The Price of Love

Chapter 4

Sold

Across the arid terrain of Thousand Needles to at last the sun bleached valley known as Shimmering Sands; Kyrien was jostled about within the confines of his cage.

“Another day’s ride and we’ll be in Gadgetzan. You best not cause me any trouble elf.” growled Grothgar.

Ever since Kyrien’s would-be escape, Grothgar had been maintaining a close eye on him and once again he found himself bound. If any mercy had been granted to him it had been the loss of the blindfold.

The air was dry and heavy, and the sun was unforgiving. Kyrien felt the weight of the intense heat beat him down and weaken his will. His skin was sore and had turned an odd shade of fuscia. Sunburn was quite a new sensation to the young night elf who had spent all his life in the protective canopy of the wild forests.

“Hey!” called out Kyrien at last to the orc when he could no longer keep quiet.

“What?” snapped the orc in a gruff tone.

“I need water please.”

“So?” he snarled in contempt.

“I…” Kyrien hesitated a moment, “I also need to … you know.”

The orc stopped the wagon and rolled his eyes in annoyance; he reached into the cage and handed what looked like a rope with a noose at the end, to the night elf.

“Put that on, I’ll have no mischief from you.” He growled.

Kyrien sighed in annoyance over the humiliation as he put the make-shift leash over his head and secured it around his neck. The orc opened the cage and while keeping a stern grip on his end of the rope allowed Kyrien the privacy to relieve himself behind the wagon. Kyrien returned to the orc and once again pleaded for water. The orc snickered and poured some water from his canteen into a bowl and set it on the ground.

“Drink it!” he ordered, “Drink it like the dog you are.”

Kyrien glared at the orc, it wasn’t bad enough he was kidnapped but to be further humiliated was more than Kyrien could bear. Kyrien begrudgingly lowered himself onto all fours and drank the water as best he could. Grothgar laughed cruely and then cuddenly kicked sand into Kyrien’s face as he was hunched over. Kyrien’s mind went blank as rage overtook him, he suddenly used what little strength he had to lunge after the orc’s legs and force him to the ground. Kyrien freed the other end of his rope from the orc’s grasp as he stumbled backwards, completely caught off guard. Kyrien wasted no time, he leapt over the orc and began running as fast as his legs could take him. Grothgar’s wolf barked viciously from where he was tied to the wagon. Grothgar growled venomously as he struggled to his feet and quickly untied his wolf. The wolf sprinted after the fleeing night elf with predatory instinct.

“Faster! Faster!” Krien repeated the mantra in his head as he ran, knowing full well the slightest misstep would doom him.

The wolf was gaining on him, he could hear the wolf’s frenzied panting right behind him.

“No! I won’t be stopped!” screamed Kyrien’s thoughts as he continued to run. The sand was making it hard, putting resistance to his steps in addition to the harsh sun beating down and making it hard to breathe.

“Oh Gods No!” He screamed mentally as the ground before him suddenly stopped! He had run up on an ancient and abandoned dwarf mine. Kyrien leapt blindly and braced himself as he hit the steep incline of dirt and slid roughly to the base before rolling and somersaulting all the way down. He no sooner tried to pick himself up and run then Grothgar’s damned wolf pounced on him. Kyrien rolled on his back and threw his hands up, keeping the huge snapping jaws at bay as the wolf desperately sought to sink his teeth in violet flesh.

“Damned mutt!!!” roared Kyrien angrily.

Much to his dismay as he fought to keep the wolf from biting him he looked up at the ledge he had slid from only to see a familiar hulking silhouette looming over him. The orc’s cruel laughter chilled Kyrien’s blood as he knew what was in store for him would surely make him regret his attempt at escape.

Kyrien was unceremoniously dragged back to the wagon across the rough burning sand and his leash tied to the back of the wagon. Instead of being thrown back into his cage, Grothgar snickered as he started the wagon once more, giving the huge kodo a quick snap of the whip. Kyrien yelped as the wagon went with him tied to the back and struggling to keep up.

“It occurred to me you have too much energy, let’s see you try to escape once I run all the fight out of ya.”
Kyrien barely even heard the obnoxious orc as his feet desperately tried to keep pace while avoiding sharp rocks and bits of debris.

For what seemed like forever, Kyrien desperately tried to keep up, at last his feet became too heavy, his legs no longer obeyed him and with a final cry he collapsed as the wagon dragged him behind, slowly strangling him as the ground beat him mercilessly. It was then that the orc called the wagon to stop and he made his way to the abused night elf.

“I believe I’ve made my point.” growled the orc, “Looks as good a place as any to set up camp, we’ll arrive in Gadgetzan in the morning.”

Kyrien barely registered what was being said but felt himself being lifted up and then tossed into his cage. Kyrien was almost relieved to be shoved back into his cage, his feet were bloody and useless for the time being and he at last let himself drift into blissful unconsciousness.

The next morning, Kyrien awoke as the wagon began to move. He was still exhausted from the day prior. He was certainly a mess, his once vibrant green hair was matted with dirt, his feet a wounded mess, his entire body covered in scratches and bruises, and his skin burnt from the sun.

Not even half the day had gone by when at last Grothgar rode his wagon into Gadgetzan. At one time Gadgetzan had been a neutral territory for both the Horde and the Alliance but the goblin cartel that had come to power in the recent decade had been bought out by the horde and now the once neutral settlement was able to institute practices that the Alliance had frowned on such as gambling, the distribution of hive dust which was a powerful narcotic, and ultimately prostitution and slavery.
Kyrien waited in silence as Grothgar left the wagon parked outside a hut and went in to discuss Kyrien’s fate to the goblin slave trade auctioneer. Grothgar reemerged from the hut and pointed at Kyrien; two goblin boucers came out and drug him out of the cage and into the hut. Immediately an enchanted collar was fastened around his neck and a leash attached and secured to a metal pole in the center of the hut.

