Playing with the slave was far too easy for Keraunilath, and even as Gaulirax rose to his mighty muscle-bound height, smoke puffing from his nostrils and a hateful growl in his throat, the silver-eyed Shochra only peeled her lips back in a sneering grin, her uneven fangs glittering with a weird light.

[b][color=0072bc]"Oh [i]will[/i] you? And how will you do that when you are to spend every waking moment in your tiny cell, [i]worm[/i]? I should have thought that after all these years you'd have learned your place."[/color][/b] Her voice was sibilant as she closed the distance between them, her shoulders rolling and her neck arched haughtily. She had the appearance of a viper ready to strike, just as pleased by Gaulirax' attempt to rebel as she would have been if he had prostrate himself before her.

[b][color=0072bc]"You will die with that collar around your neck, slave. Whether that happens on the sands of the arena or in some place of your choosing, you[i] will[/i] die a slave. Any other destiny was lost to you the moment you were born and your slut of a mother let you live."[/color][/b] Her tail was lashing angrily behind her, her scales hissing across the polished tile floor. The breeze from the open sky behind her rushed in, causing the various lanterns to sputter ominously.

Keraunilath's throat bobbed again and there was a popping sizzle as white sparks darted in arcs around the scales of her face.

[b][color=0072bc]"Let's see how confident you are about your future after a little reminder of who you belong to..."[/color][/b] she growled, her thin jaws opening wide. The gathering flickers of white light jolting between her teeth was Gaulirax' only warning before the thunderbolt hit him square in the chest. White-hot pain lanced along his bones, forcing his mighty body to seize and jerk spasmodically as he crumpled to the floor.

Blinding purple-white light strobed and flashed, and the huge chamber filled with that chemical ozone scent and the stench of Gaulirax' charred scales. Keraunilath laughed, a sound that started out strangely high-pitched, tossing her head back and chuckling with vile glee. The slave girl had the presence of mind to slide down from her Mistress' back and cower behind a priceless statue, clasping her hands over her mouth as she watched the torture. Gurwik too shrank away, not entirely sure that the cruel dragoness wouldn't zap him too for the hell of it. The slave collar burned even the half-Ixen, scorching the scales around his neck. It would probably heal eventually, but would be terribly uncomfortable.

[color=0072bc][b]"Take him away,"[/b][/color] the dragoness snapped disgustedly at the dwarf and human who had brought Gaulirax before her, turning from him nearly as soon as her grumbling laughter had faded. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the slave girl. 

[b][color=0072bc]"Go with him. Make sure his wounds don't fester and keep him...happy."[/color][/b]

As a final act of cruel humiliation, the spiteful she-drake opened her wings and let the grayish membranes fill with air, stepping almost lightly out off the balcony and into the night.