Peregrin Old-Fur: Captured

It had been one month and I still couldn’t get used to the place. There was not a day where I felt well-rested. In fact, most nights I barely slept. It was hard adjusting to two hours of sleep, but I managed. There had been four days when I hadn’t eaten at all.
I had been in only one fight with a stalwart. I had eventually got outnumbered and I had been dragged into the dark hallway. I clawed at the ground, hoping that the bumpy surface would work in my favour. The two stalwarts had dragged me and threw me into a dark room. From there, four goblins, only one foot taller than me, grabbed my arms and legs and tied me up. I could not see a thing.
“Aren’t you a little rascal?” Tylovine giggled. “That’s impressive. Never before have I seen someone take down a stalwart in here, especially someone with a disability.”
“I don’t have a disability.” I replied with anger.
“Of course you do, shorty.” I yanked my hands but the chain that was holding them halted my efforts to escape. My feet were tied to the ground.
“You are in my lair, so you know what that means.” A goblin grabbed a whip hanging on a wall and handed it to Tylovine. Tylovine released the rope, striking the flesh on my back. The whip had a metal tip at the end, so when it hit at just the right angle, it cut into my skin. I had never experienced more pain in my life. He slashed and whipped until he tired out. Tylovine waved his hand and the chains fell off. I fell into a puddle of my blood, which spread all over me. The blood dripped onto the ground from my body, like a tap that hadn’t been properly turned off. There was no strength in me to lift myself from the ground.
“Are you going to kill me?” I asked as I gasped for breath. Tylovine was silent, as if he was considering the option I had given him.
“No, I want to keep you alive. I want to watch you crawl through the centre and into your room. Let’s see your friend take care of you now. Maybe you’ll just die in his arms. Either scenario would be satisfying to me.” Tylovine ordered to stalwarts to strike the bells. I did not understand what he said, for he spoke in goblin. The stalwarts rang the bells. My ears were about to explode. The bells were loud enough to be heard throughout the entire cave. Being in the same room with them almost made me deaf. Tylovine laughed, but then he ordered a stalwart to leave. The stalwart left, but came back soon after and spoke in goblin to Tylovine.
“Looks like everyone’s out”, Tylovine stated. “Go on then.” I reached out my arm along the floor and dragged my body slowly forward. My entire body became very heavy. I breathed heavily as I pushed myself forward, my entire body crying out in agony. The thought of death scared me. I did not think this was how it would end. I screamed in pain. “At least death would be a blessing compared to this”, I thought weakly. Part of me wished he would kill me as I told myself that I didn’t deserve to live. I was sure there were at least a few people in this cave who would not miss me. I struggled to keep moving forward, with no motivation to keep going. Eventually I was able to drag myself to the room. Hortamus saw me and picked me up. He put me onto a table and began his magic.
I woke up on the ground with a sheet over my body. My back was stiff and I tried to support myself enough to stand. I breathed heavily.
“I don’t know how you did it, but you survived in there.” Hortamus laughed. I was in no mood for laughter. My neck hurt every time I tried to move it. I felt my back, surprised when I only noticed scars and scratches. “It took a while, but that was the best I could do.”
“How long did it take for you to heal me?” I asked.
“Almost four hours.” Hortamus replied. I was surprised he would spend so much time protecting me. If it wasn’t for my actions, many people here would be living with their families in freedom.
“Why didn’t you let me die?” I asked in a completely serious tone.
“Why would I do that? I’ve only known you for one month, but I’ve had the opportunity to really get to know who you are. I didn’t let you die because you’re my friend.” He flashed a grin in my direction. As he said that, I started questioning my real goals in life. Did I really want to take others’ possessions for a living? Should I be learning to cherish the time I spent with these people? Should I heal their lives, or should I steal from them?
“Hortamus.” I said “I want to be a cleric.”
Hortamus stared at me, but not with the eyes of judgment.
“Are you sure this is the path you wish to take? I thought you wanted to be a rogue.”
“I thought I did, but it never occurred to me the immoral actions I had to take. I want to do what you do, save people and take care of them. Train me, please. I can prove to you that I can and will change!” Hortamus never stopped looking at me. I could tell that he was definitely thinking hard about what I had just said. I knew this was the path I wanted to take. It was a little odd, thinking of myself, a Halfling, as a cleric, but it didn’t make me reconsider.
“I can tell that you will change. I accept you as my pupil. We start in three days.”
“Three days?” I yelled. I looked to see if the stalwart that was blocking the door had heard me, but it stood like a boulder.
“If you wish to be a cleric, you will learn to be patient. We will start in three days.” I nodded my head and the bells rang.
Two days later, something surprising happened. We started off the day as usual in the centre. It was an ordinary day in the cave until a stalwart came out of the dark hallway. The stalwart appeared disgruntled, but they always looked upset. It was holding something in his hand that I couldn’t make out. I could see that whatever it was, it was moving uncontrollably. I soon found out that it was a Halfling that he held.
