Turik quickly scrambled to his feet and followed the adult Goblin who slipped through the gap between the cook’s and the treasure wagon.  Turik halted in the gap and watched the Goblin walk through the middle of the slaves, kicking out as he went and laughing as the puny human’s tried to scramble out of his way.  The Goblin reached one of the wagons on the other side and clambered in out of sight.  A cold murderous rage began to burn in Turik’s mind.  He wanted revenge.  He wanted to desperately to kill and maim the body of another living creature.  He snarled to himself as the cook shouted out for him to come and pick up the food.  Turik returned to the cook’s wagon and picked up the food, he realised that he would not be able to carry the mead as well as he was carrying more food then he usually did.  So he decided to make a second journey to collect the mead skins.  Turik crossed over to the laughing Goblins and placed the food upon their rough wooden bowls ready for them to eat.  Venison and Mountain Goat he gave out to each of the now silent Goblins he then gave them each wild mushrooms and roasted chestnuts. 

 ....

The Goblin waited for the slave to finish dishing out their meal then he snarled, “I can see the food now where is my mead slave.  I though I commanded you to bring me mead as well.  Where is it you useless bastard”?  The Goblins comrades laughed “Yeah useless Bastard, Doesn’t have a father anymore.  Just a useless bastard, his father slit from ear to ear”

Turik felt tears trying to force their way out through his stinging eyes “I could not carry it all and I am now going back for the mead.  I thought you would rather I did not try and carry too much and maybe drop some of it.  Ruin it” he knew the moment he spoke that it was useless.

Turik turned his back on the Goblins and as he took a step to return to the cook wagon he felt a sharp pain in his left leg and he collapsed forward, face down of the soil. 

The Goblin had risen to his feet and kicked the lad in the back of the leg as hard as he could “Be smart with us will you Bastard, well you know what that will get you slave, nothing but pain, now go and get my mead before I decided to hurt you even more” The Goblin returned to sitting with his companions an continued their discussion.  Turik raised him self from his knees refusing to let his captors see how much he really hurt he walked across to the cook’s wagon.  Tears streaming silently down his face.  The cook watched his approach and piled up the mead skins for the boy to take.

“Young fool.  Don’t piss off the warriors like that or they’ll cut you to pieces and eat your warm uncooked flesh while you watch.  I know I have seen it done once and it even turned my stomach.  Be quiet listen and learn and be the slave you are and you should live a few more years”

“Why do you care old man what happens to me?”  Turik half sobbed.

The cook shook his old wizened head “I don’t care really I suppose but you remind me of me when I was first taken as a captive and I tell you young one if I had not learned quickly I would not still be here.  Everyone I was captured with is now long dead and eaten, their bones strewn across the miles and the years.  Listen to me and you will live, make yourself helpful to the Goblins like I did, they believe cooking is a female duty and they never allow their females to accompany them on the raids so I quickly learned how to cook to their tastes and since that time I have lived well enough and travelled with the raiding party’s”

Turik shook his head “But don’t you want revenge for what these beasts did to you and yours, didn’t you want to kill as many of them as you could”

The cook nodded his head “Yes for a while I considered revenge but where and when, the time never came where I was in a position to do any good and as the years pass you are just happy to survive another day, now don’t do anything stupid just live for the day, make yourself useful, just live”

Turik turned from the cook and carried the mead skins back to the waiting Goblins, his mind numbed by his conversation with the cook. 

***

Revrd of the Red Clan of the Warhoast had noticed the Dagon boy’s attention and when he had walked through the slaves he had taken a few sneaky peeks back behind himself and had watched as the Dagon had watched his passage to the wagon.  Once inside the wagon the Goblin had pulled the opening slightly, just enough so he could see the Dagon and not be seen himself.  He saw the boy turn with a snarl on his face and return to the front of the cook’s wagon.

  Revrd left the wagon and crossed back over to the side of the cook’s wagon he wanted to know what this child was up to.  He watched on from his vantage point as the boy returned to the sitting warriors and handed out the food, he saw the kick that bought the boy to the floor and read the thirst for murder that slipped across the young lad’s face. 

He waited where he was as the human boy returned to the cook and listened in on the conversation.  He realised that sometime soon he would have to teach the cook a lesson, the Dagon was beginning to think that because he was allowed to cook for the War-host whilst on raid’s he was better then he was.  Revrd listened to the boy’s replies and decided that it was time to give this boy a lesson, he recognised him from the third successful raid.  Now was the time to remind him how precarious his life was and to remind him that as a slave he had no right and would have to please his new masters or face the consequences.

