Runt

Several of the grey rocks reached Lord Saban, and the human did the same thing with them as my lord had done with his. This made Lord Saban very annoyed, but he let the human do it anyways. I wondered why.

My lord didn't have many black rocks left. The stack of two black rocks got jumped over and removed, and this annoyed him very much. He looked at the board, eyes narrowed. Then, suddenly, one of his tentacles snapped out of his back and dashed the rocks off of the square. My lord snarled angrily, and the human flinched.

Lord Saban blinked, and his anger died down. He made noise at the human. He appeared to be trying to soothe him. I wondered why the human didn't get punished for making Lord Saban so angry. Then, the two of them began to set the rocks back on the board. When they were done, the whole process started again.

It was a challenge, I realized. Like a race, or fight where no one died. My lord was fighting this human with his mind. Why? Maybe it was like my exercises. Exercise the mind, make it stronger.

I watched as the two fought, mind against mind. This was starting to excite me. I followed the fight as first my lord, and then the human, took the lead. Then, my lord picked up the wrong piece.

--Not that one!-- I burst out. --That one!-- I sent him a picture of what I meant. Then I realized what I had done. I had tried to tell my master what to do. I squealed, and hid in the now fully drained mushrooms.

My lord laughed. --So you've been watching?--

...yes... I admitted. I quivered.

--It's alright. I want you to take an interest in things. And I'm impressed you figured out the rules.-- He paused thoughtfully. --If you have actually figured them out. What did you suggest I do?--

I showed him the move. My lord looked at the board. --It's legal...-- He mused. --But is the strategy sound?--

I sent him my projection of how the mental fight would go if he made the original move, and then how it would go if he made the move I suggested. My lord blinked. --Now I am very impressed. You figured all that out just by watching Garth and I play a game and a half?--

I huddled back into the mushrooms...I'm probably wrong...

--There's an easy way to be sure of how much you grasp-- my lord mused.

He reached for my cage. I squeaked...i don't want to come out...

--Tough-- my lord told me. --You're coming out, and I'm going to teach you another new thing.-- I scuttled away from his reaching tentacle, but was swiftly caught.

My lord held me in his human front leg. Ah. Holding things. That was what it was for. Then he reached into my mind. --This will hurt if you don't relax.--

--No!-- I yelped, struggling to escape. Whatever he was doing, I didn't want it!

I felt a burst of pain as something big was shoved into my mind. I squealed, shaking uncontrollably.

I heard the human -Garth- make noises, but this time they meant something to me. "You're hurting him," Garth protested.

"That's none of your business," my lord replied, also aloud. "Besides, it wouldn't hurt him if he wasn't fighting me."

"He's fighting because he's terrified of you," Garth noted with disapproval.

"True," my lord admitted. "Little demons are instinctively frightened of bigger ones, and our sizes are about as different as they can get." He patted me gently, smiling fondly. "But you're ok now, right, runt?"

I shivered, but sent an affirmative. The ability to understand humans was well settled in my mind, and now that the pain was done, I was glad I had it. I had been wondering what my lord and the human had been saying.

"Can you take a small version of the human form?" my lord asked me. Then he shook his head. "Nevermind. You only learned shifting today. There's no way you can do a complete shift so soon."

...i can try... I mumbled, hoping to please him.

"No. You'll just wear yourself out, and we have more important things to do than exercising your shifting powers," my master said. "I want you to finish the game."

I blinked...finish it?...

"Yes." My lord tried to place me on the board, but I clung to him.

...i'm scared of the human... I admitted...he's really big...

In an instant, my lord had Garth bound in tentacles. Garth swallowed. With my new knowledge, I recognized the smell in the air. Terror. The human was terrified of my master.

"If he tried to hurt you," my lord informed me, "I'd have him bound long before he could do serious harm. Humans are weak and slow."

He released Garth. "Besides, Garth's too smart to try something that dumb. He knows what I'd do to him if he hurt you. Right, Garth?"

