Hand of Fire (The Master of the Tane) (70 page)

             
“You no touch the great Krog! You get what you want when I come back.”

             
Tam lay on the ground where she landed trying to maintain consciousness as the pain doubled in her stomach and skull. “I must have it,” she whispered to the empty spot where her master stood only seconds before. “I must have it now.”

             
Something dug into her side. She tried to move away from it but was unable. Wherever she moved it was still there digging painfully into her ribs. She opened a swollen eye and waited as it slowly focused on her master towering over her. The digging ended abruptly as Krog removed his foot from her ribcage and presented her with a small bowl. The fact that she must have passed out did not even make an attempt to enter her muddled mind as all thoughts were directed to the bowl in front of her and what it contained.

Hands reached up for it that some how looked foreign, and then brought it down to her dry, cracked lips now parted in a pleasant smile as the lukewarm liquid poured swiftly down her throat. Instantly the pain seemed to disappear and she felt her whole body fill with warmth followed by the slight dizziness that turned her head into a fuzzy haze. Her tongue searched hungrily through the empty bowl feeling desperately for any more of the liquid joy that brought such a sensation of comfort. Licking hard against the interior walls, she tried to suck out every last drop that might still cling to the wooden vessel.

Finally, Krog tired of her degrading show of weakness and addiction and wrenched the bowl from her hands. “You go sleep now.”

Tam just smiled and let the night take her.

              She awoke the next morning feeling the full fury of the scratches and bruises she had received the night before. Stretching her body painfully, she tried to work the cold from her bones and warm herself against the frigid morning air. Sadly, the effects of the life giving draught had worn off; they always did by morning. She thought of how wonderful a few drops would taste now but then tried to force it from her mind knowing there would be none until the setting of this new sun.

Looking around, she immediately noticed her master’s absence and felt a wave of anxiety rush through her. She never liked to be too far from him knowing all too well his importance in her life. If he were gone, who then would bring her the dark liquid that made her feel so good?

              A slight movement at her side drew her attention, revealing a large beetle as it struggled its way over a small branch. Without thought, Tam picked it up and shoved it into her mouth, barely tasting the bitter flavor as she quickly chewed and swallowed. Others were now beginning to awaken and she knew the struggle for a small morning meal would quickly become fierce. Before they left any area, it was sure to be stripped of every creeping thing unlucky enough to crawl out from under a rock or out of a hole.

             
As she foraged through the growing, spring grass, she caught site of Tangar and the large, black circle around her eye. Both exchanged challenging stares before hunger overcame their hatred for one another forcing them back to the task at hand. Tam couldn’t help but smile in satisfaction at her handiwork.

             
Just as the last small insect was being sucked down, a shout was sent down the line that they were marching again. Tam quickly ran up to find her master and fall in line behind him but was disappointed to find Gargan, one of his other wives, there before her. She was about to object when Krog flashed an ugly smile at her. “You walk at back. Learn your place.”

Not wanting to displease him anymore, she turned about quickly falling in behind Tangar who, it seemed, had also lost her position.

              Once again, the large column of troll bodies pressed itself forward to a destination unknown and unimportant to the young Chufa girl who only concentrated now on making it through the day and to the time when she would receive her nightly reward.

The day passed slowly under the unusual heat of the early spring sun. The breeze that so often cascaded down the mountainside had ceased, leaving the air filled with the dust and grime that was cast about from the trail.

Tam’s mind retreated into itself trying to discover some relief from the nagging emptiness that pounded through her head and stomach. Looking at the position of the sun she determined that only half of the day was gone leaving her to suffer the withdrawals her body was forced to endure until it found relief in her nightly drinks. She tried to remember back through the days before the march the person she might have once been but those memories had slipped away into a distant fog.

They passed slowly through a small copse of trees and the smell of the pines touched her senses igniting in her a distant recognition that she couldn’t quite grasp. She tried to hold onto the memory but the aching in her head turned her thoughts, instead, back to the draught that had taken over her mind and body. She could almost taste the sweet nectar dripping down her parched throat giving her that feeling that would wash away the pains of the day while lending her some strength and purpose.

              Tam retreated from her thoughts just in time to keep from smashing her nose into Tangar’s wart covered back. A great commotion had arisen in the column ahead bringing them all to a sudden halt. She moved to the side and strained her eyes to see. A cloud of dust rose up stifling the air as all the troll women ran towards the rear seeking shelter. Krog shouldered his war club with a quickness not expected for one his size and rushed ahead, pushing himself past the fleeing women. Tam made as if to follow, not comfortable being far from her master, but was stopped by Tangar’s large arm. “You stay!”

             
Tam glared at the ugly troll but did not disobey. A fight with her now would not help her find out what was happening and where her master had gone. From the sound of the noise that suddenly echoed down the column it was obvious that they were caught in some type of enemy encounter but she could not see with whom or how many they faced. The thought of fresh meat for dinner past through her mind briefly but was quickly replaced with an awful sense of doom. What if her master did not return? Who would bring her precious drink? She couldn’t live without it. She had to find him and make sure nothing happened to him.

Tam looked around desperately. Krog’s wives had long since set themselves in the shade of a small tree and occupied their attention with digging for whatever they could find to fill their empty and grotesque bellies. Without so much as a whisper of wind, Tam was gone, running silently towards the increasing barrage of shouts and screams.