***

Turik had just handed out a mead skin to each of the Goblins and placed the extra two on the ground so they could be easily reached.  He felt more then heard the approach of one of his captors.  He raised his eyes and fear gripped him as the Goblin he had followed before came to stand at the small fire.

Tgrahhh the Goblin that had taken him as slave until they reached their unknown destination welcomed the newcomer and asked him to sit and share the mead with them. 

Revrd nodded his head and sat with the others, he took a skin of mead and began to drink from its contents, joining in the general banter he allowed his eyes to return to the boy every now and then, a dark amusement within.

Turik was scared, he knew the newcomer was watching him and he guessed that he had been following this Goblin and now the Goblin sat drinking Mead and watching him.  As the night began to draw in Turik was sent another three times to fetch mead for the Goblins to drink, he heard the unhappy mutterings of the guards as they patrolled the encampment; he knew that on the morrow night those who were moaning so much would be sitting drinking themselves into oblivion whilst those now enjoying themselves would have to see to the safety of the encampment.  The cook fed him and warned him that Revrd was a mean son of a bitch and to watch out for him.  When Turik returned to the small campfire to stand behind Tgrahhh where he was required to stand until the Goblin finally fell asleep on the soil, then he would have leave to curl up and fall asleep himself.

Tgrahhh was drunk and when he was drunk he was mean, Revrd knew this and kept plying Tgrahhh with more of the old mead. 

Turik watched on in horrid fascination, in fear, as every now and then he would see that Revrd would turn a malicious sneer in his direction.  Turik knew he was in for some serious trouble later on in the night unless Revrd passed out before he could act.  Turik returned to the cook’s wagon and asked for four more skins of mead, the cook shook his head and handed them over barely holding back a yawn.  Turik placed the mead skins in front of Tgrahhh and went to stand behind him again, hoping that the drinking session would continue until all of the Goblins collapsed where they sat, insensible until the morning, even then Turik knew he would be in for a hard day, as Tgrahhh did not take to hangovers with any joy.

 ....

Tgrahhh burped loudly, the skin of mead slipped from his fingers to fall on the soil.  One of his comrades grabbed it before all of the contents seeped out.  Then Tgrahhh collapsed backwards and lie snoring.

Revrd smiled gleefully, maliciously, he turned his eyes to Turik “Well little ‘uman I see your master is out to the count.  I wonder why you tried so hard to get Tgrahhh drunk; you’re not planning to try and escape, are you”

One of the other Goblins mumbled drunkenly “T’rd t scape, ths wht he deed”

Revrd nodded his drunken head “Yes he tried to escape but we stopped him didn’t we, yes we put a stop to his Dagon ways” so saying he staggered to his feet “Come here slave”

Turik knew better then to run even though his whole being just wanted to take flight and to try and put as much distance between himself and these barbaric Goblins as he could, but his leg’s ignored his thoughts; his wishes and slowly scrapped their way towards the waiting Goblin.

Revrd waited until Turik was within arm’s reach then grabbed him as quickly as he could.

Turik did not bother to try and struggle, he knew if he put up any type of defence he would reap the whirlwind, so he waited for the worst to happen.

Revrd did not let him wait long.  The Goblin smiled, his fangs shinning in the moonlight “I think it’s time that you had a lesson slave” Revrd then started to beat on the boy, punching him in the stomach until he crumpled to the floor.  He then kicked him in the face a couple of times.

Turik curled into a ball, trying to protect his stomach, his face from the brute that was taking so much pleasure in hurting him.

Not happy that Turik was not pleading or not crying out for the beating to stop Revrd had one of the other drunken Goblins rise to his feet and hold the boy from behind so he could not try and protect any of his body.

Revrd spat into Turiks face then punched him as hard as he could between the legs.

Finally Turik screamed out in pain and his whole body went limp as he descended into unconsciousness.

Seeing that his victim was now out of his reach Revrd clawed him down the left side of his face drawing blood.

The Goblin let go of Turik and sat down heavily, his eyes closed almost the second his backside hit the soil, and he tottered then fell backwards, beginning to snore.

Revrd shook his head in disgust and turned to head back towards the slave side of the encampment, returning to his fellow warriors of the Red Clan warhoast.