“There, that’ll prevent him from usin any magic or shapeshifting.” declared one of the goblin bouncers.

The goblin who seemed to be in charge began to look Kyrien over.

“He’s pretty banged up…” remarked the goblin shrewdly.

“He’ll clean up well enough, he turned out to be quite a handful.” replied Grothgar.

“So he has spirit then? That can be a good thing or a bad thing, tell you what I’ll give you 10 gold for him.” replied the goblin.

“10 gold huh?” the orc spat angrily, “I brought this elf in all the way from the western coast of Ferales, 10 gold won’t even pay to tend to my kodo.

“What do you propose then?”

“20 gold.” growled the orc.

“Ha! They say orcs aren’t too bright, must be so; an elf as battered as this is hardly going to be seen as a valuable slave. I’ll be generous, you can have 12 gold.”
Grothgar slammed his fist and inch from the goblin’s head, leaving an imprint of his fist in the wall.

“13 gold!”

“Do I need to break your face against my fist goblin?”

“15 gold! That’s my final offer.”

“Make it 16 and I’ll not break your legs.”

“Done!”

The goblin paid the orc who was eager to take his money and leave. Meanwhile Kyrien was still tied to the iron post in the tent as half a dozen goblins scurried in, some carryied fabrics, some carried buckets of water and rags, and others brought in oils and combs.

What happened next was the feeling of several small hands all over him, Kyried growled and struggled as the goblins were all over him, some pulled and yanked as they combed out his hair. Rough wet rags grinded across his skin as well as healing ointments which mended his sunburn. Kyrien squirmed and shuffled as some of the goblins cut away his torn linen pants to clean him thoroughly. At last when Kyrien feared his dignity was forever shattered, the goblins clothed him in light cotton pants and a simple matching blouse. Kyrien’s skin was finally anointed with some exotic oils for fragrance and he was at last led to a large hut that was guarded by two giant tauren.

Once inside it became apparent that this was where all the would-be slaves were kept before going on the auction block. Some were alliance members, a human male, a draenei female, and a small gnome male. There were a few others who were not alliance, these were victims of gambling debts, one was a goblin female, and the other was an orc male way past his prime.
Everyone cast their eyes on Kyrien but no one spoke, by the look of the tauren guard it was probably not encouraged for there to be talk among the prisoners.

Sounds came from outside, scuffling and arguing; Kyrien looked up and his heart nearly skipped at beat when he saw what was obviously a troll’s silhouette. Immediately he thought of Erllok and wondered if he dared hope the cunning troll had come to his rescue.

Alas, it was not so, the troll pushed his way inside, barking orders at the tauren to let him pass. One of the goblins ran up trying to stop him.

“Not so fast troll, no one gets to see the merchandise before it goes on auction.”

“Do I need to be remindin you who I am mon! I am one of de most feared warriors in dis desolate country! Did I not give you plenty of merchandise back when I be fightin in de Warsong Gulch? I feel I done earned me special privileges; one of dos bein te satisfy me curiosity and inspect any nu merchandise.”

“But it’s against our protocol!” complained the goblin.

“Need I remind you, you still owe me gold, want to add your wife to dis riffraff to pay your debt?”

“Err… that won’t be necessary, go ahead Wazaki but be quick.”

“Das more like it mon…”

The troll named Wazaki wandered into the tent, he had blue skin and a wild crest of blood red hair. One of his tusks had been broken off and the other jutted out menacingly. His eyes were cold and piercing and his features had more of a goblin resemblance that the smooth handsome features of Erllok. Kyrien felt the troll’s gaze on him and he stiffened as the troll warrior approached him.

“Well well, it’s not often we get a night elf, dis be a pretty one.”

Kyrien felt large hand grip his chin and guide his face to look the troll in the eyes.

“Not bad, Dis one be makin a fine replacement for da last pet I had.”

Kyrien wondered what the troll meant by ‘replacement’ and ‘pet’…Such choice of terms sent chills down his spine. Here was a troll who seemed to have no remorse, no compassion, behind his calm exterior was a burning rage that Kyrien could sense only too clearly when their eyes met. The darkness in Wazaki’s eyes was pure bloodlust.
Wazaki smirked and the other prisoners quickly turned away least any of them attract the renowned troll’s attention. Kyrien felt his brow break out into a cold sweat as the troll ran his clawed hand down the night elf’s body.

“Not bad, dis elf be in good condition… for now dat is.” Wazaki smirked and let one hand reach down boldly into Kyrien’s pants to grip his package firmly while the other hand gripped the back of his neck; holding him steady while the troll ran his tongue up along the night elf’s neck and to the tip of his pointed ear. Kyrien snapped and instinctively shoved the troll away, panting with slight arousal as well as disgust. How dare his body react for such a despicable fiend. Wazaki laughed and the other prisoners cowered.

“You got some spirit mon, but when I get through wit ya, you gonna either call me master or you’re gonna be meetin ya ancestas real soon.” Wazaki blew Kyrien a farewell kiss and made a mocking gesture of a bow as he left the tent laughing wildly. Kyrien felt a sudden sickness in his stomach and desperately prayed that he might somehow escape.