A clawed hand grabbed the hatchling by the scruff of his neck and began to slowly pull him out of the pit.
He offered no resistance yet, it wouldn't help him escape, and so he waited for the proper moment to strike.
The gnoll who grabbed pulled him out of the pit held him close to his face while shouting at his companions in their strange language.
Seeing an opportunity, the hatchling lashed out with his claw and struck the gnoll on the muzzle, causing him to yelp and drop him.
The moment his feet touched the ground, the hatchling took off running, but he didn't get very far before a gnoll tackled him.
The hatchling thrashed as the gnoll kept his head pinned to the ground, he issued a series of orders and the other gnolls quickly rushed to him.
They tied a rope around his mouth so that he couldn't bite, as well as tied his wings and all four legs together.
In a moment, he was lying on his back completely tied up and unable to move.
The gnoll he struck first, which now had a nasty scar on his muzzle, growled and kicked the hatchling in the side, sending him flying across the clearing.
As the hatchling rolled to a stop, the gnoll who kicked him advanced on him and drew a weapon to finish him off.
A larger, white furred Gnoll stepped in between them and shoved the scarred gnoll back while roaring at him.
The scarred gnoll glared at him for a moment, before turning around and stomping away to sulk.
Issuing a quick series of orders, the white furred gnoll quickly put the rest of them in line.
Two gnolls pushed a long pole between the dragon's tied legs and the carried him like a bound animal through the wilderness back towards their camp.
The hatchling was presented before an even larger gnoll that the hatchling figured was the leader of the pack.
The leader came closer and the hatchling growled at him. A hard kick to the side silenced the hatchling"s protests as he was inspected from top to bottom.
Apparently satisfied, he turned to his underlings and shouted something Dust'an couldn't understand.
The other gnolls cheered and howled in response, causing Dust'an's blood to run cold.
Life became hell for him from this point onwards.
He started being 'trained' like a dog. When he refused to comply or failed in any way, he was beaten mercilessly.
He was always chained close to the leader except when he was taken out on hunts.
He'd catch many prey on behalf of the gnolls, but he rarely saw the spoils of his hard work.
Instead, he was kept in a state of constant starvation and were only given dried, picked clean bones and the occasional scraps of meat as food.
If he failed in a hunt, he was given no food instead.
His bigger meals came from rivals that challenged the leader.
After beating them, he allowed his 'pet' to feast on the remains.
He was also used as a outlet when things didn't go their way and was beaten by the leader and his commanders even when their was no fault on his own side.
When he started growing larger, he could no longer be beaten so the leader had a wicked whip made and he was whipped instead.
Most dragons would have succumbed to the harsh conditions and died, but he was not most dragons.
He was a survivor!
And he refused to die here!
He would rise above this and have his revenge on a world that had condemned him.
This continued for 10 years until the one fateful day that his moment finally came.
After his pack failed to capture a convoy of supplies, the leader was in a rage and intended to take out his frustrations on his 'pet' again.
He ordered for the pack to bring his whip and he began striking the feral dragon.
He offered no resistance, and gave no reaction to the beating, other than a few light growls, which only enraged the leader further.
On the 5th strike, something broke in the dragon and he instinctively lashed out and bit down.
A scream rang through the area and the dragon tasted blood in his mouth.
He looked down and saw his tormentor laying on the ground with his lower half severed and currently bleeding inside the feral's mouth.
He leaned his head back and swallowed.
He looked down at his tormentor and slowly began to advance on him.
He tried to crawl away from the dragon using his arms, but the dragon raised a leg and stomped his head into a bloody smear on the ground.
The moment he had been waiting for had finally come, but the dragon still felt unsatisfied.
He proceeded to hunt down and consume every member of the leader's former inner circle.
He ate more meat on that day than he had ever consumed in his life.
With his revenge finally sated, he wandered into a nearby cave to rest.
When he awoke, he found that the remaining gnolls had left him a tribute of food to calm his anger.
He had planned to consume them when he grew hungry again , but soon saw the value in keeping them alive.
And so the tormented became the tormentor.
He no longer hunted for himself, instead he would rely solely on his minions to feed his hunger.
He would set merciless requirements of tribute on them, and if they failed to deliver them in time, he would consume from their ranks instead.
This continued for another 40 years.
Interrupted only by the occasional challenger who tried to take what was his.
Monstrous creatures like Manticores , Chimera, Evil griffins, two legged creatures and even the occasional dragon.
He beat all challengers and they all passed through his belly.
He found the meat of his kin to be particularly unpalatable, but he ate without complaints.
It was the way of the wild, for the weak to be consumed by the strong , so that they can fuel his strength.
And the feral dragon obeyed these laws with the fervor of a zealot.
Despite all this he still felt unsatisfied.
As if something was missing from his life.