“What do we do?” Meuko says.

“Stop it before it fully enters. Sylvar, can you use magic with spears?” I say.

“I can try. It will be less powerful.” Sylvar says.

“Take away its mobility, maybe we will not suddenly die.” I say.

The troll is halfway through, arms extending towards us… If those get a good hit on us. Let us hope Blago’s armor will hold. Its mouth is full of spider webs, dirt and bugs flying out of there. I can see now the eyes… They are empty, shadows filling them. It looks so… Sad.

“Now.” I say, running forward.

“Go for the hands.” Meuko says.

The troll attacks me first, thrusting its hand, which happens to be way longer than my whole body. I was expecting that much, dropping on the ground before it even raised its arm. Eadwald taught me about preparatory motions. Thankfully, the troll does not use the same speed it had when it ambushed us.

Every enemy you face will give away its intentions. Read into shoulder movements, knee positions.

I see it. I can tell what it wants to do. There is only the matter of seeing it before it gains too much momentum. I do not know if I would be fast enough then.

“Volter.” Sylvar shouts.

“Focus, Sylvar.” I say, jumping towards the side of the troll.

I put all my weight unto a downward strike with my sword, aiming for the nails. I have to take care of the left arm, trusting Meuko with the right one. My blade pushes the claws back, sparks flying, giving me some safe space, but there is no damage. This is gonna be hard. I look at my left, where Meuko has lunged towards the troll’s attack, deflecting the strike while simultaneously jumping above the troll’s arm. She screams, landing on the troll’s wrist with an elbow strike. The troll wails, moving the right hand erratically, hoping to throw Meuko off. She maintains the grapple. She improved on the moves she used on that hobgoblin. The troll opens its mouth, heat emanating off it, burning the webs and causing the bugs that stayed inside its mouth to fly away as it attempts to bite me. I throw a dagger at it, which gets deflected against the skull. How tough is this thing. I roll under its left arm, avoiding the strike but immediately finding myself in a worse situation. The troll is trying to stabilize itself, using the left hand to scrape the stone walls and ground. The walls I am currently at. I try to stab the hand as it swipes me under. I think I gave a good resistance, blood running through the tip of the blade. It can be killed. Before I relay the message, the hand brushes me away. I am between the walls of the cave and the troll’s body. I wince, then scream. There is moss trapped between my armor parts. Manure and piss and other… Smells cross my thoughts before a particular idea floods my mind. The troll will crush me. I need… to… move… The troll keeps getting more of its body inside, pushing me against my own body. It will either stomp when it’s done or crush me before it even manages to fully enter. I drop the sword… Breathe...

“Envelop my arms, carry out my will...” Sylvar’s voice, reverberating through the cave. Green lines start flowing towards Sylvar, surrounding the tip of the spear. I can barely see him between the darkness and the movement of this monster. I am going to… pass out… Sylvar’s magic brightens.

There are still things I can do. I take out the rope, tasting iron in my mouth. There is blood running out of my head. At least it cannot blind me, since it is running through my left side. Thank my luck. I spit bits of blood and dirt, trying not to choke on any moss or anything like that. That would be a bad way to go. I throw the rope towards my friends, trying to entangle my own hand in case I lose my grip.

“By Lethandel’s grace…” Sylvar’s voice again “I now release.”

A sudden gust of wind and what sounds like an impact… Followed by the troll’s screaming and flailing its body around. As soon as the pressure from my body releases, I feel a tug from the rope… Sylvie is pulling with all her strength, freeing me from the horrible position I was in. She keeps pulling me until the troll cannot reach me with its arms. I love breathing again.

“Thank you, you glorious disgusting Blight Dog.” I say, running my hands through my forehead, clearing the blood.

“That was not good enough.” Sylvar says, throwing another spear.

“How? It hurt it.” I turn around to see what I thought would be some sort of final moment as the troll dies. Instead… The head has adopted a rather angry expression, as parts of moss and green start burning. Is this the same heat that was emanating from its mouth? I can definitely see the gushing wound that Sylvar inflicted. The left shoulder has broken bones and a hole with sparks flying off. Meuko winces and lets go of the arm, a chance the troll uses to throw Meuko away. Smoke is coming off it. Meuko lands on the ground, bouncing on rocks once and then skidding off towards the chasm.

“Meuko” I shout, running towards her.

She is gone for a moment. Then quickly climbs back up.

“You know I am strong enough to climb, right?” She says, smirking.

“Do not even...” I say.

“Friends. Need help.” Sylvar shouts, throwing more spears towards the troll. Two manage to stick.

