Rage boiled hotter than Mount Doom deep within Noa, and he wasn’t going to just idly sit by while his life was toyed with again. The moment the trolls left to gear up, Noa tackled his mentor. He grabbed the priest’s robes, securing him as he shoved the tall man against a cavern wall.

“What the hell was that?!” he hissed, Armael narrowing his eyes. Bastard wasn’t even fazed!

“You’re weak, kid,” Armael said, calm as a summer breeze. Gah! That just infuriated Noa more!

Heat flooded his face as he sneered at his mentor. “That shouldn’t matter, and you damn well know it!” Noa’s knuckles whitened as he pressed harder, trying to force something out of the man.

“It shouldn’t matter, but it does,” Armael said, slowly moving his hands. In a flash of white robes, the man pushed back, making a maneuver that knocked Noa right off his feet. By the time he’d hit the ground, staring past the lip of the cave and up at the blue sky, he’d not only lost his leverage on his mentor, but had no idea what the [Grand Healer] did.

“You’re politically weak,” Armael said, stepping to hover above Noa. “You’re physically weak, maybe save for those running legs of yours, not that you could outrun trolls anyways.”

Coughing as he refilled his lungs, Noa pushed himself up, gritting his teeth. “And that gives you the right to bargain me away?” he asked.

Armael sighed, folding his arms across his chest. “The only people who have rights are those with any form of political power, otherwise you’re either a slave to the state, or to the church, but you’ve already made your pick,” he said, muttering, “not that they’re much different from each other.”

“And here I thought you were zealous,” Noa frowned, wiping off dirt. “So what? I’d be better off leaving the country?”

“You? Leave Edern?” Armael scoffed. “You’re too valuable to the church to let go. Part of my job is to protect you, and prevent you from running off to Elorn knows where.”

“So you made a bargain to sell me off!” Noa motioned with his hand to the cave. “How does that make any sense!”

“Because their bargain is flawed, kid. It has no time limit, no end. Our success is almost guaranteed because of that. Even if we lose today, tomorrow, we might evolve one of them, and then what happens?” Armael asked, his voice low.

Noa blinked. “I hadn’t realized,” he said. “You’re swindling trolls?”

“I got quite good at this out of necessity,” Armael said, then jabbed a finger at Noa's chest. “And you will too, kid.”

“What makes you think that?” Noa’s frown deepened.

The priest heaved an exasperated sigh, the wrinkles around his hazel eyes relaxing. “Because you’re me, Noa. I started where you started.”

“Indentured servitude?”

“No, I wasn’t nearly that desperate,” Armael answered quickly.

“So you didn’t start where I did,” Noa said.

“The fact of the matter, Noa, is that I got traded and tossed around as an ardent too. No family to back my name━no political support; a nobody. And for some cursed reason, I chose to become a healer because it would make me valuable.”

Dots connected in Noa’s head, and his jaw slowly slackened. “You mean to say...?” he trailed, Armael giving a nod as Noa pieced everything together. Everyone wants a healer, he thought, but no one wants to be a healer. What happened to those who were healers?

“Any other class, and I’d have been fine?”

“Yes and no. There’s a tradeoff,” Armael said, and turned as heavy footsteps echoed down to the mouth of the cave. “We may need to save the rest of this conversation for later. Can you focus enough to heal right now?” he asked.

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“Probably,” Noa sighed, dragging a hand down his face.

“Good, I’d rather do this in one shot before the trolls find out how broken their deal is,” Armael whispered, pulling four aether stones from his pocket, and handing them to Noa.

Noa looked up, and for the first time, Magenta was dressed. Like, actually dressed. He wore carved leathers over his chest, and even more down his legs like a padded skirt. Chief also was more dressed, and no longer at risk of flashing anyone. Behind them was a third troll━Aud.

“Hello, humans,” Aud said, smiling. Her teeth, out of the three, were the least unnerving.

“The climb to lion territory is hard. We will require you to ride our shoulders,” Chief said.

Seemed easy enough, until Noa was clinging to Magenta’s back for dear life, the ground several miles below. He clung on like a toddler clung to a parent for a piggyback ride, only less thrilling, or more, depending on one’s perspective. For once, the troll rollercoaster wasn’t a bad alternative.

