‘Argh.’ He shouted. ‘Fucking snakes!’
He got to his feet, hiked up his robes and ran as fast as he could in the direction of anywhere but snakes.
The Troll’s reaction was no less severe. It skidded to a halt and its skin flashed in and out with the colours of the myriad serpents in its path.
‘Graaaaggghghghgn!’ It roared with a mixture of anger and fear. It took two long strides backwards, composed itself and then stepped forwards once more and swung its fiery log at the seething mass. Nothing happened. It took another swing. Still the pool of snakes hissed and squirmed. The Troll’s heavy brow furrowed over all of its eyes.
‘Trickery!’ It bawled. ‘Gagnash! Trickery!
It turned. The source of the mischief was obvious. The cloaked female stood, channelling her power. She had been into his mind, seen his fear and used it. It was unfortunate that Valeran also appeared to be scared of them.
The Troll became angry and its patience and planning were ended. She would be spread across this trail like jam on bread. He charged again. It knew that the tricksy humans had to be taken care of quickly. Swords and shields were of no consequence to him, he was stronger and tougher than they were, but he had no defence against the brain stuff. Messing with your brain wasn’t fair. He would turn her brain to mush.
Felicity stared up at the thing as it came crashing towards her. Its huge feet kicked up stones the size of her head and they flew towards her with alarming speed. She could try another illusion, more snakes, but the Troll looked so angry now that she wasn’t sure it would be taken in by it. The energy it had taken to move so many people with the Projection Circle had left her with very little that could directly affect the Trolls health, but she could still mess with its mind. She kissed one of the charms on her wrist, it was of the High Demon Baphomel, Lord of the Vindictive, the Essence stored within it flowed into her. Just in time for her spell too complete.
‘Grugh?’ The Troll uttered as the girl suddenly became two. The two girls in black then dived either side of the trail. ‘Graggh!’ The Troll said. His forward facing and side eyes darted left and right.
The two girls became four. Moving in different directions. ‘GAAAAAAAARRRGGGRAGH!’ It roared in confused anger. It lifted its log and then began to bash and swat at each of the doppelgangers. One of them had to be real, it would crush
and smush each one until he discovered which it was.
Andreton wasn’t sure how far he had been knocked backwards but it was at least as long as fifty Francis Cows, if fifty was a number. He thought it was. Dennis had flown from his hand as he had hit the hurty boulders and so he then had to examine lots of them until he finally found it. As he found his trusted Axe and bounced it in his hand, smiling, he then recalled that there was something else going on before the hurty boulder thing.
‘Oh.’ He said, as he looked ahead and saw the Troll swinging and bashing on the trail.
‘Andreton!’
The Warrior looked to his left and saw the Fighter girl running towards him. ‘Hai Daisy. No time for ze chit or chat, Andreton must do battle with Troll.’ He started to stride forward with grave purpose.
‘Wait Andreton. Wait!’ Daisy shouted.
She leapt over the rocks toward the Warrior as he lumbered toward the action on the trail.
‘Andreton! Hold up for Daive’s sake.’
Finally, he paused and turned to her. ‘Vas is der thing lady?’
‘He’s too big and too strong Andreton, even for you, those eyes… he can see us coming at him.’
‘Andreton is not afraid of Troll.’ The Warrior said, pride circling his words.
‘No of course you’re not.’ Daisy said quickly. ‘I know you will fight him, but if we are to keep the others safe we have to be smart about how we take it on.’
Andreton nodded. This was the sort of thing Donalt would say.
‘Ve do trick things?’
‘Er… yes, pretty much. Look, here’s what we can do…’
***
Felicity dodged, weaved and run across the path of the Troll. Her illusion was effective, but it wouldn’t last much longer and the Troll might also get a swing in her by sheer luck of the draw. The muscle was nowhere to be seen, possibly even dead, they had both been hurled a good distance. And Valeran didn’t appear to be in any hurry to return after his snake induced sprint away.
‘Gnarrgh!’
