Yvette felt her knees growing weak. They had found the home of the trolls. Fortunately, the one they had seen prior was easily the biggest. Unfortunately, it was only by a foot or so, all of them were still massive compared to her.

They were sitting around a big hole in the ground, filled with a strange, red slurry. The clearing they were in was filled with nothing but crushed bushes and broken tree stumps. She could make out fragments of trees in the liquid, slowly melting inside the makeshift pool. But there were other things in there she couldn’t identify. Every so often one of the trolls would reach a hand in and scoop out some of the slimy gunk, only to drink it down.

“What is that?” she asked softly. The pair had hidden behind some of the bushes that still remained, Gervas having even laid his spear flat on the ground to help avoid detection.

“A magic pool. I think this was the center of the dryad’s grove,” Gervas whispered.

Yvette shuddered. In her few books on dryads it did mention that they would often have small pools of the clearest, most beautiful water anyone would be fortunate enough to drink. Water so pure and filled with energy that a single cup of it would sustain a person for three days.

But that hideous red gunk was the most disgusting thing she’d ever seen. “That can’t be… what happened to it?”

“Trolls,” Gervas said, finally letting her hand go and pointing towards it. “They are a fay of sorts. Or at least a parasite to them. They break down the magic in things, usually dissolving it, then devour the magical essence. They’ve done it to that pool. This grove is filled with magic, so they’re just destroying everything to feed. There’s probably enough magic here to sustain them for months.”

Yvette nodded. “What’d happen if… we went near that?”

“I wouldn’t. You wouldn’t dissolve instantly. But it’d hurt. If we succeed, we’re going to want to burn it. Or maybe the dryad can do something about it.”

“How do you burn something like that?” she asked, shuddering.

“With a lot of fire.”

“What about them?” she asked, motioning towards the trolls.

“If we could knock them into it, that would probably kill them. But it wouldn’t be fast or easy. Not getting knocked in ourselves would be the hard part. There are a few other things we can try.”

She looked at it again, before slowly a grin formed on her lips. “I have an idea. If there’s just one of them. How heavy are they?”

“Pretty heavy.”

Yvette nodded and glanced down at the large bracer on her right arm. It covered her forearm all the way to the elbow. A small trace of blood along the edges. While her rank was technically of journeyman, the bracer she now wore was of the master level, allowing her access to a wide range of components for her spells. The blood that stained its surface was from the master level mage she had been forced to kill in order to save their lives. Gently she tapped the bracer and a row of small dots formed across the surface. “I think I could turn into one of them.”

He stared at her, his mouth falling open slightly. “You can? That’s a really big form. Are you sure you can?”

She stared at the creatures again and did a few mental calculations. She’d transformed into things nearly as large a few times during her training. Her magic had gotten stronger since then, as well. But the form was new and not something she was familiar with. It would push her, hard. She glanced down at the bracer before giving a nod. Even if it was new, it was an excellent chance to push herself and her capabilities, to continue her growth. She couldn’t allow herself to stop for anything, if she wanted to reach her goal. “I think so. But it won’t last for long. It’ll be exhausting. But I think I can.”

Gervas nodded and rubbed his chin, eyeing the creatures for a few more moments. Finally, he nodded. “Then yes. I think I have a plan.” He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll need you to be very careful. You’re a mage, they’re going to be very attracted to the magic in you if they notice. Okay?”

“I’ll be careful, I promise,” she said, staring up at him.

“Good. Now, don’t move until I give the signal. Put the shield down, too.” He pulled out his bow and began to string it. “I should be able to draw one of them off. We’ll try to deal with it that way. I’ll draw it away, you take it from behind. If you turn into it, you should be able to hurt it.” Once the bow was strung, he slowly began to slide away, moving through the bushes carefully. Soon she couldn’t see him at all.

She turned towards the trolls once again, her heart starting to hammer so hard she was afraid the trolls would hear it. When he was here she’d been so certain they could handle it. But now that he was gone, she was becoming more and more worried that she couldn’t. She’d never transformed into anything like that. It was horrifying and massive. Even more than that, it was a creature of magic. The forms she had taken before had all been fairly mundane, not monsters crafted and altered by magic.

Yvette gripped her right arm and took a long, slow breath. She knew it was possible, though. Magical creatures were just like any other, somewhat. She’d be able to use its power and strength to aid her, that would be enough for this. She doubted she could hold it for long, but she could hold it long enough.

She heard a soft twang and an arrow flew by, soaring through the air and embedding itself into the back of one of the trolls. It didn’t go very deep, though the troll reached up and brushed a thick hand over it, snapping the wood off. The three trolls looked around in confusion, their eyes like small pieces of coal.