The troll is mostly annoyed, rather than actually hurt by the spears.

“Run.” A goblin behind us says.

“No.” I instinctively say “We cannot let it burn your-”

I stop, looking at the horde of goblins rushing towards us.

“Do not let it open its mouth.” Snaray screams as he flails his club forward, followed by armored goblins. They are carrying hooks attached with chains and spears with ropes. The troll suddenly extends a hand towards Sylvar, completely shattering the platform he was on. He gets blown away, hitting the ground. The goblins pick him up, readying themselves for combat. Sylvie runs at Sylvar, staying at his side and licking his wounds. He looks good enough. Bleeding from his forehead, scrapes across his arms. He avoided the troll, at least. More goblins, who were hiding on the upper part of the cave, jump on top of the troll, stabbing frantically.

“Sylvar. On me. Snaray, give us time. Meuko… Use that magic. Help them.”

“Right.” Meuko says, walking towards the troll.

The troll starts hitting the sides of the cave, trying to cause some sort of collapsing reaction. Goblins start falling to the ground, quickly getting back up and throwing everything they have on the troll. Spears, stones. Numbers is not the way.

“What is the plan?” Sylvar asks, wincing from the pain, bleeding all over his body.

“Are you fine?” I say, patting him down. All his injuries appear superficial.

“Hurry, Volter.” Sylvar says, shaking me a bit. I get it. He thinks I am not focused. He has no idea what I am about to say.

“I will use the bow, you use your magic on the arrow.”

“It does not work like that. I can only focus if I am wielding the weapon.”

“I am an Empty one. Use it through me. Vessel, right?”

“Are you absolutely insane? We talked about this...”

Meuko screams like a feral beast, her muscles bulging, expanding… She actually grew bigger. Her legs are wider, her arms are longer, her neck… What is going on? Is this the magic she was talking about. Smoke starts coming out of her body. Her cloak gets ripped around her torso, revealing armor. Blago gave her findal armor. And Meuko took it. What is happening? She lowers her legs and then jumps, instantly covering the distance between her and this monster. The troll raises its hand, only to have it brought down by hooks with chains that the goblins have attached.

“Pull.” Snaray says, waving a club around, signaling to the multiple goblins that collectively shout, pulling the arm down. Meuko lands on its back, angrily stomping. The troll winces. I think it does not like what is happening right now.

“More hooks.” Snaray says, as other groups try to get the other arm hooked, only to be slashed by the remaining free arm. Is he talking in our language so we understand what is happening? Snaray is actually a pretty good person.

“We do not have time, Sylvar. Nothing deals enough damage.”

“Volter, you could die.”

The troll begins flaring up, its claws now emanating some smoke. Snaray said to not let it open its mouth. Is it going to put everything on fire? If that works like the waves of debris it threw on us here… We will all die.

“Sylvar, we WILL die. I barely scratched its hide with my sword. Your magic is the only thing that dealt damage. You said your bow would be more powerful.”

“Powerful against the troll means powerful against you.”

Meuko grabs the top of the troll’s head, effectively riding it. Every time the troll tries to rise up, Meuko pounds it down. They are buying us time. This needs to work.

“Sylvar, trust me. We need your strength. I am the only one that can handle it now.”

“If you die...” Sylvar tears up.

The troll slightly opens its mouth, incinerating a goblin that attempted to run a hook below the troll’s mouth. Another fighter starts hitting the goblin with some sort of leather clothing, hoping to extinguish the flames. The goblins are starting to waver. How long can they keep this up?

“Snaray. Pass me chains.” Meuko shouts, struggling to keep the troll in check. She is getting tired. Fast. Snaray passes one end of a chain to a goblin. Then that goblin passes it over to another one, until they reach Meuko’s left arm. That keeps happening as Snaray passes another end of a different chain line to this team effort, all the way to our own beast. Snaray then grabs the two ends of these chain lines and runs to the troll arm that is still free. He quickly climbs it, despite the troll’s efforts to stop him. Thanks to Snaray, the troll forgot about the goblins that are trying to hook that free arm. Three goblins lunge at the monster. Two out of three hooks are attached. The troll is stuck here. We stopped it before it could get all of its body inside. Maybe numbers is the way. We cannot let it regain its mobility.

“Here.” Sylvar says, passing me the bow “Load this.” He gives me an arrow.

“Finally.”

“Do not speak. Just do as I say and let me focus.”

I get it. Me talking reminds him that he is about to do some sort of harm to me. That would make the spell unstable, less powerful… We die. I get it.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“Left hand rests the arrow on the bow, right hand draws calmly, you do not fling the string, you release. You have to maintain the draw as I use the spell. Stay precise.”

