The orcs secured Slaver Town with an iron fist. The merciless brutes poked, prodded, and harassed every human they could find. There were other races too, no full elves, but a few unlucky part elves that got the worst of the harassment. There were some dwarves, halflings, and gnomes, all of which seemed to have given up on life. There was a forever lingering emptiness behind their eyes. Nath tried to speak with many of them, but they avoided him the best they could. Nath, out of all of them, got the worst treatment. Perhaps that was why they wanted to avoid him.
With his head wedged in the corner of the wall, Nath muttered, “Why me?”
He knew why he was there. The Black Hand sold him to Prawl to get rid of him forever. All the while, they had his magic items and Fang. But Nath was certain when he came to Slaver Town he would be sold, or at least, had been sold, according to what Prawl had said. But his buyer had yet to show up. He had no idea who owned him, not that he could be owned, but whoever did, didn’t seem interested in him. Nath thought he was sought out for his grand looks, but he was coated in nothing but dirt and grit. The locks of his lustrous red hair were brown. He hadn’t washed since he’d been there. He was as soiled and filthy as a pig in mud. Forgotten.
It didn’t stop him from stirring conversation when he could. He tried to talk to the others, but even in his cell above, he was isolated. He poked at Foster, hoping the half-orc would give him some kind of information. Foster’s only concern was that Nath wasn’t hurt or damaged too much. He protected Nath for somebody. Nath wanted to know who that somebody was. It kept him going. The Black Hand gnawed at him. Prawl’s face angered him. And then there was still the entire reason why he left the sanctuary of Dragon Home in the first place. He needed to find Maefon and the murderous Trahaydeen. He needed to find the Caligin. But until he escaped, all of that had almost been set aside and forgotten.
Nath closed his eyes and slept. He saw Dragon Home in his dreams. From within, it burned.
Bang!
Nath jerked. Soaked in sweat, he wiped the perspiration from his face.
Bang!
It sounded like someone was hitting the metal door with a sledgehammer.
“Stay back!” a gruff voice said on the other side of the door. “Stay back!”
“I am back!” Nath fired back. Normally, the guards tapped on the door when they brought food and water. This time it was different. The banging on the door was even offensive for them. Bang! He yelled at the top of his lungs, “I said I’m back, you obnoxious brutes!”
The locking mechanism on the door popped and cracked. The door—groaning on the hinges—swung outward.
Nath shielded his eyes. Even though the outside light was dim, it glared like a burning sun.
An orcen guard ducked inside. He pushed Nath against the wall with a long stick with a man-catcher end on it. The metal jaws collapsed around Nath’s arms. “Stay back!”
“I’m not going anywhere. You have my arms pinned, idiot. Isn’t that the purpose of a man-catcher?”
“Bring him in,” the orc said.
Nath assumed someone was coming to speak to him. Perhaps his buyer. His hopes fled the moment the fattest, ugliest man he’d ever seen was shoved inside the door. The fat man got stuck in the frame. With a hard shove, he stumbled inside.
“Who’s this?”
The orc squeezed by the fat man as he backed out of the hold. “Your cellmate. Heh-heh. Have fun sharing your meals with that one.”
CHAPTER 4
Nath caught a solid glimpse of the puffy man before the cell door closed them in. He had short brown hair and a head that looked like the size of an antelope’s on his bloated body, and a grimy apron hung over his clothing. The man squirmed around, wheezing, as his hands pawed all over the cell. He squeezed Nath’s ankle.
“Pardon me?” Nath said.
“Gah!” the man hollered in a shrill voice. In the dark, the full weight of his hefty body slammed into the door. The clay glass and plate somehow crunched underneath his girth. With a shaky voice the man said, “Who said that?”
“I did,” Nath replied dully.
“Are you a ghost?”
“What? No, I’m Nath. Didn’t you hear me speaking when you were brought in?”
“I couldn’t hear anything but the blood rushing through my ears,” the man said. “Are you going to hurt me?”
“I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it.”
Meaty hands pounded on the door. “Guards! Guards! Help me! There’s a ghost threatening to kill me in here. Guards!”