After a few moments they went back to focusing on their pit, ignoring the distraction. Three more times Gervas shot arrows into the creature before, finally, it got to its feet and started to lumber towards the direction of the attacks. Each step made the ground shake just a little, forcing her to suppress another whimper. The other trolls didn’t seem to care, merely focusing on their pool and occasionally drinking from it.

Once the troll passed her, she crawled after it. She saw another arrow fly at the troll, lodging into the creature and drawing another angry growl before it started lumbering faster, shove its way back into the forest proper and through the trees. Yvette got to her feet the moment she was hidden from view of the rest of the trolls, running after the massive creature.

Following it was easy, when it ran it left nothing but destruction in its wake, snapping off branches and tearing out bushes with its great movements.

It stopped suddenly and she froze. It was staring at something, though she couldn’t see around its massive form to identify it. It took her a moment to realize what it had to be. Gervas.

The troll lifted both hands into the air and let out a roar. A moment later it slammed them down to the ground and she saw Gervas rolling aside, narrowly avoiding the strike before moving behind a tree, shooting another arrow at the creature. “Come on, big boy,” he said with a light laugh. Yvette felt a rush of relief flow through her, seeing him move so easily, as if this was something he had done a thousand times before.

The troll stormed after him, swinging a massive hand and cracking one of the trees from the blow. Fortunately, Gervas was already on the move. She couldn’t help but admire his speed and skill. He moved around the bushes and trees with ease, glancing back every few moments just to ensure that he wouldn’t trip. While the troll was massive, he was far faster than it and was able to use the lumbering creature’s great size to slow it down even further. He made it almost look easy.

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He made sure to always keep heavily out of reach, however, not taking any chances. He was just the distraction after all.

Yvette shook her head, clearing her admiration. She had to focus, it was her turn now. She took one long, deep breath, before she began to run forward. She focused on the trolls form, picturing it clearly in her mind.

Clenching her right fist, she made her magic flow through her and begin to transform her. She started to grow, rising from the ground. Muscles, bone, skin, all of it stretching while becoming denser and heavier. She tripped and rolled forward, though her quickly growing body just kept getting bigger and bigger. She tucked her arms and legs in tightly, rolling herself like a ball while her shifting form enlarged even further.

Her new form slammed into the massive creature, sending it hurtling to the ground with a heavy crash, her roll stopping. She slowly pulled herself to her feet.

Everything felt slower and faded. Even where she hit the other troll, she was only vaguely aware that she had hit anything. Even worse, her vision was strange. There wasn’t any color. Instead, things had weird glows about them. The ground seemed to be made of weird, glowing lines, while the trees were far more bright. However, the other troll was far brighter still. There was another weird glow that she finally recognized as Gervas due to its size, his boots glowing even brighter than him.

She finally realized what she was seeing. She was seeing the magic. Everything seemed to be coated in it, though the few things that weren’t were strange and faded gray, barely noticeable.

The other troll began to slowly get to its feet and she raised both her hands above her head, locking them together before bringing them crashing down on its back. Despite the fact the blow would have shattered her original hands, all she felt was a light thud, as if she had hit something heavily cushioned.

One thing she did feel, however, was an incredible heat in her core. It was growing hotter with every second. Her magic was burning rapidly to try and maintain this form. She didn’t have much more time, but she had to do what she could. She pounded on the creature, bringing her arms up again and again, crashing the powerful fists against the other creature’s back over and over with loud, powerful thuds that made the ground shake. It tried to get up, its own fists trying to attack her underside, but it didn’t have nearly enough leverage with her stopping it from getting to its feet.

Finally, she was gifted with a heavy crunch and she could see the magic burst free and spill out of the creature, flowing along the ground. A few more crashing blows and the troll stopped moving entirely. She just stared for a few moments, her body shaking and struggling to hold itself together.

That burning inside her felt like a second sun and, without the adrenaline to support her, her form began to revert. She stumbled backwards and fell on her butt, panting with exertion while her form slowly turned back to that of a much smaller girl. Her head was pounding and she felt so exhausted that she almost felt the ground was shaking.

She could see the troll now, fully. Its thick hide had cracked right down the middle, the outer edges cracked and dented from her blows. A thick, red ooze seemed to be slowly leaking out from the broken portions, spilling across the ground. It looked almost like a split and crushed wineskin. She made a mental note to come back and vial some of it later. It was practically solidified magic, there was no telling what kind of spell she could use it for.

“I-I did it,” she said weakly, staring at the monster. “I-I did it! Gervas, did you see?” She felt hope within. If they could catch the other two like this, they could do this. Eliminate all three of them, one by one.

“Yvette, move!” Gervas voice answered her. An arrow flew past her and she blinked, slowly turning around.

