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Elly's Story
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Table of Contents --------------------------
Part 1. On the anvil
Part 2. The Eastern Road
Part 3. Where souls are sold
Part 4. The dark hut on the moor
Part 5. The new boys of the herd
Part 6. Just a bad raid
Part 7. Up the terrible glen
Part 8. Bearing a late kiss
Part 9. The glens spread as the sun shines
Part 1. On the anvil -----------------------
Coarse was the anvil under the boy's foot. Elly,
as he was called, had his eyes fixed on a tall,
strong man dressed in leather, dusting a hammer
off, while a guard, still at the door, waited.
"Any year, now, boy?"
The smith rose up from his stool. "Thank
you," he told the guard, "I'm in charge now."
Elly gasped for air, closed his eyes, and let
his mind wander back to the day before, when
devils danced by his little world.
Elly was playing by the fountain when he saw his
mother crying, begging, toddling after these four
men walking to him without a care. "Ankle-biter,"
they told him, "your father wants you to come
with us." "Run, Elly, run!"
He did, but was caught, even dragged onto the
street. But there could be no hope. Father,
the man who had abandoned them all five years
before, had just sold him.
His plight wasn't new, nor rare. A man who
desired money would go to "Croogks & Stonharts",
and sell a child. All a mother could do about
it, was to demand her share of the price.
And many did, if only to run away with what
remained of her children.
Elly came back to awareness as the smith
measured his ankle. "My dear," he said,
"please, forgive me." Elly gave a good stare at
him. Shortly before, he would have pitied him,
for his skin, showed the marks of a slave.
"I won't solder them, the manacles." He said.
"I'll just put those rings around your leg, 'tap,
tap, tap', and hammer them close. Are you scared?"
The boy looked away, into the shadows.
"Then, there's a little tip I can guive you.
Fly with your mind, away, away, where this
room is not. Dream away for a little while,
and the dreams will steal your pain, right?"
Elly was good at day-dreaming. But the fate
before him couldn't be dispelled, so, instead
of throwing himself into the lands of knights
and dragons, he put his mind to the work of
warping his fears into a story, less horrible.
About that time, the smith was choosing the right
rings for Elly's ankles. "You may sit down now,
I won't rush it a bit." But Elly stood as he was.
Far away, in his mind, he was on the Eastern Road.
The rain was falling could last for days, coll and
unrelenting. But that wasn't too bad, was it?
The day was warm, and the showers ran the dust
away off his skin and softened the ground under
his sore feet.
Elly imagined he would be wearing an "ungar".
This was a type of poncho often given to slaves,
made precisely from the common grass bearing
that name. Light, tough and sufficient to shield
from rain and sun, many free farmers wore it too.
Before him, huge above the tree line, the
Three Ravens would be greeting him. Many old
travelers from those yonder lands had taught
him about the mountains, that he'd never see,
except he was now watching them, and they will
tell them of stories of those who ventured with
orcs and goblins and ended in triumph or defeat,
but always in glory.
Luck, the gods and his imagination had wanted
him not to walk alone. There were two boys
and two girls about his age with him; all
in good spirits! These were the youngest
among the captives. Another two dozen shared
his toil: humans, halflings and goblins too.
How cheerful these were!, a bit of six rascals
perhaps, but never truly mean.
The guards didn't bother anybody too much.
The road had been long already, and there was
another week before them; nobody was in the mood
to cause trouble. Instead, it was all to admire
the herds of deer, the bisons, the bronze wolves,
the wasteland gulls and everything else Elly,
in his boyish power, could conjure up.
Towers, rising up -------------------------
Clank, clank, clank. It was done. The first manacle
had been fastened around his right leg. "Did it hurt?"
"No." Elly was at his tears. The same imagination
that had taken him to the Three Ravens, now told a
more realistic tale. His friends of old, they would
never see him again, he'll be forgotten. Perhaps
the youngest rascal would, at times, make a
cruel game of spitting while he would wait,
chained, to be taken away... and... Gods! He
could remember to have done just that, when he
was little, only because the other kids did it
as well. Tears of remorse and fear came to his eyes.
"Hey, whatever you're thinking, forget it and
forgive it now", the smith said. "Life is change,
remember that, you're so young and able, you'll
make it, you'll make it, somehow."
Elly nodded.
"Good, now the other leg, I'll be quicker this time."
Elly has moved his dreams to Yonderton. Not the
best of names for a made-up town, but it wasn't
too bad of a place. It had a ring of palisades,
no!, stone walls, with towers and everything, all
ready to dispatch any raiders out of this world.
A little farther away lay the orcs, the goblin
tribes, and those who loved freedom and went
along nicely with nature.
His companions and he had helped to build some
of those towers. And quite proud of their work
they were. The boys had grown up quite a bit,
had stronger out of the hard toil, and counted
each other as the best of friends. Food? It
hadn't been fancy, truly, but abundant and tasty:
potatoes and chicken, beans, turnips, carrots,
lentils-a-plenty, chorizo once every fortnight,
or was every fourth night? Yeah! Certainly.
Most certainly indeed! They, masters wanted
strong workers who'd do a good job. And indeed,
nobody would say: "this is but slaves' work".
Another manacle done. "No, I'm not linking them
with chains, no worries. Not today. These irons
are enough to slow you down if you try to run
for it, but they won't slow your work too much.
Just what masters want."
"But they can tie me up." The manacles had
a secondary ring, one that made it easier to
restrain a prisoner tightly.
"Masters will do that for transportation, and
at any time you might have ideas. But watch
me, I have nothing. You just behave nicely and
things will be nicer, understand?"
The boy nodded again, almost smiling.
The man whispered. "If you get any ideas of
running away, just don't. Masters will ... ah,
you've seen that.
Elly knew well enough not to imagine "that".
Slavers could be of a devilish cruelty. One that,
up to that very moment, he'd believed a completely
normal feature of life, harsh, but necessary.
