Chapter 11
Life With the Tanjas
I was too tired to get to my feet. I hadn't slept since Topaz had disappeared, and that had been a couple of days ago. With a yawn, I got ready to close my eyes again. Then, whatever it was that had woken me up nudged me again. It was a stick in my side. I jumped away from the bars, growling at the Tanja with the stick. It snickered and walked to the cage door. I crouched back against the opposite back corner and growled. It opened the door and came through. It didn't heed my growling but walked right up beside me and hit me in the muzzle with its paw. I yelped and growled again. It was standing on two legs pretty well, a feat I hadn't accomplished for more than a few seconds. The Tanja smacked the top of my head with a paw and watched me fall to the ground. It kicked me in the side, as best it could without falling over, and swatted my head again. I was dizzy.
"Okay, you can get up now," the Tanja said in Code.
I closed my eyes and opened them again. The world was spinning, but I was getting to my feet. My vision cleared, and I looked around. The creature had a metal collar on me and a rock on his left wrist. I was to his left side. I looked at his wrist and realized the rock was really a magnet. I looked up at it.
"That there is a metal collar. I'm wearing a magnet. This magnet is strong enough to keep you by my side but weak enough to let you travel about three feet out. It works just like a leash, without the breaking possibility. If you try to stand, the magnet will hold your collar so that you cannot get any higher than where the magnet and my wrist are. If I raise my wrist and tell you to stand, you will be able to stand, but no higher than my magnet. If the magnet is by my side, you won't be able to go any higher than my waist. If you keep these things in mind, you might keep yourself out of trouble. I hear you're pretty clever, so let's try to keep this as pleasant as possible. Got it?" It barked at the end of the Code.
I growled but followed it willingly out of the cage.
"My name's Tormran. I found you, captured you, and now I'll be training you. Don't act up , or it'll be your hide that's gonna pay."
I trotted along at a steady gait, keeping pace with Tormran. I didn't quite understand what he meant by training, but I hoped it would be nothing painful. I was tired of pain and knock outs.
"Tormran!" yelled a Tanja a moment later.
We had just entered another room. We seemed to be in a pyramid. It was quite large and dusty. It looked very old. The stone walls were crumbly and tan. I was taken into a larger room than the one I'd just been in. It had a few doors leading to other rooms, trap doors leading to lower rooms, and stone tables. The tables came up to Tormran's waist.
I was taken to a table, and Tormran lifted his wrist. I jumped up on the table. He set his wrist against my collar to hold me there. I growled as another Tanja came to Tormran's side.
"What a nice specimen you have here," he commented.
Tormran glared at me and said,"Yes, but it's very clever."
"Looks pretty stupid to me," said the other Tanja.
Note that at the time, I could not understand their language. Tormran told me later what they had said, and I had to take his word for it.
Tormran lifted his eyes from me to the Tanja and replied,"We'll discover more with time."
The Tanja nodded thoughtfully and reached out toward my muzzle. I snapped at him. Tormran smacked my head with his right paw and brought his left paw to table level, slamming my head into the stone. I whimpered. He growled. I gave a weak wag of my tail, and he let me up. I shook my body and licked my teeth.
"Just a regular animal. No sense in training it if it's like everything else. Might as well roast it up. We're running out of food, you know."
Tormran smacked my hind quarters with his paw and replied,"Nah, it'll do fine. Just wait. Give me a week to train it, and we'll have made real progress."
The Tanja looked at me suspiciously and said,"I don't know. It doesn't look all that bright. Let's just throw it to the towns people and see what they think."
Tormran spun around, totally forgetting my collar and the magnet. He sent me to the floor, but when he noticed what he'd done didn't stoop down to help me up. He grabbed the Tanja's throat and looked him straight in the eyes.
"We are going to train this animal. Got it?"
The Tanja knocked Tormran to the ground, which knocked me to the ground. I yipped and figured I'd be bruised.
"Don't ever talk to me that way again, Tormran! GOT IT?" yelled the Tanja.
Tormran stood, holding his jaw and licking his teeth. "Got it," he growled through clenched teeth.
He grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and dragged me out of the room. The Tanja growled and walked away.
"You stupid animal. Like you couldn't have acted remotely smart," he growled at me in Code.
"I behaved myself, didn't I?" I growled back.
He dropped me on the ground and slammed his wrist to the floor.
I yelped as my jaw smashed into the stone.
"Don't you ever use that mouth of yours toward me in that way again. If you do,, it'll be your tongue in pain next time."
I whimpered and wriggled on the floor. He lifted his paw off the ground and continued walking. I quickly got to my feet and caught up to him. Tormran was one vicious Tanja. I hoped they weren't all like that.
"Eeerrrr herrrrr hhhheeeerrrr," laughed the Tanjas.
I whined and jumped from the sticks.
As if I didn't have enough to worry about, now they had me in a cage and were poking sticks at me. It was a cage outside. The ground was grassy, and they had a fire lit. I guess I was the source of their entertainment, for I didn't see anyone else milling about the pyramids.
"Owwwwrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!" I cried as a stick stabbed me in the side.
The Tanjas burst out laughing and continued their game. There must have been about twenty of them all poking sticks at me at one time.
"Alrrrrrrrrrrrrright!" came a bark from outside the huge circle of Tanjas.
They had all come out to watch and gathered around the group poking sticks into my cage. They were making bets with raw meat as to who could stab me.
"Scram you no good low lifes!" cried a Tanja.
The Tanjas growled but scattered. I was relieved when I saw that the creature who had been yelling was Tormran, and that he was walking toward me.
Most of the creatures stood on their hind legs. I guess they all felt it was a slave or pet that must walk on all fours.
Tormran grabbed the cage door and slid it open. I whined and crammed myself in a corner of the very small cage.
It had just enough room for me to turn around.
He grabbed my neck and dragged me out.
Holding me up by my neck with his left paw, for that was the paw with the magnet on it, he yelled,"Don't touch this dog again if you want to stay alive! I can whip any one of you in a fight, and you'll be messing with me next time you even come near this animal."
He threw me to the ground and kicked me in the side, muttering,"Get up you stupid animal," in Code.
I quickly stood again and looked up at him. He grabbed my collar, held it to his magnet to make them attract, and started walking away from the fire. I limped after him. I had the overwhelming feeling that I looked amazingly pathetic, but I tried to hold my head high and look dignified. The key word there is ‘tried'.
"Look, you may be an animal, but you don't deserve that kind of treatment," said Tormran. "You're here because I caught you. I'll do with you as I see fit. But those scavengers out there would roast you alive, if they knew how that is. Anyway, I'm telling you this so that you won't think we're all buddy buddy or something like that. I am not your friend, and I certainly am not going to to go soft on anyone i meet. Been through too much to let my guard down too. If you know what's best for you, you'll sleep right there int hat cage and not make a sound until I come for you in the morning. If any of those scoundrels come for you, howl. I'll be alert. Otherwise, get your sleep. You're definitely going to be getting up early tomorrow."
I watched Tormran finish talking and scamper out of the room.
I was sitting in my cage again. He had put fresh food and water in for me. I was hungry enough by then to try the food. IT seemed okay, so I scarfed it down. Then, taking the advice Tormran had just given me, I curled up in the back corner of my cage and tried to get some sleep. I remember having dreams of my daughter and all my friends being swallowed up by Tormran and all the other Tanjas. It was quite freaky, but in the morning, I reminded myself it was only a dream. Only a dream.
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