AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I head down the first flight of stairs, which are really just steps carved into stone. Don’t want to slip or you’ll go tumbling down into a comfy nest of sharp crystal stalagmites.
When I say the caverns are big, I’m understating it. The main one is hundreds of feet from top to bottom, and covered in blue, green and purple crystals that jut out in every direction. It spirals off into additional cave systems that are perfect for storage and living space. I, personally, cannot wait to sleep in my own bed again, assuming no one else has taken it over while I was away.
On my way down to the lower levels, I pass caverns full of weapons with jeweled hilts, priceless paintings, even a red velvet armchair with solid teak legs. There are exotic animals, which Kugara cares for, and a collection of stolen artifacts from some long-forgotten ruin.
It’s when I reach the cavern typically reserved for raw supplies—gold ingots, reams of silk, and fine furs—that I see it: a rather large cage now occupies half the space. That’s odd. I have to pause and peer close to see what’s inside.
It’s a human. Awoman. She’s mostly naked, only a few strips of rags clinging to her body, and she’s utterly filthy. When I approach, she retreats to the far back of her cage where she bumps into an overflowing chamberpot. It all reeks of shit and piss.
I don’t understand what I’m seeing. What is a human doing here, being kept in a cage like one of Graz’s rats? We keep some animals in cages, exotic creatures to be sold to wealthy buyers. But never a person. Never a human. My gut twists.
She might be one of them, but she’s still a sentient creature.
My eyes land on hers. The woman’s irises are a piercing gray, almost silver, and deeper than the sea. I almost stumble on the steps, which would certainly be a fatal mistake, so I pause briefly to stabilize myself. I can’t help looking at her again, and taking in her huge, frightened eyes, her flared nostrils, her pink lips carved into a scowl. Her black hair is dirty and matted to her head.
There’s no time for this. The boss will want to know what went down in Attirex, and why I failed to secure any new contacts there. Hopefully I’ll be forgiven for getting sniffed out by the city guard before I could make any real progress.
But as I continue on down the stairs, I can’t stop thinking about the woman in the cage. The worst part was that it felt like she had looked inside me, right to the core of me. All I want to know is what she saw.
* * *
Rimi
I don’t know how long it’s been since I was taken from my bed in the middle of the night by shadowy creatures with great big tusks. Back then I was accustomed to my huge, plush mattress, my piles of pillows, and my downy comforter. Maybe life in my family’s big house was often tense and cold, but at least I was safe there, with hot food every day and even an outhouse. Now all I know is the hard floor of my cage and the ratty blanket I’ve been given to keep my shivers at bay.
First the creatures shipped me across the ocean, my feet tied and my body shoved inside of a wooden crate with holes for breathing and a slot for food. I refused the food at first, until my stomach became a painful, empty pit and I was forced to take the dried meat offered through the slot. It was a long trip full of awful swaying, and I had to try my hardest not to throw up. I often failed. My waste was removed occasionally and fresh straw put in, but otherwise I lived in my own excrement. I cried myself to sleep more times than not, wondering if I’d see home, or even the light of day, ever again. Had my parents been taken, too?
No. If they were, they’d have been there in that ship’s hold with me. Whoever stole me, I was the only one they wanted.
Once we reached our destination, my crate was taken off the ship and loaded onto a cart that bumped and banged over uneven ground. I caught glimpses of sunlight through the vent, but that was only for the briefest of moments before I descended into the darkness again. I clawed at the holes and cried out, hoping someone would take pity on me, but no one did. Someone barked at me in a guttural language I couldn’t understand, and rattled the crate, sending me smashing into one of the walls. I’ve kept quiet ever since.
When the lid was finally opened, I had never felt such relief—but it was short-lived. I was dragged from the crate and shoved into a metal cage, like an animal, and the door was bolted shut. I wondered if it would ever unbolt again.
Only then did I finally get a good look at my captors: huge creatures with four fingers on each hand, and tusks protruding from their mouths that curve up into dangerous points. Their skin comes in various colors, from green to bright blue and purple. They have pointed ears and hideous faces.
When I saw a trollkin for the first time, the last of my hope vanished. I’m never going home.
I’m certain that’s what they are. Trollkin are monsters that exist only in stories back in Yusala, in the fairy tales and legends we tell. We were once a single civilization, the origin of all sentient life on our world. In the time of magic, war overtook our people and we divided into humans and trollkin: one majestic, and one barbaric. Where humans were venerated, the trollkin were given monstrous forms and terrible, big tusks as punishment for their vicious, violent ways.
I never imagined that I’d meet one in person. They lived on the big continent, a place that had always seemed oh so far away—almost made-up. But now I’m here as their prisoner, and they are most certainly real.
I don’t know how long I’ve been in this cage, shoved into one of many small caves along the walls of a huge cavern that’s filled to the brim with brightly-colored crystals. It would be beautiful if the situation were different. The stone almost glows, like there’s magic inside.
A young female trollkin with bright green skin has been tasked with bringing me food and water and occasionally emptying out my chamberpot. Once I tried to talk to her, to beg her to free me, but she ignored me as she did her duties. She clearly resents having to care for me, and I resent her in return for being one of the monsters who stole me from my home, who hold me captive like a beast, feeding me just enough to keep me alive.
Occasionally, more of the creatures come and go along the stairs that span the cavern, taking them right past my cage. None of them pay attention to me as they go. I don’t know how much time has passed when I seehim.
He’s the blue kind of trollkin with the longer tusks, though his skin carries a purplish hue. He’s young and his eyes are bright, and he walks with a confident swagger down the steps that pass my cage. But unlike the others, he stops walking when he passes, and our eyes connect. He studies me as I study him. Something about him is strangely familiar, as if I’ve looked into his orange-red eyes before. Though he quickly starts walking away, I have a feeling that I’ll see him again.
* * *
Lo’zar
The boss is not as upset as I’d feared when I recount my story, twisting the rings on my hands with barely-disguised nerves. Gusak hasn’t built his empire out of terror, like many do in our line of work. He listens to reason, relying on us to provide good information and assess risks. But he’s also a powerful orc in and of himself, and still capable of inflicting awful punishments on those who wrong him. I would never cross Gusak unless I wanted to die with my hands and feet chewed off by alligators.
“It was good you left before you were apprehended,” Gusak says, not taking his eyes off of the fight happening in front of us. One huge, scarred orc grabs a smaller troll by the waist and hefts him high over his head, then smashes his opponent into the floor. Naturally, I will not mention my dalliance with the human captain of the guard. That was incredibly foolish—though I don’t regret doing it one bit.
“Perhaps there is too much turmoil at the moment in Attirex,” Gusak goes on. “I will look elsewhere to expand our operations.”