"Now, I want your hands on the anvil, please."
Under a wild sun --------------------------
They had done it, the six friends, girls and
all five humans and one halfling, older but
shorter than them. They were all away, free
in the wilderness. Masters won't go after
them, not any longer. They were too far out
in orc lands to be in danger of masters, or
their headhunters. Ah, and they'd beaten a
dozen of them the day before. They didn't kill
not even one of the b...tards, but sent them
home barefoot, disarmed and without horses.
Now the slaves had turned into heroes
Finally, it was time for the neck. Elly harbored
no bad thoughts, conveyed no further imagination,
but promised himself that if the orcs defeated
them, he would not fear half of what have feared
this day. He, and his friends, would rise again.
And what if they became goblins' loot? Oh boy,
it'd be great to be at their feasts -even if to
serve on them; especially with a halfling cook,
because halflings are all great cooks, am I right?
"OK, boy, we're done here. You've been brave
enough. Now, whatever you do keep a little
smile, a true one, in reserve for good times.
Times do change up, if you change stuff, agreed?"
Before Elly could answer anything, the restless
guard came back in. "OK, 915D, we have to rush
you out, master wants you in todays' caravan."
"Yes, ma'am... and...and... may I beg you a question?"
"Ah... make it a quick one."
"Where are we walking to?"
"Eastwards, to the new borders. Now walk,
I'll be riding."
Elly complied at once, and asked as they left
the forge. "With the goblins?"
"Don't get a weep now, they aren't half as bad
as they tell you, and the wall will keep you
from them, or any foolery."
"I know ma'am. Thank you! It'll be a great
adventure!"
By some odd reason, the slaver chose to laugh.
The End, or, by some accounts, a beginning
Part 2. The Eastern Road -------------------
How long had it been since Elly had lost his
freedom? Two weeks, one day and close to two
hundred miles. Enough to see the Three Ravens
watching over him, the three huge mountains,
shining in black and snow over the tree line.
Stories told that amid their woods, giant spiders
weaved their silvery death traps, so terrible
that even bears took care not to be entangled in
them. On the sky above, an imperial eagle carried
a mouflon. Seconds later, the raptor would drop
its prey on a peak to dismember it at its please.
Down on the road, it was dull. Elly had by this
time made himself used to the display of the
wilderness. If something, the constant drizzle
had long tested his patience for days before
fading away from his mind. The penta, that is,
the five irons that the smith had fastened to his
ankles, wrists and neck, had long disappeared
from his cares too. Even the slaver guards
seemed just another feature of normality.
His new friends were the only spice of life.
"Tedus, I believe it's my birthday today."
"Bird-day?"
"No, birth-th-th-day, like I was born exactly
15 years ago."
"Ah... big human party... we tell all,
good?" Tedus was about to erupt in shouter.
"No, shoos, shoos, the guards will make fun
out of me."
"Oh, right. Sorry. I can give my cookie today,
you eat, eat, small feast, good?"
"You're a good friend, Tedus. I don't need a
feast. I'm just sad because I was joining the
army today."
"Today?"
"Today yes. If father hadn't sold me, yes."
"The human army or the goblin army?"
"The human." Elly laughed at the idea of his
green-skin friend.
"Bah, humans are no fun."
"Right... and I'll be a hero."
"But den, I, maybe, free too and in day goblin
army and I get you, and you are my loot, and
then I'm very happy and, you very scared... but
you won't be scared long, for we're friends".
"That's some story."
"Dad's some story so you're happy," the goblin
paraphrased as well as he could.
Along, with them, there were about five dozen
slaves of the usual ages, most from eighteen to
thirty. Older ones weren't usually transported
this long. As for the youngest, a halfling by
the name of Pip could attest to twelve years of
miserable life, and his thin, almost emaciated
body (for a halfling) nearly disappeared in
his oversized poncho. Then there were six other
goblins ranging from fourteen to sixteen, boys
and girls. Of teenaged humans there were five,
with him: Rena, Olmond, Arba and Dw; three of
them from his own city, but he had never met them
before. These were, sadly, kidnapped orphans,
a crime that nobody in the country seemed to
notice. "It's better for them orphans to have
a master," that seemed to summarize everyone's
sentiment. Elly agreed to that no so long ago,
when he was almost about to join the army and
be forever shielded from this present fate.
Part 3. Where souls are sold ---------------
Elly's dreams passed away once the enslaved left
the Three Ravens behind. The city they were being
led to wasn't, of course, called "Yonderton".
In fact, the locals knew simply as "the city",
or Caddair, which was but the name of a goblin
chieftain of ancient memory. As the trip was
coming to an end, the surroundings became more
and more civilized. The Eastern Road, and the
river which ran alongside it, have given birth
to a number of villages and hamlets. No longer,
they had to sleep chained by a campfire, close
together to gather warmth under a rain that
never fully subsided. Instead, they'd share some
shack near an inn, the basement of a house or
perhaps the stables of a local lord. Only in
a relatively large town by a bridge, they'd
be housed in a large common room with barred
windows. This peculiar trade, or any other,
wasn't much developed in those lands, yet.
Moods went from hopes to sorrow and resentment. The
guards grew impatient and wary as the guarded
began to consider fleeing somewhere, anywhere. Two
attempts had to be aborted before they could be
started, with some whipping and shouting given.
But nobody gave a serious try at freedom. They
knew the risk.
Just two days before reaching the outskirts
of Caddair, in some desolate place by the name
of Silence, a rotting body that crows wouldn't
take, was nailed to an implement of two crossed
beams. It had been, once, a very young goblin with
ambitions of liberty. Elly didn't dare to talk to
his friend that day, nor Tedus made any attempt
but kept very close to his own kin to cry together.
The day came when the sad column reached
Caddair. Still in darkness, the guards made
their captives rush to be led, almost pushed
into Caddair's river. They were given soap,
made to bathe in the very cold waters and change
into new clothes that came straight from the
city. What's more, barbers came to trim their
hair and mask the effects of their long trip
on their skins. They had to look presentable.
