The early morning sun stirred me from my sleep, and a shiver ran down my body as the cold once again found me. The forest was damp with the rain that had fallen last night, and the trees glistened in the light. Everything smelled fresh, like the rain rejuvenated the forest and brought forth the scent of nature. I inhaled deeply and listened to the soft rustling of the trees and the chirping of the birds. For just the briefest of moments, there was nothing wrong with the world, but that was before the memories of suffering returned to me and my emotions steeled themselves again.
Standing up and doing some stretches, my bones popped and cracked while unfolding myself. I had to curl up in a very uncomfortable manner last night and it was showing now as my sore body complained about the lack of appropriate sleeping accommodations. Working out all the kinks, the next order of business was to dig into the stolen food for breakfast. It was a good idea to ration it as there was no way to know where my next meal might come from. The food was all rather tasteless to me, not that it really mattered beyond just maintaining my hunger levels.
In the middle of my small breakfast, there was a sound of something flittering around, like a hummingbird’s wings almost. Curiosity drove me to search for the source when it came to me. I was shocked to see what looked like a small humanoid, barely even a few inches tall, flying about twenty feet in front of me. It had pale lavender skin, wings on its back that flapped so fast they created a rainbow-colored haze of motion, and pitch-black eyes, but other than that it looked mostly like a human without any discernable gender features.
Is this a fairy? Frankly, it shouldn’t have been so surprising given the variety of other fantasy monsters that were present on my arrival in this world, but unlike then I wasn’t terrified and took a moment to admire the odd beauty of the creature in front of me. It floated a little closer to me and cocked its head to the side as we both stared at one another. It was a moment of what appeared to be mutual curiosity, if this thing was actually intelligent that is.
The moment passed when it turned its gaze towards the loaf of bread in my hands, and moved a bit closer before stopping, hesitating. My gaze went down to the bread and considered it for a second. After a moment of thought, a small chunk of the loaf was ripped off and offered, barely anything to me but probably a decent size to the fairy.
It flew closer, slowly, probably testing the waters so to speak. I remained as still as possible to not spook it. When it got close enough to grab the piece of bread, it snatched it up and quickly retreated a few feet. My posture remained fixed for a second before putting my hand down to watch it. It nibbled on the bread for a moment and found it agreeable. It was kind of cute in a weird way.
After it had taken a few bites, it looked back at me and curled its lips up in a very human smile before flittering away into the forest again. The whole situation didn’t strike me as particularly noteworthy. It was more akin to feeding a wild animal, just a passing thing you do because it's interesting to see them up close. The forest was peaceful, no more animals came out to say hello and the trees continued to lightly sway in the wind.
Packing up all the food again, it was time to start the trek back towards the road. My path had taken me a decent distance into the woods last night, so it took a few minutes to get back to the path. My approach was cautious just in case someone was currently on the road looking for me. The initial once over from my concealed position in the trees saw it was empty, and once I was standing at the edge of the road itself, a quick glance either way showed no one along it as far as the eye could see
I started jogging down the road while keeping my senses alert for anyone approaching from either side. Even if it was just a random traveler, the less people who see me the better. They may have already sent hunting parties after me, but there is the possibility that they thought I was hiding out in the city still. If that was the case, it could buy me a day or two before they expand their search area. No room for assumptions, however, so my escape continued as if they were actively on my trail.
The constant thump of my feet against the ground continued for about an hour. My journey was interrupted when the sound of clopping hooves and what might have been a horse-drawn wagon behind reached my ears. I darted off into the woods and hit the deck amongst some short bushes. Sure enough, a minute later a wagon went by on the road with two people on the front and a bunch of boxes in the back. They didn’t see me, and I let them pass until the sound was far in the distance.
After they disappeared, it was back to jogging for me, following along the grooves those people left in the dirt. Seeing people on this road probably meant that a town or village was close by. I wondered if it was possible to get more food or travel equipment, hopefully legally this time. It’s bad enough that asshole Alathos was looking for me, but if my kleptomania alienated every village in this damn country, I would quickly run out of places to hide. Stealing will have to be a last resort, well, second to last as suicide is apparently an option for getting rid of starvation for a bit.