              She could not believe what greeted her when she finally reached the place of battle. The field had turned into a giant mass of death and confusion as trolls killed and were killed by their strange enemies. Tam stopped short as she caught site of one of them. A strange feeling touched her deep inside and she almost felt they were familiar in some way. Memories tried to crash in upon her hazy mind but were blurred by weeks of the troll liquor that turned them into a jumble of incoherent images.

One of the
enemy approached her sitting high upon the back of a tremendous beast. Tam stared in awe as it yelled something in an unfamiliar tongue before kicking the monster forward. She watched in amazement as the animal gained speed bringing the enemy quickly towards her. She knew she should run or be trampled over by the large creature, but for some reason she couldn’t move. The animal and its rider took on an almost majestic look as they continued to close the distance. She knew she would die, run through by the unusually large dagger he wielded, but their beauty as they charged towards her made death a small price to pay to behold such a thing.

Suddenly, two large trolls intercepted the approaching adversary and knocked it from its mount destroying both in a brutal snap of crushing bones and flying blood. Tam felt
a sadness well up inside that threatened to overcome her at the loss of such an inspiring vision when her eyes fell upon the back of another troll just beyond the two that had saved her life. With quick recognition she was overcome with relief at the sight of the hairy, scar covered troll.
Krog
!
My master
.

             
Tam rushed forward crying out with joy at having found her master alive and well. She would still get her drink tonight after all. As she approached, she noticed a slight stir of movement just behind Krog and to his left that caused her heart to skip in horror. One of the downed enemy was rising slowly to his feet his eyes set hatefully on Krog who was completely unaware of his plight.

Tam’s pace increased as she unknowingly judged the distance and time it would take to intercept her foe. The
enemy now stood, fully erect, and brought its large dagger up preparatory to the final blow that would end her master’s life and, she knew, her own.

             
She shrieked a deafening cry, pitched as one who had lost her mind, as she jumped on her prey’s back racking her fingernails savagely across his face and chest. Her victim dropped his dagger and tried to tear her from his body. Krog turned around dumbfound, the bloody finger he had just removed from a fallen foe slipping from his grasp. Tam continued to dig her claws mercilessly into her enemy’s body and face ripping one of his eyes from its socket and soliciting a frightening scream of pain and hatred from her victim.

Finally, in a last heaving effort, he was able to tear Tam from his body. She kicked and fought like a rabid animal sending drool flying from her mouth as she tried to bite his hands. A powerful blow from the ground stole some of her fight as the one eyed foe cast her forcefully down before stooping to retrieve his elongated dagger. Rising to his full height he towered ominously over her bringing his weapon to
bare and preparing for the final stroke. Tam turned her head to the side melting from the vicious animal she was a moment before to a groveling child as she awaited her fate.

Nothing happened. The man paused as his one eye bulged, staring at the pointed ear that conspicuously shot out through her ratted hair. He opened his mouth, as if to say something, just as Krog’s war club connected with the side of his head ripping it clean from his shoulders and dropping his body flopping down to the ground next to her.

              Tam was at her masters feet instantly undaunted by the gore she knelt in coming from the headless body gushing blood. “Oh master,” she started only to be cut short by Krog’s foot as it heaved into her chest.

             
“You not obey. No drink tonight.”

             
The words struck Tam harder than any beating he could have possibly given her. Death would have been a more merciful punishment. Her whole body cried out in protest sending her into a frenzy of promises and pleadings as she held on tight to Krog’s feet. Thinking to appease his anger, she quickly scrambled over the headless body and grabbed the corpse’s still warm hand biting desperately into its finger sending blood running profusely down her chin. Chewing and tearing like a starving hound she finally freed the middle digit and turned to present it to Krog.

“Please master! Anything but that! Please! I must have my drink! I must have it!”

              Krog looked at the pitiful creature she had become enjoying the power he wielded over her. He cursed the day that fast approached when he would have to give her over to the great one and she would no longer be his toy to play with.

Grasping the finger from her uplifted hand he threw it to the ground in disgust burying it under his grinding foot.
“He my kill. I take trophy,” he spat in anger. Tam couldn’t reply; whimpering uncontrollably as the emptiness the lack of drink created in her began to pound out its demands of satisfaction throughout her entire body.

             
A distant horn wailed through the air, mocking her own cries, and the enemy suddenly turned and hurried away in retreat leaving the great mass of trolls alone to pick the field clean of any treasures that might be pilfered from their victim’s bodies. The troll women rushed up from the rear and fell upon the dead like vultures, removing all the flesh they could carry for the evening fire and the long days ahead. Tam worked extra hard hoping her performance might change her master’s mind while at the same time trying to keep the tremendous yearning for the dark liquid out of her fevered mind.

While she worked, Tam noticed how familiarly odd the corpses were as if she had seen them before in a dream. They looked very similar to
her own kind, whoever her kind might have been, but their ears were round instead of pointed like hers. They also had hair about the face and smaller eyes. A chill ran down her spine, as if by instinct, warning her that she ought to be fearful of such creatures.

             
In no time, the battlefield was picked clean leaving very little to suggest that only moments before death had been dealt out in great and bloody numbers. The enemy wounded were summarily killed while the trolls just left their own to fend for themselves. And quickly, as if nothing of import had occurred, the large body of trolls gathered together and once more commenced their march towards the setting sun. Very few of their number had been lost and those that were would be recycled with the other dead into the troll’s cooking pots the next couple of days. They had no qualms over eating their own.