"Croogks & Stonharts", the slave traders, had this
policy of not auctioning their souls when making
these long journeys to the borderlands. Instead,
their agents would pre-sell standard "units
of talking-livestock" meaning categories of
sentient beings. Their clients will then choose
by order of seniority. If at all possible,
a few extra slaves would be added to cover
up any "casualties" along the way. This time,
however, all had survived the strenuous journey,
so the message was given to agents to sell the
"redundant units" at a reduced price. This was
the case of both Tedus and Elly.
Still early in the morning, the then anxious and
fearful slaves reached the market. It was then
located outside the city, under a low wall of
its own, its own soldiers and even its own flag,
the black ensign of a former pirate turned into
merchant: Master Feh Rald, half orc, half elf and,
above all, an adventurer; but his stories are
for another day. Feh Rald's market wasn't big on
slaves, but dealt more often with wool, coal and
"raven iron", an ore mined near their namesake
mountains. As such, it had been well-prepared
for the occasion: stalls had been placed for the
scribes to do their paperwork and for the smiths
and tattooers to provide their marking service,
should be required. A band was already playing
cheerful tunes, wee kids with baskets full of
flowers were ready to make them rain of the new
acquisitions. And of course there was food,
drinks, chairs, tables and all that's needed
to close all manners of trade. The market was
for business, the more, the better.
Soon it was over for most. Farmers who owned
much land but lived safely in the city bought
most of the adults for their usual trade. Some
were "apprenticed", should we say, by smiths,
others to the mines. As for the youngest they
had a more diverse fate: messengers, errand boys,
the quarry, a girl was made into a guide for an
old lady, and the youngest hobbit was, of course,
taken into the kitchens of the Caddair's Deers &
Beers; just a glorified inn, really.
Our two boys, the spares, had to wait for their fate.
Part 4. The dark hut on the moor -----------
Elly and Tedus were acquired by a trader in
wool. Mistress Greedix, one tenth goblin with
a subtle touch of orc herself, thought highly
of herself and had a soft spot for goblin
kids. Besides, one of her older slaves could
use some help, and these boys came at half
price. Now, Elly wasn't a bit goblin himself,
coming so far from the west, but he seemed to
get along well with the goblin, and that was
enough.
Once acquired, Mistress Greedix's best hand
took the boys to their new jobs. First he fed
them at the market's stall: some five big bowls
filled with rabbit stew, tatties, lentil soup,
more tatties and mushy peas with mushy carrots,
turnips and the gods know what else. All cheap,
but abundant: Mister Furbag was half orc with,
perhaps, a hint of halfling himself and, besides,
it was Mistress Greedix's money. Once that
was done, the boy's garments had to go. These
had only been provided for the selling, so they
were given some coarse tunics, hats, underwear
and a blanket, with a pin. This plaid was long
enough to be used as a kilt, coat or cape, all
combined, as the boys would quickly learn. Then,
they be given a simple haversack made of wax
cotton. There will go all their dried rations:
salt, oats, maybe lentils, chickpeas, rice,
onions or even salted pork if they were that lucky.
"Gud, you gave me no whinings, I'll do you
some gud. Let's see the smithy." Mister Furbag
loved to play nice with the new ones. In fact,
it was Mistress Greedix's usual policy: for
many of her slaves, irons were only a hindrance.
All the same, it made a magnificent effect on
the boys. Now they were... free? Not quite,
just a minute, symbolic liberation, but still
a bit of something, whatever that was.
All done at set, the foreman took the boys to
the market stables and ordered the kids to load
a mule with food. This was done with a bit of
clumsiness, a bag filled with oats dropped open,
to the joy of several horses, for none of the
kids had ever done such a job. "Now, you go
with me, twenty miles. We've got some work to do."
Two hours later, neither Elly nor Tedus had
said a work. The city looked already distant,
behind a curtain of rain, and it didn't look
they'd reached anywhere before nightfall.
"Ah... they taught you well. I like that." Said
the foreman. "How do you answer to that?"
"Yes sir, thank you, sir." Said Elly.
"How can we do some-ding for you, sir?" Added
Tedus in his goblin accent.
"Ha! Ha! Ha! Best trained ever, and you'll
have no use for that ever!"
The boys turned themselves to stone.
"See that hut in the fell?" It was a round black
hut made of dry irregular stones with a slate
roof. Still, alone in the moor, it brought a
promise of shelter.
The boys nodded.
"Good, we'll wait for your boss there."
Tedus nodded, but Elly got his best smile on. In
his mind, his new job had to be something
adventurous. Perhaps, they were to be scouts
for the city, keeping orcs from infiltrating,
or it could be bandits or giving messages or...
Mister Furbag noticed that smile. "Oh, you
think you know me, I'm uncle nice, right? Well,
no. Let's put a few things in the clear now.
From this day on, you've got to shepherds, boys.
That's what you'll do, really. Bring sheep
up and down the hills, be cold and miserable,
share the ticks and all that. I hope you get
used to that life, 'cause you're having no other!
And one small little thing for any smiles... you
may run away from this life. Yeah, it's easier
than escaping from a mine or a galley at sea,
or a farm. But, there's a little... well
many little things that will make that harder
than you think. First there are the mastiffs,
great dogs they are! I trained all of them from
pups. They'll protect the sheep from anyone:
mortal or god, monster or wolf, or even boy.
Ah, and they'll be the best friends of you,
if you are friends to them and the sheep. They
will die for you, even for you, little goblin!
But try to run away, they'll hunt you, warn
you to return or else. They won't kill you,
but, you'd wish they had!"
For minutes nothing but their footsteps were
heard "Sir, we won't..."
The foreman cut Elly's words down. "Shut up! You
can't promise your freedom away. Let me just
say something... you did see that goblin dead
on the road. He ran away, he proved himself
more shrewd than the poor mastiffs he killed.
