I smash my fist into Eyes nose, the damn thing refuses to behave and I have to punish It again and again. Black ichor spurts and starts to dribble down the thing's nose and it whimpers and follows behind me, I remind myself to reward Eye if it follows behind me for enough time to deserve it.

Ghosts swirl around us but they don’t seem as malevolent anymore, not kind, but not looking to harm us. Like the peace between Troll tribes, wary, but not hostile. I dismiss them from my thoughts a moment later. Ghosts are weak, Shamans can tame them in a heartbeat.

Memories of the Troll ghost come back, maybe not all ghosts are weak. Just most of them. Enough of them to not worry.

I move toward one of the many passageways that riddle this place. I had explored a couple of them a few days ago but couldn’t go too far otherwise Eye would escape. Now that Eye has been partially tamed or at least tamed enough to follow me I can start to explore this place in depth.

We are still in the room that the ghost Troll had claimed us in, I’ll have to remember where it is, it could be useful in future. The room is huge, at least fifteen Troll lengths across with just as many different exits or entryways. I sigh and pick one at random, then with another prod at Eye we start moving.

The entryway is smaller then I expected and I have to duck my head to get through, to an Elf or Orc though it would be huge. A mist seems to permeate the place which combined with the darkness makes it even harder to see. I can still pierce it though, but my vision comes in hazy and indistinct.

The first thing I notice about this place is the enormous amount of ghosts just roaming around this area, coming and going and not doing anything. Kind of like myself. Nothing here interests me, Eye starts sniffing something and growling at the ground before attacking the spot where he sniffed.

I smash my foot into its softer underbelly. This thing needs to learn that it can do nothing until I say it can. The thing lets out a little moan of pain, a good thing. I can’t let it become desensitised, right now I don’t have enough resources to punish the thing with anything other than violence. It’s just a good thing that it’s so injured, every blow hurts that much more.

We continue on our way and come across a pool of something, mist twirls lazily away from the pool. I sense a power coming from it, something... different. I kick Eye into the pool, it can go first and show me any dangers that the pool hides. Eye goes flying in with a whimper and as soon as it touches the water it disappears. Gone. As if Eye was never there.

I stumble back in surprise. That was not what I was expecting. Eye barely touched the pool at all and… I snarl in annoyance. Eye was an important part of my plans. And if the damn thing survives somehow then that would be even worse. There is no way it wouldn’t come back looking for revenge. Angry enemies are always bad, they come back at the worst time to cut you up.

I walk back over to the pool and kneel beside it. What type of water could make something disappear like that? Even the Shamans didn’t have that kind of power. To just wish away their enemies. I grab a rock and throw it at the pool. It sinks, no disappearing, just a rock hitting water.

This is frustrating. Why would the pool swallow Eye but not a stupid rock? I scratch my head and look around the room, nothing but rocks, the pool, and a few ghosts that are floating t around.

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I look at the ghosts but they don’t even seem to notice me. They just continue floating. I throw another couple of rocks at the pool but the same thing happens each time. Why? Why? What am I missing? I throw more and more rocks into the pool and all of them disappear with a thunk.

I move toward the edge of the pool and dip another rock inside. Nothing happens. I decide that I’ve had enough. Something has been at the edge of my mind but I can’t….quite…. Get it. With these thoughts in my mind, I stick the very tip of my pinky finger into the pool.

And pull it out in surprise. That is not how water is supposed to feel. When I stuck my finger through it felt like… waving it through the wind. Definitely not swishing it through the water. I stick my arm in next, and then my other arm. Same feeling. I stand up, step back, and then jump in.

And find myself in an entirely different place. Gone are closed in passageways, and in there place is a huge cavern.

I stumble back in surprise, falling into the pool of water again.

And find myself back where I was before.

What sort of magic is this? What... Like moving, but appearing? Like…

What was I thinking about?

Something about the pool?

Ah, yes. I grin wolfishly. Time to find Eye, he’s been without supervision too long. I can’t have all my hard work coming undone now can I?

I jump into the pool and once again come out in another place. And find myself face to face with small, wrinkly, winged…. Creatures. Bats. But bastardized. Changed. In their claws are ropes and a huge net. I growl at them and the bats start quirking their heads.

Then as if by some unspoken signal start to surround me. I turn in circles slowly. Keeping a close eye on that net. Nets were annoying, especially if they are well made. They can trip you up and limit your power.

I glance at them again, those claws of theirs can’t be very effective at using stuff, they’re attached to wings! Also, they are all small. Small means easy to kill. The bigger something is the harder it is to kill. That is the Troll common knowledge.

So, with these thoughts in mind, I charge at the one in front, the one with the most net. The bats start quirking their heads again and then move, spreading out more, and dispersing the net more evenly between themselves. All of this is done within the time it takes me to run at them.

Doesn’t change that they're small. Also, that net isn’t in the best position to be used, at least, not yet.

I hurtle toward the lead batling, who, seeing me, tries to dodge. I sweep my arms out wide to catch him, only for the slippery thing to duck under and throw a piece of the net around my stomach.

I feel other pieces of net wrap around me as well, coming at me from all sides. And with all my momentum I can’t do a thing to dodge. More and more pieces of net manage to snag me, and more and more pieces of rope manage to get me as well.

I roar and struggle, thrashing wildly, what are they doing? How are they doing this? Each time I thrash the net only wraps around me tighter, and tighter, and tighter. Until eventually I can’t move at all.

The batlings stand over me, looking at me, sometimes quirking their heads. Then, they lean down, open their mouths and try to suck my blood.

They try. My hide is too tough for them though, and after one of them breaks their fang they stop trying altogether. They stand over me, and I can tell they are wondering what to do. They can’t kill me and I could probably outlast whatever measly net they trapped me with.

They end up dragging me. I roar at them, small things aren’t supposed to be like this! They are supposed to die. Not live! I struggle more but nothing happens except cause one of the batlings to hit me with a piece of stick.

It does nothing.

I take a moment to look at where I’m at. It’s a cavern alright, darkness still reigns supreme but there are no more cramped passageways. Only open space. The batlings drag me through heavy undergrowth, something that probably seemed like a forest to them. My body rips the plants up and caused a trail to pop up behind us. The batlings dont seem to care. Odd behaviour for little creatures.

It’s then that I smell blood. A stench so strong it is impossible to miss. The batling continues on unconcerned.

I struggle more, never stopping. But my struggles are more of a token resistance. In reality, I’m trying to find a way out. Any way out.

Thing is, it doesn’t look like there is a way out of this mess. Or at least not an easy way. The batlings continue to drag me until we come into sight of a village. A damn batling village. Small trees dot it, bats taking up residence in them, the trees were obviously grown, because the village was almost a perfectly filled circle of tees.

Damn. This is bad. Very bad.

That’s when I see the village centre, and Eye being hung upside down and fed on.

Damn.