by Sam Ferguson
A purple and gold mist rose from the open fissures and screams the like of which none of them had ever heard assaulted their ears. The shrill noise was so stabbing that each of them grabbed their heads and doubled over in pain.
A great thunder rolled through The Warrens, and as the mist rose to the sky, the clouds ripped apart and the rain stopped. The screams and shrieks died down and the valley was peaceful again.
Slowly, the group picked itself up from the ground and gathered back together. They were cut and bruised, but none of them were seriously injured. Bull had a hard time breathing without a slight wheezing sound, but the rock spire had not punctured him. Moose bled from his nose and the top of his forehead, but he didn’t seem to care. Bear was quick to wrap some cloth around the cut on his arm and then they all looked to the tunnel where Shadowbore had been.
Now it was a sunken depression with obvious signs of tunnel collapse. Dirt and shards of rock filled what had once been the opening. Clouds of dust that had been so fierce as to erupt and withstand the rain were now settling back down to the ground, turning to a light mud coating over the wet rocks. They looked all around them and noticed the great, bright rainbow that stretched from one end of The horizon to the other, seemingly arcing across the entire Warrens.
“Why has the rain stopped?” Bull said when he finally could breathe normally.
“Because the troll king is dead,” Raven said. The mage turned to Jason and clapped the man on the shoulder. “Your brother has ended the war.”
Jason looked to the collapsed entrance and tried to smile as a tear fell from his right eye. “He never did know when to give up,” he said.
Bear moved in and put a hand on Jason’s back, offering a nod of sympathy. “His sacrifice will not be forgotten, Boar,” Bear said.
Jason turned to say something, but then his eyes turned cold and his jaw tensed. He pointed out beyond the depression. The others looked to see what had caught his attention and gasped when they saw a line of trolls emerging from the ground. The first two were whole, with spears in hand. The third had lost its arm, with only a bloody stump sticking out below the shoulder. As they watched it emerge from the ground, the stump grew a new bone. As the bone formed a new radius and ulna below a regrown humerus, the pink muscle stretched across it and then a covering of greenish skin formed.
“Looks like some of them don’t know when to give up either,” Bull growled.
“Gather your weapons,” Bear said.
Jason moved back to where he had fallen and picked up the bow he had taken from the tunnel when he was liberated. He took aim at the first troll and sent an arrow flying straight to the creature’s heart. The arrow dropped the troll, and the others looked back at Jason and the others. They snarled and raised their weapon as they let out a battle cry.
“I guess we don’t want to surprise them, then,” Bear commented wryly as he glanced toward Jason.
Jason shrugged and nocked another arrow.
The battle cry echoed across The Warrens, and then it was repeated. Pockets of angry trolls emerged from the ground all around the heroes. First twenty, then thirty. They kept coming out from the ground and shouting their war cry.
“We used magic,” Miranda said.
Bear shook his head. “No, this time they would have come anyway. Their whole home has collapsed.”
“Then we kill every one of them,” Jason snarled. “If they can survive the quake, then so can my brother.”
Bear glanced to Moose. The big man grinned and took out a crumpled cigar. Moose turned to Raven and held out the cigar. The mage laughed and lit the cigar for the giant man. Moose drew in a deep drag and then blew the smoke into the sky. He then turned to Bull and smiled slyly.
“What you thinking, you big ox?” Bull asked.
Moose pulled the cigar from his mouth and pointed to the gathering trolls. “Last round?” he asked.
Bull sniggered and nodded his bald head. “I’m going to win this time,” Bull said.
The group then turned as one and ran out toward the west, where the closest pocket of trolls was gathering. Miranda concentrated her fire spells on the two archers, devouring their bows and stopping them from firing their deadly arrows. Raven called down a hailstorm of ice spikes from the sky that impaled a dozen of the nasty creatures before the two groups collided.