But Mistress sent the headhunters for them.
And somebody had to kill him, slowly. And I
won't do that to you, because you'll love that
sheep and those dogs. Understand?"
Their answers were hardily audible over the rain.
Just one simple word: "yes", full of fear for
a cruelty so great their young minds couldn't
comprehend. And to think they were to spend
the night with such a beast of a half orc in
that small, damped, dark hut.
Part 5. The new boys of the herd -----------
Inside the dark hut, the boys and the foreman
had a humble dinner. There was no favoritism:
oats and salt pork for everyone, straight from
the rations. The whole affair went slowly,
with the boys, human and goblin, huddling by
the fire while their half-orc overseer stood
sang drinking songs, spicy and family unfriendly
with a surprisingly nice voice. Outside, the mule
was sleeping already, as did all diurnal creatures.
Once Mr Furbag got tired of his singing, he set
the boys to bed. "You two, sleep." The order was
impossible to obey. It was irrational to consider,
but, neither Elly nor Tedus could dispel totally
the idea that the man would have them killed
during the night. True, they belonged to Mrs
Greedix, and the brute was just an employee,
true he won't gain anything from their blood,
and yet they couldn't forget the sad remains
of a goblin boy that so dearly paid for his
attempt at freedom at the hands of Mr Furbag.
If the display was meant to scare their hearts
away, it had succeeded.
Still, they managed to lay on the lambskins and
rolled themselves tightly in their plaids. But
kept themselves awake, alert, imagining how to
fight and scape that hulk, until their fear
was finished by some fantastic, loud snoring.
Then and only then, finally defeated by exhaustion,
the two boys passed into their respective nightmares.
* * *
Elly woke up at the sounds of dogs. The fire was
almost extinguished by this time, but enough the
soft light of the dawn crept inside the hut that
he could a head from a rock. Tedus was sleeping
tight, the man was still snoring and Elly,
donning his plaid as a cape, walked outside.
The grass was mushy and cold to his feet, but he
ignored that to the magnificent show of nature.
Right before his eyes extended a sea of sheep,
far less than he reckoned, but still far too
many than he had ever seen at one time. And
there were the ewes with the little lambs that he
found the most lovely. And reached to them and,
wonders of wonders, the mastiffs got an eye to
him but barked not, very relaxed at his presence.
"Are you the new boy?"
Elly, kneeling by a lamb, raised his gaze to
meet a resolute, withered woman. She was quite
over fifty, lean, tanned and very much wrinkled.
Her garments were pretty much the same as his,
except for moccasins and an oversized sun hut.
"Yes, but there's another one, my friend. Do
you like goblins?"
"They don't bother us much. Greetings, I'm Edra,
those big friends are Up-with-you, Down-with-you,
Couldn't-kill, Freckles and the pup is Enough-good."
Elly chuckled. "Did you name them?"
"Nay, that man did. Listen, why don't go and
play with them. I'll deal with that man."
"Sure?"
"I can make you if I must." Edra almost sang
those words.
Elly needed nothing more. After so many worries,
tears and loss, there it lay before him a moment
of pure joy and he got it. He ran with dogs,
rolled on the damp ground and laughed while his
new friends barked and played along. Though it
was only Enough-good who was completely immersed
in the game. The adults stopped regularly to
check that the herd was in order.
Tedus had woken up by then, but so had done
Mr Furbag. "Fetch water." Tedus didn't stop
to ask where, but ran away with the bucket,
donning only his tunic. Hey, was it cold for
him! Above all, he was amazed by the sight. Among
many goblin tribes, the mere thought of taking
so much sheep from the "bohboh"(*) humans was
enough to turn a bad day into an occasion for a feast.
Elly ran to his friend, with Enough-good
following behind. "Welcome to life! How's the boss?"
"Bossy"
"Ah... where are you going?"
"See bucket? Wa-er!"
"Can I go with you?"
"Aye."
It wasn't that hard to find water. More than
a dozen streams ran nearby, all as cold and
transparent. Though on many the sheep had done
their things, so it was advisable to go as
upstream as possible. In any case it was a slow,
silent going, for Tedus was quite moody.
"Anything wrong?"
"Elly, we friends is bad." Tedus made a mess
of his human grammar, perhaps on purpose.
"Because you're a goblin?"
"A-ha."
"But, I thought we got along well."
"I'm alone wiz me. Humans kill goblins."
"Sorry."
"We aren't at war." Tedus said, and then went silent
along with his human, "somebody a bit like a friend".
Once the job was done, Mr Furbag made them to
prepare breakfast, and wait outside the hut,
while he shared the food with Edra and the
dogs. The animals were very fond of that half-orc,
the eldest even behaving a bit like pups in his
presence. This saddened Elly fearing those dogs
could turn into the most harsh of guardians. Still,
they overheard conversation gave them some respite.
In short, they got that they won't probably
see the half-orc in years. Usually, some slave
will be sent with supplies, some other to the
farms where the wool would be harvested. Then
it will be back to the wild loneliness of these
mountains. They'll start by learning from Elly,
and the dogs, then they would help. Finally,
when Edra would be freed, they will replace her.
Yes, many slaves are freed when reaching old age
or infirmity. But that's not always done out of
the goodness of masters' hearts. Instead, it's
simply a cost saving measure. Older slaves
are usually more trouble than they can work
and, well... That could very well be the far
future of the two boys, unless...
Aside, note:
(*) "Bohboh" cannot be adequately translated
to any human language I know, but rest assured
that if you are the object of such an epithet,
they aren't counting on the sharpness of your
intellect nor on the strength of your will.
Part 6. Just a bad raid --------------------
At the dawn of the next morning, the half-orc
was already gone. The sheep were flat at rest on
the grass, mastiffs were beginning to disperse at
their posts. It had been a long, tranquil night,
and the new sun ruled the skies alone. Tedus
stood up, his had been the last shift, and
he whistled his fears away, already expecting
breakfast. Edra was raising up to prepare it:
porridge, as usual, with some honey she had long
acquired from uncooperative bees. Elly was still
sleeping in the hut, it was easy to dream this
herd was his, that the mastiffs were his dogs and
that they all were a small family living a simple
life, up there in the mountains, far from any trouble.