The other two trolls were almost on her. She finally realized that the ground WAS shaking. She started to get to her feet, but she collapsed to her knees a moment later. Taking a form like that, for that long, was too exhausting. Her entire body felt as if it was made of ooze. Gervas moved to her side, trying to pull her to her feet. “Come on, I’ll carry you if I have to. We need to move.” She glanced at Gervas, then the quickly approaching trolls. There was no way he’d be able to escape them both and keep her safe if she couldn’t move. There was only one thing he could do now.

“Run,” she said, pushing him away feebly with the little bit of power she had left.

“Not a chance. I need to prote--”

“Then rescue me!” she said, shaking her head. “I-I can’t move, I can’t even stand. You can’t get away if you’re carrying me. Just… just think of something! If you get caught now, there’s no way you’ll be able to do anything. Just go!” she yelled.

A crunch behind her made her turn, one of the trolls reaching out a massive, stony hand to grab them both. She gave Gervas one last shove, making him stumble back. She could see the guilt on his face when he looked at her, before he turned and ran, narrowly avoiding the other hand of the troll.

The third troll took after him, slowly lumbering through the trees. Yvette watched helplessly, though she felt a small inkling of hope. Without her to slow him down, he could possibly escape this troll and make his way back towards her. If it was just one troll, they might have a chance.

All of those thoughts were torn from her mind when the massive creature squeezed its hand tightly around her, lifting her up. All of the air was crushed out of her lungs and she felt as if she was going to pop, her body squeezed right in the middle. She struggled to breath, but the troll didn’t seem to notice, instead lifting her up towards its face.

She stared into its eyes and shivered. They were dark and empty, its mouth filled with rows of slimy red teeth, many of which were bigger than her fist. It could have easily eaten her whole.

Instead, it lowered her back down and started to walk back towards its camp, the grip loosening just enough she could take shallow, weak breaths. She tried to pry the hand off her, but it was so strong and firm she doubted the creature even realized she was pounding on it. She might as well have been trying to shove a mountain. Even worse, when it moved it would swing its arms lazily forward and back, rocking her through the air and making her feel more and more nauseous with every moment.

Before long, she stopped struggling entirely and instead just held on, her face turning slightly green from the ordeal. Not that there was much point to it. Even if she could get free, her body felt so weak she would have no chance of running. She was entirely dependent on Gervas.

She felt fresh tears start to form in her eyes. She’d always figured she’d meet a violent end, in one way or another. With the Mage’s Association so against the use of such powerful transformation magics, she’d always imagined it would be at the hands of a mage far more powerful than her.

She never imagined she’d end up eaten by a troll of all things.

She cringed when, off in the distance, she heard a loud crash. Perhaps another tree had fallen over, knocked aside by one of the massive trolls. She closed her eyes and sent a small prayer that Gervas, at least, would be okay.

He’d been the first person, the only person, to accept her for what she was. To know about Tebaud, the boy so many people had demanded she be, and accepted Yvette, the girl she had to be. Not only accepting her, but protecting her. Facing the challenges and dangers besides her, rather than just abandoning her the moment it was better for him.

It would have been so easy to toss her aside. The path she had chosen wasn’t going to be quick or safe. Altering one’s true form was magic that was forbidden, even for a use as benign as she desired. She had so many enemies, so many people who would do anything to stop her. Who opposed her for trying to do something they would likely never even try to understand. It was something she would have never wished on anyone else.

Yet he took it in stride and accepted it, supporting her even when it felt like the rest of the world would turn against them for it. She could never thank him enough. Even if she wouldn’t make it, she hoped he would. He deserved it.

The pit came into view and she let out a soft, weak whimper. Her entire body tensed up and she tried to stop herself from shaking, for all the good it did. She was going to die, melted down in a disgusting magical slurry. She punched the hand holding her again. “No no no! Put me down! Put me DOWN!” she screamed, thrashing about in the hand. “You can’t do this to me! I’m a mage!” she yelled. She placed her left hand against her bracer once more, activating different reagents.

It wasn’t a very strong spell, just a simple fire spell her master had taught her and the other students, to ensure they knew all of the basics. Her first friend and fellow apprentice, Ermina, had taken to it far better than she ever had. But it was a simple enough spell, she had to believe it would have some effect.

“Let me GO!” she yelled. A small tuft of fire formed in her right hand, hitting the fist before going out. It didn’t even leave a dark mark on the hand and even that small, minor magic made her start to see colorful lights out of the corner of her vision. She wobbled slightly in the grasp, the dizziness and the overused magic making everything spin in her vision.

She closed her eyes and gave a whimper, feeling the hand gripping her being raised. She could only open her eyes for a second to see the slurry beneath her, the sight making her gag.

So this was how she died.