The slave began to stir and felt awkward in his weariness. He opened his eyes and startled as he found himself locked in some kind of cage. Thick heavy black bars surrounded him. The floor of the cage was, customarily, covered in leather and soft padding and he felt his cheek peel away as he lifted his head. Soaking up his surroundings he realised that the cage was easily big enough for him to sit up and move around in but that one of his ankles had been shackled by a thick leather cuff and heavy metal chain which ran out through the bars of the cage. He was unable to move too far. He also noticed that he was totally naked apart from a pair of soft, black leather shorts.
He forced his eyes into focus and looked beyond his containment but all he could see was that he was surrounded by a wall of some kind of heavy black material. The whole cage was hidden inside some kind of curtain which reached right up to the high ceiling. He stretched his hand out through the bars hoping to reach the curtain to feel or move it but as soon as his fingertips broke through the bars a loud alarm screeched above his head. The high pitched tone was almost deafening and he quickly withdrew his arm. The alarm stopped. He tried again, this time probing carefully through the opposite side of the cage. Again the same piercing alarm sounded all around him. He moved to the centre of the cage and sat cross legged; the ankle cuff tightening as he placed tension on the chain.
Suddenly he heard the padding and clicking noise of animal paws and claws on the marble floor outside the cage and sensed some creature approaching the other side of the curtain. The distinct sound of an animal picking up a scent and sniffing carefully filled him with dread.
"Anubis! Leave him!"
She was here. His Mistress had placed him in this new confinement and suddenly he felt safe and at ease again. He remained silent and seated in the centre of the cage and bowed his head, looking only at the floor, as he heard Her footsteps draw ever closer.
Suddenly, the long black curtain flew back in one long sweeping movement. He could feel Her standing before him and Her eyes looking over him but he dared not look up. His stomach knotted again, as it had so many times before; such was Her awesome power over him.
"I see you are awake, My slave!" She purred at him, leaning in to the cage as if to taunt him.
"Anubis! Come!"
He heard the patter of paws on the marble floor again and felt a sense of nervous anxiety fill every inch of his mind and body.
"Slave..." She cooed, "... I would like you to meet Anubis!"
The slave's eyes moved painfully slowly; his line of sight cutting across the floor of the cage to the boundary of it and out onto the marble floor. He then moved his gaze into the direction of her voice and, totally stunned, his eyes met the most piercing blue eyes he had ever seen. Directly in front of him sat a large black canine, he couldn't be sure of the breed, but taller than any dog he had ever seen before. The ice-blue eyes shone out through the soft black fur of the animals face and appeared to delve right into the slave's very soul. 'This dog belongs to Her,' he thought, and it was unmistakeable. The animal was as majestic and powerful as She was and was obviously totally under Her control.
"Anubis! Go and lay down!" She commanded; moving Her hand by Her side as a direction. The large animal immediately stood, turned and sneaked away out of sight.
"You tripped the sensors, didn't you slave? Anubis heard the alarm..." She informed him, "... he will guard you at ALL times!"
The slave felt a little anxious by this notion of such a powerful animal constantly watching over him as an extension of Her being; but he knew in his heart that, as always with Her, anything was entirely possible.
"Now, stay perfectly still", She commanded him.