Bear worked his knives effortlessly, slashing and slicing to distract them before thrusting his blades through their hearts. Moose worked his warhammer, crushing skulls in and then flipping his hammer backward to drive the spike into a large troll’s heart. Jason and Miranda kept their distance, using arrows and magic to slay any trolls that tried to flank the group.
When that pocket was destroyed, Raven sent a wave of roiling fire into the hole from which they had emerged. Shouts and screams rose up from the flames, but no more trolls escaped from that fissure.
Arrows plinked off of the stones around Jason and Miranda then. The two turned to see a grouping of troll archers standing on a small rocky knoll. Jason dropped two and Miranda destroyed the last three with a fireball that incinerated them.
The others in the group turned to receive a charge of angry trolls armed with spears and swords.
Moose swung and caught three trolls with one strike, bashing all of their heads together. He then flipped his grip and bashed a fourth in the face with the spike at the base of the hammer’s shaft before coming in with a chop that all but flattened the hapless creature. Bear rushed in and took down two from the side as Bull charged in wildly, screaming like a maniac as he swung his sword.
In a fit of rage, Bull severed arms and legs as he barreled into a group of seven trolls. He spun around their spear thrusts, ducked under an axe swing, and the he twirled once with his sword and seven heads hit the rocks. The bodies stood stiff for a second before toppling over onto the ground. “I have twelve!” he shouted as he rushed onward to the nearest troll. The poor creature actually turned and tried to flee, but Bull caught him with a thrust of his sword, picking the flailing troll up and letting him slide down the blade before discarding the body. “Thirteen!”
Moose broke into a run, slamming and chopping with his hammer in a way that seemed almost ethereal. The heavy weapon moved as if it were a light, well-balanced sword in the hands of a master. It twirled around and flipped directions gracefully as the giant man worked through a throng of trolls. None of them stood a chance, though one of them did graze Moose’s side with the edge of his spear just enough that it left a small cut.
Bear called out over the fray, “Moose is winning!”
“Gargh!” Bull snarled as he continued to fight on.
Miranda and Jason were joined by Raven. The three of them fought from a distance, stopping smaller pockets of trolls from flanking the others, or going after troll archers, of which there were fortunately few.
The battle raged on for a few minutes before The Warrens groaned again. A great wave of stone heaved up and down from south to north, disrupting the entire fight. The trolls scampered away, falling to their knees as the stones rolled through like an ocean wave. The heroes, having already experienced one such quake, dropped to their hands and knees and waited for it to pass. After it did, they killed the few trolls close enough to strike, and then watched as perhaps one hundred of the creatures formed a long semicircle in the north.
“What are they doing?” Miranda asked.
“Maybe they know something we don’t,” Jason replied as he readied another shot with his arrow.
“How many arrows you have left?” Raven asked him.
“Two,” Jason said without even looking. “One in the hand and one in the bag.”
Raven nodded. “You may want to save them.”
A great rumbling sound tore through the rocks and ground some fifty yards to the east. The trolls in the north raised their weapons overhead and began hooting and hollering.
“They definitely know something we don’t,” Jason commented.
Bull, Bear, a
nd Moose hurried back to the others, arriving just as a massive spike tore through the ground. Rocks cracked and crumbled as they fell from the ivory spike rising from below.
“By Khefir’s bones,” Bear cursed. “What evil is this?”
The spike rose for fifteen feet before what looked like a large, leathery brown sphere pushed through. A few more feet and then three great eyes opened. They were followed by a wide, flat nose and a mouth that had a great set of yellowed teeth. The giant head shook to the side and rocks were pushed away. A pair of hands emerged and grabbed onto the surface, and then a massive beast emerged from the gaping hole.
It snarled and growled low with the force of thunder as it took in a breath and extended to its full height. It stood at least forty five feet in the air, not counting the spike on top of its head. It had two massive arms and two legs that made even the thickest of oaks look like saplings by comparison. A massive, leathery tail unfurled behind the creature and it roared again, opening its horrid mouth and spewing spittle across the rocks. The trolls to the north shouted and hollered, cheering their new champion.
