The trees near Southsheer were not as thick as the depths further within, but they blocked enough of the star and moonlight to encumber vision. Leaf was used to such conditions, and the Ether that pulsed through him naturally focused his sight to the point that he was able to navigate it with no issue. This was also true of both Jahora and Elly, who had enhanced their vision with a simple spell to see through the darkness. Both stood only a short distance back from him as they weaved through branches and leaves, following Leaf’s lead in keeping quiet as they trekked through the forest.
It was the soft, irregular pattern of clinks behind them that broke the silence.
Leaf looked behind him, catching the sight of Helbram moving slowly behind them. The warrior was doing his best to navigate the foliage as quietly as possible, but that did not stop the occasional branch from striking his helmet or his shoulder plate. In any other situation Leaf would have said something in jest, but he knew hidden behind the warrior’s metallic visor was an expression of focus and urgency.
He knew full well why his friend had pushed them to leave in the middle of the night. so he kept his japes contained and returned his attention to the forest. Signs of both men and Troll alike remained absent to his enhanced senses, prompting him to lead the group deeper into the forest.
As they walked, Jahora pulled a dagger from her robes, “Before we march any further, I must explain how to use these.”
Helbram looked at her, unnaturally still.
The Thaumaturge held a hand out reassuringly, “It will only take a moment.”
He looked at her for a moment longer, then nodded.
Jahora drew attention to the glyph that was engraved to the base of the dagger’s blade, “I’ve imbued this dagger with a simple spell of binding,” she explained.
Elly stared at the dagger with interest, “What sort of binding?”
Jahora walked up to a tree and drove the dagger into the tree with a quick thrust, “It would be better to demonstrate,” she tapped the glyph on the dagger twice and its lines soon started to fill with a green Aether. She flicked her hands soon after, allowing a soft aura of that same energy to envelope them, “the glyph is of my own design, so if I mark another object with another glyph…” she picked up a rock and, with a slight furrow to her brow, produced a green glyph similar to the one on the dagger. As she did, the rock flew from her hand and struck the dagger, but rather than bouncing off, the rock remained stuck to the knife. Its glyph was attached to the symbol on the blade, keeping the two objects stuck together without any sort of rope or adhesive.
Jahora tapped her chin, “The efficiency is nowhere near a properly crafted item, but it should serve as a fair catalyst for now.”
Leaf tapped the dagger, “How do we turn it off?”
Jahora snapped her fingers and the spell ended, allowing the rock to fall to the ground and removing any remaining Aether from the blade, “Leave that to me, you must simply activate it by tapping the glyph twice and I shall be able to bind anything to it with greater efficiency.”
“I was about to ask,” Elly said, “It is possible to produce such an effect through spell casting alone, but if the dagger is able to increase the spell’s efficiency…”
“Then the spell itself will grow more powerful…” Helbram mentioned. He walked up to the dagger and pulled it from the tree, “Though the method of attaching it to the target is a bit unsavory…”
The Mage scratched her head, “I do admit that it is a bit violent, but with such little time I could not think of any other methods… it is a last resort of course, should the worst come to pass.”
Helbram nodded and knelt down to meet her face to face, “I know, and I thank you for your efforts,” he placed a hand on her shoulder, and Leaf knew him well enough to feel the small smile behind his helmet. Jahora did as well, and smiled back at him.
“Should it come to that, I shall not hesitate to use it. Directly embedding an object into a Troll should help bypass its natural resistance to magics regardless,” he flipped the dagger and held it by the blade, tilting the handle towards Jahora. She stopped him and gently pushed it back.
“You hold onto it,” she said, “I have a feeling that if things turn sour you are far more likely to get it where it needs to be.”
She handed him the dagger’s sheath and after a moment of consideration, Helbram took it and strapped the dagger to his waist.
“I see your point,” he tapped the bundle of rope that was attached on the opposite side of his waist, “we’ll most likely need this as well. Trolls are not so easy to restrain,” he nodded towards Leaf, “I trust that you will aid me in this should the worst occur?”
Leaf tapped his chest, “Of course, gods know you need it. If you managed to restrain a Troll by yourself we’d have a lot more to discuss.”
Helbram snorted, “I suppose we would.”
