by Jamie Davis
“Shalush and I have known each other for more than twenty years. I first met him when he was a newly minted goblin ranger, in charge of watching this end of the valley. There was a war band of trolls striking at both goblin and human settlements. We ended up cornered by them in a cave and had to fight them off together. Shalush’s wife patched me up afterward and I spent the summer living with them in their village. They’re good folk once you get to know them.”
As they neared the caravan, Ghent was waiting for them.
“Ready to go again, Bilham?”
“We should camp here, boss. Shalush is back there,” Bilham said. “Hal spotted him. He says there’s a band of trolls hunting in the valley. I offered to lend a hand in the hunt. It would do a lot to continue the good will that allows you to take this route instead of swinging far to the south with the other caravans and adding weeks to your trip.”
“How many men will you need?” Ghent asked.
“Four plus myself,” Bilham said. “I’ll take Hal, Garth, Tinna, and Brother Anson.”
“Fine,” Ghent said. “Don’t take too long, though. I have a schedule to keep. We’ll circle the wagons here and make camp.”
Ghent turned his horse around and raised his hand in the air, making a circle gesture in the air. The crack of whips sounded and the wagons started moving to sort themselves into their standard camp in the meadow beside the river.
Hal watched and felt a little excited and apprehensive at the same time. He was going on a troll hunt.
10
It was near dusk when Hal and the others Bilham selected stood in a group just outside the circled wagons with the Captain and Ghent.
“I’ve told the sentries to keep their eyes open. Stoke the fires all night and keep them bright. I don’t think any trolls will trouble a group this large, especially with fire handy, but it doesn’t pay to take chances.”
Hal noticed Ghent had put on a chainmail hauberk and carried his sword in his hand. The fat merchant must be expecting trouble.
“I’m not taking chances, Bilham. Any trolls stupid enough to invade Shalush’s valley might be dumb enough to attack this caravan, if only to try and get to the horses for meat. We’ll stay on guard until you return.”
“We shouldn’t be more than a day,” Bilham advised. “We’ll either verify they’re out of the valley or we’ll root them out of whatever lair they’ve found for themselves. Shalush has other rangers out looking for them. Hopefully he’ll have word back from one of them on where we can find the invaders.”
The group of guards standing with Hal included Garth who he considered a friend at this point. Brother Anson was there, a long, two-handed mace propped on one shoulder. He wore a metal breastplate over his brown robes. Tinna was one of the guards Hal had tried to get to know better but she was standoffish at the best of times. Garth told him that was just the way she was with most people. She had a curved scimitar blade on each hip and a crossbow cradled in her arms just as Hal and Garth did. Long black braids hung down from either side of her helmet, which was topped with a red horsehair crest.
Bilham motioned to the group and they trotted off into the deepening gloom of the woods as the sun set over the western mountains. By the time they’d reached Shalush in the forest, it was nearly pitch black. Hal wished he still had his thief abilities. It would have been nice to see in the darkness better than his normal human eyes allowed.
The captain unshuttered a small lantern he carried when they reached the goblin. Bilham introduced the group to his friend. Hal noticed two other goblins had joined the chieftain. Shalush introduced them as Gand and Plank, two of the goblin rangers who were searching the valley for the trolls and the missing homesteaders.
“These two just returned,” Shalush said. “They’ve located the lair. They left one of their number behind to watch while they came for help.”
“I would think three of your rangers would have been more than enough for two or three trolls, Shalush,” Bilham said.
“It looks like it’s a whole war band, my friend,” Shalush said. “There are eight trolls in this group and there are signs they may be an advance scouting party for an entire clan looking to relocate. We need to convince them to look elsewhere. Are your companions ready for this fight?” The chieftain gestured to the four humans behind their captain.
“They’ve all shown themselves to be capable in a fight. You’ve met Brother Anson before, I think. I thought it would make sense to bring some magic along with us as well as his healing skills.”
“It is good to see you again, Brother Anson,” Shalush said. “We will welcome you in this hunt.”
Brother Anson nodded his greeting but said nothing.
“And the others?” Shalush asked.
“You’ve met Hal. This is Garth and the woman is Tinna.”
“A woman?” the goblin chieftain wondered aloud.
Bilham laughed. “Just be glad you’re not the one crossing swords with her, Shalush. She can more than hold her own in a standup fight. Don’t worry.”
Shalush looked around at the group and addressed the humans.
“Fire is the key when fighting trolls. They regenerate any wound not caused by or quickly treated with fire. The trick is to cut them down quickly and then douse them with oil and set them ablaze. It’s hot dirty work.”
Shalush looked at Bilham. “Do they have the supplies they’ll need.”
The captain nodded.
Hal figured Shalush referred to the three flasks of lamp oil they each carried along with a pair of unlit torches. Bilham had handed them each the supplies when they first gathered back at the caravan camp.
Now, in the woods, Bilham turned and added his own orders to the advice of the goblin chieftain.
“Garth, light one of your torches and have it ready when we get to the fight. Your job will be to set ablaze any troll taken down by one of the others.”
Garth pulled out one of his torches and set to lighting it with a flint and steel.