That thought sounds incredibly insane. A sigh escaped me as just about everything in this world was designed to either give me a headache or flat out kill me. It was best not to think about it, and I continued onward in search of someplace new.
Another couple of hours passed and walking was getting quite tiring. My feet were sore after so long without protection. Walking on loose stones and twigs while not high on the pain scale was still uncomfortable after hours of doing so. My list had a lot of requirements, but shoes were probably one of the simplest and most important.
Once out of the woods there were clear signs of a town in the distance. There was no way to hide in this area anymore with the sparse covering of trees. Foot traffic would undoubtedly increase as well, so I covered my head with the cloak hood and made my way towards the light bit of smoke on the horizon. Hiding my ears and my scar would be important as they were my most identifiable features. There were a few people walking by on the way in, mostly farmers and other people whose business takes them outside. Nobody paid me any real mind except for the occasional passive greeting.
After cresting a small hill, the town in question finally appeared. It was fairly large but not so big to be called a city, there were no walls around it, made more use of wood as a building material, and was set down right on the edge of a large lake. It looked like a peaceful place, didn’t really have much in the way of security for those entering and exiting. I basically strolled into town without so much as anyone giving me a second glance.
The buildings were solidly made but seemed to focus more on functionality than appearance. Bland colors and designs, but everything would hold for years without needing major repairs. There was a little bit of decoration afforded to some houses in the form of personal window gardens that showed off a wide variety of colorful flowers. The streets were clean and more crystal lanterns were here as well, so they had enough money to maintain a standard of living.
The goal for now was to find some way to make a quick bit of cash and then move on before anyone became too familiar with my face. My first thought was to do some manual labor or other similar tasks to get a little pocket money. Stopping at every business that presented itself, I asked if they could use an extra pair of hands for the day. Most politely declined for one reason or another and a few just flat out told me to get lost. I really didn’t want to go back to stealing first thing, but it was looking more likely that that would have to happen.
Passing by the town square revealed a crowd gathered around an elevated stand. Curiosity drove me to get a better view of what was going on while staying a healthy distance away. The people in the crowd were all dressed finely, or at the very least above average. That look they all had, that self-entitled holier-than-thou bullshit, just seeing it smeared across their faces made my own contort into a scowl. These people disgusted me, all of them rotten avatars of greed and pride.
I sneered at the lot of them from my position at the edge of the square. Someone walked up onto the stage, another garishly dressed individual with a fat belly that screamed opulence. With a grand gesture he started to address the crowd.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Thrainians all, today I bring to you another full stock, wonderful specimens of every kind. Each of these are fit for heavy lifting and labor with minimal injuries and no diseases, that is a guarantee.”
The first thing that came to mind was that this was some kind of animal auction for draft horses or oxen, but something in my gut contorted as my instincts told me otherwise.
The corpulent man gestured off to the side of the stage. “Now, for the first items on auction we have the versatile Trelnvals.” My eyes widened and my chest contracted as I watched a line of lizardmen be led onto stage in chains. “Fresh out of the muck all of them, they are dexterous enough to learn assembly tasks and strong enough to carry supplies anywhere you need. On the far end here, we have a male in their prime, fit and ready to work. Let’s start at ten silvers for this one, let me see any takers.”
My anger and disgust steadily rose as the lizardmen were all sold one by one to the highest bidder. A particularly large lizardman was sold for a full gold piece, evidently a large amount considering most others went for around twenty silvers. The large one was going to be led off stage when they planted their feet in defiance. That was when the slaver said something and the collar around their neck started to glow red, making them drop to the ground roaring in pain. The glowing stopped after a minute and they were dragged back to their feet and shuffled off, a broken look in their eyes.
My fists were clenched so hard my nails could have punctured the skin on my palms. It took increadible restraint on my part to not jump up there and start cracking heads. I couldn’t afford to make a scene right now, because if I did, I would be as good as caught.
The next round of slaves was brought onto stage, orcs this time. They looked more bruised and battered than the lizardman, probably were beaten relentlessly by the sick fucks who were running this. The last one up on the platform nearly stopped my heart. It was kid, orc or not, that was a child up on the stand who looked absolutely terrified.
