Verd froze, pressing himself against the rough bark of the tree. Deep in the forest, like a harbinger of a storm, thundered the enraged roar of one troll, smashing branches and shaking the ground below. Another, more massive, as if sculpted from living moss, was approaching unhurriedly. Each of his steps echoed with a pulsating rumble, making the earth tremble even at such a height.
The plan, born in feverish confusion, crumbled to dry dust. Against one - slow-witted and dim - one could devise a cunning trick. But two... Two could simply surround his tree like a besieged castle and wait until hunger, thirst, or despair broke his will. Or worse - bring down the trunk together.
The furious adrenaline that had recently raged in his veins gave way to a dull, all-encompassing despair - icy and calm. Fear was certainly present, but it was pushed deep inside, behind a deaf wall of indifference built over the years spent in the stone embrace of the mines. He watched, assessed, searching for a thread of hope in the tight knot of hopelessness.
The huge troll approached its kin and let out a low, guttural sound, reminiscent of the grinding of ancient stones. The one that had been furiously smashing the tree paused for a moment, turned its dull head, and rasped something back, as if choking. They seemed to be communicating.
'I thought they were completely stupid. Shit, if they can talk...'
Having apparently reached an agreement, they began to circle the tree, slowly, as if scenting out their prey.
'And how do I get out of this situation? Neither on the ground nor through the air can I escape them. And in open combat, I'll only hasten my death.'
Thoughts darted and jostled like a caged bird. Verd cautiously peeked out of the hollow, quickly scanning his surroundings. Not far from the trolls, a fallen giant tree jutted out of the boggy swamp mud, serving as a sort of sloping bridge to another, even more majestic tree.
'No,' - a crooked smile twisted his face - 'I'm not ready to die yet.'
He pressed the dull, worn blade to his chest, his fingers feeling the roughness of the old, weathered hilt. The weapon was pitiful, but it was all he had left. The two trolls methodically scoured the ground, inexorably approaching his hiding place.
The escape plan across the fallen trunk was daring, risky, but there was no other. He just needed to sow discord between them, or at least distract them for a split second. Fortunately, the recent skirmish had shown how easily these creatures succumbed to impulsive urges.
The big troll caught his scent first. Its flattened snout turned toward the tree, its murky eyes narrowing. A short, commanding grunt escaped its throat, and the second troll, ceasing its sniffing, slowly moved toward the trunk, ready to unleash its power upon it again.
'A little more...'
The sound of heavy footsteps grew louder, heavier.
'Now!'
At the moment the footsteps ceased, Verd focused all his remaining strength and, with one bold strike, pierced the eye socket of the troll peering into the hollow. The huge monster immediately fell onto its back, trying to pull the splinter from its eye.
With all attention on the screaming troll, Verd leaped out of the hollow and, without hesitation, jumped down onto the lower branches. The wound on his leg flared with searing fire, but ignoring the pain, he rolled across the slippery bark, trying to absorb the impact. He landed in thick moss at the base of the tree, nearly wrenching his injured arm. The air escaped his lungs with a groan.
The trolls recovered. They saw him. The big one roared and lurched forward, crushing ferns. The smaller one tried to circle around, cutting off the path to the fallen trunk.
'Shit! I won't make it!'
Verd darted sideways, not straight toward the bridge-trunk, but in an arc, weaving between giant roots and pillars of trunks. Each step sent a sharp pain through his leg, but adrenaline drowned it out. He ran across the unstable ground, thick with moss and ferns, trying to maintain a zigzag course.
The big troll, enraged, quickened its pace, its heavy feet squelching in the soft earth, inexorably closing the distance.
The wind whistled in Verd's ears. He caught a glimpse of the first troll's clawed hand lashing out to grab his shoulder. At the last moment, he ducked sharply, letting the thick fingers fly past a centimeter above his head, and, without losing momentum, rolled aside into the prickly thickets of giant fern. The thorns dug into his body, becoming an unexpected but lifesaving tool for a sharp change of direction.
Now between him and the fallen trunk stood only the second troll, which, breathing heavily, had already taken position at its base. The bridge of the fallen tree was narrow, slippery with moss, and unreliable. Trying to break through head-on meant being knocked into the swamp with one blow.
'I need to get around him somehow!'
Verd looked around for any handhold. His gaze fell on a thick vine hanging from a nearby tree, swaying right above the troll's head.
