Brurock was satisfied with himself for capturing some of the Piskals. He put them in cages next to the hounds, and the Piskalians were terrified. All except two, Hashmire and Tanla. He walked past them, watching them glare at him with much disdain in their eyes.
“You two seem to be the strong ones. I will enjoy breaking you two,” Brurock said. He was eating some kind of meat and threw the bone in the cage right next to Tanla, and the hound inside became ferocious. She jumped, which made Brurock laugh. He walked away, leaving them alone.
“Stay fierce, young one, the king will get us out,” Hashmire said to Tanla. She had been holding back tears this entire time. She didn’t want to die, especially at the hands of a Rhudon. Hashmire had a small bulb in his clothing waiting for the right time to activate it so they could escape, but he needed a fight to ensue.
Druya came by, scraping his sword against the bars until he found one of the captives he wanted to interrogate.
“This one!” He said, the Piskal screamed for mercy as he was being pulled out of the cage. He was taken to a nearby tent where his screams could be heard as clear as day.
“They just want us for sport,” Tanla said. Hashmire couldn’t argue with that fact and looked down. This was a situation where who knows if they would ever get out of this alive. Once the screaming stopped, they sat there as they saw the poor man being pulled out of the tent; he was dead. Then the Rhudons started cutting him up and feeding his parts to the hounds. Some of the Piskals threw up while others screamed. That is when Druya came out and stared at the cages.
“Which one of you is Hashmire?” He said. They all got silent, and this made Druya pleased.
“Fine, I’ll search for you one by one,” He said as he ordered another of the Piskals to be taken. That’s when Hashmire spoke up.
“I am the one you are looking for,” he said. Druya showed his teeth and took Hashmire from his cage. He wasn’t taken to the tent; the last one was taken, and he was brought in front of Brurock. Hashmire thought this was the end for him, and he knew that they would ask him how to get inside the boundary. He was shoved to his knees as he saw Brurock eating his food.
“So you are the high priest of the Piskals. Tell me, have you crowned your king yet?” Brurock said. This shocked Hashmire; he didn’t know how they knew about Fulch, and he wondered if they were threatened by him; then the legends must be true. He didn’t know how to answer. The Rhudonians were notorious for their imagination in torture.
“We have not crowned him king; we are waiting for his return to us and the blessing of the Master,” Hashmire said. Brurock smiled at this; he knew what game he wanted to play.
“Come take a walk with me,” he said. They walked to the entrance of the encampment, where Hashmire saw it. It was the Master, hung like a prized animal for all to see. Hashmire fell to the ground.
“This is sacrilege! He needs to be dealt with respect,” He said. Brurock roared in laughter. Then several Rhudonians came up to Hashmire and started to kick him. His blood was sprayed everywhere, and with the last kick, he was knocked unconscious. They dragged him back to the cages. Tanla stood up and started yelling at them.
“You bastards! What did you do to him?” She screamed. Brurock came up to the cage.
“My dear, you see, you are my playthings, and I will do whatever I wish. The Piskal people have no place in this world, and soon you will be no more. Now tell me, how do you get into your boundary?” Brurock said. Tanla just responded with a glare and then spat at him. He wiped the spit from his face and started to laugh before walking off. After they were all gone, she turned her attention to Hashmire.
“Hashmire! Are you okay?” She said, and all she got in return was groaning. It seemed they would be left alone for the rest of the night, and she knew they would need a good plan of escape to get through this one.
***
Druya had been carving a carcass for more time than he needed to. A Porpura priest came up to him.
“Excuse me, Druya, Shardoe is expected tomorrow, and we need some vital information to tell him. What do we say to him about the Piskal having the powers of the Master?” The priest said. This stopped Druya in his tracks.
“Let’s talk to Brurock about this,” He said, trying to find a solution to this problem. They walked to Brurock’s tent, Druya keeping his sword at the ready. They got to the tent, and Brurock seemed annoyed that they were there.
“My lord, I need to know what to say to Shardoe tomorrow about the Piskal who had the gifts of the Master. It seems to me there were two Masters. If this is so, then we have some serious issues,” the priest said. Brurock looked at Druya, and both knew that this man had to die.
“Tell me, priest, did you tell any other of the priests about this dilemma?” Brurock asked. The priest said no, and that’s when Brurock grabbed the priest and ripped out his throat with his teeth. As the body lay there, Druya showed his teeth.
“How will we explain this death?” Druya said. Brurock smiled.
“He got too close to the hounds,” He said. They both started laughing. Then Brurock had a thought.
“How many other priests do we have that survived that attack?” Brurock said. Druya thought about this for a moment.
“Only the one I trust,” he said. Brurock seemed offended.
“How can you trust someone other than our species?” Brurock said. Druya knew he needed to tread carefully. Brurock just tasted blood; he would want more.
“He doesn’t like Shardoe; he’ll be on our side until the time comes for me to kill him,” Druya said. This seemed to appease Brurock. He then went to the table and grabbed a letter.
“I need you to take this to my father; only his eyes can see it. Do you understand?” Brurock said. Druya nodded.
“What does it say?” Druya asked. Brurock wondered if he should tell him, but quickly disregarded that thought.
“I tell my father about the king of the Piskals and how I plan on killing Shardoe. I tell him about the two masters and ask for his advice. I know, I know, but my father was once a great leader; he can guide me into doing what is right in this case,” Brurock said. Druya knew better than to fight this, and he truthfully didn’t see the harm in asking Turock.
“What are we going to do about Shardoe tomorrow?” Druya asked. Brurock thought for a moment.
“We shall see what he knows. I will use him to get the information out of the Piskals about how to get into their boundary. I am sure he doesn’t want them to crown their king as much as we do, but you will not be here tomorrow. I need you to leave tonight and be back as quickly as possible. I need to know if my goals are worth it,” Brurock said, and with that, Druya bowed and headed off.