I couldn't watch this anymore; I wouldn’t be able to stop myself if I continued to. I turned and stomped off with my jaw locked and teeth grinding together as every fiber of my body wanted to rush the slavers. This world is fucking sick! I needed to get some money and get the hell out of here.
Unfortunately, cursed knowledge cannot be forgotten. A flash of a tail in a back room, orcs carrying crates into buildings from alleyways, little signs all over the place yet always off the main street. Out of sight, out of mind, yet still forced to work. By the time I had gone through three more shops looking for work I was seething with anger.
Eventually it dawned on me that my rage was gaining me odd looks from passerby's. My face was probably betraying my emotions. I dipped into an alley and leaned against the wall taking deep breaths to calm myself. Don’t do anything stupid, you need to lie low not storm through town. My fist collided with the wall a couple of times, inducing a dull pain in my hand, and giving me an output for my anger. Once my knuckles were good and red, my anger had calmed down enough to put on an air of uncaring.
I was about to step back out onto the street to resume my quest for work when something loud crashed around the corner of the alley. “You mud sucking piece of filth!” A very angry voice came from that direction, followed by some howls of pain that were similar to the ones heard at the auction.
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I walked over to the corner and peeked around it to see a well-dressed man standing over a gaunt lizardman, beating them with a cudgel of some kind. A box lay on the ground with broken bottles of wine in and around it. The noble swung the cudgel again as he brutally beat the lizardman who was in a fetal position, trying to shield their head from the blows. The lizardman had emerald green scales, looked like they were half starved, and had long claws and talons.
“That wine was worth more than you were you sorry sack of scales!” The blows kept landing with dull thuds.
My body tensed again, ready for action, but cold logic dragged me away from the corner. Just keep moving, this is not a problem you can solve.
“I’m going to make sure you are worked till you can’t stand anymore, then I'll feed you to my dogs so I can at least get some value out of that miserable hide of yours!” A blow landed that dragged out a pained cry from the lizardman.
My exit stopped in its tracks and my face contorted into a grimace as my head twisted and turned. No, no, keep walking, not your problem. Another cry of pain from around the corner as the beatings continued. I sighed. Damnit.
I turned back and walked around the corner towards the oblivious noble who was still beating the lizardman. When he raised the cudgel again my hand snapped up to it and seized control of the blunt weapon, wrenching it from his grasp. He turned to me with a look of outrage on his face, like he couldn’t believe someone would interrupt him.
“How dare you! I'll have you...” The cudgel was smashed across his jaw with a crack that probably broke of dislocated something. He made a pained groaning sound as he writhed on the floor, blood drooling from his mouth. With one hand, I hoisted him up by the neck and rammed him against the wall. He gargled and tried to escape my grasp, but it was as if an infant was trying to pry my grip open.
Okay, now what the fuck do I do? There really was no plan beyond just beating him up and saving the lizardman. I failed to think about what came after that, because now there was a noble who I'd assaulted and would probably hold a grudge in my hand. I should just kill him.
My grip tightened around his throat and his struggling became more intense. After a couple of seconds, he went limp. The strangling continued for a little longer, but a nagging feeling was eating away at the back of my mind, growing stronger by the second. Eventually the feeling became too much, and my grip released before he actually died.
Fuck. I had killed the torturer in the heat of the moment, and it didn’t hurt that my hatred for him was boundless. This noble, while a piece of shit in his own right, I had no grudge against strong enough to warrant murdering him. “Fuck!” My thoughts echoed out loud this time.
My impulsive decision making, and subsequent conscience, was really screwing me over. Something was going to come of this though. There was a coin pouch on his hip, which saved me the trouble of finding a job at the very least. Before turning around, I did a double take and then put my foot next to his. Seeming comparable, his boots were removed next and slipped onto my own feet. About a half-size too big, but you weren't going to hear me complaining. Maybe they will just consider this to be a mugging and not dedicate too much thought to it.
Now to deal with the lizardman. They were still huddled up looking very afraid against the wall. I approached as non-threateningly as possible, which was pretty difficult considering I showed up out of nowhere and just started kicking ass. They cowered away from my touch, so my advance halted there. Scared and nowhere to go was a bad combination. There was nothing else to do but attempt to ease their fear by speaking to them.