The Trolls log smashed almost at her feet, as she had made the mistake of crossing in front of one of her own copies. She wasn’t going to be able to Sorcery her way out of this. The creature’s eyes saw every move her illusory Felicity’s made, she couldn’t run fast enough and she couldn’t hide. She had not been wholly truthful about the Prophecy, that they all had to enter the Gate. They could afford to lose one member. But she hadn’t expected it to be her. The illusions began to fade. One by one they ceased to exist as the energy that supported them drained away.
Felicity was left alone and at the feet of the Troll. It had been a sound plan. Its eyes saw all around it, but they had trouble seeing immediately below. It saw her now. It saw the cow warrior charging towards it. That was fine. It would take care of that one next. It prepared to smush the tricksy one. This would be very satisfying.
Unfortunately for the Oculus Troll immediately below it wasn’t its only blind spot. It also had difficulty seeing immediately above.
Daisy dropped down onto it shoulders and wrapped her legs around its neck. She then began to swing her blades across its head, slicing its eyes. Andreton’s throw had been both mighty and accurate and Daisy felt she now knew what it must be like to be fired from a trebuchet. In pain, confusion and terror the Troll screamed. It dropped its weapon and reached up to tear the thing that was chopping at its eyes away.
But then it found more pain was contending with that in its head. It staggered backwards, allowing its remaining working eyes, those on its face, to see what was happening to its leg.
Andreton hewed at the Trolls knee with Dennis using all of his considerable strength. As Daisy chopped at the things eyes so he chopped into the creature’s flesh below its knee and thick blood spewed and sprayed from it with every whack. It tried to lift the leg, meaning to stamp it down upon Andreton, but this only delivered greater pain and caused it to stagger. It reached down with one hand to try and grasp the cow warrior, while the other attempted to dislodge Daisy from its neck, but both fighters had been prepared for this.
As the great fingers came at them both Daisy and Andreton turned their weapons upon the clutching digits. Dennis removed a thumb and forefinger; Daisy’s two blades severed a pinkie. Corbett finally saw a moment to act. Fire and Flood would not affect this thing but Earth could at least assist in keeping it where it was.
He dropped to his knees and placed his hands on the floor. Looking up he began to pour energy into the stone and soil. Around the leg that Andreton wasn’t chopping at and column of mud and stone rose around its ankle like a boot, and then solidified, trapping he Troll.
The Troll began to topple. The leg that Andreton had devastated with his axe had given up. It no longer functioned other than to spew blood from the deep, ragged gash across it, the sinew and muscle parting company. Sensing the imminent crash Daisy removed herself from the Trolls neck and leapt away. Andreton didn’t cease his assault. Coated head to foot in thick, sticky blood he ran the length of the monster’s body even as it fell.
As it crashed to the floor, he performed his Warrior’s leap once again, with Dennis brought back so far he risked it hauling him over onto his back. This time, with the Troll unable to see what was coming Andreton struck true. His arched, taut body snapped forwards and he drove Dennis down into its neck. The axe bit deep. Andreton wrenched it out and slammed it down again, and again. The Troll writhed furiously, and at last managed to force the Warrior off him.
Its damaged hands clutched at the wounds in its neck. Its blood was cascaded over its fingers. It tried to stand, but instinct alone co
uldn’t help it and instead it crashed to the floor again.
Andreton wasn’t finished. In a berserk fury he raced back to the Troll and delivered more blows to its neck, savaging its veins. His goal simple. To behead the creature.
At last it lay still. The shock had burst its heart.
‘Andreton.’ Daisy called to the warrior. ‘It’s done. You can stop now.’
Tentatively she approached him, wary that an eight-foot-tall hill of muscle in a red mist probably shouldn’t be surprised while performing its duties.
‘It’s dead Andreton. We’ve killed it.’
Andreton stopped his swings and took a step back from the Troll’s body. Its skin had returned to its natural white. It looked ghastly with the tapestry of blood across it.
The warrior looked as though he had bathed in it. He had certainly been showered. He turned to face Daisy and a huge smile showed off his white teeth.
‘Good fight!’ He said. ‘Andreton hungry now. Ve should eat. Francis will give us good cow milk.
Francis, who had stood casually observing it all mooed with, Andreton felt, approval.
