His name was Runt

“What this?” The gorgon grunted, staring at him intently. It turned and threw him to another gorgon nearby. This gorgon caught Runt by the ankle and lifted him till he hung, upside down and face to face, within inches of the creature.

It was, by far, the closest Runt had been to a living gorgon. Despite his fear, Runt marvelled at their large dark grey faces, with a prominent black, hairless nose, large fluffy ears that rose in sharp triangles, and a light grey chin. The eyes were large and round. Runt saw how the yellow glow was actually more like a slick of oil swirling across the surface of the eyeball. Beneath, the inky black eyes stared back at him in deep thought. The gorgon grinned and revealed its broad flat teeth.

“Ha!” The gorgon exclaimed. “It joey. Look!”

The other gorgon walked over and stared at Runt. Its face twisted in confusion.

“Man. That ugliest joey I ever seen. A new one? Some joeys born weird down here. Too much yellowcake.”

“Must be. A weird born.” The gorgon holding Runt’s leg agreed. The other gorgon continued to stare at Runt uncertainly, then grabbed under Runt’s head. He felt the tug and snap of the wolf skin cloak being torn away.

“Bad joey! What this? You steal cloak?” The gorgon demanded, and Runt felt the tug of his spear joining his cloak in the hands of the gorgon.

“Hey! Those are mine. Give them back!” Runt shouted, twisting and thrashing. He tried to break free but the gorgon’s grip was like stone.

“Hur hur hur. No they not. Joey stole cloak. Joey stole stick. I put back. Now joey go to nursery.”

Runt swung back and forth like a sack of potatoes as the gorgon carried him to the edge of the platform. His head spun at the orange lake of lava churning below.

“Hey, gorgon down there, we found lost joey! Catch!”

Runt felt a flurry of wind as he tumbled through the air. It happened so quickly he barely had time to scream. A gorgon on the next level down caught him effortlessly. The creature studied him for a second with the same confused expression. Another two gorgons wandered over. One of them shook its head and muttered “weird born” before he was again marched to the edge of the platform.

“Heads up! Lost joey! Catch!” the gorgon yelled as Runt once again felt the wind whistle past his ears. This time, after being caught, he was dropped to the ground.

“Bad joey! No run away!” the gorgon yelled down at him, pointing a sausage sized finger in his face.

Runt looked up at the gorgon and stayed silent. This seemed to anger the creature and it cuffed him around the head.

“Hey! You new? Me Wart. You say ‘yes boss’ when I talk orders, joey! Or I whack you good! And no look eyes. You hear?”

“Yes, boss.” Runt said, grimacing.

“Wow. You ugly. And skinny. And small. A weird born joey. Shame.”

“Yes, boss.” Runt said. He weighed up his options and realised, without his cloak or spear, he had none. He couldn’t outrun these creatures. He couldn’t hide. The only small grace was they seemed to think he was a joey.

“You is a weedy little shrimp. Gonna call you Shrimp. Got that, joey?” Wart said, sneering.

“My name’s Runt, boss.” Runt said.

“Huh? You call Runt? Hur hur.” The gorgon laughed. “That make sense. Another gorgon find you first, hey? A weird born,” Wart said, shaking its head, “The tyrant should throw you weird born in Sun Lake, me think.” It pointed out to the lake of lava. “You want me throw you in Sun Lake, Runt?”

“No, boss.” Runt said, trembling.

“Hur hur hur. Maybe tomorrow,” Wart grunted, “Now. School time. You go or I whack you good. Move! School that way!”

Wart pushed Runt along a track that led up an incline. Before following, the gorgon turned and grunted as it picked up a giant load. Runt boggled at its cargo. It carried one of the stone statues from the fey-trees. Wart followed behind and snarled at Runt if he walked too slowly. At the top of the ramp the track opened into another wide platform.

“Hey! Gorgon! I find more lost joey. It name Runt.” The Gorgon yelled, as it dumped the statue on the ground.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to Runt. Gorgons of all shapes and sizes stood around the platform. Most were not much bigger than Runt and were clearly juvenile gorgons, or joeys, as they were known. The joeys, in small groups, were gathered around statues. Several adult gorgons also stood around the platform, one of which marched over.

Runt found himself picked up by the scruff of the neck again. The gorgon stared at him intently, then shook its head.

“More weird born. Shame. You name Runt?”

Runt nodded in reply and the gorgon continued.

“Me Scab. You no run away or I whack you good. You hear?”

Runt nodded again. Scab grunted and dropped him to the ground before picking up the statue. Wart was already marching back down the track.

“Runt follow Scab. School time.” Scab grunted, and heaved the statue over to the wall. Several other gorgon joeys approached. Most of them stared at Runt with suspicion or outright disgust. One smiled at him, though, and Runt saw that this one was different to the others.

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“Runt,” Scab said, pointing to each of the joeys, “this Biff, this Rank, this Stack, this Rip, this Bonk, this Chop.” Each of the gorgons glared at him as they were introduced. The last joey, the one that smiled, lurked near the back and wasn’t named.

“Oh, I forget. The weird born. It name – “ Scab said, pointing to the back.

“Brain. My name’s Brain.” The joey said sadly.

“Hur hur,” Scab laughed, “yeah. Brain. That good joke.” The other joeys giggled. Brain’s large eyes watered and the joey turned away for a second. Its head was easily twice as wide as the other joeys.

“Joey! Listen me! School time. Look here.” Scab said, throwing an arm around the statue. “Ancient gorgon. Old and dead. Look scary face. Joey make this face. Ready?”