Indeed, that was how the first day of their shared
new life started. Then, they picked up their
things, gathered the flock and march west, closer
to the misty woods under the Three Ravens. Sheep
needed to move constantly for new pastures,
and that was a good day, warm and clear, to do it.
Morning passed away slowly. There was no
rushing with the sheep, with the lambs still
too young. The mastiffs kept a constant watch,
though. For wolves and worse, some say giant
spiders, would be easily tempted by the wee
ones. Still, there was nothing worse than passing
showers. The world might have been told of been
under the spell of children tunes and sweet
ocarinas. Even Tedus recovered his smile. Yes,
it was easy to dream their worries away. Only
the right there and right then mattered,
everything else seemed a fantasy, and so they lived.
Lunch was on the go, all together, eating oatcakes
and little else. Food was humbly routine for
these slave shepherds, and so was its drink:
water with a splash of vinegar. Elly tried
to approach his friend, but he was still far
too human and Tedus far too goblin and very
alone. Edra would've loved to say something,
but she knew it would be of little use. Time
alone could do that, for those kids, unlike her,
had been born free and would for long cling to
that felt freedom, even if it had turned into
a bit of a lie.
Close to the night, they arrived to an ancient ring
of standing stones. Nobody knew what those were
for, Edra shared the view that they were stone
trolls, that got tranced in a dance and forgot
what the sunshine would do to them. Even so, a
few planks, some rope and a few lengths of canvas
could transform these into a shelter for her and,
then, the boys. There, she'd tell the story of
the trolls and the spirits that flew among the
stones and why wolves never approached them.
"Goblins didn't ever go to this place, either,
but", she winked at Tedus, "there's an exception".
And so a tradition, shall we say?, began
of telling stories every night, and many of
those were told, quite a few improvised, but
few like, the one Tedus told six weeks later,
most appropriately titled: "de day dey got me."
* * *
::: So spoke the great Tedus, telling his story :::
Dere are many goblins. But we all want loot.
Loot is glory. Loot says "you're brave,
you're smart wiz ideas, you'll be a good dad".
Goblin girls think you're pretty, and goblin
girls want to be merry wiz you and have kids
all deir life. So, best mates and me go one
day and say: "it's summer, loot time! Let's raid
some place." But we didn't know what to raid,
and we didn't tell de old ones, because they sink
it's bad for kids to go a'raiding. So we just
went, went. And we were mighty jolly. And we
walked and walked, and we saw dis town, a big
wall was around it. So we waited for darkness,
and we chatted about all the riches that we'd
got and... we fell asleep. When we woke up,
it was almost dawn. So we went dirty wiz words
at each odder and rushed, sneaky, sneaky, in.
We got lucky because dis guard was sleepy too,
and it wasn't too bright. So we, quiet, quiet,
climbed up, crawled a bit, did a smally jump,
jump and tip-toed, mousy, mousy, down the stairs.
We were in town!
And so were many folks! Dis kid jumps and shouts:
goblins!, goblins! And lots of bohboh humans
jump out of their houses, and we run around,
like crazy. We didn't know where to go! So I
saw dis ruined house and said: "go inside".
And we got all inside. But de guards came,
and a big mob too. Dere was no way we could
run or hide, so we had to surrender.
And den dey sent us all the way West. And there
"Croogks & Stonharts" bought us and two days
later, I met Elly, and that's all you didn't know.
It's not a good story, just a bad raid.
Tedus head sunk low, as did his heart.
Edra went to hug the boy and Elly smiled and poured
more wildflower tea in Tedus cup. Mischievously,
though, he was preparing a few jokes on stupid
raids and the results thereof.
Part 7. Up the terrible glen ---------------
Summer was coming. Lambing was over. Shepherdess,
boys, sheep and mastiffs smelled almost the
same by then. Life was becoming easier,
but for the boys, nothing marked the passage
of the days as the arrival of the provisions.
This time it was Ara coming up the slope, leading
two mules. Elly, the human boy, liked Ara best.
She was only two years older than him, rather
pretty and, besides, always sneaked a bit of
contraband: tea, bits of crystallized honey a
few grains of pepper and slices of goblin ham.
Tedus loved these, but never called it "goblin",
only bohboh humans did that. Hill ham was you
called it, preserved in cold caves naturally
filled with salt, and each tribe had a different
variety and only his grandfather prepared the
best one. But Edra, the shepherdess, looked worried.
"Welcome, Ara, welcome!" Shouted Elly standing
on top of a rock.
Tedus ran down shouting, two mastiffs, Up-with-you
and Freckles, by his side. "Ara, did you bring ham?"
Asked Tedus as soon as he reached her.
"Yes." She answered. Tedus jumped. Goblin-mama,
the goblin grandmom goddess, had been good to
him again.
"Can I have one? I'm hungry!"
"One... just one." She chuckled.
And so began a slow evening. The sun was
still high in the sky, so it would last long.
This time they only had a ledge protruding out
of a huge rock as shelter. But it was enough
to be together. Besides, it made it easier
to guard the flock, already gathered tight.
Fire, food and stories again; only this time
the stories were more troublesome. Orcs have
crossed the river and were torching farms and
villages as they went.
"Take care!"
Nobody liked orcs, goblins less than anyone
because they were bossy and could force entire
goblin tribes into their hordes, sharing most
of the effort but none of the loot.
Edra shrugged. "They won't get this far,
they never get. What's here for them? Look
around. Also, we are moving. Tedus, Elly, the
sheep need better fodder than this grass. We'll
move north, up to the hills, they won't see us
there, even if they come and they won't. And now,
you go and sleep, I'm taking first watch".