“I’m not a ghost, fool,” Nath said, completely unable to hide his irritation. As bad as his situation was, he never imagined it could have gotten any worse. Now he was smashed inside his cell with a man who every time he moved bumped into Nath. “You felt my leg. I’m flesh and blood, like you, just not as fleshy. Try not to panic. It will only make matters worse.”
“Oh-oh-oh, I don’t like the dark. I get night terrors, you see. I-I-I can’t do this,” the man said. “Guards! Please! Let me out!”
“You haven’t been in here a minute. Trust me, they won’t let you out anytime soon.” Nath shifted away from the man the best he could. “Eh, what is your name?”
“I-I’m Radagan. What is your name, spirit?”
“I told you.”
“Oh, you did, uh, I don’t recall, well, sorry, but my thoughts are so distorted. Could you repeat it again?”
“Nath.”
“Eh, nice to meet you, Nath. I wish I could see you. Are you sure you won’t hurt me? No, better yet, will you promise you won’t hurt me?”
Nath’s eyes adjusted. He could make out the warm body and outline of Radagan’s features clearly. The hefty man trembled like a nervous mouse. His head swiveled side to side on the meaty folds of his neck. Nath said, “I promise I won’t hurt you.”
“Oh goodness, that is wonderful.” Radagan crawled across the cell. His searching hands touched all over Nath. “Oh, sorry, is that you?”
“Yes, and you need to keep your hands to yourself, Radagan. I hate to break them.”
Radagan froze. “But you said you wouldn’t hurt me?”
“I could have lied. This place is full of liars, as I’m certain you know, and I must be an awfully terrible person to be put in this hold.”
“Oh my, I never thought about that.” Radagan scratched his head. “Oh, please don’t hurt me!” he whined.
“Just stay on your side, Radagan. Can you do that?” Nath used his hands to guide the man toward the other side of the wall. “That’s your side. This is my side. Do you understand?”
“Yes.” Radagan moved to the other side of the wall, but their hips were still touching. “It’s squishy and wet over here. Is your side dry?”
“Radagan, you are in my cell. I am not in yours. I make the rules.”
“I bet I’m bigger than you. Where I come from the big guys make the rules.”
“Is that so?” Nath popped the man in the shoulder with his fist.
“Ow! What did you hit me for?”
“To make it clear who the boss of this cell is.”
Droning, Radagan said, “But that hurt. You said you wouldn’t hurt me?”
“Hurting you by my definition would be causing you painful and irreparable damage. Do you want that?”
“No.”
“It’s settled then. I’m the boss, right?”
“Yes, the boss.”
“Good.” Nath leaned his head back and took a breath. The cell, normally cool, had become warmer. He shifted. “Can you scoot over more?”
“I’m against the wall now. I’ll try.” Radagan grunted and groaned. “Is that better?”
“No, just be still. Radagan, I have to ask, how is it that you came to be put in here? For all intents and purposes, you seem rather harmless.”
Radagan’ s voice became sinister. “Well, appearances can be deceiving.”
“What?”
“Just jesting. I really am harmless, but sometimes
I try to convince the others otherwise. Anyway, I’m one of the cooks, and, well, they caught me stealing the slave lords’ cream cakes. You know the ones they served at the auctions with the raspberry and blueberry glazed toppings. Well, I made those.” Radagan’ s belly let out a rumble that sounded like a roaring lion. “Excuse me. I get excited when I talk about the cream cakes. Anyhow, I’m stuffed in here for the time being, to teach me a lesson.”
“No offense, Radagan, but it looks to me that you’ve been eating cream cakes for quite some time. And only now, they are cracking down on you?”
“Yeah, you make a good point. I don’t know. They just got mad at me all of a sudden and brought me in here. It just… happened.” He sobbed. “Nath, I’m scared. What if they don’t let me out of here? I don’t deserve to be in here over a few cream cakes.”
“A few?”
“Well, maybe I overdid it, but I was born here. I’ve been eating like this all my life. They never minded before. Besides, I was never skinny. Right out of the womb, I was a husky baby. My mother and father are the same. We are just big people.”