I exhale. This is it.

“If it screams now, we are done.” Snaray shouts as he passes over the chains to Meuko.

The troll tries to push forward, as green light starts growing from the ground. Exactly where Sylvar is. This has to work. Focus. My breath is still unstable from all the running and almost getting reduced to paste.

“Do it.” Meuko says, pulling the chains, forcing the troll’s mouth shut. The smoke coming off Meuko is getting more and more intense. Does that mean her magic is running out?

“Pull, give them the best shot they can have.” Snaray shouts, having climbed Meuko’s back.

“Not… Helping...” Meuko says.

The goblins regroup, pulling once more as hard as they can. Numbers is definitely the way.

“Envelop my arms...” Sylvar says, slower than before… This is hard on him. He needs more time. All I can do is watch. I need to hit the troll. With its body almost completely filling the entrance of the cave, it must be easy.

“Carry my will...”

The green lines start running through me and into the bow, then finally gathering at the tip of the arrow. This is… Hard. It is not at all what I expected. It is like there is a force trying to crush my hands. I have to stay steady. I wince, hopefully not loud enough that Sylvar loses focus. Please… Work...

The troll does another sudden movement with its right hand. Instead of fighting back the goblins trying to pull the arms down… It uses that momentum to hit them even faster… It cuts apart five goblins instantly. The troll attempts to claw Meuko, only to be interrupted by the multiple goblins on its back waiting for it. Snaray gave them good directions. Every spear and arrow they could find, they throw at the troll’s arm, making sure Meuko is safe. Three goblins jump at the arm, slashing as hard as they can with daggers. They cut, just not deep enough to kill it or something. They do manage to make the troll lose interest in Meuko, instead focusing on its more immediate threat. Ituses its right arm to crawl towards us. Towards Sylvar. I was right. The troll is afraid of him. Someone… Anyone… Give us time. It will soon be close enough to impale us. Meuko pulls it back, giving us as much space as possible. The troll manages to throw the goblins off its arm. At least they are not dead, landing safely and regrouping some distance away.

“Grab the chains.” Snaray says, jumping off Meuko and starting to hit its head with the club. The club shatters against it. Flames start coming off the wound that Sylvar caused. If I had to guess… It is ready to burn us alive. If Meuko lets go. She will not.

“By Lethandel’s Grace.”

My arms are shaking… I can still hold. Magic surrounds me as well, my neck muscles tightening as the spell grows stronger. I look over at Sylvar, making sure he is not terrified. His eyes… They are closed. He is completely focused, like when he is in the woods. I quickly look at the troll, hoping he makes it in time. The troll extends its right hand. One more crawling maneuver and it will cut me. The troll overextends, desperate to reach. A bark… Then a glorious, huge beast of a Blight Dog lunges at the wrist of the troll. The same wrist that Meuko weakened with her elbow strikes. The two heads bite hard, crushing the troll’s wrist. The troll wails stronger than ever, the sound muffed by Meuko’s screaming strength keeping its mouth shut. The troll’s hand flails in the air, with Sylvie not letting go of her grip. I can hear the bow straining against my grip… I am not holding it steady enough… I am causing damage to it… It has to hold. We finally made everything work.

“I… We now release.”

I let go of the string.

A shock comes through my arms. Intense pain.

Green light fills the entirety of these mines. The sound of wind being sucked towards the projectile’s path is deafening. A powerful arrow instantly travels through the troll’s face, piercing its skull, fracturing the bone structure of this beast’s entire physiology. Sylvar’s magic is so strong that the arrow comes out of the troll’s backside, along with flames and guts flying out towards the woods. The troll’s blood flies everywhere, clearly holding waves of it. Some goblins get carried away by the force of the blood running like a river towards the chasm in these mines. The lower jaw of the troll is caved in, smoke coming out the mouth. The bow snaps in half, its parts flying in different directions. It worked. It wo-

I scream as if I am imitating Meuko. My arms feel like they are being pulled from multiple directions. My skin tears, exposing bones where my completely normal forearms should be. Blood. A lot of blood. My arms have multiple, elongated lacerations.

“Volter.” Sylvar shouts “Meuko, where is the bag?”

I cannot hold my voice back. There is so much pain. I did not think this through. Meuko comes running through the smoke and dust of this carnage. She is back to her usual self, still big… Just not as huge as she went a few minutes ago. A shock through my spine reminds me that I am indeed dying quite fast. My arms keep bleeding. Meuko instantly dashes as soon as she sees my situation.

