Hand of Fire (The Master of the Tane)

by Rath, Thomas

  Tam couldn’t think clearly anymore. The pain she felt was the only thing keeping her semi-coherent now. She couldn’t reveal her friends to these horrid creatures but she didn’t think she could take much more abuse either. The thought of what they might do to her if not satisfied with her answer made her knees buckle. Only the trolls grasp on her hair kept her from collapsing to the ground. She licked her lips, tasting the blood, trying desperately to clear her head from the ringing that noisily filled it and come up with a satisfactory answer. Her mind felt like mush from the beatings. Nothing would come and she knew her time was just about up before another blow would add to her confusion.

  Finally, a tiny thought whispered quietly in the back of her mind. She tried to focus on it and understand it but comprehension was just beyond reach. She felt herself open her mouth and heard the words come out in a voice that sounded foreign. “I was banished. I was turned from our village.”

  The troll’s hand cocked back for another blow. Tam’s body tensed hoping this time that unconsciousness would take her so she could escape from this nightmare. The troll’s hand hovered above her and she waited for it to strike but it didn’t fall. He looked intently at her as if unsure and then abruptly demanded, “Who with you?”

  Tam’s face flashed with a glimmer of hope, which she quickly tried to hide. Could it be that Dor was all right? Had they found him as well? Her mind raced through the fog that had gathered there. Was he asking because they truly had found Dor or was he trying to get more information from her so they could search for others? Despair began to fight its way back into her mind. What was she to do? If they didn’t have Dor already then he might still be able to escape. To reveal him now might seal his fate to a cook fire where she felt certain she was headed at any minute. The troll leader’s arm suddenly jerked as if preparing to fly.

  “I was alone,” Tam blurted. “There was nobody else.”

  His hand paused as he stared back at her and then he flashed what might have been a smile. Tam felt herself relax when suddenly his hand swung down and knocked her on the side of the head sending her back to the cavern floor with a thud. She moaned in pain for only a brief moment until the darkness finally crashed in on her bringing with it welcomed relief.

  When she awoke she felt like her face was twice its normal size. The bleeding had stopped and scabbed over making it difficult to breathe through her swollen nose. Her face hurt everywhere and her head felt like it was being squeezed between two huge boulders. She kept her eyes closed hoping she would fall back into the comforting hands of sleep but the throbbing throughout her body would not allow it. It was no use. She timidly opened her eyes into small slits to see if anyone was still watching over her. The troll leader was gone but the two guards were back where they had originally been. The fire and celebration seemed to be still in full force but there was really no way for her to know how long she had been out. I guess it really doesn’t matter, she thought.

  She wanted to remain where she was so as not to call attention to herself but her limbs were cramping from lack of use and cried out for movement. Finally, she could bear it no longer. Ever so slowly, she pushed herself up into a sitting position. She kept a wary eye on the guards, hoping they wouldn’t notice her, but was given up by a passerby who paused just long enough to sneer at her and spit in her face. She tried to dodge the spittle but it caught her on the chin. The interchange called attention to the guards, and one of them approached. Tam shied away curling herself into a ball, fearful she would be beaten again. The troll just laughed and handed her a bowl full of some kind of gruel and then motioned for her to eat it. At first she thought to decline, remembering the last time they tried to force food on her, but by the look on his face she knew the results of refusing would be the same. She started to cry. There was nothing she could do but try and obey. Reaching out her hand, she took the bowl gingerly and then brought it up to her nose and sniffed its contents. Because of the dried blood in her nostrils she couldn’t smell anything but counted that as a blessing. Maybe she wouldn’t be able to taste it either. The troll stood watching as if waiting for her to throw up again so he could get another good laugh. Tam took a small bite and swallowed it quickly. It tasted like rotten oats and muddy water but thankfully her stomach allowed it to pass so she quickly choked down the rest doing her best not to taste it.