The boys and Ara laid on their lambskins. Tedus
was the first to fall asleep, then Ara, while
Elly, with one little eye, savored the beauty of
his impossible love. By dawn Ara would go to
other shepherds, surely one with another boy,
older, more handsome and wiser. As he ran his
imagination, the unknown shepherd boy turned into
a squire, a knight would've seen him fighting off
two, not four barbaric orcs, bought him from the
Mistress and adopted him as son. Then, he would
come for Ara and they would be happy ever after.
It was at their imaginary wedding that Elly,
shedding a tear, finally fell into sleep. No,
that wasn't for him. Edra had taught him how
it went: whenever Mistress wanted to have new
slave babies to grow up or sell out, Mistress
would make him...
* * *
Two days later, they had arrived at the mouth of
Erdwater Glen. This was a narrow valley, rocky
and split in two by the cold Erdwater stream,
closed east and west by closed, misty forest.
To manage a sheep flock inside those woods was
beyond the reach of mortals. So while exposed
and tough, it was the only possible route to
the greener bush and the yummy bushes.
But by then, the boys had learnt to fashion
themselves moccasins from animal skins. And
ram who died of old age provided them with the
materials and Edra with the instructions. They
weren't the sturdiest of shoes, so they only
donned when necessary, as in that particular occasion.
At the shepherdess command, the flock was
set in formation. She went to the rear, with
Up-with-you, the boys at the front brandishing
staffs and slings and the rest of the mastiffs
patrolled the sides. These were by far the more
dangerous positions, as they were closer to the
woods, from where all manner of trouble could
approach unseen.
Soon after, from the acutest of dogs, to the
boys, everybody became wary. The air was quiet,
like when a hunter walks slowly and hides behind
a log ready to hurl a javelin at the first
unsuspecting fowl. But Edra did not command to
stop, so everyone followed, happily, for another hour.
The dogs grew restless, barking at the trees. Edra
made them withdraw, while bringing the flock
together. The boys were whistled to help and
be alert. What was there?
Finally, not from the sides, not from the rear,
but to their front three spiders, giant and
terrible appear. Larger than wolves, monstrous
on their eight legs, they shrieked and charged.
The sheep tightened themselves up, older rams
coming to the front, lambs gluing themselves
to their mother. The mastiffs charged back,
despite the unreal threat they were facing.
Edra went too, as fast as her old knees allowed her.
Elly stood where he was, shooting stones out
of his sling. Tedus ran away at once, "Elly,
run, not our sheep! Run!" But he didn't
and Tedus forced himself to run back to help
his friend. Bohboh! How could anyone offer
his life for a bohboh human? If they died,
Mistress wouldn't send anybody to bury them,
if at all, to make sure they hadn't escaped.
But the spiders' ruse didn't work. They weren't
half as terrible, half as brave as they pretended
to be. They couldn't just launch their silk as
missiles, they weren't that kind of spiders,
their jaws were terrible, but not worse than
that of the mastiffs, and Elly's stones have
injured one of them. Outnumbered and met with
ferocious determination, the spiders withdrew. They
would wait for a stray lamb, or perhaps a boy.
But that was trouble for another day.
The boys hugged each other, as brothers separated
for years, the dogs made rings about them and
Edra fell from exhaustion and panted.
"Elly, don't do that again. Mistress won't..."
Elly said nothing, he had no reasons, but feelings
and felt the heart of his green skinned friend
pumping on his own chest, so he waited until
they both calmed down and life could continue
on those greener pastures.
Part 8. Bearing a late kiss ----------------
Summer came and went on, fall into winter,
ever going south where the cold was less so
and sheep could still graze from the land.
Mistress Greedix had paid her dues to the local
landlords, so their flocks had no issue moving
from plot to plot. Tedus had much surprise,
meeting humans who didn't quite speak "human"
but some other tongue that was neither goblin
nor something in between. Elly, while aware
of the fact, wasn't helped by it as he didn't
speak a word of what those foreigners muttered.
For three months, every person they met was left
to Edra. She had gone through the ordeal for
more years than she could remember and could
do the greetings, get the warnings for the
common threats of wolves and bandits and advise
everyone not to touch poor Tedus. Yes, the boy
was a real goblin, and no, that huge green taint
wasn't to fall off his skin any time before his death.
The landscape was different here: rolling
hills and sparse rivers ruled the south.
Hamlets are villages were closer together,
ruins less frequent. Raids had been moved to
the old chronicles and wars against orcs were
something that only lords and their retinues did,
going far away, north and east, to taste glory
or an early death; often both. That aside,
the shepherds' life didn't change that much
that winter. Still early to rise, still early
to bed and lots of walking in between, lots
of scaring carnivores away and perhaps losing
a lamb or a ewe. That could haunt them later,
for Mistress Greedix could, among other things,
sell them off to the mines if the loses were
too high. In fact, as Ara, the slave girl who
brought them supplies, once told them, Mistress
Greedix was considering to keep just one of the
slave boys for this job and sent the other to
some unknown and, thus, terrible, "someplace".
Edra was growing tired, though. As the season
went on, she made the flock rest longer and
longer. Until one day, the darkest of the year,
when the reign of the sun is at its shorter,
that she couldn't force herself to stand up.
That was a terrible dilemma. They had to move
on, the flock needed new grass as it depleted
the local supply; but neither they would leave
Edra way, nor Mistress would allow it.
"Boys, me think I'm done. My bones don't want
to live, my dreams are nightmares."
"It's just a fever, Mrs Edra," Tedus' command
of the 'human' language had grown quite a bit.
Elly smiled and put himself to brew some
wildflower tea, Edra's favorite.
"Boys, I'm not kidding. I know it. I..." And
that said, she passed into dreams, the first
time among many that day.
Still, the boys weren't too scared. The mastiffs
were relaxed too, and kept the flock in good
order, while coyotes kept themselves at quite
a distance: the mere smell of the dogs was enough.
