rang in your head. The brave knight, the loyal friend, the loving son, the person… That’s all gone now. Taken away from you. And though you took at least a little comfort knowing that you were able to save at least some of the villagers, you still drowned in uncertainty and dread at the prospect of being a dragon’s pet. Your eyes were fixed on the ground as you flew wordlessly. It was a beautiful sight, to be sure. In any other circumstance, you would be amazed at the opportunity to see the world from a bird’s-eye view. But given the current situation, you weren’t able to muster the energy to feel anything other than a numb feeling of apprehension. Forests, rivers, plains, lakes - all of these scrolled past your vision, the peace of the scenes almost feeling unnerving after what had just happened. You didn’t keep track of how long you flew, but eventually, you and the dragon arrived at a rather large hole in the side of a mountain. “We’re here,” the dragon’s voiceless words tell you again. As you enter, you take a look at the dragon’s lair, and true to the stories you heard, it was filled to the brim with riches not even 100 lords could afford. Piles of gold doubloons stacked from the floor to the ceiling, and peppered in those piles were bits of jewelry and other treasure likely worth small countries individually. Diamonds, rubies, pearls, sapphires, emeralds - more gems than you could envision in your wildest dreams, all masterfully woven into crowns, necklaces, rings, and other accessories no doubt painstakingly crafted by only the world’s finest artisans. In the center of it all was a blank clearing that The Dragon set you down in before settling itself down as well. Fortunately, the clearing was big enough so that, even with The Dragon taking up nearly half of it, there was still plenty of room for you to move around. You stared up at the monster, waiting for either careful instruction on the ins and outs of pethood or a declaration of betrayal followed by you getting eaten. You weren’t sure which would be worse. “Alright, pet, listen,” it began, “who you were, what you want, your opinions, your beliefs, your identity - none of these are of any particular consequence for me. What matters to me is the here and now. Here is your new home, and now you are my pet. And because you are my pet, you have no rights and privileges other than the ones granted to you by me. Therefore, you are in no position to disobey, debate, or even complain about my commands and rules. Is that much clear?” You were too deep in thought to respond, but your attention was brought back as it gave you an impatient flick with its tail. “I said, is that much clear?” “...Yes.” “Good. Regarding day-to-day life, there will be times I will leave the den and you will be alone. When that happens, you are expected to stay and patiently wait until my return. Rest assured, you will never wait more than a day for me, but you will still wait loyally and without complaint. Understood.” ”Understood.” “Good. When I am here, I may ask you questions or ask you to do something. When I ask questions, you will answer honestly and humbly. When I ask you to do something, you will do it without hesitation or protest. Understood?” “Good. You’re a quick learner, my pet.” It tilts its head and snorts in amusement. “Once a day, you will be given something to eat. As it is the only thing you’ll eat, I’ll make sure it’s nice and filling. But when you’re expected to eat, you eat, regardless of your appetite, no questions asked. As for water…” It budged its head slightly to the right to show a pat to a spring filling a modest reservoir of water. “... That is where you’ll go for it. You can drink as much or as little as you please, but do keep in mind that that will be your only source of water, so try not to get it too dirty. Any questions, pet? “...No.” “Excellent. I will leave briefly to find you a nice meal. Something to welcome you to your new home.” Those words stung a bit as they entered your head. “But before I do, one last thing.” Before you could ask what, The Dragon once again took a hold of you and stared you down. “Those garments you humans wear… I never was fond of them. You have no need for them, especially not here. Therefore, I will be removing them, and you will live your life here naked.” Befuddled, you sputtered uselessly in protest. “Don’t talk back to me, pet!” it snapped. “Or do you want to be punished already?” Not wanting to make a bad situation worse, you tightened your lips instantly. “Good boy. Now hold still.” Not wasting time, it got to work plucking off your shoes and socks. You hated to admit it, but there was something admirable about this monster’s precision. You’ve seen how destructively powerful it’s raw strength is, and its talons are razor sharp also, so to see it exercise enough caution not to rip your leg off as it stripped you was unexpected. Speaking of its talons, they proved how sharp they were by cutting through your steel-plated chest plate and leggings, peeling them off as easily as you would an orange. After that was your shirt and pants, leaving you only in your briefs. You cringe as The Dragon pauses and snorts, apparently taking a moment in sadistic pleasure at your expense. Finally, your briefs are tossed alongside also, and The Dragon placed you back on the ground near your ruined armor and clothing, leaving you naked as the day you were born. “Excellent. Nice form, pet. I’m sure plenty of human women would have killed to be with you.” You could have sworn it vocalized a smokey, inhuman chuckle as the compliment washes through your body and makes you feel dirty inside. Without warning, The Dragon spread its wings and let out a gust of air, making you step back a bit. “I will be back with your meal shortly. Try not to be too lonely while I’m gone.” You shielded yourself from the wind and clouds of dust as it took off, leaving only the treasure and destroyed clothes to keep you company. Finally alone again, you reflected on everything that has happened. You wondered what everyone would think of you. Likely that you were dead, that you sacrificed yourself in order to save everyone. And in many ways, you did - just not in the literal sense. When you took your oath, you swore to give anything and everything in exchange for protecting everyone. You had fulfilled your promise and completed your duty as a knight. But now, you swore a new oath to be a pet, an oath that you’re unsure you're willing - or even able - to fulfill.