If this was a negotiation, it would be the hardest of my life.
Chapter 51
Allie
The wind carried the metallic scent of blood, enveloping us in it. Maybe another small grace from the crater, so the troll couldn’t smell my fear.
Skin crawling from my stillness in the face of obvious danger, I waited.
I couldn’t speak their tongue and they couldn’t speak mine. Yet here we were, trying to communicate.
Grandpa Constantine had taught me to always let the other party start the negotiation. It was a good way to gauge their real intentions, right from the first word. \
But no words flowed here.
The troll sized me up in the same way I did. Hunters, the both of us–and we had only those skills and instincts to rely on now.
Unarmed, in a seated position, in front of a being that could end me in one breath.
It’ll have to do.
I rolled my shoulders back, looking up at the troll as if I didn’t care about all of my disadvantages. Confidence, even forced one, was a great asset.
The troll finally moved its head, looking at the remnants of battle and the Northern lives we’d taken. Then his dark gazemoved toward the rim of the crater, where a lone line of rope dangled in the wind.
I nodded and made a climbing motion, my hands too jittery for my liking.
Stop it. You were raised for this.
Dax was right.
I had been.
A long, calming breath later, I let my training take over my nerves, like it had in battle. This wasn’t some war room or some gilded court, but the principles were the same.
The troll huffed through his nostrils and made a gargling sound. Warm, earthy air hit my forehead, the sensation crawling down my spine. Behind me, Dax shifted.
The first line of trolls parted, and a dozen of them stepped forward, carrying armloads of weapons, armors, and shields, all of them with the same scale pattern, all of them bloody.
I inhaled sharply, stomach dropping.
Xamor knew what they’d done to the soldiers’ bodies.
They threw the weapons onto the ground, the rattle thrumming through me.
The troll bared his teeth, further exposing his fangs.
My eyes widened with terror.
More Northerners had attacked–butwhen?
If the trolls had faced them on this very day, it meant we were dealing with waves upon waves we were not prepared for and couldn’t possibly face.
How could I express the concept of today?
I flexed my fingers, as if I could yank the answer out of thin air.
I pointed at the rope, the bodies, then at the sun, barely peeking out from the clouds. I let my hand fall down the horizon, and looked questioningly at their leader, hoping it would be enough to convey the question.
