Sunset came and went, and the camp began to settle, with most of the camp’s population falling asleep as darkness descended. Uncle Finneus and I stood wide awake in a small canopy on the eastern tree line overlooking the whole of the camp. Uncle Finneus had decided that we would be staying up the entire night to catch the monster in the act. I didn’t mind that much. After all, we would be protecting the dwarves from any further disappearances. But by the time the full moon had started to make its descent, I was struggling to keep my eyes open. I went so far as to practice making small fireballs until Uncle Finneus snapped at me to stop signaling our presence to the world. My Uncle seemed on edge, like a hunting cat who had caught the scent of wounded prey and was straining against the leash that kept it from killing.
I sighed, sat down, and leaned my back against the trunk of the tree.
When I opened my eyes, I was in the elven forest. Not when life was complicated and I was about to be exiled, but when I was a child. The sun threw its golden rays to cover everything the eye could see. The leaves of millennia-old trees glistened from the dew of the early morning, which had not yet disappeared. I was in my favorite clearing as a child—the place where we used to play for hours upon hours. I spun in place, taking in the glory of the beautiful springtime day, and laughed. I couldn’t help myself. It was everything: the sun, the lazy wind that played with my long hair, and the bell-like noises as the brook danced down the creek bed. The whole world seemed to be there to bring me happiness and peace.
“Alavalan! Where are you, Alavalan?”
The sing-song voice of the girl made my smile bloom even brighter. I turned around, looking in every direction, just hoping to catch a glimpse of my friend. The noise of bells from the brook grew louder and louder.
“Wake up, Nephew. We’ve got our man. Wake up!” shouted my uncle.
I lurched out of sleep in terror, disoriented by the sudden change in scenery. Before I could gather my bearings, Uncle Finneus was already down the ladder and running into the night towards the jingle of bells which contrasted with the silence of the night. I threw myself at the ladder and fumbled down as fast as I could before falling the last six feet. I scrambled back onto my feet and raced off after my uncle.
I tripped several times as I ran through the darkness. Though the full moon cast some light upon the forest floor, it was nowhere near enough light to keep me from stumbling. I threw caution to the wind and, raising my hand, produced a ball of fire. Now able to see, I sprinted after Uncle Finneus.
I arrived to see a blur of silver as Uncle Finneus struck out at the dark looming figure with bells tied around its leg with his sword. There was a howl of pain before Uncle Finneus was thrown back by a wild swing from the figure. The massive creature, whatever it was, rushed into the night, with the bells still tolling their warnings. Before they suddenly went silent. I paused, unsure whether to go after the creature or check on Uncle Finneus.
“Bartholomew, relax. We’ll chase after him later,” said Uncle Finneus as he stood up.
My uncle slashed his sword to remove the blood before sheathing it. “Don’t worry, it’s not as if he is getting away. I cut his femoral artery. His blood will lead us back to him. It was a very productive fight. I was able to confirm my suspicions. Right now, we need to head back and gather some help.”
“What’s going on? What was that creature?” I asked, confused but following behind Uncle Finneus as he walked back to camp.
“Trolls, trolls using stealth magic. I know, a ridiculous notion, but true. I thought I was being foolish when I came to such a conclusion this morning after receiving replies to the letters I had sent out the previous afternoon. But lo and behold, I was right. There is a group of them, yes, a group. No less than twenty. They must have a leader as well. Perhaps even a King. We shall see, Bartholomew, we shall see.
Nephew, if this isn’t me spitting in the face of my nemesis, I don’t know what is. The fact, no, the idea that I was able to come to this conclusion without even being heard is proof that even the absurd can be deduced if one uses the correct processes.”
“Trolls with stealth magic? Nemesis?” I asked, trying to process the information.
“Yes, yes, Trolls with stealth magic, keep up. And here I thought your mother had sent me a bright young man who could be taught how to not be a complete moron. Ahh, there you are, Bob. Bob, gather your men. If you want the disappearances to stop, you and your men are going to have to go to war.”
Fifteen minutes later, a ragtag group of nearly two hundred dwarves was gathered together with torches lit, every single one of them staring at Uncle Finneus. Under the pressure of so many gazes, Uncle Finneus seemed unfazed. He looked like he enjoyed the attention. Uncle Finneus coughed into his hand and straightened. Buffing out his chest, he began to talk to the group. “I’m sure your supervisor Bob has given you some idea why you are here, but for those who were not fully awake during his explanation, I’ll explain it to you. We have been able to discover the reason for all the disappearances of your compatriots, of your friends. There is a group of trolls within ten miles of us that have been stalking, capturing, and eating you for the past two months. The reason we have gathered you all here today is to put an end to that. Soon, we will be going to war with the monsters, and some of you will die. But we will have revenge for all those that had died. And for all those that will die if we don’t stop these monsters. Who’s with me?”
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There was a scattering of cheers, though most of the group stayed silent. I, on the other hand, chuckled to myself. It was a rather embarrassing speech, and that it came from my uncle made me laugh.
With myself, Bob, and my uncle at the vanguard of our makeshift army, we set off to kill the trolls. It started to rain as we walked. I looked over at Uncle Finneus to see if he was concerned about the rain washing away the blood from the troll. When I saw my uncle, his face had changed again. A feline snout with whiskers appeared in place of his nose, and his eyes glowed yellow under the moonlight.
He spoke in an altered tone, halfway between a roar and a purr. “Don’t worry, nephew. A little rain will not keep me from my prey. I can see the trail even now. We are not far.”
We continued to walk for close to an hour until we came upon the corpse of the troll we had been hunting. It was a massive creature up close. I had never seen a troll in person, and I must say that the experience was unique in that it made me feel so small and weak. A single hand from the monster could crush my skull the same way I crushed a grape.
