Ascent into Empyrean

The following morning found Lathan feeling passably fit and well-rested considering he'd spent half the night unconscious. Yes, he was still chained to a wagon in the centre of Orgrimmar, still the subject of whispered comments and small children throwing stones, but that was head and shoulders better than the day before, when all he'd been able to do was hide and hope that death came for him sooner rather than later.

He'd even got breakfast. Perhaps it was guilt, but whatever caused it, Lathan wasn't going to complain when Blot turned up with fresh bread and a hunk of meat still warm from the fire and dripping bloody grease everywhere. Obviously Lathan would have preferred pastries or fruit, but he'd learned over the years that no food was too revolting to pass up when you were hungry enough.

Licking his fingers to get the last smears of flavour, he stared around the marketplace, noting that he was now far from being the only slave. A nearby wagon had an old human, stooped and grey, and a pair of dwarfs, chained to it, a goblin hovering watchfully over them all.

As he sat, a female orc went over to them, hauling them up to their feet and examining them in the same way Kaggol had examined Lathan that first time. The human she discarded immediately, as with one of the dwarfs. The other she took more time over, finally calling out for a price. Whatever the goblin asked must have been acceptable as the orc nodded and dug in her money purse before taking her purchase away with her and continuing along the rows. The dwarf followed, head down and not looking back.

Would that be what happened to him, Lathan wondered? Passed over to some orc for who knew what? Though perhaps that would be better than the alternative. He had no great desire to be stuck up on the auction block, after all. Maybe the female needed another slave? Maybe he should draw attention to himself somehow?

He sat up straight as she came closer, tempted to smile but remembering at the last moment what Valessan had said about how it made him look. She paused, glancing briefly at him before yelling, "Kaggol, you one-eyed thief, where are you?"

"Gertan! My love, my life, how can I help you today?" Kaggol emerged from behind the wagon.

"I'm after humans. Got anything?"

"Not a one. Only the elf, though he'd pass for human if you cut his ears off."

Lathan's hands flew to his ears. They wouldn't, would they? Oh, who was he kidding, of course they would if they thought there was money to be made from it.

Thankfully the orc was shaking her head. "Got to be real human this time. The scribe won't settle for anything else. Says the proper binding complements his work, or some such rubbish."

"Ah, ah, the customer is always right, Gertan."

"Too true. Especially when he's paying as much gold as this fool." She peered more closely at Lathan. "I might be back later. Take this off your hands if you can't shift it. Price?"

"Seventy."

The orc roared with laughter, swatting Kaggol with enough force to make him stagger. "Seventy! You'll be lucky to get thirty from the arena." She sobered, looking calculating. "I'll give you forty five."

"Sixty and I won't go lower. Elves don't grow on trees, Gertan, and you know it."

"Hmm." She shook her head. "No, too rich for me. Orders for elf-skin are few and far between."

"But you could sell off the rest. There's no waste on an elf."

Lathan listened with increasing horror as they discussed rendering him down for parts. Hair, bones, skin, organs, even flesh parcelled up and sold as delicacies to a troll eatery the orc knew of. Thankfully, even Kaggol had to agree that the total raised still wouldn't match the initial outlay plus expenses incurred, and so the orc moved on.

"Damn it," Kaggol muttered when she was out of earshot. "That's another potential customer gone." He turned, aiming a desultory kick in Lathan's direction. "At this rate it'll be the arenas for you and a loss for me."

"Arenas?" Lathan asked, before thinking.

The goblin blinked at him. "Arenas. Target practice. You think gladiators learn by killing each other? Pah!" He waved a hand. "They cost far too much to replace. Better to use cheaper meat." Still muttering, Kaggol disappeared back behind the wagon.

Lathan stared after him. Target practice? Or parts? That was all he had to look forward to? He'd be better off hanging himself from the nearest tree, if he could only get close enough to one. Damn it, he would have been better off if that healer had never been called.

*


It was later that day that another option presented itself. Lathan had been hiding from the worst of the heat under the wagon when a female voice called out, "I've had an idea. Kaggol? Did you hear me? I've had an idea for our rat!"

"Back here, mistress Valessan."

Lathan poked his head out and, seeing who it was, wriggled his way to the other side to best eavesdrop on the ensuing conversation.

"There you are." She flopped down on the only chair and waved a hand in front of her face. "Tell me you have something to drink. I swear, no matter how long I'm in this city, the heat becomes no easier."

Kaggol gave a dutiful laugh, grudgingly produced a bottle and poured two small measures. "I'm sure, mistress. Now what was your idea? Something to raise gold? The feed bill keeps on going up, you know."

"Oh, I know only too well. Listen." She sat forward. "The Venture Company are hiring."

"And? So?"

"And! So! We hire him out! They're paying seventy silvers a day for grunt-work. If he's costing ten to feed then that's…" she paused, frowning.

"Ninety days labour. Make it a round one hundred and there's a profit to split. Did they say how long they were hiring for?"

"No, but the Foreman was talking about opening a new operation near Sludge Fen so surely it would have to be for a few months at least."

"Hm. Mistress Valessan, you might just have saved our purses. Well done." Kaggol clapped his hands, his eyes fair glowing with excitement. "And we'll hire Blot on as well! He can add a bit more to the coffers and keep a watching brief on the elf at the same time."

"Perfect. I couldn't have suggested better myself."

"Now, obviously I can't speak to them, not and keep my privileges with the Cartel, so can I leave the negotiations up to you?"

"For the both of them? Kaggol, my dear, for you I'll even lower my fee."