  The guard smiled at the sour look that must have been playing across her beaten face and then handed her a mug. She discarded the bowl and took the cup of black liquid. This time, the smell made it past her clogged nose and almost brought her meal back up. She wanted to throw it into the troll’s smirking face but figured her own couldn’t take the abuse that would be sure to follow such an act. So, pinching her throbbing nose the best she could, she raised the mug to her lips and then quickly shot the liquid down. It was like fire in her throat and stomach instantly sending her into a fit of gagging coughs. The guard bellowed out a hideous laugh catching the interest of his companion.

  Tam twisted on the ground holding tightly to her belly. It was a knotted mass of lava. She figured that they must have poisoned her but was in too much agony to even mumble a curse at them. Moments later, her head suddenly lost all feelings of pain but instead was filled with a dizzy thickness. It felt like someone had stuffed it with handfuls of cotton. She tried to focus on the laughing troll guards but her vision had become blurred and her limbs now felt as if they were weighed down with piles of rocks. She was sure that death must be moments away.

  Minutes passed and she was still alive but she did not feel any better either. One of the guards seemed to have grown tired of the display and had left after grumbling something indecipherable to his companion. Another troll passed by and spit at her but this time she made no effort to avoid it. At that point she couldn’t move anyway. Then, unexpectedly, her limbs lost their weight and she suddenly felt lighter. Her head started pounding in her ears again making her almost blind with pain. She wanted to scream out with the torment but was so spent that only a slight whimper escaped her lips. She figured they must be torturing her before they cooked her on the fire for the evening meal. Why else would they be keeping her alive? She had never heard of a Chufa escaping after being captured by trolls. Sometimes, days after a raid, Chufa body parts could be found at the foot of the mountains all mangled and half eaten. She wondered if someone might find parts of her and realize that it was TamVen they were seeing.

  Finally, after what seemed like hours, the effects of the liquid started to wear off. Regular feeling was returning to her limbs and the pounding in her head dropped to a low hum. Her vision was also beginning to clear when she noticed some kind of commotion going on in the swarm of trolls. She watched intently as a ripple seemed to rush through the massive crowd gathered around the fire. A gap suddenly opened up directly in front of her as trolls fought and crawled over one another to get out of the way of whatever it was that approached. Though she couldn’t see what came toward her, her heart was gripped with cold as if it had been frozen in solid ice. Shivers shot through her body making her limbs spasm uncontrollably and a shadow of fear engulfed her like nothing she had ever known before. Tears streamed unchecked down her face as a feeling worse than doom wracked her soul.

  That was when she spotted the dark figure approaching. It was dressed completely in black and had a black cloak wrapped around its shoulders with the cowl pulled over its head hiding its face. Somehow she knew that it was the origin of her intense fear and it was coming towards her. Tam felt as insignificant as the smallest bug and at that moment she wished she were so she could crawl away and hide under a rock.

  The troll that was guarding her suddenly dropped to his knees and pressed his face against the ground as the figure came to rest directly in front of her. The troll groveled at its feet like a dog but the figure in black seemed not to even notice that he existed. The one she earlier thought was the troll leader stood back a ways sweating and fidgeting very nervously.

  Tam dared not
look up at the being before her, knowing that to do so might still her heart out of shear fright. She felt completely naked and exposed under its look. It stood motionless, seeming to search the inner corridors of her soul. Tam squirmed under its scrutiny willing to do anything just to escape its stare. Finally, a hiss escaped from the depths of the cowl that sounded like death itself.

  “You are Chufa.”

  Tam wasn’t sure if it was a question or a statement but she knew she could not regain enough control of herself to form an answer. Silence filled the cave that only moments before had been filled with a raucous din. Never in her life had she felt so alone. She could still feel the dark one’s eyes boring into her when suddenly, without warning, it turned and started walking away. Tears of relief filled her eyes now as she watched it move further and further away. The relief of no longer being under its penetrating gaze filled her with more joy than had she been allowed to go free.

