by F M Andrews
Dimly she could hear sounds of the other trolls beginning to stir: a groan, a snort, the sound of a body rolling over. However, as yet, none of them had actually sat or stood up. Time was running out fast. In the end it was the troll himself that finally helped her. Still not fully awake he made one more move to turn over presenting her with the hilt for the taking. She did not hesitate and grasping it in her good hand she drew the sword and plunged it deep into his eye, a killing blow.
He jerked, pissed himself and then truly became a dead weight. Miraculously, Surrin had managed to move out from underneath him. She was free and armed. Things were looking up.
Immediately, she crouched down behind the dead troll to hide from the others before cautiously peered over his huge chest to see where the others were and what they were doing. Most were still asleep but one or two were sitting up, groaning, looking blearily around. The blood was painfully returning to her legs and she didn’t trust them yet. Quietly she stretched them, grimacing at the pain that replaced the numbness.
This was going to be a finely judged thing. If she ran too soon, her legs might not be ready to carry her and she would be seen, but if she waited too long she might be found by one of the beasts who were now waking. Her nerves got the better of her and, choosing a time when she thought none of them were looking her way, she bent over nearly double and made a break for the forest edge. Her shadow, made long by the morning rays, dancing before her over the dewy grass.
She had always thought that the outpost was nestled into the forest and that it was just a short walk until you were amongst the trees, but this morning, the forest edge seemed impossibly far away.
Her legs were not cooperating as they should and she stumbled more than once. She clutched her broken wrist to protect it but this made keeping her balance even more difficult and the whole time she expected to hear a cry or to feel a knife in her back. She was sobbing for breath when she finally reached the forest and collapsed against a tree trunk, sliding slowly into a sitting position, looking out onto what had once been her home. She knew she had to get further into the trees, to hide, but she just needed a moment to catch her breath.
The outpost was coming to life now. The trolls were stumbling around, tripping over things, pissing where they stood and it would not be long now before one of them found their companion that she had killed, and the hunt would be on. Screwing up all her reserves she stood and edged around the tree and turning her back on the outpost, she slipped into the shadow of the forest only to find herself looking at the point of a sword held by a very large troll with a distinctly unpleasant smile on his face.
#
Turrin gasped.
He had not realized he had been holding his breath as he watched the guardian girl struggle towards the cover of the forest. He had fervently hoped that her brave bid for freedom would be rewarded and that she would make it to safely, but when he saw her dragged back to the destruction of the once proud outpost and thrown down onto the ground, he found that he was in desperate need of air.
They had ridden all night and in the cool, just before the dawn, they had come upon the post from behind the cover of a small wooded rise. The sight that met them was truly horrifying. Shocking even the hardened knights.
Turrin had been forgotten as everyone had slipped back down the road to make a hasty plan of attack. Even Errin was deeply involved in the discussion, gesturing and occasionally shaking her head.
He knew that he should stay clear and not get in the way but it was hard to listen to sense when you are only twelve turns old, and he felt that he would truly go crazy if he was to come so far and then miss all the action.
Using all the hunting skills Rarrin had taught him, he had wriggled his way through the undergrowth until he had gained a grandstand view of the whole scene and, as a result, he had had a very clear view of the guardian girl stumbling towards the trees, of her capture and now, it looked as if he would have a wonderful view of her rape and eventual death.
Quietly he counted twenty trolls, all massively huge and armed with the most gruesome weaponry imaginable. One was on the ground and did not appear to be moving. Turrin hoped it was dead. He could smell their foul stench carried on the slight morning breeze that had picked up after the sunrise. It was that same breeze that also carried the occasional guttural sound of hideous laughter as the trolls poked and kicked the limp form of the girl in their midst.
Turrin was torn between closing his eyes in case the worst happened, or keeping them open in case a miracle happened and the knights could save her in time. He had faith in the prince yet he could not imagine a way to save her now. Even if the knights charged down the hill this instant it would only take a split second for one of these monsters to kill her.
Where were the knights? A quick scan showed him that they had vanished. He cursed under his breath because he now had no idea where they had gone to or where to look. He discovered that he did not like not knowing what was going to happen and he started to wriggle backwards to go and find someone.
“Careful,” came a forceful whisper .“You nearly kicked me in the nose then.”
Somehow Errin had crept up behind him without a sound. How had she known where he was and how could an old lady in a dress be so quiet? It would never cease to amaze him how she could always surprise him. Still it saved him having to go and find someone.
“Do you think they can save her?” he whispered back as quietly as he could. “She nearly made it before. She was so close.”
“I know, she certainly has spirit and a strong will to live. Let's hope that is enough to get her through. She only has to hang on for a little bit more whilst everyone gets in position, and at the moment she is as good a distraction as we are going to get.”
Turrin stared at Errin in disbelief. Here was a guardian fighting for her life and all Errin could see was that she was a useful distraction.
“She… she is going to die isn’t she? Isn’t there something that can be done to save her?” he pleaded. “Surely we can’t have come so far just to watch her die?”