Several of the joeys rolled their eyes and muttered.

“Joey! Say ‘yes boss’ or I whack you good! Got it?”

The joeys uttered a chorus of disgruntled “yes boss” before Scab continued.

“Look this ancient gorgon. Mouth wide. Tongue out. Eyes crossed. Finger clawed. Scary face, yes? Now, joey try!”

The joeys began copying the scary face without much enthusiasm. That is, apart from Brain, who tried extremely hard. Brain even growled while making the face causing one of the other joeys, Biff, to look around and then laugh.

“That not scary,” Biff jeered, “that dumb. Brain an ugly dummy weird born.” Biff stood a little taller than the joeys nearby and seemed to be the leader of the pack.

The other joeys giggled again. Scab whacked Biff on the back of the head and leaned down to yell in the joey’s face.

“Biff! Lazy joey! School time! You make scary face!”

“Scary face boring!” Biff yelled back. “Scary face dumb. Why make scary face, boss?”

Scab stood back, frowned, and scratched its head.

“It, uhhh, coz it trad-, uhhh, coz it tradish-, coz it what we always done!”

“Tradish? What tradish? Tradish dumb. Stone gorgon dumb. Scary face dumb.” Biff said.

“Um, boss?” Runt said hesitantly. “Don’t you, I mean, don’t we do the scary face to frighten the drop-bears? To protect the gorgon grubs?”

“Drop-bear?” Scab said, still frowning. “What a drop-bear?”

Runt gulped as he felt several pairs of eyes turning towards him.

“Ummm, you know… big, sharp teeth, long claws, climb trees? They eat the gorgon grubs out of the fey-trees? Drop-bears. Gorgons scare the drop-bears to protect the grubs.”

Runt heard Brain whisper. “I knew it. That makes so much more sense!”

Scab, meanwhile, simply shook its head. “Huh. Drop-bear. Weird story. Never heard of drop-bear.”

“Drop-bear sound cool,” Biff said, “not like school. School boring. We go now?”

Scab sighed and waved its hands in dismissal.

“Yes! Food time!” Biff yelled, as he and the other joeys wandered off. As Biff walked past Runt the gorgon made sure to bump into him and send the small boy sprawling. Runt got up, dusted himself off, and followed the group hesitantly. Brain hung at the back and fell in beside Runt.

“You need to watch out for Biff,” Brain said quietly, “Biff’s really mean. And Biff is extra mean to us weird born.”

Lunch, it turned out, was a large pile of coal. The joeys filed past, grabbing a handful each, before sitting on the edge of the platform with their legs dangling over the side. The sound of crunching and happy grunts filled the air. Runt reluctantly grabbed a small chunk.

“You’ll never grow bigger if you don’t eat your coal.” Brain said as they sat down together.

Runt nibbled on the edge of the coal. It was how he imagined eating a rock to be. It tasted like dust mixed with dirt. When he thought no one was looking Runt quietly let it slip out of his fingers. When he looked up, though, Brain was staring straight at him.

“Not hungry?” Brain asked.

“No.” Runt replied.

Brain, meanwhile, chewed the coal enthusiastically. Runt saw the joey’s pouch was filled with coal and, catching his stare, Brain blushed.

“A big brain needs big food.” Brain said, thumping the side of its head.

“You’re… different to the others, Brain.”

“So are you!” Brain said defensively.

“Oh, I didn’t mean to be rude. It’s just, you talk differently.”

“Yeah, it’s my head. I think too much. I’m a weird born. I didn’t get made right. But you should know about that, since you’re a weird born too, right?” Brain said.

“Yeah. Right.” Runt said, and looked away before Brain could see the guilt on his face. He stared down into the lake of lava. The molten orange rock bubbled and churned. Some patches were brighter, nearing the yellow of the sun, others were duller, more muted, with the reds of sunset. Strips of black material rose to the surface, swirled, and sank. It reminded Runt of the cauldron full of pollen back at the great fey-tree. The colours were different but it had the same effect. Unlike the great hollow, though, an orange haze hung over everything like a poisonous fog. Unlike the great hollow, which was tranquil and quiet, the cavern was full of competing noises, each grating and harsh. Runt looked around and wondered how on earth he was going to escape.

“Runt?” Brain said in a small voice.

“Yeah?” Runt said, looking back sheepishly.

“How did you know about the drop-bears? That sounded really interesting.”

“Um, I –, I must’ve heard one of the older gorgons talking about them, I guess. I thought everyone knew about them.”

“Oh.” Brain replied, looking disappointed.

Several of the joeys finished eating their coal and started throwing rocks down into the lake. It quickly became a competition. Biff could throw rocks further than most. The large joey strutted along the line boasting and belittling the others when their throws fell short. Runt tensed as Biff walked past and, sure enough, he felt a shove against his shoulders. The lake of lava loomed in his vision for a second as he tumbled forwards before Runt felt a hairy hand grab him by the shoulder.

“Thanks, Brain.” Runt said, puffing with fear.

“Beat it, Biff, you big bully!” Brain shouted.

“Hur hur. Next fight time I take you and Runt. Same time!” Biff boasted while walking off.

“What did Biff mean by ‘next fight time’, Brain?” Runt asked nervously. Brain looked over at Runt quizzically.

“You really are new here, aren’t you?”

“Joey!” Scab’s voice rang out over the joeys’ chatter. “Food time over. School time over. Back to work!”

“Work?” Runt said, raising his eyebrows.

“You had better follow me.” Brain said, with a sigh.