Garth swallowed again, and his fear scent grew stronger. "I have some idea, yes." His fingers traced a scar on his arm, one of many all over his body.

Lord Saban smiled. "See? Nothing to be afraid of." He placed me on the board.

I picked up the rock I'd chosen, which I now knew was called a checker, and slowly moved it toward where I wanted it. It was bigger than I was, and heavy.

Saban sighed, and picked me up. "Where did you want it, again?"

The game was enormously fun. I lost, but, when the game was done, Garth told Saban that I was talented.

"He was right about that being the better move," he told Lord Saban. "Given time, he'll beat me regularly."

Lord Saban sighed. "More regularly than me?"

Garth flinched. "He might. But it's just a game! It doesn't really matter."

My lord smiled. "Of course."

Garth shook his head, eyes fearful. "One of these d-days, you're going to kill me when you lose."

Lord Saban's smile grew dangerous. "Perhaps. But I'll definitely kill you if I find out you let me win."

*

Saban

I entered my room, looked over at the cage, and sighed. My presence had awoken the runt. It was normal for demons to awaken when they felt other demons nearby. It was instinct, and, in the wild, a very good instinct. There, another demon, particularly a larger demon, meant danger.

In a lord's service, even knowing the penalties for attacking a fellow subject, those instincts were hard to shake. For that reason, all sleeping chambers had walls that could block mental senses. I couldn't have my subjects going without sleep just because they could sense each other.

There were a few anomalies. Inka and Aka, two sisters, shared a room because they preferred to sleep together. One of my demons, Gurg, could sleep through anything, which would have gotten him killed long ago in the wild. Then there were various demons who could tolerate each other to a greater or lesser degree.

My favorite anomaly, though, were the demons who didn't react to my presence in sleep. They were the ones who trusted me, completely and absolutely, not to harm them. In battle, they were the ones who never questioned my orders, knowing that my highest priority was to take care of my demons. They were the ones whose courage was absolute, provided I was near. And they were the ones I entrusted with positions of command.

I sighed again. For some reason, I'd been hoping the runt would number among those trusting few. That was foolish, and a bit sentimental. Just because I had saved his life didn't mean that he'd learn to trust me. He might not even realize how much danger he had been in as a runt in the wilds. He likely considered me more his captor than his savior.

The runt peered out at me. I realized that he was noticeably larger than he had been when I brought him in. Being able to eat as much as he wanted was doing him good.

...good evening, my lord... said the runt, voice still tiny and a bit nervous.

--Good evening, little one-- I replied. --How have your exercises been going?--

...i can move a checker more quickly now... murmured the runt...But complex shapeshifting is still hard...

--Materialization?-- I prompted.

The tiny blue demon perked up. Then he looked down shyly...I can make pretty complex items now... He lifted two tentacles, and, suddenly, he was grasping a tiny version of an item I'd gotten from a portal to a human realm. Garth had called it a windup toy. You twisted the tiny crank, and, when you released it, the little monkey's head bobbed up and down, and its eyes looked from side to side.

I looked between it and the real version in my runt's cage. --Does it work?--

The runt sent me a shy affirmative, and wound the toy. The monkey's head bobbed and the eyes twitched, just like the real thing.

I didn't tell the runt that he was doing better at this than most grown demons. That would just make him embarrassed, and perhaps stunt his progress. I merely said. --Good job.--

I looked around at my hoard of human items, wondering what I should have him mimic next. Or should I try a different tactic? --Try to make something like that, except a bird, not a monkey.--

The runt nodded reluctantly...i'll try...

--For now, though, let's play some checkers-- I told him. It was nice to have an opponent besides Garth. I'd tried to teach some of my other demons, but most of them didn't really understand it. The runt was clever for a demon. That, alone, made him worth the time, resources, and effort I'd put into him. Capturing him had been a good decision.