“The others of you, keep hacking at any troll you’re fighting until Garth can get there and finish it off. Watch each other’s backs and we should all be back at camp by morning.”
Hal and Tinna nodded and Brother Anson put a grim smile on his face.
Bilham turned to Shalush.
“Lead on my friend. The sooner this grim work is finished, the sooner we can return and feast our victory.”
The small group started moving again. It was easier traveling through the woods now that Garth had a torch lit.
The two goblin rangers led the way, followed by Shalush and Bilham. Hal walked next to Garth in the middle and Tinna and Brother Anson brought up the rear.
They travelled through some rough terrain for several hours, climbing up to a mountain path leading into the peaks outlined by the full moon above them.
The party stopped at the base of the path for a rest. One of the two rangers continued up the trail. Hal couldn’t tell which in the darkness.
“There is a cave up this path about an hour’s travel from here,” Shalush said. “That is where they’ve holed up with their captives. The rangers left Zeth to watch them while they came to find us. Plank has gone up to fetch him and take his place so Zeth can come down and report on what he’s seen.”
“So, we wait here until Zeth returns. After that, we fight,” Bilham announced. “Take a load off and check your weapons.”
Hal sat down and leaned back against a boulder. He was tired down to his bones but also excited for the pending battle. He closed his eyes for a moment and was surprised when Garth had to shake his shoulder to wake him thirty minutes later when Zeth returned.
The group gathered around the ranger while Zeth gave his report to Shalush. Hal leaned in to listen with the others.
“There are eight of the beasts inside the cave. I got as close as I dared and still avoid detection. From what I could tell, they have at least some of our people still alive inside. I’m sure the others were already serv
ed in the cooking pit,”
Hal considered the grim prediction. It sent a shiver down his spine.
“What kind of guard do they have? Can we approach close enough to surprise the main group and rescue the remaining steaders?” Shalush asked.
“There is a single guard,” Zeth replied. “I think we can take him quickly enough to surprise the others. The trolls are not very careful and I was able to creep quite close while scouting the layout.”
Shalush leaned backward from where Zeth had drawn a sketch of the path leading to the troll cave in the dirt.
“My rangers will deal with the sentry. As soon as he is handled, the rest of us will rush the cave and begin the main assault.” Shalush glanced at Bilham. “How does that plan sound, my friend?”
“It will work as well as any other. Garth, once we get started, you douse that torch until the sentry is taken care of. Once that is finished, light the torch again on his burning carcass as we pass by and be ready to use it to deal with the downed trolls inside.”
Garth nodded and Bilham offered a grim smile to the rest before turning back to Shalush.
“We’re ready.”
“Then let us go and deal with these intruders in my valley,” Shalush said.
Hal slung his shield across his back. Checked his crossbow was strung and loaded with a steel-headed, armor-piercing bolt. He was as ready as he was going to be.
The two goblin rangers set off up the trail first, soon outdistancing the party of humans and their chieftain behind them. Shalush stayed back with Bilham and the rest of the group to lead them up the trail in the darkness.
The full moon illuminated some parts of the twisting path but not all and the going was slow, taking more than half an hour.
Eventually, they were all crouched behind a low ridge. Gand was there waiting for them. He used hand signs in the moonlight. From what Hal could glean of their meaning, beyond the ridge lay the cave entrance and the sentry.
Shalush signaled the three goblin rangers and they scrambled silently over the ridge and disappeared into the night.
The rest of the group crowded up to the crest of the ridge and watched in the darkness. They could make out the flickering of the firelight from inside the cave entrance ahead. There was a large humanoid form leaning against the cliff wall outside the cave’s entrance. Hal didn’t know what he expected, but he hadn’t thought trolls would be so large.
The beast had to be at least eight feet tall!
Three figures detached from the darkness and Hal saw two of them stand up straight and stretch their bowstrings back as they launched their attack while the other charged in. The archers each got off two arrows before they joined their brother ranger charging the troll.
The arrows had done their job, though. The beast toppled forward before the first ranger reached it and the troll struggled feebly on the ground as the three rangers swarmed over it. Soon a tongue of flame lit up the night and soon the corpse was aflame, preventing regeneration.
“That’s how it’s done, folks,” Bilham said. “Garth, be ready with that torch and lamp oil. Let’s go.”
Garth nodded and Hal and the rest followed the Bilham up and over the ridge towards the burning troll.
The smell of the burning carcass struck Hal with a wave of acrid smoke filled with the odor of burning hair and flesh. Garth stopped and held his torch over the burning body until it caught the flame.
Hal, Tinna, and Brother Anson with his massive two-handed mace lined up behind Bilham who stood with Shalush. The goblin chieftain pointed to the cave entrance and the rangers hefted their weapons and charged inside. Shalush and the five humans followed right behind them.
Before Hal reached the broader cave beyond the opening passage, a roar of defiance sounded from inside. The trolls had spotted the attackers.
Hal charged in behind Bilham and Shalush to see a large cavern beyond the narrow entrance lit by a large campfire in the center. One troll stood beside the fire turning a makeshift spit over the fire. Hal tried not to pay too much attention to what was skewered on the spit.
