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but that didn ’ t change the fact that he had been brought here against his will. Not only that, but maybe that thing the creature had done with his touch was just another form of control, another way to make sure that he did as he was told. Despite the sense of peace and goodwill that surrounded his new companion, Roger trusted nothing.
    He broke eye contact with the older one and looked at the other one, the apprentice, and automatically knew this one was far different than its adult counterpart. The little guy was swaying back and forth while his eyes bore holes into the packed floor, nervous twitches of boredom Roger had seen on many of the ruffians he sometimes coached in the county football league. The league had been set up as a way for some of the poorer kids to learn to work through their anger and become a part of a team. Most of them were hard working kids who honestly wanted to do well and accomplish something with their lives, but then there were the others who saw the league as a joke, an interruption and waste of their time. That attitude was what Roger perceived as he stared at the apprentice.
    Knowing that sometimes directness and honesty went a long way toward opening the lines of trust and communication with the kids he coached, Roger decided to try again. “Okay, I ’ ll give you a chance. I don ’ t see a whole lot of options. But if we ’ re going to be on a close basis for the near future, you ’ re going to have to tell me your names again. I ’ m havin ’ trouble remembering them.”
    “Certainly, that ’ s more than understandable. My name is Firturro, and my apprentice is known as Tigaffo.”
    “Okay, you ’ re Fir...Firturro right? And he ’ s Tigaffo?” Roger said while absentmindedly raising his hand to point at Tigaffo.
    “Don ’ t point at me,” Tigaffo said, his head held high in defiance.
    Roger felt himself snap at the self-righteousness in the voice, and knew that whatever thin string of formality had held his temper at bay was no longer there.
    “What the hell? You ’ re not in any position to command me.” The ferocity of his anger rose with each word, but he didn ’ t care. These grotesque creatures had abducted him from his house, and this one dared to treat him like some grunt worker at a factory. “I am not going to sit here and listen to some obsessive compulsive little ogre.”
    Roger ’ s face was red with rage and he was screaming at the top of his lungs. His hands were curled into tight fists. His right hand throbbed and pain flooded his arm as the blood pumped through his veins. Without thinking, he raised his left fist and almost slugged the ignorant creature. The painful memory of the gnome ’ s bite was the only thing restraining him.
    Before he got a chance to swing, Tigaffo let out an ear-piercing scream and scurried behind the largest rock column in the hallway. It was then that Roger noticed that there were two other creatures standing in the hall ’ s shadow. They moved forward as Tigaffo ran but stopped when he signaled them. They were thicker in stature than either Firturro or Tigaffo, but Roger couldn ’ t tell much else because they stayed in the shadows.
    Roger turned back to Firturro as he grabbed Roger ’ s hand and forced it down. “We don ’ t do that here.”
    Roger found himself slightly amused, despite the shrill of terror from the younger one, or perhaps because of it. “Do what?”
    “Obawok as young as Tigaffo are terrified of human ’ s rage. They haven ’ t been watching people very long, and they think humans are always dangerous when they become that angry. They see the effects of humans ’ worst behavior and are afraid of those confrontations,” Firturro said, his face remaining unchanged by his associate ’ s fear and his dispassionate tone of voice letting Roger know that he was simply relaying information.
    “Oh.” Roger turned towards where Tigaffo was hiding and found himself overcome with the urge to