“Hey, it's alright, I'm not going to hurt you. Can I look at that collar? I want to try and take it off.” I don’t know if they understood me or not, but they might have registered the soft voice I was speaking to them in because they relaxed a little bit.
Inching closer to them made them tense, but they didn’t look so terrified now. I started looking at the collar on them and gave an experimental tug or pull in certain places. There was no seam, latch, or lock on it. It appeared to be designed to not come off. Fucking bastards, they force them to wear this forever. The only way you could get the collar off is if you had tools, anything else would risk injury to them.
Nothing to do about it right now, we had to leave before anyone noticed what was done here. “Come on, we have to go. Can you walk?” I offered them a hand. They seemed hesitant to take it, but eventually reached up and grabbed hold. After pulling them to their feet, they staggered a little bit trying to find their balance again. It was obvious they were injured as they limped whenever they tried putting the full weight on their right leg.
Sneaking out unseen would be difficult with them in that condition, but maybe we didn’t have to sneak. If I just pretend that they are my slave and walk out of town like it's natural, maybe no one would think twice about it. Even pretending to own a slave made me feel slimy, but I was trying to get them out of this situation, so the feeling was ignored.
“Okay, you, follow, me.” I mimed out what I was saying by pointing to them, making a walking motion with my fingers and then pointed to me. “Understand?” The word was said while nodding like a bobblehead, and they nodded back. Good enough for me.
We stepped out of the alley and started moving down a side street, not as much foot traffic as the main. The lizardman hobbled along behind me, head down but eyes darting all over the place. The few people who we did pass either ignored us or sneered at the lizardman. At least it’s easy to tell who the real assholes are.
So far, no one bothered us, so my mind turned to planning ahead. There was no way to know how far I would take this lizardman before we went our separate ways, but there wasn’t enough food for the both of us, nor was there enough arms to carry enough food for the both of us. To solve some of those problems we made a quick stop at a shop I had seen earlier that sold travel bags and picked up a small one for holding the food as well as a fire-starting kit. First time using money in this world, stolen money, but who would know.
After that I went around with the nervous lizardman tailing behind me to various stalls, picking up extra food and water and packing it away. At this point we had enough for a couple days of travel for the two of us, more if it was rationed. The coin pouch I lifted still had several silvers left over and a handful of coppers that were received from exchanging them during the shopping trip.
Now that we had everything, it was time to skip town before people started looking for me. We exited as unassumingly as possible, just a traveler and his slave. My mind almost immediately revolted at that idea, so I killed it quickly and kept walking.
Once the town was out of sight, my posture relaxed a little bit. There was no need to put on an act anymore, so I took a greater interest in my new companion. They still hobbled along, apparently that noble did a number on their leg, I just hoped it wasn’t broken.
“Are you okay? Can you keep going?” I didn’t get a response other than to be stared at for a moment before they continued hobbling forward. Well, if they can walk without complaining then it probably isn’t too bad.
What the hell am I even doing? I knew next to nothing about the lizardman, hell one of them even killed me in the first few minutes of me being in this world. Who’s to say they’re not just as bad if not worse than the elves? Even if they aren’t as bad, maybe I just made their situation worse by getting them involved with me. I’m probably wanted by the crown at this point, if they’re caught with me, they’ll probably be executed on sight.
My head drooped and a sigh escaped me. I’m just bumbling my way through this world. I really had no plans whatsoever. The only real goal was to kill Alathos, or at the very least make him suffer for what he had done to me. How I was going to do that when I didn’t even know how to survive in this world made everything seem impossible. One thing at a time. Focusing on individual tasks would be best right now. Worrying about too many things at the same time would get me nowhere.
My pace slowed considerably for the injured lizardman, and it was frustrating. I couldn’t blame them or be angry with them, it certainly wasn’t their fault that they were injured, but every second of lost time could be multiplicatively fatal. It was after an hour of walking that they started slowing down even more. They must have reached their limit.
