One could probably guess that being taken captive by urgals is not among the most pleasant of experiences, but their treatment of me was likely much better than any urgal in human captivity could possibly hope for. During the eleven days we had already traveled, I had been regularly fed and was allowed a small amount of supervised freedom from my bonds. After some thought, I had concluded that it was most likely that the urgals were as wary of my power after my ill-planned display as I was of their power.
The evening of the eleventh day of travel is when the first notable event in my journey took place. The procession had halted and I came out of my reverie with a start. The kull that was carrying me set me on my feet.
—I wish I could recall the conversations of the urgals and kull now that I know the language, but then again perhaps I'd rather not know. One thing I did know was that they were mocking me much of the time, especially my inability to keep pace with the group. —
I was prodded in the middle of my back by the kull who was guarding me, and I scowled, though by then I knew exactly what he wanted. Holding out my wrists, I made no effort to impede the hulking kull as he bound my wrists rather tightly. A smaller urgal with large horns approached, laughing at me in that strange, hacking laugh of the urgals. —That sound, at least, I could comprehend by then. — He met my eyes and made a sort of jeering comment I had no hope to understand.
"Fat cow." I muttered, glaring at the urgal. I recognized him as one of the urgals who was constantly pushing me around if it was one of the thankfully infrequent times that he was set to guard me. "Is it really that rewarding to insult a defenseless prisoner half your size?" I asked, ignoring the fact that he couldn't understand me. Smiling slightly, I responded. "I wonder if your mother was a common dairy cow." Despite not understanding my words, the urgal seemed to comprehend the nature of my comment and bared his teeth at me angrily.
The urgal moved with a sudden speed I would never have expected from the heavy beast, and I was unable to respond in time to dodge the sharp-nailed swipe he took at my head. Claws raked across my cheek even as the force of his blow knocked me to the ground, dazed. I pressed my hand against my throbbing cheek and fought against the tears that involuntarily came to my eyes at the burning pain. I pulled my hand away and glanced at it to find blood running down my fingers.
Still stunned by the vicious blow the urgal had dealt me, I looked up. To my immense surprise, my kull guard was standing over me looking furious —As far as I could tell through the hairy, animalistic features.—As I watched, the kull bellowed something in a loud voice which hurt my ears, drawing the attention of all the other urgals. Then, when all were watching, the kull reached out quickly and grabbed the smaller urgal around the neck, snapping it viciously. He tossed the urgal to the side where he lay, dead.
When it was finished, a relatively small urgal, obviously lower in the hierarchy, took up the body over his shoulder and carried it off into the woods, and as if nothing unusual had happened, the urgals returned to their previous activities. Extending down his arm, my guard grabbed my arm and hauled me to my feet with what he seemed to intend as gentleness even though my arm was twisted painfully. He stared at the wound on my cheek before shouting something to the others. A terse gesture motioned me to walk forward, and, deep in thought, I followed the group.
It took me a long while to realize it, but we were following a trail then. Surprisingly faint given the ponderous urgals, the path we were following was only apparent to the eye because of the occasional depressed or broken branch, hoof print, or crushed leaves. If I had not known better, I might have passed the path off as a simple deer trail.
It was perhaps too much to ask that for once something not happen to me, for as I was contemplating the trail we were following, a rough hand grabbed my shoulder. The large kull who had been given the duty of guarding me was chattering something hurriedly to another. Before I could react, a foul smelling cloth was pressed over my mouth and nose. For a while I struggled against it, but the fumes of the cloth had already caused me to become dizzy. I faded to unconsciousness, my last thought being a confusing vision of me being roasted over an urgal's cooking fire.
A.N. I will be updating this more regularly now. Sorry about that and sorry for the short chapter. Anyway, I already have part of the next chapter written. I will remind you that even I don't always know what will happen next and am open to hearing suggestions if anyone has a good idea. Thank you for reading.