Jahora pulled another dagger from her robes and tossed it gently towards Leaf, “I did make two, better to keep our bases covered.”
Leaf strapped the dagger to his belt, “Fair enough, shall we be on our way?”
The group nodded to each other and continued deeper into the forest. As they did Leaf fingered at his knuckles, taking note of the glyph that sat on his glove. As he did, he felt the presence of his bow and his shortsword at the back of his mind, ready to be reached out to at a moment's notice. Helbram would have similar marks on his gauntlets, one for each of the weapons that the warrior wielded. He spared a glance at Jahora, who had primed the spells for release. He knew the Thaumaturge had cast many more spells in the past, but he still searched for any signs of weariness. When he saw none, he looked back in front of him.
He was not the only one that had grown stronger in their time together.
“Question,” Elly said, “my knowledge of Trolls is limited, but how adept are they at seeing through illusions?”
Leaf scanned the forest floor again, “I’m afraid I can’t say, I haven’t heard much about that specifically.”
“Neither have I,” Helbram added, “I suspect that they would be more proficient than most given their affinity for Aether, but if things were in the heat of the moment such perceptions would be naturally inhibited.”
Elly nodded, “I see… and how are we to track this Troll?”
Leaf moved aside some forest brush and rubbed his chin, “With a lot of difficulty. Large as they are, they are able to move through nature itself without leaving so much as a trace.”
“Through their Aether manipulation, no doubt,” Jahora noted, “Perhaps one adept in spellcraft would serve to be of assistance?”
The tracker looked through the trees, hoping to find a broken branch or some sign of disturbance. None was found.
He sighed, “Aye. It was foolish of me to think I could track it on my own.”
“Your capabilities are far better than mine, that is for certain,” Helbram said, “I can hardly see at the moment. When your Ether grows, you will be able to sense traces that are less… corporeal in nature.”
“Shame it couldn’t help us now,” Leaf said with a frown.
Elly and Jahora walked up next to him, following his eyes with the same perceiving squint. Eventually Jahora’s eyes widened as her eyes fell upon something that Leaf could not see.
“Over there,” she said, pointing to a narrow spot between the trees, “There is a disturbance in the flow of Aether,” she marched up to the spot she indicated, but still Leaf could not see anything, “It is slight, but it leads further this way,” she pointed deeper into the forest.”
Elly walked up to the spot as well, “You are correct… it is shocking, honestly. If I did not know our target I would suspect that a Mage had left these traces.”
The two of them took charge of the tracking after that and they proceeded into the forest in relative silence. Leaf still kept his eyes searching, looking for any sign of physical disturbance that the spellcasters may have missed while also making sure that Helbram was still following them. He sensed a slight shiver of Ether from the warrior, something that Leaf noted was common whenever light became sparse. Though his capacity of Ether was barely noticeable, Helbram had always been able to use it effectively, outside of combat related uses. In this case, he knew the warrior had switched to relying on his ears rather than his eyes to sense where his companions were.
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“It is strange… the Aether appears to be more disturbed the further that we progress,” Elly said as they trekked further into the forest.
Jahora nodded, “Yes, the deftness from before is lost, and though the forest itself appears to remain undisturbed the energy here… it is like something was gradually losing control.
Leaf felt a spike of dread in his stomach, “We’d best keep our guard up,” his eyes widened as he spotted something on the forest floor, “Hold.”
The two casters looked at him with confusion as he directed his attention to the forest floor. The indentations on it were light, but he could see the paw prints pressed upon the dirt. There were multiple sets, too jumbled to make a quick estimate, but in the midst of them was a singular scale the size of his open hand. It was a dull orange in color, reflecting the decaying state of the leaves around them, with specs of green lined throughout it.
“Shite,” he spat.
“What’s wrong?” Jahora asked.
“Looks like our Troll is not alone,” he knocked a knuckle against the scale, producing a muted, dull sound against it, “They’ve found a few Scalehounds to follow them.”
“Scalehounds? I had no idea that they were out in the Freemarks,” Jahora said.
“It is rarer to see them, yes, but I have had a few encounters with them…” Helbram said with a hint of dread in his voice, “They were not pleasant.”
Elly scratched her chin, “I’ve had my head in the books for far too long, it seems. I can scarcely remember any details about them.”
