Under the dark cover of night, seven men ran for the mountains. Behind them was a giant troll, standing ten feet tall.

Three days ago, these men were slaves used by the goblins to satisfy their sexual cravings. The female goblins sucked and bit on their scrotum, fingered cavities, and covered their body with their spit before they had their way with them. The male goblins standing guard would laugh and mock the men while the females assaulted them. Occasionally, a male goblin would come and have their way with them. Their time as slaves were hell.

One of the men tripped while running. He called for the other men for help, but his plea was ignored. Only one of the men noticed. "Eric, shouldn't we go back and help?" He yelled at the blond, leading the group.

"There's no time," Eric yelled back.

The troll squashed the fallen man's head With its foot while running after the group. Blood splattered on the snowy ground. "Ivan, you said it would be sunrise soon! That was an hour ago! Where the fuck is the sun?"

"I don't fucking know!" Ivan yelled back. He had long, silky black hair and pointy ears. He was the only elf of the group while the remaining men were humans. However, describing them as men would be inaccurate. They were all teenage boys that left their homes at roughly the same time looking for work. All but one of them lied about their age to work with the adventurers entering the forest. Ivan was the oldest one at the age of fourteen, which allowed him to work without faking his age, followed by Eric at the age of twelve.

"Oh, god, watch out!" One of them yelled, after watching the troll behind them, throw its ax towards their group. The boys scattered, trying to dodge the ax.

The ax managed to hit a target, a young boy with red hair. "Jack, help me!" He yelled out to the nearest boy to him. Jack was a fat boy until the goblins captured them. His thick fat disappeared as he starved every night. His chubby cheeks could no longer hide his bony interior.

"I'm sorry," Jack whispered while turning around and running back with the boys. He struggled to catch up with them. "This isn't right. Why is that troll chasing us?"

"Who cares?" A young boy, by the name of Peter, answered back. "We just need to survive until sunrise. Then that thing will turn back into stone. Just stick close to me!" Peter reached out his hand. "Here! Hold my hand," Peter and Jack shared the same age. Both were eleven years old, and they quickly became close friends because of their similarities. Besides their age, they were opposite in every aspect, especially their physique. Peter was tall and skinny while Jack was short and chubby.

"Guys! Look, there's a thick grove of trees up ahead. That should slow it down." Eric yelled out.

The boys continued to run for their lives. They ran through the grove, pushing and shoving the branches and leaves out of their way. When they got out on the opposite side, the boys looked behind and saw large chunks of wood fly out the grove. The troll used its ax to hack and slash its way through the trees. The troll got closer and closer to the boys. It can smell its child on them.

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"We have to go now!" Eric yelled. The boys followed him. The troll finally reached the other side and ran up to the boys. The troll's heavy step shook the earth causing the boys to lose their balance and fall to the ground.

The troll stood in front of them, raising its ax, ready to strike them down. But it didn't attack. A warm orange light slowly crept itself up the troll's legs, eventually reaching the top of its head. The skin the light touched turned to stone. Before turning fully into stone, the troll roared at the sky, in defiance to its stone prison.

Eric slowly stood back up. His body was shaking after their near-death experience. The sun rose just in time to save their lives, but this was no time to rest. They must continue their travel if they want to get away from the troll. Peter helped Jack stand up while the other two waited. "Anytime now?" Eric said impatiently.

"We're coming," Peter answered back.

"Seriously, how are you guys not dead?"

"Eric, please watch your tongue!" Ivan bellowed out.

"What? I was just wondering how they managed to make it this far. Come on. We can't afford to lose any more time. The dwarf kingdom is that way," Eric pointed at the mountains. "If we're lucky, we could get there before sundown."

"Should we rest first?" Jack asked. "I'm so hungry."

"And that troll is probably hungry too. Let's go before that thing wakes up and hunt us again. Or we can leave you behind."

Peter and Jack reluctantly followed the two older boys. They can't survive on their own, and they know that as a fact. The boys growled while walking. They haven't eaten anything since yesterday. Jack's hunger was beginning to affect his ability to move. Peter tries his best to carry Jack, but Eric and Ivan agreed that he was slowing them down.

Jack laid down on the soft cold snow. He does his best to fight the urge to close his eyes because if he does, he might not open them anymore. The boys sat far away to discuss their next course of action. Ivan and Eric wanted to leave Jack behind, but Peter insisted they take him with them. Luckily, none of the boys had to abandon Jack because a small team of dwarves on horseback found them under a pine tree.

"We're saved! We're saved!" The boys yelled together.

One of the dwarfs got off his horse and walked to Jack lying on the ground. He examined Jack while the other dwarfs confront the remaining boys. "Well, well, well," The dwarf with the short brown beard said, "What do we have here?"

"Looks like a bunch of runaways, Farzin." A dwarf with a curly black beard and an eye patch got off his horse and walked to the boys. "My name is Aleksy, and we are from the Mericku Kingdom."

"Hello, my name is Eric, and this is Ivan and Peter, and over there is Jack."

"It seems like you guys had a long journey to get here." Aleksy turned his attention at Jack. "Damari, is he going to be fine?"

"Yeah, he looks good. Just need a warm bowl porridge, and he should be back on his feet."

"Well, that's some good news. But before we can get you accommodations, I just need to ask, what are you kids doing in the forest?"

Farzin leaned forward and grinned, "Maybe they were looting the cities and towns inside. Do you know that's a violation of the law? We might have to detain you in prison, boys." The children's eyes opened wide from the mention of prison. They had no idea working for the adventures would be considered against the law.

"Sir, we didn't know about that. If we did," Eric struggled to find the right words to say.

"Farzin, please don't scare the kids." Aleksy patted Eric's should to calm him down. "It's going to be alright, kid, we ain't going to hurt you. We do need to know why you guys were in the forest, and what happened that got you," Aleksy stepped back and pointed at their dirty clothes. "In this mess."