Hello! Well, another story! To continue my self-challenge of never creating the same pairing twice, here is my first Sticy.

For you, I would.

Chapter One

Walking through the sandy streets, I saw smiling women, who gossiped in groups; kids, playing in the dirt, kicking a ball around as if there were no other joy besides that of getting dirty. Men coming home for their lunch break. All over, happy faces. "Excuse me, I'm looking for a something. The one you call a dragon…?" I asked one of the jovial women.

Her smile vanished "Why? Well, I suppose you'd be looking for Master Issyia, he's the one who saved us. He lives on the opposite side of town, on the right side when you reach the fork, the other leads out of town." She spoke about this Issyia person as if he was a saint. Made me wonder which type of person he was. I said my thanks to the woman, leaving her to turn back to her friends to pull apart what I'd said.

I trudged through the streets, seeing only those who were happy, as if it were the day before a festival, and everyone couldn't keep their excitement to themselves. I branched to the right side as I came to the fork in the road, just as the woman had told me to. I saw only one house, big, not very friendly looking, gray-ish brown. I mounted the steps to the front door, then knocked. "What'da want! What're you after!? I ain't here to cure your every misfortune!" Someone wailed through the door.

"I'm here to look at this monster that the head of this house caught. May I see this monster, and, if you would like, dispose of it?" The door was flung wide with a bang as a portly little man came bustling through. His girth was immense.

"You can dispose of it? You will? Please, oh please, it's been nothing but trouble for me, oh please!" he wheezed, pleading with me.

"Take me there, and I'll see what I can do" I said, in answer to his pleas.

"Right, right, of course, it'll be a long walk, but I'll take you there! This way!" I followed him, noting how his fat jiggle with every inhale of breath he took. Seems like he's had a good life. He took me till the fork, then around and out of town. "Wouldn't want it to be close to us, it could break free and kill us all in the night!" he laughed a short, raspy little laugh. We continued on. Roughly 4 or 5 miles out, and as the small man could hardly make it passed a shuffle, it took more than two hours. We had taken to the wall of the canyon, and it was there that we stopped at. There was a small opening which Master Issyia had to squeeze through.

It was dark on the inside, and smells of urine, bile, and human excrement was powerful. I nearly choked on the smell. We turned a right hand corner, and then we were on a downwards path. 30 yards in, Issyia lit a lamp; the air was thick and damp, as it always is when you have it trapped in a tunnel for who knows how long.

Another 5 yards, and we came to metal bars, the ceiling was low, and I had to stoop. "There it is, that thing's been leaching off my food for the whole time! I know plenty of people who wouldn't give it anything and let it starve, but I give it a whole piece of bread a day, see how generous I am? I'm-" He continued on, but I tuned him out. This was no dragon, it was a human! How could anyone do this to a human! Anger flared in me, and I had to take calming breaths to stop from bursting out-which was hard seeing as the air was like breathing through a wool sweater.

The human was naked, and so skinny you could see every bone in sharp detail. Curled up into a ball for warmth, he was asleep, though, if it wasn't for the steady breaths, I would've said he was dead. He was covered in filth, and long hair was matted with snarls. Bruises were dotted on his skin, red, yellow, green, blue, and black. The worst part was that he had thick chain collars on his wrist, ankles, and neck. "How could you…?" I asked, horrified at what I was seeing, "How…?"

"It's a monster, half demon! Mother had been spirited away, and when it was a babe, the townsfolk snatched it! Dragons and humans should be kept apart! You saw how happy everyone in the town was, correct? That's because any dragons that were here were chased out. Good riddance, I say!"

"But why must he be imprisoned, what did he do"

"It was born!" the man yelled. Panting as if he'd just run a race, "it was born and the people were scared! They think I'm a hero now! They see it as a monster because of what its parents were!"

Anger was seeping out of me; the man was nothing but a coward! Issyia had simply done what others wanted of him, even though he knew it was wrong. "Right. Well, I'll take him, then, and I'll give you 100 gold. Take it or else I'll-"

"Are you threatening me sir?"

"Not at all, but, you see, having an outsider see your 'monster' be a half human, I can alert the authorities, and have you taken under arrest for the mistreatment of humans. I-"

"N-no need for that!" he said hurriedly, "100 gold and it w-walks free!" he sputter, "please, just take it and leave! I'll give you the keys! Just-just leave them over there when you're done!" he pointed to a spot on the ground and left, wobbling up the slope.

I turned back, keys in hand, and unlocked the door, crawling in. The half human woke, and saw me. Frightened, he moved back with inhuman speed, huddling in a corner, shaking with fear. "It's ok, it's alright, I'm not here to hurt you. Will you allow to me unlock these chains?" I held up the keys. He seemed to understand, holding out an arm. I unlocked it, and noticed as it fell that it was burning. I looked at his wrist, and sure enough, there was a swollen red ring all around. Eagerly holding out the second hand, the man looked at me hopefully. I undid both ankles as well, but he wouldn't let me touch his neck to undo the last one. Holding out the key for him, he shakily did it himself.

I crawled out of his cage with him helping him up to a stand when the ceiling was high enough. He kept his eyes downward, but glanced up once to look me in the eye. I asked him, "Do you have a name?"

He replied, "Sting Eucliffe." Then he collapsed and fainted.

So, with three stories currently running, I'm probably dishing out more than I can chew. However, I really wanted to upload this chapter, because I wanted feed back on it. What did you think? A world where Dragon's and thier Slayers are feared? Chapter two in progress...