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* * *
Unfortunately, this small spark of hope is quickly extinguished. Not only do I have a new overseer, but the trollkin are planning to move me.
When the wooden crate appears, I scream. It’s uncontrollable. I can’t be shoved in there again, I just can’t. I will stop breathing until I choke. Every inch of my skin is pulling me away.
The trollkin from last night appears at the door to my cage, and again he uses his soothing voice on me, but I won’t have it. I crawl into the very back corner of my cage, trying to stay as far from the crate as possible. He reaches in to grab me, and I lash and bite at him because I won’t go. This time, I will fight to the death.
But I’m much smaller than he is, and when the creature’s big hands wrap around my wrists, he drags me across the floor of the cage without much trouble. It looks like he wants to be here even less than I do. Then the mouth of the crate looms in front of me like a sea monster’s great maw, and I scream and scream until there’s no air left in my lungs. The female trollkin and my new prison guard work together to shove me into the crate and seal the top, so I’m trapped once more.
When the light goes out, I fall on my back and sob.
* * *
Lo’zar
This human is clearly traumatized. Beyond traumatized. When she sees the crate come out, her eyes go as big as marbles, and she lets out a shrill, terrified scream. She screams the entire time as we force her into the crate, fighting with everything she has in her small body, but we’re bigger and stronger. It’s no contest.
I feel filthy as she sobs inside the crate. Kugara wipes her hands off on her pants. “Ew,” she says. “She’s disgusting.” I don’t point out the fact the human is only dirty and gross because no one here has been taking care of her properly.
Instead, I ask, “How long does she stay in the crate?”
“Until we get out of town. Once we’re out in the jungle we’ll put her back in the cage.” She winks at me, and I don’t like the look in her eye. “Don’t you worry.” She thinks I have some scheme in mind for the little human, and that concerns me. I’ve caused plenty of fights in my life by hopping from one bed to the next, and the last thing I need is for her to get jealous.
Thankfully, we won’t be alone on our journey, as another orc—a big idiot named Drozeg—is coming along with us for security. He’s just a pile of beef, really. I would be much more effective against any attacking animal or trollkin with my sword or gun. I keep one of each on me, because you never know what sort of trouble you’ll end up in and I like to be prepared.
The human doesn’t stop crying as we carry the crate upstairs into the elevator. We load up the wagon along with the cage, filling the rest of it with dry goods and supplies, like we’re headed out on a hunt. Taking a living human out of the city would raise far too many questions, and Gusak likes to keep questions at a minimum. This should get past the city guard without too much fuss.
Then Drozeg sits down on the back of the wagon, on top of the crate with the woman in it, and I hope he doesn’t suffocate her. At least we can’t hear her crying anymore, but I can’t stop picturing her inside that crate, packed in so tight she can’t even move. I’m tense for the rest of the ride through town, until we arrive at the huge gates that lead out of Kalishagg and into the jungle.
I don’t know exactly where we’re headed, but I know that it’s north—far north. Only Kugara has the map. Once we get there, it’ll be up to me to deliver the human to the buyer and extract our payment.
Who buys a human woman? I can only imagine what disgusting things they have planned for her, and it sends a shiver down my spine. I wanted to ask, but I also don’t want to appear too interested in Gusak’s business. We’re just the executors of his will, and questions that don’t pertain to that execution are superfluous. They only draw unnecessary attention.
We get in line at the guard station and wait until it’s our turn to declare. Goods headed in and out of the city must be checked and taxed, but we’re just “going out to capture rare animals” and we’ll pay the tax when we return. Luckily, the human has given up fighting for now, so no one is the wiser as to our true cargo.
“Next!” the guard calls out, and our wagon rolls through the gates without earning a second glance.
Once we’re out of earshot, I growl at Drozeg to get off the crate’s small vent. “We don’t want her to die before she reaches the buyer.” With a grunt of annoyance, he finds a new place to sit.
When it feels like we’ve traveled far enough, I tell Kugara to take us off the main road. Hidden from sight, I hop down from the wagon and head to the crate in the back. I made sure before we left that the human had a fresh, clean chamberpot, and another blanket she can lie on. Now she’ll have one on each side of her when she sleeps.
We pry off the lid of the crate, and the little woman is so shocked that she doesn’t move at first. Then, when she realizes she’s in the fresh, outside air, she claws and flails, trying to worm her way past us. But Drozeg simply grabs her around the waist and stuffs her into the open door of the cage like a chicken, and she cries out as the blunted edges leave their marks. I cringe at the sound.
“Let me handle the human from now on,” I say, shoving him out of the way as I close the door and bolt it. “You’re going to damage her.” The big lout just rolls his eyes and climbs back up on the wagon.
It’s time to go. As we set off, though, something in my chest squeezes tight. Something is off with this mission, wrong, and I don’t like it.
Chapter3
Rimi
Inever thought I would be relieved to return to my cage, but anything is better than that horrible crate. I want to throw it into a fire and burn it and then stomp on the ashes.
Upon the door bolting closed, however, I’m puzzled to find yet another new blanket waiting for me. Compared to the ratty thing I had before, this feels like luxury. Decadence. As the wagon resumes moving, I put one blanket underneath me so my bare legs aren’t chafing on the metal floor, then roll the other one around me to cover my half-naked body.
That’s not the only enhancement to my living conditions. Now we’re outside, and my captors have, remarkably, left my cage uncovered. I’ve never appreciated open sky as much as I do right now. Back home in Yusala, we had a great garden that seemed to go on forever, and I loved to simply stroll through it endlessly.
How far away that life seems now, like a nice dream I had before I was abruptly awoken to this nightmare. Perhaps my parents are rather cold people, but at this moment I miss them immensely. Just thinking about their faces, imagining my home, makes my chest ache with longing. Do they miss me just as much as I miss them?