The three rangers were each engaged in battle with three trolls near the entrance. Shalush and Bilham charged at the troll by the fire and Hal looked around for other enemies.
There should be seven trolls total left to fight. They were still out numbered and they needed to even up the score quickly while surprise was on their side.
A howl of rage came from Hal’s right and he spun and snapped off a shot with his crossbow at a charging figure standing close to nine feet tall. The grey-skinned troll had a broad flat face with two eyes the size of dinner plates set on either side of a long snout. It carried a long club hewn from a log nearly as long as Hal was tall.
The crossbow bolt struck the beast in the shoulder and jerked it back a step with the impact before it started forward again.
Hal used the brief pause to shift his shield around and draw his sword as the crossbow clattered to the ground.
The enormous club swung down at him and Hal ducked and danced to one side, partially deflecting the blow aside with his shield.
The impact still staggered him for a moment but he recovered. He still felt the jarring pain in his shoulder behind the shield.
Health damage: Health -12
Hal shrugged off the pain of the glancing blow and swung at the troll’s exposed knee closest to him. He was rewarded with a splatter of green blood as the sword opened a broad gash on the creature’s thigh just above the knee.
The beast howled and lifted the club to swing it down at Hal again.
Hal used his superior speed to take another swipe at the injured leg. Perhaps if he could hack all the way through it, the creature would fall down and he would be on more even ground with it.
The sword once again swung in and opened a second gash on the troll’s leg. Hal noticed the previous gash had already stopped bleeding. Damn, it was already healing. The troll regeneration worked faster than he’d expected.
Seeing the club start to swing down at him, Hal decided to try something else and charged in at the creature. The descending club whistled past his head, again delivering only a glancing blow on his helmet as he ducked under the swing. Hal still saw stars flash in the corners of his eyes from the hit.
Health damage: Health -10
Hal shook his head to clear the ringing in his ears and raised his shield to use his new shield bash ability against the injured knee. Maybe he could buckle the leg.
A familiar sound played in his ears as he heard the spinning slot machine of his luck. He hoped it was a good sign.
Putting all his armored weight behind the charge, Hal tucked his shoulder behind the shield and drove into the injured knee.
The spinning slots stopped with a chime and the troll howled again as Hal heard something snap in the creature’s knee. He bounced backward from the impact to see the knee, now bent impossibly backward, buckle and give way under the huge troll’s weight.
It worked.
The troll cried out in rage and pain, tumbling backward to the ground and Hal fumbled at his belt pouch to pull one of the lamp oil flasks free. He threw it at the cave floor just in front of the struggling troll. It lay on its back trying to rise again. The lamp oil flask burst and sprayed the troll with oil.
“Garth, torch!” Hal called out.
Garth was ready and the man darted forward, dodging the weakened swipe by the troll. One touch with the torch to the oil dampened skin of the troll’s torso set the oil ablaze.
A scream of agony sounded and Hal ran forward and with Garth beside him, the two of them hacking at the flaming troll until the burning corpse stopped moving.
Troll raider killed - 500 experience points awarded.
Level Up!
“Garth!” “Garth!” sounded from elsewhere in the room and Hal turned to see where Tinna and Anson had their troll down on the ground.
The cleric was swinging great two-handed blows down on the troll’s head, bashing away at it
s skull. Tinna was hacking at its torso with her two scimitars. They needed Garth and his torch though.
“I’ll open the flask, you get ready to light it on fire after I douse it with the oil,” Hal called while he charged to his friends’ assistance.
“Right behind you,” Garth said.
Hal pulled his second oil flask from his belt and dashed the top off with a sweep of his sword, dumping the contents on the troll as soon as he arrived at Tinna’s side. He stepped back and Garth took his place, torching the creature where it lay.
The others were similarly engaged with downed trolls and Hal, Tinna and Garth repeated their efforts with the other trolls who’d be put down by Bilham, Shalush and the Rangers. Soon there were seven troll bodies smoldering in the confines of the large cave.
Hal was glad the cave had a high roof. The smoke coming off the burning bodies was thick and would have quickly filled a smaller space with choking smoke. As it was, it was hard to see and breath in the cave.
“We need to get the survivors free and get out of here,” Bilham called to Shalush.
“Agreed,” Shalush shouted.
The rangers cut the bonds holding the goblin steaders tied up in the back and shepherded them out of the cave to safety. There were several goblin children in the group including a little goblin girl carried by her mother. She seemed to be about Cari’s age.
Hal and the others made one last check to make sure they weren’t leaving any live trolls behind. All the trolls were dead and no more hid in the far corners of the cavern. The work finished, they left the smoky cave and soon stood on the mountain path outside the cave entrance.
“Let’s go back down the path to the forest and set up a temporary camp there, Shalush,” Bilham suggested. “There’s little room up here. Once we’re down there, Anson can look to everyone’s wounds and take care of the worst of the injuries.”
“That’s a good idea, my friend. My nose is more sensitive than yours. I don’t want to remain near the stink of these creatures any longer,” Shalush said.