*

Runt

After the game, Lord Saban left. I swiftly scuttled to the cage mesh. The monkey was not the only item I'd been working on materializing. I reached a tentacle out of the cage mesh. Then I materialized the tool.

It was basically a long, specially shaped hook. It had taken me some effort to materialize something that large, but I had managed it in the end. Slowly, I worked it into the latch mechanism. Then I tugged.

The cage door popped open.

Swiftly, I made my way up the outside of the cage, and then up one of the wires suspending it. I crouched, shifting my shape to one better suited for jumping. Then I lept.

I landed squarely in the ventilation shaft. Hurriedly, I scuttled along it, out of sight.

The shaft wasn't very long, and it opened straight to the outside. With a delighted squeak, I scurried away, rejoicing in my newfound freedom.

It wasn't long before I got hungry. I tracked down a small, insect-like lesser demon and drained it of power. Its empty husk crumbled to dust.

Suddenly I felt a mind near me. Another demon! The demon reached for me. I scurried away, but it was faster. It caught me, and, lifting me up, examined me.

Suddenly it dropped me, and then turned and ran. I crouched low and looked around warily. What had made the other demon run? Surely it wasn't afraid of me! I was tiny and weak. But I could sense nothing near besides it and a few tiny lesser demons.

I continued on more cautiously. Whatever it was afraid of, I should fear as well. Anything that could hurt it could pulverize me.

I grew tired. The eternal fire in the sky had not dimmed, but then, it rarely did. I found a small, empty hole. The former owner of the hole must have died long ago, or moved on, because I could sense nothing of it. Then I lined the hole with blades of grass. It was not as comfortable as the nest I'd had back at Lord Saban's fortress, but it was well enough.

I would miss that incredibly soft nest. The easy access to food. The games of checkers, too. For the first time, I wondered if I had made a mistake in running away.

*

I awoke to terror. What was going on? I squealed as a giant red tentacle grasped me and yanked me from my burrow.

Immediately, I took my defensive form. I heard my demon captor call to another demon. --Look at what I got! It's a runt! A well fed runt.-- A giant eye peered in through one of the holes in my shell. --Good eating.--

I closed all the holes, but it was no use. The big red demon smashed me against a rock. I squealed as my shell shattered, and then reformed as my healing kicked in. Before it could fully reform, the bigger demon pried away one of the losened pieces. Ouch! It pierced my bare and bleeding flank, and began to feed.

I heard a shout. --Anges! Don't!--

My captor turned to his companion. --Why not, Ruges? It's a runt. It's not like it's going to hurt me. And it tastes so good!--

--Look at it, Anges! It's marked! And by Lord Saban!-- Ruges backed away nervously.

A big eye peered at me, and then, suddenly, I was falling. I hit the rock beneath me with a crack. Anges backed away, like I'd suddenly grown to tree size.

--Please!-- he begged. --I'm sorry! Please, don't tell your master!--

Another mind appeared on my radar, this one familiar. I could feel it pulsing with rage. A cold voice said, --It's a bit late for that.--

Instead of grabbing Anges, my lord drove two spikes through him. I heard the red demon scream as he was drained. --No! Please! Ple...--

Ruges ran, and Lord Saban allowed him to do so. As Anges crumbled to dust, my lord scooped me up. I didn't try to flee him. What would be the point?

I shrank, trying to look humbled...I'm sorry, my lord...

Lord Saban examined me thoughtfully. --I should punish you-- he said.

I shrank further...I know...

--However... Did you learn anything from your little adventure?-- my lord asked me.

I looked up at him...you protect me. even when you're not there, your reputation protects me. as long as I am yours, I am safe... I paused...if I behave...

Lord Saban patted me fondly. --Right answer. And will you try to flee again?--

...no... I told him...I...I was afraid. I'm not anymore...

Lord Saban smiled as I made myself comfortable in his grip. --Good. Now, rest. I'll take you home.--

As the journey began, my eyes slid closed, and I drifted off to sleep.