Trixie sipped stagnant water from her goblet, trying to appear as content as possible while in the presence of her new master. In truth, she was sick to her stomach with fear. To her right sat a being who, at a word, could send a horde of deranged monsters to tear her limb from limb. Sitting in the surrounding tables was his army of twisted creatures. To look upon them was to gaze into Tartarus itself. Some cackled cruelly with each other, others snarled and sneered in arguments that Trixie couldn’t understand. The magician had never seen such vile, such terrifying beasts. She had come to notice that there were three distinct species that made up the militia, but she had no names for any of them. Whatever they were, they were loud, smelled terribly, and were prone to violence.
No longer wishing to gaze at them, Trixie tried to address Grogar. The unicorn turned to her master with a superficial smile. The goat, who looked out at his minions with a scowl, turned his ghoulish face to peer at the nervous equine.
“Are you enjoying yourself?” he asked, his words filled with a darkness that Trixie had only seen in her nightmares. The unicorn nodded vigorously in response.
“Y-yes, I am,” she said quickly. A sudden roar by one of the monsters made her polite façade falter, and her grin disappeared for a moment. Grogar’s frowning lips slowly moved to form something that resembled a smile.
“You wish to know what they are?” he rasped. Trixie’s mouth fell open in both awe and terror before the spirit of evil.
“How did you know?…” breathed the astounded unicorn. The goat raised a thick, sinister eyebrow. There was something in his glowing red orbs that made Trixie cringe with dread.
“There are many things that I know,” he answered cryptically, “Among them the answer to your question. The creatures before you are a gathering of Trolls, Ogres, and Goblins. I refer to them as Troggles.” The goat paused as he looked back out at the drunken abominations. “They are conveniently both stupid and violent, which makes them ideal for my purposes.” Sweat began to form on Trixie’s brow as she followed his gaze back into the mass of monsters.
“…I see,” murmured the mortified unicorn. She jarred up as she saw two massive Troggles enter the room carrying an enormous platter. A smoky, burned odor worse than Grogar’s came along with them. Upon the greasy, burned metal was something that had been charred beyond recognition. Trixie’s mouth fell open once more as the platter was set down on one of the tables. Almost instantly it fell prey to the tearing claws of the Troggles. The wailing music and cacophony of yammering Troggles was now joined by a sickening ripping noise as the smoking carcass was torn apart by the ravenous creatures.
Trixie’s open mouth trembled in fear as she watched the Troggles gnaw on the tough, stringy flesh of whatever had been served to them. As a herbivorous equine, she knew that there were carnivorous creatures in the world. But as far as she knew they were unintelligent beasts that devoured their prey the moment they killed it. The unicorn had never known that there were things that cooked meat like ponies cooked their food.
“Wha…I…Uh,” Trixie didn’t know that she was babbling before Grogar addressed her garbled speech.
“Yes,” he replied with a hint of cold, uncaring malevolence, “They eat flesh. But you needn’t worry. They wouldn’t dare attack an escort of mine.” Trixie didn’t feel any safer, for while Grogar said this a green, impish creature leered at her from across the room, running a forked tongue along its jagged fangs.
“I…” Trixie felt as though she should have continued, but could just find nothing to say in response. The sight of the Troggles, their ragged jaws streaked with gore, left her speechless. She glanced back at Grogar, who looked down upon his bestial subjects with a chilling indifference. Trixie’s stomach twisted and knotted itself a dozen times over as she tried to hide her revulsion. More than anything she wanted to flee, to get away from this horrid place and never return.
There was a sudden roar that rose above the clamor of the dining hall. Its source was quickly identified by the frightened unicorn, as two lean-bodied Troggles arose from their seats. Their yellow eyes looked at each other with uncontrolled fury, their long, branching fingers closed tightly into massive fists. They screamed at each other in a language the magician didn’t understand, their toothy maws snapping beneath their long, pointed noses. Trixie winched as the larger one swung a punch into the other’s face with a sickening crack. The smaller creature howled in pain before turning back to face its adversary, setting its jaw back into place with a loud pop.
The two erupted into a fierce battle, attacking with claws and teeth. Trixie watched in morbid fascination as they tumbled to the stone floor, knocking over a table as they tore at one another. The others Troggles looked upon the brawl with ragged smiles, cheering the combatants on as if it were a mere sport instead of a fight to the death.
“ENOUGH!” The whole room fell silent as a thunderous bellow echoed out from the mouth of Grogar. The giant goat rose up from his seat, looking absolutely furious as his horns crackled with a greenish-white energy. The bell suspended from his collar shone brightly, sending streams of energy over the brass plates surrounding the goat’s neck. Before the two brawlers could even look up at their master, two shafts of raw power shot from the tips of Grogar’s horns. The bell let out a hollow chime. The Troggles vanished as their bodies were enveloped in a blazing explosion, killing them instantly. For some time after this, everyone stared at the pair of burning carcasses that lay in the middle of the room, as if it were some kind of funeral pyre. Grogar growled loudly as he sat back down.
“Get that mess out of here,” he grumbled, “Everyone, return to your posts!” Great haste was made as the Troggles scrambled to obey the command, their armor clanking as they brushed against one another. A group of small green Troggles dragged the bodies out through the doorway. Within minutes the dining hall was cleared.
Trixie had watched all of this transpire before her with her mouth open in shock. She had no doubt that it was the most brutal thing she had ever seen, as the one she now called master had just murdered two of his subjects without a second thought. She slowly turned her trembling head to face Grogar, who regarded her with a flat look as he snorted away the smoke given off by his horns.
“Trolls are the worst ones,” he mumbled. Trixie smiled weakly, but her palled face gave away her terror.
“What shall we do now, Master?” came the nasally voice of Bray. Grogar stood back up from his throne, his red eyes flickering with twisted brilliance.
“Let us return to my chambers,” he hissed as he glanced over to Trixie, “We have much to discuss.” Trixie’s heart beat so loudly that she was sure that Grogar heard it.
“Right then,” said Bray as he stood up, “I’ll call for the kitchen staff to clean up.” The donkey trotted awkwardly around the edge of the table, then departed through the doorway, leaving Trixie alone with the murderous tyrant.
“Come, Mage,” said Grogar, “I shall explain to you my plan.”