I scream again as the first one, the biggest of the three, starts to reach down to grab me. Suddenly, someone leaps over my head, landing in front of me as his sword stabs the troll’s hand.
“Silver!” I gasp in shock. Where the hell did that sword come from? I’d never seen him carrying one before. He yanks the sword and spins towards me, a determined look on his face as he reaches for me.
“Come on, Penny, get up!” I give him my hand and the second I’m up, we start running back towards camp.
“Trolls!” Silver yells as we run. He yells it over and over, and as we quickly enter the small clearing, the others are already arming themselves as they scan the trees.
“How many?” Apollo asks.
“Three that I can see.”
“Is she okay?” Indy asks.
“Yes, it didn’t touch her.”
Why are they all talking around me?
“Give her to me,” Brax commands, reaching for me, but Silver twists me away, turning us to face each other as he places his free hand on my shoulder.
“Look, Penny, trolls are very dangerous. You need to stay in the middle of us, and if we tell you to do something, you do it, got it?”
“But I want to help,” I tell him, not wanting them to put their lives at risk while I do nothing.
“Do you know how to wield a sword? A bow and arrow?”
“No, but I can throw a dagger! Right, Drake?” I ask, hoping he remembers how I took down Jarid.
“Right you are, Love.”
“Okay,” Silver says, surprising me, as he reaches into his pockets. “Everyone give Penny your extra daggers.” He pulls out two for me, as the rest pull one of two each from various places. I end up with nine daggers. Seven on the ground at my feet and two in my hands.
I’m pleased they’re giving me the opportunity to help. Even If they were all circling me for protection, swords and daggers at hand.
The first troll breaks through the trees where Silver and Brax are standing, and they immediately go on the offensive, slashing their swords at his legs. I didn’t notice before, but he’s carrying a large club, which looks like an overgrown baseball bat. He swings it towards both men and they move out of the way before it makes contact. The beast is large and thick, but luckily, seems rather slow.
The other two trolls push into the clearing beside the first, giving the twins and Drake their own battle. I see blood fly from the troll’s legs, but they don’t seem to be affected by it.
I’m startled by a loud noise behind me, and turn to see two more trolls.
“Shit, where did they come from?” Ryker asks, the only man not currently battling anyone.He can’t take on two trolls on his own.I take aim with my dagger, but Silver suddenly rushes past at the same time Ryker charges, each man taking on a troll. I quickly glance around and see all my men battling trolls. It seems a sixth one has appeared that Drake is now fighting. We are completely surrounded and matched six men and six trolls.
I watch in horror, noting that their blades don’t seem to be weakening them much. Just angering them as if they are pesky mosquito bites. But these beasts were clearly not as intelligent ashumans, they didn’t even wear clothes. So we had to be able to out smart them.
What resources did we have to aid us? I scan our supplies and the men and realize it’sthem. My men and Iareour greatest assets. We have been through so much together already, nothing has stopped us so far, and these trolls weren’t about to stop us either. Every time an obstacle comes up, one or more of my men have helped me overcome it, so with all six of them here, each having their own strengths, I know that if we work together, we can take down these trolls.
“Apollo! Use your magic, drown the bastards!” He glances at me in surprise before a determined look crosses his face. He turns back to the troll he’s been fighting and drops his sword, holding both palms up as water shoots from them and encircles the beast’s head. The troll struggles and tries to pull the water off, but his fingers just move through it. After about two minutes, it drops to its knees before falling flat on its face, dead.
It worked really well, but it’s too slow. And when the other trolls see their fallen comrade, they seem to get angry and ramp up their fighting. Drake is a trained killer, he should be able to take these guys out, right? And when I watch him fighting the troll, I realize the problem is that he can’t get close enough to make a killing blow. it seems like he’s trying to get to its head but it’s too tall for him to reach. We need to bring them down to their knees.
“Brax, we need to distract them, you need to roar at them, like you did the snowprowler!” I yell in his direction. “Then Ry and Indy, grab the rope and try to trip it up. When it gets to the ground, Drake can finish it off.”
“On it!” Ry yells, running quickly to grab a rope as Brax starts to roar in the face of a troll.
“Apollo, I’ll try to take down ones you’re drowning with a dagger to the head, and Silver, you watch everyone’s back.” I make eye contact with Silver, who gives me a serious look beforenodding.
Apollo is already drowning the next troll he and Indy had been fighting, so I grab my first dagger and hurl it right at its neck. It sinks in deep and the troll takes two seconds before it drops. It flails around on the ground for another ten seconds before it stills.
I glance over and see Ry and Indy wrapping rope around the legs of two trolls who were standing close to each other. When they try to yank back nothing happens so I glance at Apollo and ask, “Can you give them a nudge?”