“Nothing too complicated,” Leaf said with a sigh, “imagine wolves, but larger, faster, stronger, and covered in scales that serve as surprisingly sturdy armor.”
Elly grimaced, “So an unpleasant sort.”
Leaf nodded, “Very,” he held up the scale again, “Their scales will reflect the world around them, making them very hard to spot to the naked eye.”
He looked to Helbram as he spoke.
Helbram sighed, “I will be fine, I have survived encounters with them before,” he rubbed a finger against his knuckles, “Very fortunate that I bought a spear this time around… How many are there?”
Leaf shrugged, “Hard to say. My best guess would be around four of them.”
“Brilliant,” Helbram said in a dry tone, “Let us hope the Troll has tamed them somewhat,” he motioned for everyone to continue forward, “Should blows come to pass, aim for their stomachs, it is where their natural armor is less present.”
They all nodded and continued on. Elly and Jahora continued to lead them by following the Troll’s magical trail, but as they progressed Leaf started to notice much more sign’s to the its presence. The first indication was that the paw prints of the Scalehounds were growing more pronounced, and where there were no branches broken he could see a clear pattern of breaks that continued to lead deeper into the forest. From the height of the broken twigs Leaf could guess that the Troll stood at least three heads taller than Helbram.
“We may be dealing with a younger Troll,” Leaf noted in a low voice, “They’re usually much bigger from what I can tell.”
“That makes them no less dangerous if they are not in the right mind,” Helbram responded in his own low tone.
As they followed the trail, evidence of the Troll’s destructive path grew only more obvious with time. Scrapes against trees, toppled shrubbery and soon even the prominence of giant footprints started to be spotted and an increasing frequency. As soon as these signs started to become obvious to even the untrained eye, Elly and Jahora stopped.
“Something is not right,” Elly said, “The Aether here… it is chaotic, distorted; like something had come and disturbed this place’s very essence.”
Leaf noted the trail of destruction ahead of them, “Aye, that would most likely be the Troll.”
Jahora shook her head, “No, it is more than that. Even physical damage on this scale wouldn’t disrupt the Aether like so,” she noted, “it is as if magicks started to collide in this area.”
Leaf grimaced, “Maybe Majorie’s group has already found it.”
“It is possible,” Elly said, “The half orc of their party… Geren I believe. He was a practitioner.”
“Even more reason to keep our guard up,” Helbram said, “Odds are they will not be so keen on sparing their prey if they are the ones that chased it to this state.”
Leaf looked around the area, noting no traces of blood admits the destruction, “If they have been fighting it looks like neither party has drawn blood.”
Helbram sighed in relief, “Good, then perhaps tragedy will not come to pass this day.”
The group continued to follow the trail of destruction, and as they did the presence of his bow became all the more prominent at the back of Leaf’s mind. He had the urge to call it for right at that moment, but suppressed the instinct to do so.
Their pace had not changed since the trail grew hotter - it might have even grown a bit faster - but in his mind it felt as if they had been walking for ages. Perhaps it was the tension that was growing steadily around him, perhaps it was the complete silence in which they walked, but there was a part of him that started to suspect that they would be following this Troll for an eternity, never able to see it.
And he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.
His thoughts were interrupted as Elly and Jahora froze again. The trail of destruction had grown in scale, widening into an area littered with half toppled trees , upturned boulders and swaths of dirt that tore through the forest floor. Gone were the ambient sounds of the night time fauna, replaced by only a singular, steady sound.
Breathing.
It was labored, and on top of that was at such a volume that it was as if one was breathing right next to him. The source of it lay shrouded in darkness beyond, a heaving figure that trembled in shadow. He walked up to the two spellcasters, trying to get a better look at the Troll, but as he came up to them he too froze. His senses went blank as he was assaulted by an overwhelming feeling of fear, of confusion that was not his own. It was not something that was forced into his mind, but rather like a blanket that smothered him, overwhelming him to such a degree that he could not help but feel empathetic to such emotions. No words were said from the Troll, but still Leaf shivered with it all the same. His heart started to race with panic, mind blanked from the feeling of something that pressed against his mind. He heaved with each breath, barely noticing that both Elly and Jahora were doing the same, and they fell in sync with the Troll beyond.
