Swallowing hard, Rose looked down at the offered hand that still hadn't wavered, and then back to his strangely dark eyes. "I don't... I don't know what to do."
"You know exactly what you want to do. That's why you came here in the first place. You know that nothing here could hurt you. Not really."
But so many things hurt her. Rose pressed a hand to her belly where a particularly sharp stab of pain broke through this reality. She winced, feeling an odd sensation of the real world tugging at her. The fear of this place was melding with what she actually felt, and if she wasn't careful, she was going to lose her grip on this realm.
The creature in front of her widened their eyes and suddenly… lunged.
Their hands framed her face, forcing her to look at them and only them. "Don't go," Rhydian murmured. "Don't do that to yourself. It's not time for you to go yet."
Tears formed in her eyes, dripping down her cheeks and sliding between the fingers that held her where she was. "I don't know how I can stay. I'm so afraid of everything, and this was supposed to be... be..."
Somewhere to escape.
"I know. I know you're terrified of everything. That's why I was sent and not someone else. You're so scared of men, and I am..." Rhydian chuckled, but the sound was dark. "Well, I am male in a sense, but as far from that as you can get."
He was sent to her? What did he mean by that?
"Your mind can become something powerful, Rose. This realm can be more than a place to hide if you let it." His thumbstrailed through her tears, catching them one by one until it felt like her face had been washed clean. "I want to teach you about everything. You can wander these meadows for as long as you wish, but if you want to use this time to learn, then I would like to offer that to you."
"You want to teach me about everything?" she repeated. "But that's impossible."
"About as impossible as a realm conjured up in your mind." He took a few steps back and then gestured up and down his form. "And as impossible as it is to meet an elf."
"I thought you all hated humans," she muttered, trying to get her bearings.
Again, that strange head tilt as he stared at her. "I think I remember that now. It's probably best you don't bring it up. For now, we will just be student and teacher. It will help me to ignore your deficiencies, and perhaps help you to see me as more than just a conjuration of your own mind."
The situation sure had gotten odd. But she didn’t want to run anymore, and she certainly wasn’t planning on returning to the real world.
“All right,” she said. “I’d like to learn whatever you know.”
Rhydian’s eyes sparkled. “Oh, that is an awful lot to learn.”
Four
Gunnar
Gunnar whipped his twin blades up in one motion, catching the human man who’d thought he could hunt along their mountain. The troll mountain, the one that shook humans from her sides like flies off a horse.
Blood sprayed out from the man's torso, splashing all over Gunnar. He wore the arterial spray of so many enemies that he was certain he looked quite the sight. It would take ages to wash out.
None of that mattered, though. All that did was ensure he kept fighting. Because the humans had decided they would hunt trolls on this mountain, and he refused to allow that to happen. He'd been one of the first to volunteer when the king had asked for warriors to defend their home. Gunnar would not be caught unawares. He wasn't going to be one of the trolls who fell to the humans’ stupid ploys.
Their swords didn't cut through troll skin, but these soldiers knew that. It seemed that their blades were coated in poison.They were here on suicide missions. They knew they were going to die, and all they wanted was to take a few trolls with them.
Baring his tusks at one of the men who had turned to run, he pursued. Humans always thought that because they were smaller than the trolls, they would be quicker. If they could just get into the trees, then a troll surely couldn't follow them.
Maybe some trolls couldn't. Bjorn certainly hadn’t been able to fight the way that Gunnar could. But their behemoth of a berserker was never best for pursuit, anyway.
They'd lost him just a few battles ago, and Gunnar hadn't fought the same since. They had been paired together, him and Bjorn, along with his brother Ragnar. They had all fought in one unit. Bjorn headed straight into the fray while Gunnar picked off the stragglers with his blades. And then Ragnar had been at their flank, making sure no one attacked them from behind and healing whatever scrapes or wounds they might get along the way.
It had worked perfectly. Until it hadn’t. Until Bjorn had fallen and Gunnar had been so injured that Ragnar had to make an impossible decision.
If Bjorn had been here, he would have teased the two of them for being so fractured. But Gunnar didn't know what to say to his brother. Ragnar had taken it personally. He was the one who had lost Bjorn at the end. He was the one who should have been there when their friend died.
Ragnar always got quiet when he was upset.
Gunnar just wanted to make those responsible pay.
