Elise blinked repeatedly, unsure of what the creature in front of her was. The cry that escaped her mouth was not that of fear but one out of curiosity and awe.

When Hain jumped in through the bushes and asked if she was okay, she couldn’t even tear her eyes away from the creature and respond.

The boy followed her mesmerised gaze to the creature in the mud and backed away without meaning to.

Its bulbous nose was as huge as its wobbly feet, and its green skin was caked with dirt, mud, and grime.

Its scalp was also devoid of hair, and its eyebrows were as thick as the tail of a horse. It had luminous and glazed, bright yellow eyes.

Bewitched by its ugliness, Elise drew closer to it in a trance. Even as Hain tried to hold her back, she yanked his hand away and stepped closer.

A troll? What was a troll doing here, she thought to herself. This part of the woods was forbidden to these kinds of things.

If her father or the members of the Council got wind of the creature’s dangerous venture, they’d sever its head off and impale it near the woods for all the other packs of trolls to see.

She squatted beside the lifeless creature that lay in a pit of mud on its back. It didn’t move yet it wasn’t dead.

No blood gushed out of it and neither was it hurt. Its green chest moved up and down in a steady rhythm.

Was it asleep? She was about to reach out to it and touch its bald head when Hain seized her hand.

“What are you doing?”

“It’s just a troll.”

“Just a troll?” the boy repeated. “It’s a beast that doesn’t belong here!”

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“Don’t call it that!”

“Even I, someone from a tiny settlement in the middle of nowhere know about these wicked things, yet a deity from Salwodor doesn’t?”

Elise sighed. “We don’t know that.”

“What?”

“We don’t know if it's wicked or not, so don’t call it that!”

“You must’ve lost your mind! We need to—”

They both flinched.

The troll, which had been perfectly quiet just a second ago, suddenly burst out sobbing and broke them both off.

Its huge arm now rested on its face, so that they could make out its features. It stretched each word as if it were an actor in a play.

“Oh, Mama! Oh, my dear Mama! What am I gonna do?”

When it finally let its arm rest, it peered at them out of the corner of its bright eyes. Thick and slimy tears cascaded down its bulging cheeks. It looked like its foul mouth was full of pinecones.

“W- what’s wrong? ”she said.

A subtle smile curled up on the troll’s thin lips before curling downwards again. Its voice was laced with sadness as it whimpered like an injured dog.

“Oh, I broke my bones! Yes, I sure did!”

“Can you move?”

The troll shook its head. Its huge nose bounced from left to right like it was filled with snot to the brim. Its lips curled further down and so did hers. Poor thing, she thought and caressed it.

“We need to go, Elise. That man could be anywhere…”

For a split second, she almost forgot Hain was with her. Ticked off, she turned around to face him and bore her eyes into his.

“It’s hurt! We can’t just leave it here like this!”

“That troll’s not hurt! Are you blind or something? It’s clearly trying to—”

“Oh, oh, it hurts! My bones! Cracking! Oh, someone help me! Someone!”

Hain shook his head as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Elise, on the other hand, felt a pang of ache in her chest and snivelled.

That poor thing! How much pain must it be to be crying like this? As she faced him again, she stood her ground and spoke her mind without filter.

“You’re scaring it.”

“I’m what?”

“Just leave, okay? If you’re going to act like this then just leave!”

As Hain was about to reply, the troll interrupted him. Its voice was no longer sad, just scheming and sly like a fox’s, yet neither Elise nor Hain noticed the change in its tone.

“Oh, my dear brother must be worried to death! Maybe you kids can help me find him? He can’t be too far away!”

They answered at the same time.

“Yes!”

“No!”

Elise bore her eyes into his before replying for the second time. “Of course!”

She helped the troll wrap its huge arm around her neck and exited through the gap in the bushes without batting an eye.

“This is ridiculous! Do you hear me? You’ll get yourself in trouble, Elise!”

But she ignored him and continued towards the fading trail in the distance with the huge troll.

“Suit yourself then!” he shouted.