Erin turned and really looked at Turrin for the first time that night. “Sometimes we have to sacrifice one to save the many and, if that is what happens today, I want you to understand that her death will be heavy in all our hearts till the day we die. Yet, if we were to try and save her but let the trolls escape to kill and plunder more innocent villages and guardian outposts, we would be guilty of causing many more innocent people's deaths.”
Turrin swallowed. So this is what it was like to be a knight, he thought. So much more painful than he had ever imagined.
He turned back to the scene below him, wondering where everyone had vanished to. Apart from the group of trolls gathered around the girl there was no one in sight.
The first inkling of what was being planned came when he noticed a large piece of roofing, possibly part of the pig house judging by its size and the fact that it was well away from the house, move on its own away from the cover of the trees and out into the open. Turrin was not sure if he was pleased or not. On one hand it was a very good simple plan to get as close as possible before attacking and, in doing so, giving the trolls less chance to kill the girl, but on the other hand it was also very risky. All it would take was for one of the trolls to notice the movement and the knights would be like sitting ducks.
The roofing moved in small fast bursts when the trolls were not looking that way. Turrin noticed that the roofing was soon joined by other, smaller pieces of debris and as he watched, even more came into view. Now there were two groups of men in disguise moving in opposite directions and they had the trolls completely surrounded. Stealthily they moved closer and closer.
Once again Turrin found himself holding his breath. Watching was so much harder than doing. He was torn between keeping an eye on the trolls or the creeping bits of building, but the closer the knights got, the more he zoned in on the trolls, looking for any sign of awareness that things were not as they should be. As
Errin had stated, the girl was the best distraction they could hope for and at the moment she seemed to be the cause of a heated argument. Aggressive stances were being taken and guttural shouts could be heard that coincided with weapon waving and angry gestures. Suddenly, a huge brute bent down and grabbed the guardian by her short dark hair, lifting her off her feet and shaking her in the opposing trolls face before it turned to walk away with her.
As one, the knights erupted from their shelter. Arrows and knives filled the air and, as if by magic, the trolls were suddenly surrounded by knights screaming their war cries and charging straight at them, weapons drawn. Turrin pumped the air and screamed right along with them. The beast holding the guardian dropped her to the ground, reached for the huge axe that was in a scabbard across his back and, snarling, he lowered into a crouch to face the onslaught. Although the trolls were completely taken by surprise it only took only a split second for them to draw their weapons and face the threat head on. The arrows and knives had wounded four and it looked as if one was dead but the others were so huge, so strong and so fast that it was still be too difficult to know which side had the advantage.
The battle cries were replaced by the sound of clashing steel, screams of pain and grunts of exertion. The knights were more agile but when a troll’s weapon connected it was always a killing blow. All Dissan’s men seemed to be able to do was to injure the trolls. Three men lay on the grass, their bodies looking part of the haphazard chaos of destruction. The battle swayed like a drunkard, one way and then the other, looking for all the world like a swarm of bees following the queen except that now and then one of the swarm would drop to the ground and be left behind.
Scanning the field Turrin suddenly noticed that the girl, now forgotten, was crawling ever so slowly, heading in his direction. He quickly weighed up his chances. The fighting had moved off towards the house and there was quite a bit of cover between the girl and where he was hiding. He knew that Errin would never let him go. He would be putting himself in considerable danger, but it was possible that he could save her, and he was the only one, at the moment, that could. The question was, would he be able to live with himself if he did not give it a try, and the answer was a clear and resounding no. He really did not have a choice.
A quick glance showed him that Errin was totally absorbed in the conflict below and not looking his way at all. Now was the time, now before he lost his nerve.
Silently he edged forwards pretending to try and get a better look. Carefully he gathered his legs under him. Errin was still staring off in the other direction. One foot in front of the other he crept down the slope avoiding any twigs or branches that would make a sound and eventually he was in a position that he could make a dash for the girl. Surveying the ground before him, he made a quick calculation of the best route, the route that would give him the most cover and taking a deep breath he dashed forward.
He ran doubled over, jinking from one piece of cover to the next. All the time he could see the girl struggling towards him. She was grey, her hair in a tangled mat and her clothes bloodied and ripped. She did not seem to be aware of any of her surroundings. Turrin had seen a mouse that Thad had brought for him once act exactly the same. It knew it had to escape, to keep moving but it had been so injured that it had no idea of where it was going or where the danger was that it was fleeing from. It was a sort of dogged determination to keep going because you are unable to stop.
This might be harder than he had at first thought. The closer he got, the more he could see that she was in a really bad way. One arm looked useless and she was moving excruciatingly slowly, all the while sobbing quietly.
Turrin dashed the last few paces to take cover behind something that looked like it was once part of a compost bin, and waited for her to slowly make her way towards him. She still had not noticed him at all. Her world had narrowed to the next piece of ground that lay directly in front of her eyes. He did not want to frighten her as she might call out and that would draw attention, yet somehow, he had to make her move behind the bin.