The troll itself was covered in a dark cloak that seemed more like a liquid than clothing, moving about to and fro, even as the body lay still. Uncle Finneus walked over and, with a flick of the wrist, removed the cloak from the troll’s body. With another flick of the wrist, the cloak disappeared into some secret magic compartment, I assumed.
“What now?” I asked Uncle Finneus.
My uncle turned to Bob and me. “For now, wait here. The smell of trolls is in the air, they are close. Stay alert. They might find you before I find them.”
He leaped up a tree with feline grace and disappeared. Bob, who was standing next to me, shivered. For the next ten minutes, we were all on high alert. At this point, the sun had begun to put forth its first rays of light, turning the black sky into grey and gold.
I was nervous, so nervous. Every leaf that fell to the ground made me jump. So much so that I threw a fireball at Uncle Finneus before I realized who he was. A tree hissed as the fireball struck it, and the rain tried to put it out. Uncle Finneus was already waving his hand to remove the mud that had stuck to his clothes as he rolled to his feet. By the time he made it over to us, he was as clean as when he stepped out of our home. “Well done, nephew. I appreciate that you took my command to heart. One can never be too alert. Next time, just make sure it’s not me that you’re shooting at.”
“Sorry, Uncle Finneus,” I said, happy it was still dark enough to hide the embarrassment I felt.
“Don’t worry about it, lad,” said Bob, slapping my back. “He scared the shit out of me too. If I had magic like yours, I would have done more than just a measly fireball.”
“Come along now and tell everyone to stay as silent as they can be. I’ve found the camp. It would be a dangerous battle with surprise on our side. From what I’ve seen of the military capabilities of our party, we may lose half of our number if they catch wind before we attack,” said Uncle Finneus.
Bob sucked in a cold breath and moved back to talk to John and the rest of the supervisors before coming back. “We’re ready, Finneus. Where exactly is the camp?”
It turned out that Uncle Finneus was not wrong when he said that the camp was nearby. A few hundred steps to the north, I was looking down at a valley where eighteen trolls wandered around while a massive troll sat on a rock throne.
“Wow, I never thought I’d see a troll king in real life—especially one with such a small following,” I said.
Uncle Finneus walked up next to me. “To think that you would know what a troll king is. Not many your age would know of even the concept.” Uncle Finneus said in his beastlike tone. “Come along, Bartholomew. I’m going to need your help to kill that monster.”
I followed Uncle Finneus as we walked over to where Bob and his compatriots were conferring with each other. “My nephew and I will take care of the troll king. The other eighteen trolls are under your care. We will be leaving now. Wait fifteen minutes before you attack so we can get into position," said Uncle Finneus.
Bob nodded, and we set off following the tree line. When we were out of sight of the dwarves, Uncle Finneus stopped. Turning to me, he pulled out the black cloak he had taken from the dead troll and tossed it to me. “Put this on. You are too loud if we are going to sneak up on the trolls. When we return home, I may have to use some of my extremely valuable time to teach you how to stalk. Those whiny elves in the forest can’t do anything right. Their parents must be cursing them even after death. I know I am.”
I took the black cloak from Uncle Finneus without argument. I put it on, and the whole world changed. The color was sucked out of my vision. I stepped to the right. Not a sound came from my footfall.
“This is crazy,” was what I wanted to say to Uncle Finneus, but no sound came out.
“As I’m sure you’re figuring out right now, that cloak destroys all sound. The downsides are that you can’t talk, and it only has a few uses left. Come along, nephew, we need to get into position,” he said.
I followed my uncle, stomping on every pile of leaves within the vicinity. Even though the leaves were crushed, not a sound came out. It was fascinating. I continued to move around, crushing leaves and snapping branches until a hand came out of nowhere and slapped me on the back of my head.
“Nephew, knock it off and focus,” snapped Uncle Finneus.
I swallowed, feeling suitably chagrined. I only stepped on one more pile of leaves as I followed. I was watching Uncle Finneus closely and saw a small smirk cross his face when I did it. A big smile crossed my face.
We continued to skirt around the valley until we were downwind of the trolls. We began making our way closer until Uncle Finneus signaled for me to stop just outside of the clearing, close to thirty yards from the king’s throne.
“Bartholomew, have you ever been in a battle?” murmured Uncle Finneus.
I started to speak, but realizing how stupid that was, I shook my head in the negative.
“It may seem like a lot is going on—noises, shouts, screams, and dead bodies. I need you not to focus on any of that. The dwarves will take care of the other eighteen trolls. Our job is to kill the king and the king alone. Don’t be distracted by anything else. If you do, we might both die.
Also, note that the skin of a troll king is well-known to be fire-retardant. Your fire will only be effective if you attack the wounds I make. Until that happens, I want you to focus on its eyes. Distract it as best you can until I can kill or wound it. You understand?”
I nodded and tried to calm my breathing. I hid in the trees waiting for the dwarves to start their attack. The sun had risen at this point, not high enough to have burned away the dew, but enough to see the glade around us. It was the start of a beautiful day. It didn’t feel beautiful to me at that moment. My mood demanded that the weather should be miserable. Why should violence happen on such a pretty day?
“I’m sure you are anxious for it to start. Instead of focusing on what might happen, I want you to focus on the first three magics you will use. Picture them in your head and think about the amount of your pool you will have to use to perform them. I don’t know how long this battle will take, so take precautions. Don’t overuse your magic pool,” said Uncle Finneus.
I wanted to explain to Uncle Finneus the ridiculousness of such a thing, but obviously, I could only nod my head. I turned back to look at the king just in time to see John with his massive hammer appear over the ridge and run down the hill, screaming for all he was worth. The rest of the dwarves were not far behind him, yelling war cries and waving their weapons. The Trolls froze for ten seconds before they roared back and began to move toward the attacking dwarves.