The wind picked up, blowing away any sound Noa or his mentor made, yet the trolls’ voices rumbled above it. Not that it mattered, they were a quiet bunch when they climbed, despite Magenta asking for a story multiple times.

Why lions? Noa wondered. Why not mountain goats, or something. Why do they prefer hunting lions? he thought. Perhaps the mountain goats were harder to get to?

The wind settled, Noa sighing in relief at the reprieve. It was one less thing to worry about as he clung to dear life. He worried about going back down, his arms already so sore. Just, a little further! he thought, thinking it each time he saw a ledge that would lead out to their destination. Such ledges were passed up, and yet, the false hope drove him to hold on just a little tighter whenever he felt his grip loosening.

By the time they reached the next ledge, Noa’s arms were shaking, and about the only thing keeping him attached to Magenta was the pure adrenaline that filled every vein whenever he looked down.

Magenta heaved himself over the ledge, and up onto a stoney plateau, far bigger than any of the others they’d seen. Noa wasn’t sure it even qualified as a plateau. It was as if it’d been carved right out of the mountain. A low rumble, followed by a collapse of boulders far ahead revealed how the mountain was eroding away. Rocks and boulders littering the place was a reflection of that.

“We must give the humans rest, Chief,” Magenta informed, and Noa didn’t object when he was pried off of Magenta’s back and placed on a rock. He groaned as the soreness in his arms and hands became more apparent.

Noa let his arms just dangle at his sides, limper than noodles. Armael approached, moving around large stones that the trolls could easily step over. “Will you be able to go back down without a night’s rest?” he asked.

Cringing, Noa shook his head. “Probably not,” he said.

“We can tie him on,” Chief offered, and Noa deadpanned her.

“You mean I could have been strapped on to begin with?” he asked.

“Of course, but we did not wish to offend your pride,” Chief said.

My pride? Really? Noa raised his brow, bobbing his head towards the woman with unamused eyes. “I don’t have much pride left,” he muttered.

“Then I will carry you,” Magenta replied, and picked Noa up, who was too sore to care.

“To the den,” Chief pointed with her spear towards the mountainside, another set of rocks rolling off it from above. This was such a good idea! So much, it had Noa frowning! Surely no one would be crushed by rocks or mauled by lions.

Armael also relented to being carried. Across the rocky field were caves eroded from within the mountain itself. Squinting, Noa swore he saw the shadowy outline of large, feline creatures━far too large to be the typical mountain lion he expected.

“How many of these might you need to face to push your limits?” Armael asked Chief.

“Safely? Four. Unsafely? Probably six,” Chief said. “We will try to draw them out one at a time instead, and push our limits that way.”

Why do I get the feeling that won’t happen? Noa thought.

As they came up on the caves, the trolls hid around boulders from the bronze creatures, two females lazily lying guard on boulders near the cave entrances.

“You will need to walk from here,” Magenta stated, gently setting Noa down. “Best to not carry you and battle at the same time.”

“I’ll coax one out first,” Chief said, and slowly moved around the boulder until she was out of sight. Noa shifted, trying not to stumble over large stones beneath him as he got into position to watch. The other two trolls followed, just as quiet and nimble across the stones, moving to hide with Chief behind the next largest boulder.

Glancing up at the lazy lions, Noa cringed. They were far, yet with how big those things were, he expected they would have no issue cutting that distance down almost instantly.

Chief slowly leaned her spear out, stretching it directly into view of the only surveying lion, the other sprawled on its rock. She tapped the tip of the spear on the ground, the lion whipping its head towards the clink. Chief tapped it again, the fur near the spear’s tip bouncing. The lion got up, leaping down from its perch and out of sight.

Then nothing. Not even a sound, save for Armael’s breathing and the soft, whistling wind. As moments stretched on, the suspense alone was killing Noa. He waited, and waited. This was almost worse than sitting through a commercial break! Come on, come on... he thought, and glanced back at Armael, his eyes widening at movement in his peripheral vision.

Noa yelped at the flash of bronze jumping from over his boulder.