He felt a hand against his shoulder.
“Steady your mind, these emotions are not your own,” Helbram said. It was in a soft tone, but it cut through the blanket smothering Leaf like a knife. Leaf shook his head and steadied himself, still feeling the emotions of the Troll at the fringes of his mind, but no longer overwhelmed by them.
Helbram had said the same to both Jahora and Elly, who fell to their knees, breaths still heavy, but clarity returned to their eyes.
“Gods it… it felt so overwhelming,” Elly said. She pushed herself to her feet, “I can still feel it pressing against me now.”
“That is how most Trolls communicate,” Helbram explained, “though I must admit that it is usually not so… potent,” His posture stiffened, “it is crying out, calling for something in its panic. It is scared.”
He took a step towards the Troll, and Jahora tried to hold a hand out to stop him, but he pushed it back down gently.
“I shall be alright,” he said as he continued forward.
Helbram continued towards the Troll, and it took until the warrior was halfway to them that Leaf managed to work through the constant flood of emotions to follow after him. As they approached, The figure of the Troll became clearer. Its stone-like gray skin was marked with patches of what Leaf could only determine to be a dark green moss. What was not covered in this vegetation was instead covered in sweat, glistening in the bare traces of moonlight that shone through the canopy above. It was with this light that Leaf spotted the beast that lay next to the Troll.
He thought it to be a large pile of leaves on the ground, but as it stirred he saw the scales bristle at their approach. The Scalehound’s head turned to them, its guise the semblance of a wolf with a long nose, searching eyes, and pointed ears, but in the place of fur was instead scales. They started small at its face, growing in size until they met its torso, where the scales matched the size of the one that he picked up before. The scales held the color of fading leaves, and the closer Helbram approached the more its back hunched and its scales bristled. Still, it did not bare its fangs, and Helbram continued towards the Troll.
When Helbram was within a stone’s throw of the Troll, it turned to him and stood up.
Leaf’s estimates of its size were correct, but only in regards to its height. It’s width was about twice Helbram’s, making the tall man look relatively miniscule in comparison to its height. The same patches of moss covered parts of its front as well, and Leaf could see a smattering of both wood and cloth covering it in a rough assembly of clothing covering its upper and lower body. Its posture was upright, much like any other man he’d seen, but was far more imposing given its size. Were it not for the Troll’s own fear pressing down on him, he would no doubt have been feeling some fear of his own.
Such impressions faded when he looked upon the Troll’s face, seeing its soft, normally gentle features furrowed and twisted as it continued to heave. Its eyes were large but beady, much like Bessie’s and its nose, while large, was a mix of the wideness of a bovine and the pointedness of a man’s. Its jaw was wide, supporting a large mouth with tusks that jut up from its lower lip, far larger than any Orc’s that he’d seen. Its ears were large, hanging off the sides of its head and smothered under the moss-like hair that hung from the top of its head like a mop.
Helbram walked up to the Troll with his hand raised in a calming manner. He had raised his visor as was looking at the creature directly in the eyes.
“There there, it is alright,” he said in a soothing tone, “I know you are scared, but we are not here to harm you.”
It stared at Helbram, examining both him and the rest of the party behind him, its eyes searching. The fear it exuded was cut through by the barest flash of steel and the sound of a bowstring at the back of Leaf’s mind.
“No weapons,” Helbram said again as he showed his hands again, “Just help. We will get you out of here, away from all of this.”
The Troll’s breathing slowed at Helbram’s words, its tense posture starting to relax as the cooling sensation of relief started to replace fear.
A sensation that stopped as all felt a snap ring through the air. Its sound was hollow, like Leaf was hearing it mentally rather than physically, but he felt it happen right above him. He looked up, too distracted by the sensation to immediately notice that nothing was pressing against his mind any more. There was no anger, no relief, no sadness. Nothing.
Leaf looked back at the Troll, and no longer saw emotion on its face, and instead just a dead stare as it looked at Helbram, or rather looked through him. Its breathing stopped, and they were left in a silence that was heavier than the tension that hung over them before.
A brief glint of light passed through the Troll’s eyes, and its face twisted in rage.
Silence was broken by its roar.