They both tumbled to the ground. The gnoll flipped Tazi onto her back and pinned her with its massive bulk. Tazi looked up into the horrendous visage of the beast, with its blood and pus-matted fur and snapping jaws a few inches from her face. She only had one chance. Just as the beast reared back its head, opening its mouth wide to rip out her throat, Tazi freed her hands enough to use the wooden shaft again. When the beast descended on her, she wedged the club between its yellowed teeth, barely keeping its head above hers. Tazi twisted her head to one side and called to the dwarf.
'Get over here,' she screamed. But the duergar remained impassive.
Realizing she was on her own, Tazi kneed the beast where the dwarf had already inflicted some damage. The gnoll loosened its grip, and she drew both her knees up to her chest, kicking out at the gnoll. The beast was knocked flat onto his back, though Tazi lost her club in the process. She scrambled to her feet.
Since the gnoll landed close to the dwarf, he tried to climb up and around the beast again. This time the guards were ready for his acrobatic trick. The moment he grabbed the bars, several sentries pinned each of his arms. While they held him, one of the other guards prodded the gnoll-who had regained its footing-in the duergar's direction.
'Let me free, you bastards,' the dwarf screamed, but they held him fast. The gnoll was practically on top of him when Tazi suddenly remembered the length of leather cord in her waistband. Pulling it free, she wound each end around her fists a few times. She tugged on the length between her hands once and launched herself onto the gnoU's back.
With her arms crossed at the elbows, Tazi looped the thong around the beast's head and wrapped her legs tightly around its waist. She pulled her arms apart, the tether hard against the gnoU's throat. It bucked and spun around, desperate to shake Tazi loose as she crushed its windpipe. In desperation, the gnoll ran itself backward into the cage bars in an attempt to smash her, but Tazi held tight despite the pain. Eventually, the beast sagged to its knees and collapsed face first.
Tazi rose to one knee, breathing ragged, and pulled on her makeshift garrote until she was sure the creature was dead. The cheering from the guards faded into silence, and they released their hold on the dwarf.
'That's one you owe me,' Tazi said breathlessly, when the duergar moved over to inspect the dead gnoll. He said nothing.
From a corner of the stable, Heraclos stepped into the light. He looked no worse for wear from his skirmish with Tazi, sporting a fresh cloak and no obvious signs of injury. Tazi was both surprised to see him and not so. Since her mock trial, she suspected something. Events had seemed contrived, and she knew someone was manipulating her. The bodyguard's appearance at this moment merely confirmed her suspicions. All that had just transpired was a show for his benefit. Tazi wasn't certain if it had been for his amusement or something more, but she was sure he had arranged it.
'Take that thing out of there,' he ordered the guards, pointing at the very dead gnoll. They obeyed him instantly, even the lecherous one. So much for him just being a servant, she thought.
Two of the guards forced Tazi and the duergar against the far side of the cage with their staffs. Tazi was still breathing hard, as was the dwarf, and she realized they didn't have the energy to escape. Four others entered and each grabbed one of the gnoll's limbs. Between them, they were able to haul its deadweight out of the cell and down the aisle, though Tazi heard more than a few curses drift back to her. She glanced past the sentry with the longstaff to watch the Thayan bodyguard.
'That is to be all for tonight,' he instructed the guard who had mentioned Tazi would 'get hers' earlier in the evening. She was positive some coins changed hands.
'Let them be,' he added, and Tazi saw the guard nod in acquiescence^. The bodyguard turned with a flourish of his cloak and strode down the aisle toward the exit. Tazi noted he never spared a single glance toward any of the other pens' occupants. The remaining guards looked at Tazi with a more appraising eye and whispered amongst themselves. Finally, they filed away as well and extinguished the torches as they passed by them for the second time that night.
'If it is night,' Tazi muttered. 'No way to tell in here.'
Utterly exhausted, Tazi lay down in one of the corners of the pen. She was too tired to even try to talk any further with the dwarf or make certain he wasn't injured, though she was confident he had managed to escape serious hurt; he seemed skilled at looking out for himself and himself alone. There would be time enough tomorrow, she mused. She also felt confident enough that they would be left undisturbed for the rest of the shift, and she planned to make the most of it. The last sight Tazi saw before her heavy lids closed was the duergar watching her coldly. Then, for a few hours, she saw no more.
CHAPTER FIVE
22 Mirtul, 1373 DR
Tazi unwillingly opened her eyes, unable to ignore the incessant shaking that disturbed her troubled dreams. She discovered the duergar was hunched over her, shoving her shoulder roughly.
'What is it?' Tazi demanded, squinting from her exhaustion. 'Have we got more company?'
Her morose companion simply shook his head and pointed down to one of the distant cages. Tazi foUowed the length of his arm and saw the guards had returned. They moved methodically from pen to pen, rousing all the occupants and forcing them to stand in the aisle. The prisoners scuttled and scurried as best they could to obey the guards' demands. In one pen, however, a woman mewled like a sick cat and could not rise. She waved a weak arm in their direction. The guards exchanged a quick word, and the one closest to her ran her through with his sword. Tazi turned away, digging her nails so deeply into her clenched fists that she drew blood. She felt the dwarf grip her shoulder.
'No,' was all he said cryptically.
Before Tazi could say anything else, three guards arrived at their pen and opened the lock.
'Get going,' a man Tazi didn't recognize ordered.
Must be the next shift, she thought to herself.
'And no tricks,' he warned her. Obviously, they had heard of the previous night's event.
Tazi slowly rose to her feet. It wasn't the first time she had slept on hard ground, but she still ached from her battle with the gnoll. The dwarf, sprang nimbly to his feet. Of course, he didn't expend nearly the same amount of energy that I did, Tazi reflected. Why would he be sore at all?
Silently, Tazi and the duergar marched along and joined up with the rest of the slow moving prisoners. While none of the other slaves were restrained, the guard who had spoken to Tazi bound her hands in front of her. Two guards led the procession, and three surrounded Tazi and her former cellmate as they brought up the rear. Along the way out, Tazi saw that the woman wasn't the only slave not to leave her pen alive. As they passed the first pen, Tazi caught sight of the little girl. She lay in a skeletal heap in the corner, finally overcome by starvation. Tazi stopped so suddenly, the guard trailing her drew his sword.
'Move it,' he snarled. Tazi turned around savagely and looked as though she wouldVe ripped the guard's throat out herself, bound hands or not. But before she could make a foolish mistake, the dwarf shoved her along himself.
Once outside, most of the slaves covered their eyes, wincing at the daylight. Tazi found herself blinking a bit at the morning sun, but she didn't mind. The ground was still damp from the morning dew and the rains from the night before. A slight steam rose up from where the sun started to warm the earth. But all Tazi noticed for the moment was how sweet the air tasted. She drew in several deep drafts and felt her head clear. She noticed the dwarf did the same. While they were prodded along, Tazi was now better able to observe their route. The guards were herding them away from the magistrate's building.
Because of the size and ill-health of the group, they couldn't move all that fast. She had time to mentally note much of their surroundings. The guards used less force and no outward signs of brutality to coerce the slaves since they had left the foulness of the stables. They led the group past a series of small shops that were still boarded over from the night before, though a few of the shopkeepers had started to arrive. They stood and watched the* slaves march past, and Tazi was able to recognize the appraising look in their eyes.
They turned left off of a narrow street. The way suddenly widened up, and Tazi found herself standing in an
