Chapter 127: Chapter 127
In the heart of quagoa territory, once the heart of dwarven territory, the mighty chief inspected their new harvest grounds. Lizards and other creatures tasty to the quagoa were being raised in captivity for the first time.
'Revolution.' That was the word he heard his people say sometimes as he kept husbanding his people's strength. With food of that sort, in addition to the diet of ores for strong children from capable families, the quagoa grew stronger every year.
'Our numbers continue to grow.' Pe Riyuro thought with great satisfaction as he passed by one of the dwarf slaves that, clad only in rags, groveled when he passed them by to inspect another pen.
This one had bats. Another with a small rodent species. Another pen held actual crops fit for growing inside of a mountain, a delicate moss that took only minimal moisture but turned out to be both tasty and nutritious.
The more distant dwarves who tended the crops did not have to stop their work, but they did pause long enough to bow their heads. None of them had beards.
'Cutting those to shame them turned out to be more effective than I ever dreamed, much like the decision to keep the captives alive to work. It turns out that the humans were right. A good labor force is essential to progress.' He mused but kept the thought private.
Everybody believed these were only his ideas and his alone. 'As long as they believe in my infinite wisdom and foresight, half my power base is secure.' He disciplined his mind again as his escort took him down the line.
The stone road of the once great dwarven city passed between areas that once held houses. Now the buildings were gone, the walls leveled and turned on their sides to create perfect flat surfaces on which to grow crops and raise food. The pasture under the mountain was the next big project.
"In a few more months, sire, we'll have enough food to lay a full blown siege on the dwarven capital, as soon as the last outlying settlements are broken on the other side of the gorge, only the capital will remain. We estimate that if we can keep them confined in their city for a period of six months, then they will start to starve. We aim to have one year's worth of supply prepared before that happens."
Their steady feet fell with their waddling gait, at roughly one and a half meters tall they were not big, even Pe Riyuro knew the truth that most of his people couldn't admit to themselves.
'As races of this world go, we are among the weaker ones, not much stronger than humans, and other than high resistance to cutting weapons, we're not greatly more powerful than dwarves. But we can still win… and we will. Even if we must submit to the dragons for now.' Something had to be made of that, sooner or later.
'I need to have our people bred for resistance to breath weapons and tougher hides against claws… with that and our numbers…?' The chief thought and imagined his quagoa climbing up the body of a dragon, prying open its scales and tearing its flesh out as it flailed while the things he looked down on, devoured him like ants on an injured lizard.
The open area had a clear view for a very long way, the shadows cast by captured glowstones were preferable to the light itself, but the slaves needed at least some light to work. So they granted them a bit, though it hurt their eyes enough still, forcing them to squint in the low light, about that, he did not care.
Some buildings remained on the fringes, and the chief pointed to one of them, "How full?"
They were the biggest buildings on the fringes, turned into impromptu 'granaries' with preservation magic added to hold lizard meat as well as moss and other foodstuffs kept fresh for later use.
"Over half right now, my Chief." The minor functionary replied and wrung his hands together, bending slightly forward in submission, his pulse throbbed with the hope that his chief would be pleased with their progress.
Both of their bellies rumbled at once.
"Would you like to try some of our meat, my Lord?" The functionary asked.
"Yes… yes I would." He said, and at a clicking of his claws a dwarf slave jogged over and prostrated himself on the stone.
"This one begs to know how to please his Masters!" The dwarf half shrieked. The shaved faced dwarf had a criss cross of scars on his face, simply put, he wasn't starved, but he was marked with many scars that proved no magic had been used to heal injuries done to him.
'Broken, well and truly broken…' Pe Riyuro mused with satisfaction. The stumpy ones he kept had a mixed bag of treatment, but all had the rebellion snuffed out of them sooner or later.
"Food, lizards, be quick about it." The functionary replied, and the dwarf popped up to his feet and jogged away, returning moments later with a dwarven made stone box holding many fresh, living lizards. The stumpy dwarf grunted and set it down before them, then prostrated himself before the Masters to wait in silence while they ate.
"We'll sit, and take our time. A good meal shouldn't be rushed, and you seem to be doing well." Pe Riyuro added, and a heavy sigh of relief escaped the subordinate.
...An hour later...
Pe Riyuro was salivating over yet another delicious squiggly lizard. It crawled around on his claws, its tiny legs carried it round and round the hand that rotated under it. The lizard reached the end of the furry clawed hand, jumped to the next one and the chief Pe Riyuro of the quagoans began the process again.
'Always the same game, and yet I never tire of it.' He thought as the little white legs scrambled along in a desperate bid to escape its fate. The legs were starting to slow.
Not by much.
But a little bit.
Some of his saliva dripped past the gaps in his sharp maw and fell to splash on the little white lizard's back. Its milky eyes were useless so it had no idea why it was going nowhere.
Blind.
Blind to its fate.
Blind to the game of its captor.
The little lizard's tail wiggled, Pe Riyuro traced a single finger claw over its back. The frantic lizard redoubled its efforts, scrambling on one turning hand after the other without ever moving an inch away from the hungry quagoan chieftain.
'Almost time.' He thought. This one was near the record.
"One thousand and one." He said in a hoarse whisper.
"One thousand and two." He added as he rotated his hand again. The little lizard's tiny chest was pounding, its tiny head craned up on the neck, it could hear Riyuro breathing over him.
A few feet away from the chief, one of his comrades plucked a wiggling lizard from a box, tossed it into his mouth, and closed his maw, killing the thing instantly. A leg dropped with a wet 'splat' to the stone floor, but the rest of it slid down the other quagoa's throat easily.
"One thousand and three… four... five...six." Pe Riyuro said and stopped counting. The lizard collapsed on its belly, its legs no longer moving, its chest pounding, but it could run no more.
'One more step… you wonder if one more step might have saved you?' He thought and plucked the exhausted lizard up by its tail. It mustered one feeble wiggle, blessedly blind to the sight of the chief's teeth and maw, it still felt the hot breath wafting over it as it was lowered to be tenderly placed on the chief's tongue.
With no more strength, it lay limp on the bed of flesh in Pe Riyuro's mouth as the jaw closed, crunched into his limbs and rent his flesh asunder. Not even a single muscle moved as the taste of blood hit Pe Riyuro's tongue and the limbs were severed. The little lizard slid down his throat into his stomach while still alive.
It wiggled again, creating a little fluttering tickle in the chief's stomach.
Then it stopped moving and did not start again.
"Delicious." He said and licked the flecks of lizard blood from his lips to savor every bit of flavor.
He might have chosen to indulge in another, but the force of a hurricane wind hit him, nearly knocking him off his feet and the shadows of the city under the mountain deepened. He glanced up and saw the impossible.
Fear.
Fear on the face of dragons that were descending to where he stood.
His blood ran cold, and he could not look away.
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