“Put me down!” The Halfling screamed. His voice sounded very familiar to me. The stalwart threw the Halfling into the middle of the centre. His body flew high in the air and when he hit the ground, he moaned and groaned. The Halfling looked at his surroundings. He had red hair and a really nice long shirt. He wore familiar looking blue overalls.
“Jam?” I cried out. The Halfling located the sound of my voice. I was so relieved to see my brother, even if it was here. I had not seen him in a very long time, and even though we had never gotten along well, I missed him. He looked at me with threatening eyes. He stormed over to me. I started to panic. Jamamros grabbed my shirt and viciously threw me to the ground.
“Why did you kill Berhin?!” He screamed. I stared at him in confusion.
“Jam, I did not kill Berhin.” I reassured him. “He ran away from home. I went looking for him and I found him dead. After that, some goblins captured me and now I’m here.”
“Well, why did father tell me you were the one to blame for his death?”
“Did you really believe something father said? He always over-exaggerates. He has always had a bad habit of that.”
“I guess you’re right.” He said as he picked me up from the ground. Jamamros looked all around him.
“So, what is this place-“His words were cut off by the sound of Tylovine walking into the room. Jamamros froze in place when he saw the dark magician. His eyes were widened with terror.
“It’s him. He hurt-“
“Where is the newcomer?” Tylovine politely asked. I nudged Jamamros to walk towards him. He did not like that idea, but I kept pushing him. It was like forcing a man with a full stomach to eat more.
“Ah, there you are. It looks like you are close with Peregrin. Please step forward.” Tylovine had a great smile on his face. Slowly, the Halfling carefully walked closer to the Goblin King. “Please state your relationship with that Halfling.”
“He…he’s mah….my brother, sir.” Jam stuttered as he confronted the sadistic abuser. There was no doubt Jam was afraid of him.
“Well that is very interesting. State your name, Halfling.”
“J...Jamamros, sir.”
“Well, I’m glad to meet you, Jijamamros. That is a mouthful to say! Can I call you Jammy for short?” Jam stood solid like a statue. He hated being called Jammy, but I doubted he was about to argue.
“Alright then Jammy, your room is over there.”
He pointed towards a room that was three rooms to the left of mine. “You are welcome to join the table for sharpening knives. Tylovine smiled and walked back into the dark hallway. When Jamamros turned towards me, I noticed for the first time the scratches on his face. A red line slashed across his face from his left ear to the edge of his lip. He walked over to me, filled with paranoia. His face was engulfed in fear.
“Come here,” I offered. “I will show you how to sharpen a knife.”
Step by step, I showed Jam how to sharpen a knife in the same way Hortamus showed me a month ago. Hortamus grinned at me as I taught my eldest brother. Jamamros blankly stared at the stone and knife.
“Do you need me to repeat myse-“
“I’m fine.” He demanded. “I just need to realize where I am and who I am.”
“You’re a Halfling.” I said sarcastically, but Jam was in no mood for sarcasm.
“I’m a prisoner, Pippin. I’m surprised you survived here as long as you have.”
“You and me both, Jijamamros.” I winked at him and flashed a big grin. He chuckled, but was quiet soon after. He let out a sigh, but then tried to sharpen a knife. He did not do a terrible job. He must have learned his skill from the farmer he worked for. Every once in a while, he would quickly glance at Hortamus, but then shoot his eyes towards his work again. Hortamus laughed.
“You haven’t seen a dragonborn before, have you?” Jam still could not quite lock his gaze with the cleric.
“No sir, I never even knew they existed.”
“Haha, I am not surprised. I am sure you will get used to me.” Jamamros smiled awkwardly and then looked down.
About five minutes passed and the closest thing we had to a conversation was when Jam sneezed and I said “Bless you.” I finally broke the awkward silence.
“Jam, was there anything interesting that happened while I was away?”
“While you were gone, word spread around of your disappearance. There were some that saw you as the thief, or the stealer of lives, but others saw you as a hero. You and Berhin touched the hearts of a man and his child.” My eyes widened. I knew exactly who he was talking about. The child I had saved in Destrung. “The man started convincing people to be like you. To become Goblin Hunters.” The words shocked me. Never would I have thought people would look up to me. I was always used to people looking down on me. That man who once was covered in fear and cowardice long ago had transformed into a brave leader. I was glad I had at least made one Halfling’s life better. Jamamros continued where he left off.
“They believe it was the ‘man in the woods’ that captured you, or as they believe, killed you.”
“So what are they going to do?”
“I don’t know, I was about to find out, but then,” He looked at his surroundings. He stopped talking for a while and focused on his work. Jam cautiously stared at people from other tables. He seemed a little hesitant. Finally, he put his stone and knife on the table.
“Does anybody…” He lifted his index finger to his neck, slowly dragging it across.
“There have been people that have died.” I looked down, reminding myself of the people.
“There have been three people that have died since I have been here. I don’t think there was anyone that has killed themselves. Hortamus, was there any?” Hortamus looked down. I could feel the change in his attitude.
“Only one.” He replied. He said nothing else after that.