Cautiously he took a peek over the top of his cover to see what was happening with the battle but it still seemed as if neither side had the upper hand. Both sides were getting weary and the fighting had slowed down from the frenetic frenzy it had been at the beginning.
The good thing, at least for him, was that it was still over on the other side of the clearing. Gingerly he lay down and reached out along the ground as far as he could and to his delight he could almost touch her, just another few finger lengths and he would have her.
He began to whisper to her, more a voice in a breath than a normal whisper. “Hello, I am down here. I don’t mean you any harm. I would like to help you.” He kept repeating this phrase until it finally penetrated the fog in her brain and she looked around as if to try and find where this noise was coming from. He watched as focus returned to her eyes as she spotted him, the blank look vanishing to be replaced with one of understanding and purpose. She changed her course slightly and moving faster than before, she made her way into the relative safety behind the bin.
Turrin introduced himself and was pleased when she managed to whisper “Surrin” back to him.
“Do you think you would be able to walk if I supported you?” he asked. He had realized early on that although she was not very big there was no way he would be able to carry her. It took longer than he expected for her to answer, but a slight nod of the head was enough for him to begin to make plans.
First things first. Taking off his shirt he made an improvised sling for her broken arm and then he placed her other arm across his shoulders and eased both of them into a crouched over, semi standing, position. He could see that it had caused her pain, it was reflected in her eyes and the tight grip she had on his shoulder, but she hadn’t cried out, not even a whimper. This was one very brave lady. All the more reason to try and save her, he thought. Turrin took a small step forward and she stumbled forward beside him, leaning heavily on him, but not cripplingly so. This may just work!
It was important not to be too ambitious and to only go from one piece of cover to the next. “Are you ready?” he whispered into her ear. “We will just go to that pile of hay and then have a rest.” She nodded, looking forward and bracing herself for the run.
The first few steps were stumbling and uncoordinated but gradually they found a rhythm and although still very awkward they made good progress. When they reached the hay, both were exhausted and just crouched there panting, building up resolve to tackle the next run. Sweat trickled down his back and the musty smell of the hay was making him want to sneeze but one glance a Surrin’s pale face next to his made all these discomforts seem minor. “Time to go. You ready?” he whispered, offering her his shoulder once again.
They progressed like this, shuffling from one hiding place to another, until they came to the last shelter before they would have to make the long dash to the forest. Turrin looked longingly at the place he had been hiding with Errin and, yes, she was still there glaring down at him with murder in her eyes. Somehow that was very comforting, something familiar, something he had dealt with before. It also showed, in an odd way, how much she really did care about him.
This last stretch was going to be difficult as it was not only the longest run they had yet attempted, it was also slightly up hill. This would make it harder to run but it also exposed them to anyone looking from below. The sun was higher in the sky now as it was about mid-morning, and the air was fresh with the sweet scent of fallen leaves. The sound of the battle was still distant yet somehow the rhythm of it sounded different. Turrin dared a look, peering between the twigs and leaves of the red currant bush they were hiding behind. It took a moment before he realized what the difference was. There were far fewer trolls standing than before, although there were just as many knights as the last time he had looked. There had been a change. The fight had turned and it appeared as if it had turned in the knights’ favour. He screwed up his face trying to work out
what had happened. Something Hexrick had said earlier that night surfaced. He had said that the trolls do not fight as a unit, could that be the difference? Could the prince have used that against them and picked them off one by one? He viewed the battle with new eyes and saw that although all the trolls were engaged each trying to pin down a single agile knight who seemed to be evading it rather than attacking it, there was one troll with four knights surrounding him and they were all working together to bring him down. Very clever, Turrin smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. Not even a beast as huge as this could withstand four skilled knights attacking it at once and it did not take very long before this troll also succumbed, becoming just another untidy mound in the grass. The four knights immediately transferred their attention to another troll. Turrin could see that it would not take long for the battle to be over and the sensible thing would be to wait it out where they were.
It was probably best to stay hidden just in case yet after he had explained what was happening to Surrin he couldn’t resist crawling out a bit further for a better view. He sat upright and snapped off a few offending branches, releasing the tangy, distinctive scent of currant into the air as he did so. The sight that greeted him made him freeze in terror. Instead of seeing a resounding victory with the knights standing over a mound of dead trolls, he was just in time to see a huge beast, carrying a bloody axe twice the size of Turrin, running very fast, directly towards their hiding place. The one thing that Turrin had not taken into account was that these trolls had no loyalty to each other, and because of that, they had begun to run as soon as it became clear that they were not going to win, and unfortunately, one happened to be running their way. All Turrin could do was hope that it would not see them and run right past, but this was not to be. Trolls may not have been loyal but they were not stupid and as soon as it saw Turrin it swerved towards them with the firm intent to either take a hostage, or to take revenge, written all over its ugly misshapen face.