“What is that?” Bull asked.
Raven shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“It’s mortal,” Jason said decisively. “Let’s take it down.” He took aim and fired his first arrow. It flew straight and true, piercing the middle eye that sat above the other two. The beast shied away, turning its head and swiping at the arrow. It broke the shaft and then turned back with an evil grin as the eye healed itself.
“That is one big troll,” Bear grumbled.
“I think you just pissed it off,” Bull said.
“How do we kill it?” Miranda asked.
The giant let out another roar and then whirled around, sweeping its tail out toward them. Rocks and boulders caught in the tail’s wake were slung at the heroes. Raven created a magical shield that deflected the rocks, but then the beast turned around and took two steps forward and lunged with its massive hand. It caught Bear with its fist. Bear tried to fend the blow off with his knives, but there was no way for him to stop the massive creature. His body was crushed instantly by the blow and thrown back into the air several hundred feet, landing broken along the rocks.
“BEAR!” Bull shouted as he ran in toward the giant troll. He dove in and slashed at the beast’s left leg, tearing a deep gash into the creature’s foot and ankle. The giant whirled around, slinging his tail behind him at the other heroes.
All were able to dodge the tail this time, ducking low under the massive appendage. Moose even had the presence of mind to jump onto the tail, racing up on his hands and knees as he carried his hammer in his left hand.
“Use your fire, Miranda,” Raven instructed. The two of them launched a fiery assault at the giant’s neck. Fireball after fireball crashed into it, singing and burning away the first layer of flesh.
The beast stomped down near Bull, knocking the man to the ground as it turned and looked at Raven and Miranda. It howled and spat a large glob of slimy saliva toward them. They dodged it in time, but the splashing impact covered Raven in a layer of thick goo that he could not breathe through.
Miranda rushed to his side and tried to pull the thick, green sludge away from his face but nothing worked. “Help!” Miranda cried out.
Jason was aiming with his bow, but he abandoned the shot and came to her aid. He pulled a small field knife and carefully sliced through the thick mess until he was able to peel the slime away from Raven’s face.
“Look out!” Bull cried out.
Jason and Miranda dove to the side just as the beast swiped its left hand at them. Luckily, it caught only air. Bull then jumped up and drove his sword into the beast’s right leg, hanging from the sword and trying to make the hole as large as he could.
The giant troll-beast roared and stumbled backwards. It was then that Miranda and Jason could see that Moose had reached the beast’s hip. He dug in sharp with his hammer’s spike and then pulled a pair of knives out. He used the knives to climb up the giant’s back.
The monster howled in pain, spinning around and swiping its tail and arms at its back. Still Moose climbed on, digging in his knives as well as the cleats on his boots to ascend the thick, leathery skin. Bull was shaken loose with his sword during the spinning, but he didn’t stop. He turned and chopped at the leg.
The giant troll howled in rage and opened its arms out wide to the side.
A flash of an arrow flew up and struck the beast deep in the chest.
Jason and Miranda turned to see Jonathan and Captain Ziegler running toward them. They were covered in dirt and ash, but alive.
“Jonathan!” Jason cried out.
Jonathan pointed to the giant. “It’s a troll-kin,” he shouted. “Take the heart or the head!”
Jason turned and nodded as he drew back his bow.
The troll moved its left hand up to protect its chest. There was no clear shot. Bull hacked at the giant’s legs, but the troll leapt up and away from the man, landing sixty yards away and causing a minor tremor across The Warrens. Moose nearly lost his grip, hanging on with just one hand onto a knife in the creature’s back.
“What’s he doing?” Miranda gasped.
“Going for the head,” Ziegler said. “Come on, we have to distract it and get an open shot to its heart.”
Ziegler ran out into the field, shouting and hollering at the giant. Miranda continued to send fireballs blazing at the creature to keep it distracted from Moose. Bull was already charging the creature, shouting Bear’s name and running like a crazed fiend.