“Huh,” Nath remarked. “Well, if you say so, I believe you. So Radagan, you’ve been here all of your life?”
“I’ve never even seen the trees outside of the walls.”
“Interesting. How about I ask you a few questions?”
Radagan started snoring. It was the loudest snore Nath had ever heard. He pushed on the man who kept on snoring. “Radagan? Radagan?” The big man teetered on top of him. “Radagan!”
CHAPTER 5
Miserable, Nath sat, fully awake thanks to Radagan’s heavy snoring, trying to sort his thoughts. It made little sense that the man was in the cell because of cream cakes. If anything, Foster was tormenting Nath. He recollected the orc’s sniggering when they brought the food. Nath’s suffering was their pleasure. By the time Radagan woke, at least a full day had passed. The disoriented man tried to prowl the cramped cell like a wild cat in a cage. “Where am I? Where am I?” He crushed into Nath and screamed. “What are you?”
“Calm down, Radagan! It’s Nath. And you are in a cell below the dungeons.”
“Oh geez, I was hoping all of that was a nightmare and I would wake back in my bed.” He boo-hooed. “I can’t believe this is really happening. They need me. After all, I make the cream cakes, as well as other things. My riblet stew is unsurpassed.”
“I’m sure they’ll come around.” Nath pushed Radagan aside and moved back into his spot. When the man slept, it was all but impossible to move him, and he’d flattened out on the cell floor, snoring like a bear. “Let’s just try to think about other things, shall we?”
“Like what?” Radagan’s belly groaned. “Oh, I’m so hungry. I feel as if I haven’t eaten in a week. Nath, I eat all the time. I can’t not eat.”
“Just settle yourself. The guards brought some food while you slept. You can even have my share.”
Radagan sniffed. “Is that meat? Bread?”
“It’s duck and flat bread. Not much, but it might tide you over for a few—” In the dark, Radagan snatched the plate of food from Nath’s fingers. “You are quick for a big fellow.”
Grunting, Radagan gobbled up the food. He ate as if he was the only person in the entire world. He nibbled the bones clean and sucked the grease from his fingers.
It reminded Nath of Prawl eating roasted rabbits.
I hate Prawl. I hate them all.
Radagan finished the food and water with a hearty belch. He thumped his chest a few times. “Thank you, Nath. I appreciate you saving me some.”
“That was all of it.”
“You didn’t eat?”
Nath shrugged. “I’m getting used to being hungry. Besides, I wasn’t really hungry anyway.” His belly rumbled.
“You show mercy where mercy is not shown. I swear, Nath, once I get out of here, I will bake you a cream cake and get it to you. Somehow. I have ways, you know.”
Nath’s brows lifted. “About that, Radagan, you say you have been here all of your life?”
“Born and raised.”
“So, given that there are only several thousand people behind these walls, I wonder, has anyone ever escaped?”
“We aren’t to speak of such things,” Radagan whispered. “They’ll flog me.”
“So, someone has?”
“No, no, no, I don’t know.”
Nath could tell from the tightness in the man’s voice he knew something. “I will let you have the entire next meal if you tell me more about what you know; otherwise, I just might eat it all.”
“That is cruel. Besides, one has been trying to escape, but the guards always catch him. He’s a striking man with golden eyes. I spied him in the stockades once or twice. Trust me, you don’t want to go through what he does.”
“That’s me, Radagan!” Nath slapped the man on the shoulder. “I’m the one that tries to escape and gets caught time and again. These shackles slow me, and the guards’ eyes are everywhere.”
“Not everywhere.”
“What?”
“Nothing. I didn’t say nothing.” Radagan balled up. “Oh, please don’t ask me any more. It will only lengthen my sentence. I had no idea you were the one they called the Special.”
“Special?”
“Yes, that is what they say. Oh, I did not know that it was you I shared the cell with. I should seal my lips, forever, and I would, if I didn’t need to eat.”
Nath reached over and put his hand on Radagan’s shoulders. “Tell me, what do they say about me? I must know. Who has bought me? What are they planning to do with me?” He shook the man. “Tell me.”