‘Is it dead?’ Felicity asked as she appeared from behind a large, rounded boulder.
Corbett emerged from his own boulder glancing nervously about.
‘Are there likely to be any more of these fuckers?’ He asked.
Daisy shook her head. ‘I don’t think so. They are solitary and maintain a specific area as their territory that no other Troll should cross. I’ve never seen one like this before though.’ She pointed the tip of one of her swords at the creatures ruined eyes.
‘Immune to magic.’ Corbett said. ‘That’s not good.’
‘Yes,’ Daisy replied, still examining the Troll’s awful head. ‘Not good.’
‘Vas good fight.’ Andreton said, smiling. ‘Daisy smart. Andreton strong. Vizard make good vall.’ He stopped, arithmetic and memory working furiously in his head. ‘Vere is old man?’
Felicity came forwards. In her hand was a wicked looking dagger with a pommel which if closely examined was the stuff of nightmares.
‘He ran.’ She said. ‘As luck would have it he is mortally afraid of the same thing that scared the Troll.’
‘Varriors?’ Andreton asked.
‘Snakes.’ Felicity replied. ‘He’s afraid of snakes Andreton.’
She moved to the Trolls head. Looked over each of the eyes that were visible and selected the one she felt was the least devastated by Daisy’s attack. She then knelt, jabbed the dagger into it and began to carve.
‘What the hell are you doing?’ Daisy exclaimed.
‘I’m working.’ Felicity replied.
‘Corneas.’ Valeran said.
He appeared from the rocks near to them. ‘Troll corneas are used in a good many elixirs and rituals where clarity of vision is required. As this chap has quite a lot of that going on, vision that is, I suspect his will be of a very high quality.’
‘Where did you go?’ Daisy asked. Not at all angry.
‘I’m afraid I covered a good distance. Snakes you see. I have an irrational fear of them. I either turn to stone or run like the clappers. I take it they weren’t real?’
Daisy nodded towards Felicity as the Sorceress sliced into the Trolls eye.
‘Hm.’ Valeran said. ‘That’s what I thought once my lack of stamina overcame my fear.’
‘Er… Well done Corbett,’ Corbett said. ‘Bloody good thinking trapping the magic resistant Troll like that. Oh no, you are all very welcome. All in a day’s work. Think nothing of it.’
‘Once again you almost incinerated us Corbett.’ Daisy snapped. The softer tone she had taken with Valeran was entirely absent.
‘Oh right.’ Corbett put his hands on his hips. ‘And she sent the fucking Cleric running for the hills. But no, no problem there, he’s just old and daft and, by the way, the only bloody healing we have in the party. But it’s fine, he can just give it legs into the next kingdom while we fight the thing with more eyes than we have party members. No problem at all.
‘Oh pipe down Corbett.’ Daisy said. ‘What happened with Valeran couldn’t have been foreseen, none of us knew he didn’t like snakes. And it was his protection spell that stopped you being turned to jelly incidentally.’
‘Pipe down!’ The Wizard drew himself up to his full height. ‘How dare you, you tinned tart. I’ll you what, you can fu…’
Andreton raised his axe and pointed it towards Corbett. ‘Vizard be nice to ze ladies.’
Corbett’s mouth shut. But Daisy didn’t appreciate the Warriors assistance. She moved towards the Wizard with a dark look in her eyes.
‘I can handle childish insults from a sexist wizard with the sensitivity of a lead pipe thank you very much Andreton.’
She jabbed a finger at Corbett. ‘You Elementalists, you’re all the same. You risk the lives of anyone and everyone around you when you go firing your power out like some kind of psychotic cannon. It’s always about you. Your swag, your life, your pride, your…’
‘Yeah that’s right Princess. Because you’re all about looking after the little guy aren’t you, and being a role model for the less fortunate girls you meet, and standing up for the oppressed and disenfranchised… and…’
Corbett suddenly realised that he wasn’t actually insulting her. This was awkward.
‘I’ve got demons in my head you know.’ He said. Tapping his temple. ‘Two of em.’
At this he turned and stomped off in a huff. He hoped he might have at least scored a draw by bringing in what might be considered a disability.