“Come on, we’ll find a place to sit for a bit.” I gestured off the road and started walking into the brush, they followed a moment later. Once the road was out of sight, we located a couple of rocks that would serve as impromptu chairs. My ability to read their expressions was still limited, but the lizardman looked rather relieved to be sitting down.
It was close to midday, so a bit of lunch would be good. The loaf of bread was removed and torn in half before it was offered to them. “Can you eat this? Do you want some?” They said nothing but their eyes were locked on the bread. I smirked and tossed that half of the loaf to them. They reacted a little slow and fumbled to catch the food, but they managed it in the end.
At first it didn’t seem like they knew what to do with it, or more likely they didn’t expect to get it at all. They looked at me, probably to ensure I wouldn’t be angry if they actually ate it. I simply took a bite of my half, tasted like paste, and gave another gesture for them to eat. They took the invitation and ravenously tore into the bread with a snout full of sharp teeth.
That part of their physiology made me think they preferred a meat-based diet. I got some of the dried meat, what was essentially trail jerky, out and held it up to them. They stopped consuming the bread and I swear they were two seconds away from drooling as they stared at the bit of meat.
Once more it was tossed over to them, and instead of catching it, they lunged out and snapped it up right out of the air, quickly chewing it to bits and swallowing. It was very difficult to hold back the laugh that threatened to come out at that sight. I don’t know how long it had been since they last had meat, but apparently it was long enough to cause them to revert to a near animalistic state just to get some. My little meal was concluded at a leisurely pace that fell far behind the lizardman's speed eating time.
Perhaps a little conversation wouldn’t hurt while we rested. “Do you have a name?” They blinked at me. “Is there something that I can call you by?” Their eyes darted around a bit, but they still said nothing. “Uhm... Nice weather today?” More mute blinking. I sighed, “Well, this is going to be an awkward road trip if you don’t speak.” Nothing.
I put my head in my hands. What am I supposed to do with this? I can’t just ditch them in the middle of the woods somewhere and wish them the best. There was a serious lack of communication going on right now and nothing could be done about them until that was fixed. It could be they didn’t trust me, or just didn’t understand me, either way, we needed to find a method of communication.
The concerns were shaken from my head as I rose to my feet again. It was past midday right now and we needed to make some progress before night fell. Motioning for the lizardman to follow me, we started moving again at the slow pace of the injured. I considered doing a fireman carry for them, but that might be considered an insult, or misinterpreted as an attack.
It was an agonizing couple of hours where we progressed at a snail's pace. Once the sky started turning orange, we found a place to set up for the night that was dry and mostly clear of loose foliage. A small fire pit was dug and filled with leaves and dry branches. The fire-starting kit was essentially just some flint and steel for striking. I’m not exactly a survivalist, so it took me a good twenty minutes to get a spark to catch correctly.
Now with a little fire crackling, we both got comfortable on either side of it. More rations were passed around as I leaned against a tree while the lizardman hugged their knees on the other side of the flame. After the meal was finished, my cloak was wrapped around me in search of as much comfort as could be had in the wilderness.
“Get some sleep, we’re going to be moving again first thing tomorrow.” My words probably didn’t mean anything to them, but it was nice to have someone to talk to. I closed my eyes and listened to the fire and nightlife of the woods around me while drifting off to sleep.
Everything was quiet and the night remained undisturbed, until it wasn’t. Something clamped down around my neck sending sharp signals of pain flaring through my body. Naturally, I snapped awake and immediately started fighting against whatever was attacking me. My foot found purchase and kicked the aggressor away from me which ended up tearing out a sizable chunk of my throat in the process.
I started choking on my own blood as I looked to see what attacked me. It was the lizardman who stood in the light of the fire with a bloody mouth, wild eyed, and heaving chest. The blood from my neck was dripping down onto my shirt and soaking into it. Damnit, this is my only shirt.
The lizardman received a disappointed glare from me. It would be about twelve seconds before I woke up again. I’m going to have words with you after I wake up. I faded out of consciousness, thinking about what I would say to them to convey my displeasure. Whatever I said probably wouldn’t be understood, so the words weren’t important. Yelling a bit would properly display my anger, but the most important part was making sure this wouldn’t happen again. Regardless, I had to wait until I woke up, again.