“This… Hurts… So much...” I growl, scaring even Sylvie, who was busy biting chunks of meat off the troll’s arms.

“The bag. Now.” Sylvar says, extending a hand towards Meuko.

“He gave it to you.” Meuko says “It is near the platform.”

We all look to the ruined platform. Somewhere under the rabble. That is where the bag is.

“I got it.” Sylvar runs there, frantically throwing debris away from the rabble.

“Burn me.” I scream.

“What?” Meuko asks “How?”

“You had smoke coming off you… Use fire to burn my hands… Close something.” I say. I am drooling, unable to get off my knees. My body is convulsing from the pain. My fingers are broken. Everything… Everything hurts.

“I- I cannot. I am out.” Meuko says “Sylvar, WHERE is the bag.”

“I am searching.”

“Find a bag.” Snaray shouts, helping Sylvar.

Multiple goblins start moving away pieces of wood. Some run towards me, putting leather around my arms. That does not feel any better.

“Found it.” A goblin says, being pushed away by Sylvar before it manages to reveal it. Sylvar rushes to my side, taking mixtures out, spreading them all over my arms. The stone around me is full of my blood.

“I feel… Cold.” I say.

“Do not even...” Meuko growls.

“Let me wrap it around. You will be fine. I promise, my friend.” Sylvar says.

“If...”

“No ifs.” Sylvar says.

“Tell Julie it is not her fault.” I say. “She has to know...”

“You are fine. Shut up.” Meuko says.

“Do not forget the ores.” I say.

“Not now.” Sylvar says.

“Snaray...”

“Yes. Right here.” He says, jumping around, making sure I see him or something.

“My name is Volter. Nice to meet you.”

“You took down a troll.” Snaray says.

“We did. Thanks… For saving us...”

“Rest.” Snaray says, laying a hand on my shoulder.

For the first time, I see goblins and I do not feel threatened. They saved us. We fought. Together. Even if it was once. I still have a mission.

“We need metal ores.” I say.

“I do not know if- Whatever, you got it.” Snaray says “Considered a thank you.”

“Can we focus on what is important?” Sylvar says.

“Just shut up. I am taking you over to Julie.” Meuko says “Goblins… Push the troll away. Make room.”

Meuko moves over there, using the hooks to move the body of the beast away from the entrance. It had to be a huge one. I had to plan for it to be stuck there. Goblins start pulling the chains. What is this collective strength? It is almost beautiful. Am I hallucinating? I remember Julie explaining that word to me. Seeing things that were not there. Julie… She will never let this go. Focus.

“Sylvar...” I say “Take the ores. You cannot keep up with Meuko at full speed anyway.”

“I would not leave you for a sec-”

“Now.” I say “Before I pass out.”

I shout. This time, just to make sure I am alive. Need to get through this. Come on… Do not do this to Julie.

“Take the ores. Snaray, please… Give him pouches to carry them.”

“You should run.” Snaray responds.

“Enough.” Meuko says, picking me up, tying me with rope on her back, to which my response is… Shaking screaming of pain.

“Sylvar. Focus. Blago needs the ores.”

Meuko starts running. Sylvar is running behind us, Sylvie right next to him.

“Sylvar.” I say “Please...”

Sylvar starts crying.

“You are cruel, my dear friend...”

“Love you too. My dear friend Sylvar.”

Meuko moves to the side of the troll, carrying me outside. The sunlight forces my eye closed, but not before I see the result of this battle from the outside. Bile. Blood. Chunks of meat. Deformed goblin bodies. All spilled out of the troll’s back, creating a cone shape of death and decay. Charred remains. I opened a hole somewhere on its waist, exposing the insides of its body to the elements of nature. The smell is horrible. Burning and rotten. All that my body considers disgusting, put in a horrible pile of bone and flesh. I throw up towards this horrible sight.

“Hold on.” Meuko says, sprinting for all she has.

“Julie… The dream...” I try to speak, but every word takes a lot of energy out of me.

“No worries. She will help you.” Meuko says.

“No… She saw me die… The kid… Died.” I say “Say… Not her fault...”

“You said you were bleeding, not dying.” Meuko says, panting but maintaining speed.

“Tell… her...”

I pass out. There is movement. My head hurts. My- My arms. The shock wakes me up. I am still on Meuko’s back.

“Where?” I mumble.

“Just a little more.” Meuko says.

I look ahead. Meuko is running. There are other sounds. Other animals. I turn back to see shapes. Are they hunting us?

“I got you.” Meuko says.

She jumps, pushing on. Two projectiles pass near us. Wooden ones. The projectiles land on a nearby tree. Black goo runs off them.

