Heart of Stone

[Degusaurusrex]

The bastard had gotten exactly what he deserved.

So full of himself, so full of the thought of being a hero to his people that one of them had turned against him and allowed her to turn him into another statue to save herself from the incessant torture. To think that one of their kind would have felt pity for her fate at the savage hands of the guard that seemed to hold no empathy, constantly starving and tormenting her in such ways that she'd been on death's door when she'd finally petrified him.

How many years had she been trapped in this desolate place at the mercy of these humans, bound to their whims and living in solitude aside from the servants they sent to keep her needs tended to, just enough to keep her alive and compliant to an extent. She wasn't entirely sure if the child that had distracted the guard had done it on purpose or simply been so shocked by the sight of the bloodied gorgon that she'd unintentionally drawn attention with her shrieking and stumbling, but the fact remained that the child had been her saving grace from an otherwise untimely death of her own. Another day, another week, it was only a matter of time before she perished at the cruel hands of the egotistical guard sent to keep watch over her for the humans.

The problem now that the fortress was empty was that it was cold. When another mortal had stumbled upon her petrified caretaker she had fled with a scream, no doubt back to her employers to report that the gorgon had done it yet again and forced them to pick a new mortal to tend to her care. None of that was going to matter if she didn't survive the cold winter night. The winds were howling outside of the structure, trees swaying forcefully and banging into the stones that forged her prison to create a symphony of scrapes and shrieks to keep her company in the night. The torches scattered about were her only source of light as she slithered her way across the room slowly, leaving a trail of blood in her wake as her long nails scratched along the walls and she panted softly.

"Oh, my poor babies, I shan't let another harm you." It had taken a bit for her to come to terms with the fact that the bastard had cut some of the heads from the snakes in her hair, leaving blood staining the front of her clothing and her other serpentine friends shrieking in agony at the loss of their brethren. Both they and their mistress were in pain, scales dull from malnutrition and the gorgon's belly tight with pain as she drew herself across the room inch by painful inch before she found herself huddled in one of the corners she'd found to rest in when given a reprieve from the guard's torment. It wasn't much, really, just a pile of worn blankets and a single pillow to rest her head on, but it was the best she could do since he'd not allowed her to rest in the beds across the fortress while she was under his watch. No, it was only the bare minimum for her, and her battered and thin body showed it as her tail curled and coiled around her in a protective stance, leaving her to glare across the darkened room at the statue of what had once been her tormentor.

He could rot in the underworld and she would be glad for it. At least she'd sent him there first.