When she woke up she insisted though. The sad
commands fell into Elly as Tedus was out playing
with Enough-good, who, while no longer a pup,
was still the one who enjoyed such things.
"Elly, listen, two things I ask."
Elly tried to feed her some porridge, she refused.
"Elly, stop, this is the end of my soul.
Take Freckles with you, one of the dogs
will follow you, wave it so it will come
close and know that you aren't running away.
Go east towards a river that looks like... no,
not a river... a line of trees that look like a
serpent. You'll know when you see them, follow it
and there's a stream, downstream there's a town.
Go to the magistrate and tell her that Edra,
Mistress Greedix's slave, is dying."
"No, no... I'll beg for a healer."
"Elly, she must come, sign me dead and give
you a paper. So you can give it to Ara when
she comes and Tedus and you are safe. Please."
"I'll do it as you say." Elly said that
but thought he'll beg for a healer anyway.
Maybe there's one with a good heart in that town.
"Good. Thank you, my dear boy. There's something
more, something special. Take my kiss and give
it to my love." Edra took a tiny woolen bag that
hanged on her chest. "These are pebbles inside
and feathers and such treasures as little girls
love. Take it to my love, her name is Dalba,
tell her I'll wait for her where love doesn't fade."
Elly nodded and kissed Edra goodbye modestly.
* * *
Elly told Tedus and went on his mission with
Freckles. As Edra said, Up-with-you followed them
and as the boy waved it, joined the party. The
trip was short and uneventful; ten miles were
nothing for the boy. The town was one of those
southern parishes with a small white temple,
a lovely wooden wall that served mostly an
artistic purpose and a stone pillory where
local kids would be reprimanded but hadn't
seen an execution in a decade. Elly hadn't
come for the views, though. Remembering what
he had heard from Edra and struggling to say
the words, he managed to see the janitor of the
courthouse. The junior magistrate would come.
Mistress Greedix would be charged, and she'd
send the money, nobody doubted her reputation.
Still, the junior magistrate, who was as fat
as young, needed time to prepare his steed.
In that time, Elly could find Dalba.
She was a healer, a slave too. Many slaves were.
Why would a free person reach the sick? It was
dangerous and dirty and sometimes unthankful.
Dalba rushed to meet her love, daring to tell
her mistress that Mistress Greedix would pay.
That happened to be true, but she'd lied all the same.
Dalba arrived first. The boy much later, following
the magistrate and his servants that would've
managed to get lost in these parts. But they both
arrived too late. They found Dalba weeping off
their tears; thankfully the magistrate didn't
bother with such things, he was called to issue
a certificate and a certificate he issued,
properly and with a proper signed translation
and all. His slave clerk was very good at that.
The lock on their throats was only released as
the magistrate and his small retinue marched
away. Dalba was uneasy. She had to stay, but
couldn't, her mistress would see the magistrate
return, she'd ask questions, what has a healer
to do with a dead boy?
"Elly..." she told the boy. "Bury her, don't
let the crows take her eyes." She said that as
if it were the dearest tragedy on this sad world.
"I will, trust me." Dalba had to, even if the
boy moved his gaze to the ground and his feet,
bare and cold, moved restless. So she went,
praying the goddesses, the gods and the weest
spirit of the streams to bless that boy if
he was true. And she went crying, for she had
missed her chance to touch the warm skin of her love.
Elly wasn't restless for lack of honesty, but
for Tedus. He wasn't there and the mastiffs,
for once, had hesitated on what to do. But not
for long, Elly could watch them going more and
more anxious. They'll go for Tedus who had run
away from the flock, as they had been trained
since pups, for they considered him either lost or
a traitor to the flock. The dogs knew nothing of
slavery and why the boys had joined the flock in
the first place. Likewise, they just had to make
the goblin boy back, no matter how, or die trying.
So Elly decided to lead them. He took Up-with-you
and Down-with-you, for they'll go regardless,
and signalled the others to keep watch of the
flock. And then he ran with the mastiffs, hoping
Tedus would somehow make it far, too far away.
But he hadn't, the goblin boy had, in fact, got
stuck in a muddy marsh. There the mastiff reached
him. Elly rushed forward, unarmed, Tedus showed
his stuff, but that didn't deter his friend one
bit. Three seconds and the human had grabbed his hand.
"Come, come with me, come, and they won't do
you a bit."
"Edra's free now... I'm a dead chicken."
"No, you're my friend."
"Yeah, like these are!"
"These are the only way they can be."
"And you?! You can only be a human."
"I can find a way, I will, but not today,
not like this, they'll kill us. You know that."
Tedus finally conceded to his friend, but at the
deepest of his heart, he believed there was no
chance Elly could find a way to escape. Someday,
he thought, he'll find the way to die trying,
and that he'd consider better than a life in
slavery with all that that meant
Part 9. The glens spread as the sun shines
Near a southern glen, amid buttercups and flowers
of camomile, there's a small mound where a kiss
was left. It's the earthen bed of a shepherdess
that knew no home and left behind a love in tears.
Tedus and Elly dug it for Edra their boss and
friend and parted north with the mastiffs,
leading Mistress' flock. Days went away quiet,
somber, ran only by the unrelenting march of
the sun, and for weeks life was gray and cold.
Two weeks after the onset of the spring, they
crossed the borders back home. Home, that is,
to Elly, for Tedus was a captive goblin and
couldn't call home to any land ruled by humans.
Regardless, Ara and her mules came with the
supplies, punctual as always, and received
Edra's certificate of death. She'll deliver it
to Mistress and from then on the boys will be
solely responsible for the flock. But it won't
be until the shearing season that they'd go into
civilization. Shearing was kind for the boys,
for their work was much less, leaving most of it to
the professionals of that task. They still had to
help leading the sheep in and out of the shearing
sheds, and help to load the wool, but even so
they found themselves with a bit of free time,
which wasn't new, and people to spend it with.