“I don’t know. I mean, for one such as you, with divine looks, I would think you would be put in auction and fetch a very high price. Perhaps the highest price. But, you are being put through a grinder. Busting the rocks in the quarry, churning in the plow races. It’s as if they are tormenting you in spite of yourself. Someone wants to break you, methinks.” Radagan smacked his lips. “Of course, I’m just saying that from the top of my head. You asked me so quickly that was all I could come up with. In truth, people like me enjoy seeing what they will put you through next. People bet on whether or not you can take it.”
Nath sat back in his corner. “Who in Nalzambor is so out to get me? I don’t even know anybody. Well, not that many at least.” The only people he could think of were the Black Hand and Prawl. But Prawl said that someone would pay a high price for someone like him. He went to great lengths to take Nath into slavery. The only other people he could think of that would know about him were the Trahaydeen. But they couldn’t have known that he left Dragon Home. He put his face in his hands. “This is so confusing. I need to get out of here and find answers.”
“Well, if you want to get out of here, you are going the wrong way about it,” Radagan said. “Achoo! Oh goodness, I have gooey all over my hands. You wouldn’t have a handkerchief, would you?”
“No,” Nath said, aggravated.
“Well, it’s a good thing I still have my apron,” Radagan said, wiping his hands on his covering.
“What were you saying about going about this all wrong?” Nath asked.
“The more determined you appear to want to get out, the closer they will watch. Let them think you are broken. You go at everything like an angry bull. All you will do in the long run is wear yourself down for real.” Radagan sneezed again. “Pace yourself. Perhaps that is what your new owner wants to see. They need to see that you are broken.”
“I don’t know if I can do that. I can’t stand to see what is going on all around. The slavers, they are so cruel.”
“Hah, you haven’t seen the half of it, but keep it up and you’re going to.”
CHAPTER 6
Over the next several days, Nath suffered inside the sweltering cell with Radagan. If the baker wasn’t moaning, his belly was groaning, and he whined and complained from the time he woke until the time he slept. Radagan wasn’t a bad person, perhaps a
little jaded by the sordid lot he was brought up with, but all in all, he was harmless. The worst thing about him was his snoring, plus he took up over half of the cell when he flattened out on the floor and became immovable.
Finally, the guards started letting Nath and Radagan out of the cell once a day, giving them enough time to stretch out and relieve themselves. Pigeons roosted in the barred windows that let the daylight in from the outside. A fresh breeze tickled the hairs in his nostrils. He took long, lasting breaths. The guards even let them clean out the cell and place a fresh bed of straw inside. So long as neither one of them spoke or made eye contact with the guards, they didn’t have any problems.
On their tenth day together, after they’d finished their time outside and were sealed back into the hold, Radagan said, “Did you see that, Nath?”
“No.” Nath squeezed his way back into his corner. He was still in irons, but Radagan was not. “What are you talking about?”
“My hips! My hips made it through the door without rubbing. Isn’t that something?”
“I guess that’s what happens when you go without cream cakes for a while. And you know, it does seem like there is a bit more room in our cell than when we started,” Nath added.
“Isn’t that something?” Radagan said, lying down on his straw bed. “I even feel lighter.”
“Good.” Nath ran his finger around the collar on his neck. He’d do anything to have it taken off. Even though he’d gotten used to being in the hold with Radagan, it was still miserable. It was hot, he sweated all the time, and the shackles that dug into his skin were a chronic reminder that he was a prisoner. Good sleep was impossible to come by, and there were other unforeseen circumstances. His nostrils flared. His eyes popped wide. He pinched his nose. “Ew… Radagan, not again.”
“Pardon my flatulence, but you think you’d be used to it by now.”
“We were just outside, couldn’t you let it out then?”
“It sneaks up on you. Besides, it’s not like you don’t do it.”
Nath squeezed his eyes shut. “Mine are not so rank that they burn your eyes.”
Enslaved: The Odyssey of Nath Dragon - Book 2 (The Lost Dragon Chronicles) Page 2