The others had observed the exchange with interest. It was fun watching the Wizard getting angry. Certainly better than wondering if his next spell was going to put you into orbit. Felicity thought she might have been the only one to notice a strange expression cross the fighters face when Corbett had called Daisy Princess. That was interesting. She made a mental note to pay more attention to the fighter then recommenced her gory work.
‘You need a shower old boy.’ Valeran said to Andreton. The Troll’s blood was darkening as it dried on his naked flesh.
‘Yah. Is true. But Andreton vill walk in the blood of a worthy adversary for a while to honour him.’
‘Right.’ Valeran replied.
That didn’t strike him as particularly hygienic but Steppe-landers were a strange lot.
‘What do we do now? Daisy asked. ‘Do we keep moving? Or camp and wait for Donalt and Dorian to return?’
‘We keep moving.’ Felicity said. Her hands were deep inside the Troll’s eye socket and she was clearing cutting at something within. ‘This territory is now shy of one Troll and good news travels fast even here. Another is going to come along to fill it and we need to a safer place to rest, to get Andreton cleaned up. Those two will find us. It’s what they are good at.’
Daisy nodded. The Sorceresses logic couldn’t be faulted. As much as she didn’t trust her it was hard to think the decision to keep her as party leader was a bad one. For this stage of the journey at least.
‘OK. We move.’ Daisy agreed.
She then saw something moving near the feet of the Troll, flitting about Corbett’s magically created wall of stone.
It was Spyra. The little Blink-Dog was watching them. It hadn’t been involved in the fight and yet it seemed it was almost always close to the Ranger or Sorceress when there was danger.
‘Smart dog.’ Daisy thought. ‘It didn’t risk itself in a fight it couldn’t win.’
It made her wonder. Would she be able to determine that risk if it came to it? Was she even as smart as that animal?
‘What’s happening?’ Corbett had returned from his time-limited self-exile and was compelled to quickly become reacquainted with how fast things were turning to shit.
‘Ve move.’ Andreton said. ‘Scary lady says.’
‘Which one?’ Corbett answered, knowing full well who the warrior was referring too.
‘This one.’ Felicity said.
&nb
sp; She had finished her work with the Troll. Her hands and arms up to her elbows were slick with juices from its eye.
‘You realise this thing will have a lair nearby.’ Corbett pointed at the Troll. ‘There could be a ton of swag in there. These bastards are proper hoarders. And look at it. It’s already turning to stone. We should stick around until it’s done. Alchemists will give a pretty penny for the powder when it breaks down. We might make enough to fuck this whole quest right off.’
The Troll’s skin was starting to turn charcoal grey and over the next few hours it would continue to darken and turn to a kind of granite, soon after it would begin to desiccate. Its body would crumble and be blown away by the wind.
‘We’re leaving Corbett.’ Felicity said firmly. ‘We came here to quest. You committed your imaginary wand, and you’re bound by Covenant.
‘Yes but…’
‘No buts. We don’t have the time, or the energy should we come under attack again. We need to keep moving.’
Felicity then paused, and had Corbett not been too busy moaning he might have caught on to the telling gap.
‘Too catch up with Dorian.’ Felicity added quickly, realising she had almost said something by saying nothing.
Corbett only screwed his face up in a picture of resentment. He was caught. Nailed down by the Covenant.
‘Well. I’m taking a piece of it.’ He said, defiantly.
‘Take as much as you like. Just remember that you’re carrying it.’ Felicity replied. She then left the Wizard to his own devices.
‘She seems nice.’ Kezra said.
‘Well she’s not.’ Corbett snapped. ‘She’s a total cow.’
‘Jeremy!’ Kezra cried, ‘You shouldn’t be mean to people.’
‘Pah.’ Corbett said. ‘I wouldn’t be mean if they weren’t all total arseholes.’
‘Oh Jeremy. They all seem lovely. The Warrior is a real gentleman.’
‘He’s a moron. He’s just a massive mobile muscular moron. If he was any more dense he would absorb all light and suck galaxies into the gap between his ears.’
‘You are very funny Jeremy.’ Kezra giggled. ‘Even when you are being a bit of a mardy pants.’
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