I cringe internally at the reminder.
"Troll. Ship's crawling with them. Listen to me, if things go to shit up there? You claim verkampent. Do you understand? The troll pirate captain will have to honor it." I grab her knapsack and a few more supplies while waiting for her response.
"Honor what?"
"Just do what you're fucking told. Stop asking questions. I'll tell you whatever you want to know if we make it out of this alive."
She nods, and that's all I need. I'm desperate to carry her across the ship to the tender that will be our salvation, but I settle for pulling her behind me. We each cling to our daggers and watch from the shadows as the trolls continue their massacre.
Arina jolts forward, moving to join the fight, but I pull her back.
"We have to do something!" she hisses at me, catching the attention of a nearby troll.
I watch as his ears perk up animalistically and he prowls closer.
When he's within reach, I let go of Arina, setting her loose on the creature.
She moves like lightning, striking him so fast across the throat that the troll can't even let out a scream before he falls to his knees, collapsing from the waterfall of blood cascading from the mouth of his wound.
"They're not so hard to kill. We can take them," she says. Her courage and competence with that dagger kick up feelings that I'm battling hard to stomp out.
It's just physical attraction. Nothing more. I lie to myself, as I have been from the start.
"What is your plan?" she asks, and I know she doesn't mean my plan for escape. She wants to fight her way through hundreds of bloodthirsty trolls.
“There's a smaller boat hanging off the edge of the ship. We cut the ropes and pray the sea god is feeling generous.” Her eyes widen in response, and I wonder if it's from fear or if she's excited by the danger.
“You're not going to help them?” she demands.
“My priority is your life and my own.”
“You're a coward.” She practically spits it at me.
I consider her for a quick moment. “Think what you will.”
“Wha—” Her words are cut off as I blur us to the tender.
I set her down in the small boat and start hacking at the ropes while she pukes over the edge. She will have to get used to the way magic overwhelms the senses here. It gets easier with time.
I look down to tell her so, but she's gone. Nothing but our supplies lie on the floorboards of the tiny vessel. I look above just in time to watch three trolls pulling Arina's limp body back onto the ship.
“Fuck!” We'd been so close. How had I not heard them? Sneaky fucks.
I climb my way back up to the ship deck, cursing the whole time.
“Look what I found, Cap'n. Ssspecial lil morsel, thisss un!” The troll hisses as it drags Arina's body to where the pirate captain stands.
Trisay is not an unfamiliar face, and she does not like me.
Multiple crew members are bound at the feet of the stoic female troll, and she studies them one by one.
Her sharp nails would be enough to slit any of their throats, and she drags one threateningly along the delicate skin of one poor bloke.
“I sssee no reason to keep any of thessse bugersss alive. Jussst more mouthsss to feed. Kill 'em all,” she commands as she swipes her claw harshly across the young man's throat. His eyes go wide as the realization of death finds him, and he falls to the deck chestfirst with a thunk.
“Wait!”
“Wait”