  Once again the trolls fought to remove themselves from the dark one’s path but this time one was too slow and, like lighting, the dark one’s gloved hand shot out and caught it by the throat. The troll did not even struggle as the dark one effortlessly lifted him off the ground and, without a glance, tightened his grip to the sound of gurgles and snapping bones almost completely wringing the head from its neck. Then, as if nothing had occurred, it dropped the lifeless body to the ground and continued on its way. No protests were made and nobody moved. But, soon after its passing, a large body of trolls converged on the corpse and, in a frenzy, removed anything they might deem valuable stripping the body almost completely. A couple of fights broke out over one article or another, but they were quickly engulfed by the crowd. After the last troll had removed the last trinket three large wolves, like the ones that attacked Tam’s village, fell hungrily upon the troll devouring his flesh. Only the area around the neck, where the dark figure’s hand had been, was left untouched.

  Tam turned her head from the gruesome scene and tried desperately to steal back control of her fear stricken body. What was it about the dark figure that had caused such dread in her? Never in her life had she known such fear. She felt dirty and defiled from its probing eye. Why had it even shown any interest in her? It was as if it had entered her mind, forcing itself into areas that were sacred and private. Despair replaced the icy touch that had been brought on by its presence and Tam began to wonder why she was even there. Tears flowed down her dirty face as she thought of the village where she lived and where she should be at that moment instead of held by trolls in a dank cave. She should be following Thane and Dor around in the woods spying on them and learning more about how to use a bow and dagger. She remembered her battle with Thane and tried to laugh. She really had him on the defensive for a while. Oh dear Thane, why did this have to happen. Where are you? She suddenly felt that all was hopeless. She would be dead soon, another victim for the roasting fire. She almost welcomed the thought just to be free from the horrors surrounding her and the aching loss of those she loved.

  She collapsed onto the cold, hard cave floor and tried to get some rest. The noises around her were no longer distinctive but had become a loud hum of voices and laughter easily shut out. She was so tired but for some reason sleep evaded her. She dozed a bit but was always awakened by horrible dreams that left her fatigued than had she remained awake. When the troll’s boot connected with her ribs hours later she was even more exhausted than before.

  The first thing she noticed was the cave’s relative quiet. The great celebration had finally ended leaving hundreds of large mounds of snoring trolls. The guard attached to the boot handed her another bowl of gruel. She took it with a sigh. Didn’t they have anything else around for her to eat? Putting the mush in her mouth she choked it down bit-by-bit feeling it fill the void in her stomach but not sensing any real nourishment from the mixture. When she finished, another mug of black liquid was placed in her hand and once again the guard watched, waiting for her to drink. Tam’s mouth was dry but she felt she’d rather die of thirst than drink another drop of that poison.

  The guard grunted and then raised a warning fist. She eyed it, hesitating for only a brief moment, before she pressed the mug to her lips and drank. She took large gulps trying to swallow it as quickly as possible to avoid much taste. It was just as foul as the night before. It was also just as strong. Once again the burning in her throat and stomach made her feel on fire and then her head began to spin. The troll guard became a laughing blur as Tam placed her hands to her skull and tried to hold it still. Another dark blur joined the first just as the pounding started. It felt so loud in her head that she worried it might make her deaf. She became vaguely aware of someone holding her arms and tying a rope tightly around her wrists. Looking up at the person responsible, she tried desperately to clear her vision. The face moved in and out of focus but it was enough to reveal the troll leader.

  A strong jerk on the rope brought Tam to her feet in such a swift motion she felt as if her arms might tear from their sockets. She was then pulled forward and was barely able to keep her feet under her as she was dragged behind the troll leader as he picked his way through the waking camp. The effects of the liquid were quickly wearing off now giving her enough sense to realize that she was being led to the center of the cave where the large bonfire had been the night before. A shiver ran through her at the certainty that breakfast soon would be served—her.

  She tried not to think of the hungry trolls digging into her flesh or the scorching fire that would soon engulf her body. Instead, she filled her mind with the rest and beauty that awaited her after she left this life. Her spirit would go to the great forest beyond where she would be free from all of the pain and suffering brought to her by an uncaring world. She wrapped herself in the warmth of these thoughts wondering if Thane and Dor would not also be there to greet her.

  The troll leader reached the bonfire where he stepped up on a large rock and then jerked Tam’s ropes forcing her to stand behind him. The fire was hot against her back pulling her out of her pleasant thoughts to the reality of the situation. Death may have been welcome, but the manner in which she was to die would require an extremely painful cost. Her body began to shake uncontrollably as a horrid thought suddenly pierced her mind. What if they take my TanIs? She jumped as the troll leader’s voice burst out in a grating, guttural sound drawing all eyes to him.

