"Move slave!" I felt the harsh whip of my new master, a small little asshole I'd lovingly nicknamed shabastard (its easy to get out under your breath). I'd been sold at auction a couple days previous to this endearing little jerk. Shorties most of the time are like I have previously described, slaves themselves or feral tribal crazy people (well they were back then, now adays they are a bit more civilized and a bit less enslaved, not all are not currently in shackles, but a lot of them have gotten freedom since the war). This little monster apparently was someones favorite something or other once upon a time and now he takes it out on buying normal sized slaves and treating them like crap! My fire ability which I thought would at least get me a master mildly competent in magic and potentially instruct me in the finerys of life (hahahahaha yeah I was really stupid back then, though honestly having read some rather old fiction stories from the time period this was a common fantasy), instead I got a short rude little dick who made me carry him around on small cart everywhere. It had been two days since he'd purchased me and ever since then I'd been traveling back to his home, every break I took got me a whipping (past a certain pain ceiling you just start taking breaks to be a dick, yeah it hurts but you're already hurt, might as well be rested and more hurt). Shorties entourage consisted of a couple large muscled guards (big on martial skill short on brains they said little because I don't think they knew very much language), a couple new slave girls he'd purchased alongside me (I felt more sorry for them as I was only getting whipped, I didn't have to please shabastard), and me the poor carriage boy. The rest of them walked but shabastard did not, it was beneath him (I had heard that phrase so much in the past two days everything was beneath him, I'd like to have put a pit of lava beneath him).
"Slave!!!!!" Another whip, I'd been resting for a moment now, a small smile spread across my lips with each futile whip. He wasn't using one of the burners, his was the more traditional animal hide make, it still freaking hurt though.
"I'm sorry master I was enjoying the view." The view in this case was red dirt hills with crappy yellow weeds growing amongst them, we'd been traveling southwest, and apparently had hit some form of desert or wasteland of some sort. Water was in short supply so I had gotten very little (that or food, which was great for my figure but hell on my digestive ability). My quip got another whipstrike and I picked up the cart and kept moving, I heard some small chuckles from the guards. It was getting towards dusk when we came across an older lady in the road. She was dressed in animal hides from various different beasts, but unlike Grengor her armor was more uniform, there was definately function over form, all vital areas were covered. She wore no helmet, but I'm sure she had one.
"Move out of the road whore!" Shabastard showed his usual restraint. I noticed for a moment how bad off we currently were. She was standing in the middle of a tighter path lined by both sides of a canyon wall (clearly this path had been cut so as to make travel easier, but at the same time also make ambushes easier), it was also getting dark so visibility was reduced. I couldn't even make out the womans face and I was out front, she had red hair that much was for sure.
"For someone so short on manners, you think you'd make up for it by being big on guards." Her voice was lower then I expected, the kind of gravely sort you'd here from people who lived their entire lives in bars.
"Sir I don't really think we should aggravate the lady, we're not in a..." I attempted to counsel Shabastard and felt the sting of his whip in response. I noticed the woman in front of us flinch with the strike.
"Silence slave, when I want your counsel I'll ask for it, which will be never." Shabastard really was a clever sort. "For a whore you're overdressed, and I have no coin for a woman who has no respect for artistry, begone!" You ever hear a child try and command an adult? Kind of the same thing here. The woman didn't respond, instead she snapped and the ambush was sprung. Men with bows and similar looking armor to their leader surrounded Shabastard.
"Shit." I was the only one apparently upset at this turn of events. Of all ways I wanted to die, bandits in the wild to a mouthy jerk was not one of them (I'm a mouthy jerk, I should be the one to die by my own mouthyness!). The muscle of course offered no resistance (pay checks don't spend nothing if you are dead) Shabastard was quite angry with this turn of events.
"You guilder slut!!! I'll have your entire organization eliminated for this slight!" Guilder of course meaning hunters guild, he had surmized our robber was a professional monster hunter and upsetting her was a good idea? I dunno I'm stupid, I'm not that stupid.
"See you're assuming you're going to live through this, I wouldn't do that little man." It was quick, a flash of a dagger and Shabastard was Shadeadbastard, I truly mourned the loss. The leader said some words to the muscle and sent them on their way with the two female slaves, I was left alone now with her and her six armed associates. Things were looking, well pretty damn awful.
"I'm a slave lady, I have no loyalty to him, I just met him!" When in doubt distance yourself from the recently murdered. The lady came forward, the light was dying more now, but there was a look of familiarity with her.
"I know Trezlan, I know all about what's happened to you as of late, and I'm here to say, I'm sorry." Now you may have noticed at no point Shabastard ever used my name (he didn't even know it to the best of my knowledge). So for this new lady to use it, was a bit of a shock.
"You know me?"
"Not directly, I got a letter once from my sister about you, but I never much liked your father and the feeling was mutual, it was only recently when I went by to see how you were doing that I found out the snake had sold you to some loser, I tracked down that guy and he told me of what happened to you. And so here we are." The others were closer now, I could sense their eyes upon me. I had no shirt on despite it not being the warmest time of the year, the long wounds down my back probably weren't the greatest first impression. I got the sense of pity? Perhaps a little sorrow at my state.
"We're related?" Ok back then I was a bit slow sue me.
"Of course Trezlan! I'm your aunt! You can call me Corli, and these fine gentleman behind you are my men, you are now safely in the company of the best hunters guild around nephew!" I'll admit it was a great feeling to know that someone out there cared. It was so much of a relief I passed out (ok that could have also been from malnutrition combined with being whipped). Tomorrow you learn of my Aunt the Monster hunter, her guild, and how I Trezlan Lorentino, became the greatest monster hunter the world has never known (ok that last part may be a bit of a stretching of truth).
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