"Be quiet, Bonnie," he pleaded.

"It hurts, it hurts," she mumbled when Buckle thought the pain was coming down. He quickly clamped his hand over her mouth again.

Tum heard the troll heading towards them. With each step, the ground vibrated. They had already made too much noise and the troll knew where they were. He reached for his sword and his gun. If they were going to die, then he would not go down easily. He could at least shoot the troll in the eye before it would descend on them. He prepared to shoot even though he could not see the giant.

A song broke out behind him. Buckle's tingling voice spread through the atmosphere, infiltrating the troll's roar and causing the troll to halt completely. The voice was filled with sadness, everything that Buckle felt since he was rejected by the captain of the king's guard. Tum himself was mesmerized by the tune.

"The time comes for harvest, and here my big friend I stand

How will I be your meal if you stamp me into the sand?

What do you say, old friend, that I give you my hand?

Or would you rather love to eat from the sand?"

It was a funny song, but it brought Tum close to tears. He also noticed that Bonnie could no longer feel any pain. The troll was silent. He turned towards Buckle and the latter nodded at him, pointing a rock stuck further up on the mountain.

As if they had telepathic understanding, Bonnie and Tum sneaked around the giant who was still rooted to the spot, listening to Buckle's song. They could see the troll now. It was as if Buckle's song was an enchantment that pulled all of its magic off its body.

They got to the top of the hill and heaved against the rock. The troll was right on the rock's path, and Tum knew if they could dislodge it, they could get rid of the troll with it. Again and again, they pushed, but the rock would not budge. Tum realized they needed Buckle's strength, but there was no way they could stop him from distracting the troll with his song.

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"One last pull," he whispered to Bonnie.

Together, they heaved again. The rock moved a little, then started rolling down the hill gradually. As it went, it picked up speed. Buckle jumped out of the way and stopped singing. They watched the troll shake his head as if shaking off an enchanting.

It heard the sound of a rock rolling up to it quickly. By the time it turned, it was too late. The rock had already taken a leap into the air, headed for the giant's head. It tried to bring up a hand to defend its head, but the hand was slow. The rock smashed into its face, knowing it off the mountainside and down the valley. A scream of pain followed as rock and giant rolled down the mountain, tumbling over and over.

"Good job," Tum screamed and they all rushed into the cave.

At the middle of the cave were treasures of every kind. The sword was stuck into a mountain of precious, glittering stones, stones that would change their lives forever.

"Don't touch anything," Buckle said. "I have heard this story too many times. "We take what we came for and we get out of here."

Tum nodded. Bonnie nodded. Maybe heartbreak was a good thing, Bonnie thought. The Buckle she knew would have dived into the sea of precious things without thinking about the consequences.

"Go on, Tum," Bonnie said.

Tum walked towards the sword, half expecting something to rise from the glittering sea of wealth all around him. He wondered what would happen if he reached out to pick one of the stones. Just one of them would change their lives. The stones were worth, by far, more than everything that Quil gave to them.

"Focus, Tum," Buckle said as if he knew what was going on in his friend's mind.

Tum stepped gingerly on the overflowing wealth till he got to the sword. He pulled out his own sword and quickly exchanged it with the other one, then he held the sword up. It glinted like a diamond in the sun. The wind that sailed through the place seemed to be saying something. The three of them were quiet. The blade had struck them with awe. Tum felt power coursing through his veins before he brought the sword down and slipped it into his sheath. He walked down towards Bonnie.

At the mouth of the cave, he handed the sword to her.

"Give me your sword," he said.

Bonnie did it without question. She knew what her friend was thinking. They could still help Quil and leave the king. They owned royalty nothing. She respected Tum even more. He was in love with the princess, yet he cared more about the peasants more than anything else. Now, he would have the unenviable task of convincing the princess to come over to their side.

"Let us go," Buckle said, already bored with the exchange of looks between Bonnie and Tum.