None of the boys had a copper to spend at the
tavern, but at the village square, goblin or not,
Tedus, took more than one peasant's servant to
a dance to the tunics that flew out of the windows.
As for Elly, well, he was a pure, fool heart
and went with Ara wherever she went, helping
her with every little thing, but never telling
the slave girl one word of his admiration. What
could he offer? In days, he'll be back roaming
the lands, up and downs the glen. And, besides,
Ara was clever, could fill a life with her smile
and make the stones dance with her songs; not
to mention she was a woman already, and he was
a mere boy who knew nothing and could mutter
two words together in her presence.
Shearing ended, Mistress Greedix made an
appearance, and interviewed all the shepherds in
her ownership. As the turn came to Tedus and Elly,
she congratulated them for the flock had given
a good output of wool. Not a word she said about
poor Edra, who had served her family for longer
than the slaver could remember. Instead, she told
the boys that, if things went as they had gone,
she'll grant them a girl to "have fun with." To
that, the boys had to thank their mistress,
who would have the babies to rear up and sell.
Tedus had it easier, for he didn't expect to
live "that long" any way. Poor Elly had his
soul hurting at the mere idea of doing that
"service" to Mistress. Yet, that was a year
away, and many things can happen in a year.
* * *
Summer had ended, the boys had led the flock
north, far from any human settlements but the
forts who dotted the border, one hundred miles
to the East. The day rose up as uneventful as
usual, and it would have continued that way,
had not Elly shared with Tedus his wonderful ideas.
"I have it, I know how we can make it."
"Escape?" By then, Tedus could read his
friend's heart.
"Yes. It will... we could die or worse."
"It's 'worse' already."
"Wait... Remember when I went with Up-with-you
and Freckles to town. They didn't stop me
because they knew I was with the flock, still.
Why don't we all go, the whole flock, dogs,
sheep and all."
Elly received a word he wasn't expecting.
"Where?"
"East, pass the border."
"Don't play with me, friend. The men at the forts
will see us, and we can't run away with the sheep."
"Through Wraith-moor, at night!"
"At night! When orcs go?"
Wraith-moor, usually muddy and crisscrossed by
a weft of streams, ponds and woods, had been
starved to dust by a dry spring.
"That's the dangerous bit. And that Mistress
will send headhunters and find us or that the
man of the forts have patrols and get us or that..."
"Ah..." Tedus smiled. "Just tell me you won't
let yourself die badly. I just want to live
before I die, nothing else matters."
"Oh... but... but... I had a great thing to
say to sign you up."
"Really? What?"
"Imagine! We survived it all and arrive to
your village..."
"Citadel." Corrected Tedus.
"Whatever, and you are in the lead with the
bohboh human behind, looking quite like a slave
and all those mastiffs and sheep too and."
Tedus, the goblin boy, jumped and ran like a
small kid at the mere thought of it, shouting
in joy. Yes, they would try that.
There was a little something to wait for: Ara,
for it was better to have a smooth resupply,
if Ara didn't find them, she could think
something awful had happened and ask for help,
eroding their few chances. But then, there
was something else Elly wanted to do, of course.
And so, at the hut where they first met, long
months ago, eating and singing together by
the moonlight, Elly stood up and simply said:
"Ara, come with us. We're trying freedom". Tedus
dropped his jaw.
Ara chuckled in a sing-song. "How, my dear
wee squire?"
And he taught her all their plans and preparations,
while Tedus wanted to kill him for risking the
whole thing, but bit his own lips, quite literally.
Then, they had to wait. Ara's face grew worried
and restless, and said nothing for minutes,
pondering a thousand big and little things(*),
before finally saying:
"I'll go with you, and if we survive, you'll
have a go at my love."
They departed at night. Now they had to hurry up.
They had the mules and quite a few provisions,
and that was a good thing. But the other flocks
won't receive their supplies and would have to go
south to town, and Mistress will know what had
happened and send her hunters sooner than ever.
They couldn't ever return to human lands.
The approach to Wraith-moor was uneventful.
The dogs were a little wary of the unfamiliar
place, but didn't obstruct. The flock needed
grass and this year it was scarce, the human
boys were trying to find better pastures,
and that's what human boys were best at.
Wraith-moor went exactly as expected. Again the
dogs were wary, the night could bring wolves or
monsters, and the place smelled of orcs whom
nobody loved. But again they did their duty,
for the boys, and Ara, whom they loved, were
with the flock. And that was good.
By dawn, they had reached the river that served
as the border between humans and the orcs,
who then ruled that precise stretch of goblin
lands. And there they were, four of those beasts,
by the other side of the river: four raiders and a
goblin slave. Elly and Tedus had to silence the
mastiffs who could warn the men at the forts,
or, more likely, some other orcs close by.
The orcs, being who they were, set themselves at
crossing the river. This time of that dry year
the waters went low, so it could be waded, with
the poor goblin slave leading the expedition.
The boys put themselves at hurling stones with
their slings and while the orcs got a few of them,
none come close to breaking a bone. They had arrived.
"Run and you'll live!"
"No." It was Tedus who shouted. No, he wasn't
giving his grandiose loot to those sons of a wart.
Elly, being more practical, gave another chance
to his sling. And this time a stone fell one of
the brutes, and he couldn't stand, for his hip
had got smashed. Ara tried as well, but failed,
perhaps for lack of practice.
Anyway, the orcs hesitated. How could those human
pups not poop themselves? Stones rained on them,
but none of the youth were warriors and they missed.
But the impossible happened. The orcs ran
away! Which were the chances anyway, all but
one, the goblin fleeing too and hid away until
Tedus found him.
And that's when Elly story comes to a closure.
For that goblin knew a safe way to proper goblin
lands, to a village that was precisely that of
Tedus, where he, at the head of some glorious
loot and two human captives, would become a
hero and a prince of sorts. As for the two
"captives" they were soon "pardoned" by their
prince and lived many, many other adventures,
but that's Tedus' story and it will come another day.
