Hand of Fire (The Master of the Tane) (35 page)

             
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 all 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?

             
Suddenly, she ran into what must have been a wall. How it had gotten in front of her she didn’t know but she thought she felt a sting on her face and then she had the sensation of falling. She was floating in space, gently falling back into a great void. What she thought was her body suddenly felt unusually heavy as she continued to increase her speed. The wind blew her hair up into her face and she reached back to feel for anything below her. Then, as if in a rush, she hit the ground with a loud thud that sent shock waves of pain up through her back and skull. A blast of noise invaded her mind chasing out the silence that had come to rest there and bringing with it the sounds of hundreds of grinding voices. She felt pain crushing into her side and opened her eyes wondering at the boot that greeted her. Again, it crashed against her and the thick mire that had overcome her mind was quickly dispersed.

             
Tam just made out the grinding sound of her capture’s voice as he brutalized the Chufa language telling her to get up. She had been forced from the comforting void that had swallowed her and now every part of her body screamed at her in protest. Reaching for the wall at her side, she used it for support and forced herself back onto her feet. She tried to catch an understanding of her surroundings but was abruptly yanked forward by the ropes that bit her wrists. She was amazed that her feet responded at all as she found herself moving forward again.

             
It was then she realized that they had entered another large cavern at least twice the size of the first yet just as full of trolls. As they passed through the crowds, many paused in their conversations to spit on her or make disgusting gestures as if they were eating her. She tried to dodge the spittle that seemed to rain upon her from every side but her body would not respond fast enough. She was an easy, and wet, target.

             
At one point, she thought she heard someone calling her name over the clamor of sound that echoed throughout the cave. She tried to concentrate on it but it didn’t come again and a sharp pull from the rope replaced any thoughts of recognition with excruciating pain. The ugly faces passed like a blur with their snarls and lobs of spit. She didn’t know where she was being taken or why but soon they were through the main body of trolls and at the far end of the cave where it was relatively free of trolls and their spittle. Her rope was tossed to another before her captor turned back and disappeared again into the throng. Her new ward pulled her roughly to the cave wall and then removed the rope from her wrists and pointed to the floor. Tam gratefully obeyed and simply collapsed into a heap onto the ground.

             
A kick to her legs brought her out of the slumber she had unknowingly fallen into and a bowl of gruel was shoved into her hands. Tam took the food and choked it down followed by the dark poison they had been forcing her to drink. The brew’s affects were the same as always but for some reason, this time they were not as severe. She blamed it on her exhausted state but did not complain; grateful that at least something was a little less excruciating. 

             
When the last annoyances of the drink finally dissipated, she propped herself against the wall and tried to clear her mind enough to take stock of her situation. She knew she had to get away soon before they did eat her but the condition she was in and the complete exhaustion she felt made it almost impossible to even think. The other obvious problem was the hundreds of trolls milling around her impeding any real chance of success. Tears were starting to pool in her eyelids as the hopelessness of her condition crushed her with its weight.

Come on Tam
, she thought, trying to push away her despair.
You’ve got to stop acting like a baby and grow up
.
Thane and Dor are counting on you. What would they do in a situation like this
? She looked around trying to ward off sleep and depression while searching for anything that might help her.

             
The area she was in was slightly raised allowing her a full view of the mammoth cave and its inhabitants. It was filled to overflowing with the bodies of stinking trolls and more seemed to be jamming in from the many passages that dotted the walls. Tam couldn’t believe what she was seeing. It sent a shiver through her. Never in her darkest imaginings would she have ever thought so many trolls existed. It made her want to curl up in a ball and return to the numb state she had been in earlier that day.