“What?”

“Nothing to worry about. Almost there.” Meuko says.

I take a better look. Human shapes, only… They are made of wood. Distorted, black and green liquid pouring outside. They raise their hands.

“They are shooting.” I say.

Meuko turns around, facing these… Beings or things. No idea. I will go with Tree Beasts. They shoot projectiles. Four this time. Meuko gets hit. She is trying to avoid me getting hit.

“My turn.” Meuko says, throwing a stone, breaking one of the Tree Beasts apart. There is at least one more. She turns and runs once more. The distance between us widens, as the Tree Beast lose interest in us. Same as the goblins the first day I went outside. I wonder why. Within minutes, we reach the Village. Meuko runs around, asking where Julie is. The care house. She runs inside, screaming.

“Sis. Sis.”

“What happened?”

“His hands, quick.”

They put me in bed.

“I want to go to sleep.”

A slap wakes me up.

“What have you done.”

“He used magic.”

“Are you out of your mind? The first thing.” Julie says as she heals my arms “Magic hurts you if it courses through you.”

“It hurts.” I growl.

“Good.” Julie says “Water. Towels. Sorghum leaves.”

Meuko rushes outside. Modesta and Eadwald take her place.

“What happened?” Modesta asks, shocked.

“Fool. I told you.” Eadwald says. Her face is not moving, expressionless. I think she is mad.

“I had to.”

“Shut up.” Julie says.

“No, I mean it.” I say, shaking from the pain coming off my arms. My voice is at the very least… Unstable.

“Give me the other arm. Too many cuts.”

“Focus on the bad ones.” I say.

“That is what I am doing, but they are all bad ones. Who wrapped these bandages. They are not even properly placed.”

“Sylvar...” I say.

“So, even he gets flustered.” Modesta says.

“With a sight like this one.” Eadwald says. She is really mad.

“Your fingers…”

“I know Julie. We faced a troll.”

“A troll? In the mines? You should have ran.” Eadwald says.

“We did. The troll attacked us in the woods, then tracked us all the way to the mines.” I say “Julie, enough. It hurts.”

“Keep going.” Eadwald urges Julie. “He lost too much blood.”

“Do you want me to...” Modesta gestures at Eadwald.

“Yes, just to make sure.” Eadwald says.

Modesta starts chanting. Blood flows from my wounds to his arms.

“This is creepy.” I say “And somehow… Calming.”

“Relax, he is gonna give you blood.” Eadwald says.

“Is that a thing?” I ask.

“Yes.” Eadwald says.

Meuko comes in, carrying towels on one shoulder, a bucket on one hand and sorghum leaves on the other.

“Grind them?” Meuko asks.

“Yes. Half a leaf. Can you heat it up?” Julie asks.

“Not with magic. I am done for the day.” Meuko says.

“So you really did face a troll.” Eadwald says, lending her heating capabilities to Meuko.

“Like I would lie.” I say.

“Volter killed it.” Meuko says.

“Is that so?” Eadwald says.

“Igragor” Modesta says, finishing his spell. A line of blood starts flowing from Modesta to me, entering my body through one my wounds.

“This feels weird. Am I one with you?” I say.

“Shut up and be grateful.” Modesta says.

“Sylvar got hurt in the fight, could not use his bow. Volter held his bow and had Sylvar run his magic through him. It worked.” Meuko says.

“Sylvar used a spear and dealt some damage, so I thought the bow would be better for him to channel his magic through.” I say.

“You fought a troll… Good job.” Eadwald says.

“Can you all leave now?” Julie asks, clearly focused on her work.

“Leaves are done.” Meuko says, handing off a small wooden bowl to Julie.

“Great.” Julie says, blending it with some mixture.

“Here. Eat.”

“This… Disgusting thing?”

“Do you want to sleep?”

“Fine...” I say.

“Is everyone all right? Volter.” Dariy storms through everyone.

“I get it. He is fine, trust me. Let us go outside.” Meuko says, gently pushing everyone out.

“I will treat your chest wounds next.” Julie says.

“Be right there.” Meuko says. I completely forgot she got injured, since she barely shows any discomfort.

“Why are his arms full of blood and bandages...” Dariy asks.

“What?” Ean’s voice from further away.

“Give Julie some space.”

“Yes. Definitely want to sleep.” I say, quickly munching this… Blob. The bread does not help with the taste. Like eating wet dirt. At least I will not have to explain this whole thing to my parents now, since I need to sleep and all...

“Great. I will keep at it for a while.” Julie says, placing her hands on my cuts again.

“Sure. Go- ouch- Right ahead.”