Gathering the last of his strength, Verd took a few quick steps back toward the base of the huge tree he had just descended from. The big troll, thinking the prey was trying to retreat, roared and charged after him, crushing ferns. The second troll, seeing this, hesitantly moved forward but didn't leave its position entirely.
'Stubborn bastard! Isn't that enough for him?!'
Verd, reaching the tree, didn't try to climb. Instead, he punched the spongy bark with all his might. The sound was dull, not loud. But he shouted, hoarse and loud, mimicking an aggressive roar:
- A-a-argh!
This stunt looked stupid, but given the monster's intelligence, it worked. The second troll, hearing the noise ahead, hesitated for a moment. Its primitive mind couldn't process who the cry belonged to. So seeing only its kin before it, it decided the voice was his.
That split second was enough. Verd, gathering himself, sprinted. He ran straight toward the huge troll. When he was almost under it, the monster leaned down, but at that same moment, its ally crashed into it from behind, unable to stop.
A moment of pure luck he hadn't counted on.
The jump was on the edge of possibility. The fingers of his only hand scraped against the slippery surface of the vine, barely catching hold. Inertia carried him forward, right over the stunned troll's head. Verd, swinging on the vine, pulled up his legs and kicked off the monster's back with force, using it as a living springboard.
The troll roared in surprise and rage, staggering. It immediately reached for him, but, standing in the viscous liquid, lost its balance and fell backwards into the mud.
He flew the last meters and landed heavily on the fallen trunk, already past where the troll had been standing. The wood groaned under his feet but held. He barely kept his balance, spreading his legs wide and crouching to lower his center of gravity.
Before him stretched the unreliable, moss-covered, rotting bridge to another giant tree. Behind him, on the shore, the trolls roared. And from the swamp came squelching sounds - one of them was trying to get out, but his movements only hastened his sinking.
There was no time. Verd, without looking back, crawled along the trunk, clinging with one hand to rare knots and bark protrusions. Every movement was agonizing. The wound on his leg burned, sending waves of nausea. The bridge swayed beneath him, threatening to throw him into the stinking abyss.
He was already halfway across when he heard heavy stomping behind him. The first troll, overcoming its rage, decided to act. It stepped onto the beginning of the fallen trunk. The wood creaked, protesting against the monstrous weight, and the entire bridge tilted dangerously.
Verd sped up, now almost running, balancing on the edge of falling. Only a few meters remained to the saving tree. He could see the powerful roots descending to the water itself, and the low-hanging branches.
'Come on! Just a little more!'
Behind him came a deafening crack. The troll, too heavy for the rotten wood, broke through the trunk at the point where the bridge began.
And then - at the very end, when only one step remained - a fit seized him, and he spat blood from his mouth.
Because of this sudden turn, Verd lost his footing after the monster finally destroyed the bridge. Surrounded by falling debris, he fell to the ground and sank slightly into the mud.
'Hurts...'
Almost immediately, the monster's huge shadow fell over him, cutting off the sunlight.
- Ha...
Realizing he had no strength left and no way to escape, Verd simply extended his arm and showed the monster his middle finger.
- Go to hell...
The huge paw with claws like shards of flint froze in the air, ready to crush him flat. Verd waited for the blow, staring into the dull eyes full of stupid rage.
And suddenly, between him and the troll's claws, a thin dark-red trail sliced through the air.
It wasn't an arrow. It wasn't a spear. It was a clot of lightning, materialized in the form of an elegant blade. It entered the troll's wrist with a quiet, wet click, as if cutting not flesh as dense as stone, but ripe fruit.
The troll froze. Its dull face twisted not in pain, but in bewilderment. It looked at its hand, which no longer obeyed it, dangling on strips of skin and tendons - and in the next instant, its entire body scattered into small pieces.
'What... was that...'
Verd, frozen in anticipation of death, slowly turned his gaze. Right before him, between the monsters, appeared the silhouette of a person.
- Interesting. - came a slightly cheerful female voice. - So it's you that Kaell placed the mark on?
The sunlight, blocked by the monster's body, quickly returned, illuminating the pale face of the girl. The wind, rushing between the trees, billowed her long cloak of dense, sturdy fabric. Beneath it, one could make out tight-fitting dark clothing, and her legs were clad in wide, loose pants tucked into high, practical boots. But most of all, Verd - even half-delirious - remembered her hair. Long and slightly curly, it was the color of ripe wheat and seemed to glow from within in the ray of sunlight piercing through the thicket. And her eyes, hidden behind thin black glasses - cold, clear, blue, like ice on high-mountain lakes.
- It's over. Now I'm taking you with me.