  “Karnakurl, gerungar rogurl...”

  He continued on as Tam’s mind raced at the thought of losing her soul forever. If they removed her TanIs, she would be left to roam endlessly never finding peace and never seeing her friends or family again. Suddenly the idea of death was not so appealing. Any type of suffering was better than losing her soul forever. She felt like a caged animal and tried frantically to discover a means of escape. She struggled to free her hands as a roar went up from the crowd. The troll leader turned to glare at her and quickly pulled back on the rope dropping her to her knees. Turning back to the crowd, he continued with his speech. Tam ignored the pain that throbbed in her knees and looked around for a sharp object to cut the knots. There was nothing. Tears streamed down her cheeks scrubbing clean tracks through her dirt-smudged face. She put the rope into her mouth and started chewing. The taste brought up some bile as if in warning but she ignored it and chewed even harder.

  Another roar filled the cave and suddenly the troll leader was off the rock and pulling on the rope again. It ripped from Tam’s mouth and burned across her cheek eliciting from her a muffled squeal. She had not been ready for the movement and was instantly tugged to the ground. Her captor didn’t even pause but just dragged her along behind. Tam was frantic. The rough floor was pummeling her body with cuts and bruises. Throwing her feet in front of her she tried to dig her heals into anything that might pop her back up. The troll felt the pull on the rope and turned on her angrily. Grasping her hair, he lifted her up while she tried to kick and claw her way free. The troll laughed for a moment and then simply punched her in the stomach, robbing her of a
ll breath, and then let her fall back to the cave floor. She lay dragging on the ground again as if paralyzed, unable to do anything but fight for breath.

  The troll leader marched on followed by the whole camp. Tam curled herself into a ball trying to alleviate the pain in her stomach as well as protect herself as best she could from the rough, rock floor. Her breath came in short, labored gasps as she tried to get her lungs to work again to draw in much needed oxygen while her wrists cried out for relief from the rope that bit deeply into her skin. Small amounts of blood now trickled down her arms from where the skin was beginning to rub raw. She had to regain her feet.

  After long minutes of agony, her muscles finally eased up enough to allow her to breathe semi-normally. Just then, her back bumped roughly over a rough spot on the rock floor making a small gash. I have to get up. Kicking her feet around, she dug in her heels once again and almost immediately popped up to a standing position. The troll leader looked back sharply but quickly turned away when he saw that she was walking now instead of struggling.

  The question quickly crossed her mind as to where they might be taking her. Weren’t they just going to put her on the fire to roast? It was then that she noticed the walls had closed in. They were no longer in the cave but in a winding passageway not unlike the ones she and Dor had traveled down. She suddenly became hopeful. Maybe they weren’t going to eat her after all.

  She tried to remember her way as they passed in and out of different passageways but it was no use. She had quickly become confused and disoriented and decided that instead of memorizing the tunnels that it was more important to concentrate on keeping up with the large stride of her captor. Many times she felt the pull of the rope on her tender wrists as her smaller steps had dropped her back too far. To avoid the tugs in front and the kicking of those behind her, she had to break into a slow jog.

  Days seemed to pass and they still wove their way in, out and around the myriad of tunnels and passageways that riddled the mountain’s innards. Tam had long since become exhausted stumbling many times on small rocks and, at times, her own feet. Her legs and arms felt weighted now and almost completely void of feeling. Her body and mind seemed to have shut down trying to escape the pain and weariness that so thoroughly enveloped her. She tried to focus on her surroundings but all that came to her was a blur of dark rock and the troll’s back in front of her. She felt as if she were no longer a part of her own body. All she could really do was focus on the ground and make sure that her feet continued to move one in front of the other in pace with her captor. She was at a point of such mental exhaustion now that she no longer understood why is was so important to move but she pressed on anyway. Soon, all seemed to disappear around her except for the sounds of her moving feet, at least she thought they were her feet. She was walking wasn’t she?