“Jonathan, help Raven,” Jason said as he pointed with his chin to the wizard.
Jonathan ran over and continued peeling the thick sludge away from the man.
He didn’t watch as the giant beast made its way closer and closer to them. He trusted the others to do their best. He heard the arrow reappear in his quiver and silently offered thanks to the gods. A few moments later, he had Raven nearly free when Miranda and Jason called out their warning.
Jonathan saw Raven’s eyes go wide and caught a glimpse of a massive limb swinging toward them. Jonathan didn’t budge. He pulled on the last flap of slime holding the wizard in place, grunting with his effort. It pulled free just in time for the two of them to dive out of the way. Raven landed safely behind a large boulder, but Jonathan was not so lucky.
A great stone the size of a pumpkin grazed his back and dragged him across the rocky ground several feet.
Crrrrack-snap!
Jonathan’s eyes shot wide. He thought for sure his back had broken. He laid on the ground, numb and too afraid to move.
Jason was there in an instant. “Are you hurt?” Jason shouted.
Jonathan dared to move, placing a hand down and sliding it to his back. He breathed a sigh of relief, but then his eyes shot open wide as he felt a jagged, sharp edge. He jumped up and pulled Kigabané around. The magical bow was entirely broken. The top limb had snapped off and the bottom limb had a great crack running through the side. He reached for his quiver only to find that the stone had ripped it from his back. He rushed over to it and found the last arrow splintered to bits beneath the stone.
“No, no, no!” Jonathan cried out.
Jason stood and called out. “It’s alright, I have a bow. I can finish it.”
Jonathan shook his head. “No, his heart is too deep. You would need several arrows, magic arrows, to pierce the beast’s skin.”
“How could you know that?” Jason asked. Jonathan turned around to explain, but then he saw a massive hand sweeping down.
“Look out!” Raven called out.
The thick fingers wrapped around Jason and the young man dropped his bow and arrow to the ground as he struggled to free himself from the beast’s grip.
“Jason!” Jonathan cried. He ran to the bow and picked it up as the beast slowly rose up, standing straight. It was now ignoring Bull and Ziegler. The gashes in its legs were quick to heal, and there was no sign of Moose anywhere.
Jonathan looked up and saw the arrow shaft embedded deeply in the third eye.
“Remember…” Jason shouted as he struggled for breath. “Remember…”
Jonathan did remember. He drew Jason’s final arrow back and looked to the eye. He focused on the fletching, and then when the beast stood still and was moments from putting Jason into his slime-filled mouth, Jonathan shifted his gaze and looked at the hole, pretending the arrow wasn’t there at all. He let the arrow fly and then closed his eyes, praying to the gods that his aim would finally be true.
The arrow flew up toward the eye, aiming for the arrow already stuck therein. It spun gracefully as time seemed to slow. It streaked past Jason and the young man stopped struggling against the troll-giant’s hand long enough to watch the missile fly. A moment later, the first arrow exploded into three as Jonathan’s arrow drove down through the exact center, splitting it and driving in deeper than the first.
That was when Jonathan saw Moose. The giant man dropped down from the troll’s forehead, and with a mighty roar he used his hammer to drive the arrow even farther into the beast’s head. So ferocious was his swing that the hammer pushed through the torn eye and embedded itself in the cracked skull behind the eye socket. Moose dangled from the hammer for a moment before his weight propelled him downward and he lost his grip.
Jonathan held his breath as the large troll began to fall backward to the ground. It toppled over at the waist, its legs crumpling beneath it. Bull and Captain Ziegler barely managed to escape while Moose landed atop the crumpled troll and then bounced off to the side.
Jason called out in fear as the hand holding him followed the rest of the giant’s torso to the ground.
Dust shot out from the side and rocks bounced away as the troll impacted the ground.
The semicircle of troll warriors shrieked and turned to flee.
The battle, and the war, was over.