Trapped once again in her cage of strong willow, Laelia huddled in its corner. Staying very still, she watched Zote move about in his slovenly manner. Aside from the shuffling of his huge feet and the squeak of rats, the only sound she could hear was the light patter of water trickling down the cavern walls. Velvety algae, covered with a dark fuzzy moss and nourished by water, clung to the rock’s slimy surface. Something about the mass of green-black moss caught her attention. She was certain it was moving. Fright turned to disgust when she realized that swarms of flies had crowded together on the cave wall.

  Zote collected in wooden barrels the spring water that dripped from the rocky walls. When the barrels were full, he placed them in a nearby niche. Laelia saw a cloud of flies hovering over the barrel close to her cage. Balancing on the tip of her toes and standing as tall as possible, she could barely see into the barrel, then she pulled back horrified. A mass of white, throbbing larvae were swimming on top of the water. From her cage, it looked like “ooze that moved!” Laelia recognized the smell coming from the barrels as polluted water festering with parasites. For some reason, Zote was purposely breeding larvae.

  Laelia recognized the white grubs. They were rat-tailed maggots, the larvae of the drone fly. She could see their long, hairy breathing tubes extending above the surface of the foul water. To make matters worse, Laelia observed that the maggot tail was eerily similar to Zote’s tail, only miniscule. Close to the barrel, she could actually hear the larvae scratch and wobble in the dark water.

  Zote saw the frown between Laelia’s eyebrows when she stepped backward in disgust. Amused by her behavior, he shuffled over to one of the barrels and scooped up a handful of the oozy larvae; a small scream escaped from her throat. Laelia’s face turned white as the maggots squirmed between his fingers and over his long, dirty fingernails. He promptly gobbled them down, expressing his pleasure by humming as he chewed. A few of the plump maggots wiggled to escape the hole in his face. Those that dropped onto his beard he poked back into his mouth and swallowed.

  She could not take her eyes off Zote. As if watching this disgusting troll eat the maggots wasn’t bad enough, he scooped another handful of maggots out of the barrel and offered them to her. All she could see was the tiny white grubs quivering and twitching between Zote’s hairy fingers, trying their best to free themselves. Laelia was barely able to keep from retching. Because she was by nature a kind troll, she politely refused his offer. Continuing his humming and with much smacking of his lips, he enjoyed this second handful.

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  Later that evening, Laelia again watched Zote as he moved into a shadowy corner of the cavern. He settled back against the damp cave wall and began, like a wild dog, to lick the infected sores that blistered on his stomach. How he did this, she did not know. As the firelight glimmered off the cavern walls and lit the dark cave, Laelia watched while Zote pulled on a pink worm that emerged from a swollen blister on his stomach. He rolled the docile flat worm up on a willow stick and then tossed it into the fire to sizzle and burn. Repulsed by the sight, she looked away.

  Laelia’s compassionate heart turned from revulsion to pity. She understood that the fly larvae breeding in his stagnant drinking water led to Zote’s intestinal parasite infestation. Laelia was well aware that her knowledge of healing plants and filtering larvae out of his water could help this ignorant troll.

  Zote, groaning from his stomachache, stood up. Sliding his bare feet across the cave floor, he approached Laelia’s cage and let her out. He was sure she could never find her way out of the puzzling maze of tunnels. This small moment of freedom sent Laelia to the far side of the cavern where she settled down to comfort herself.

  Grooming her hair and tail always made Laelia feel pretty. First, she cleaned her tear-streaked face with a small piece of woven cloth she kept in a pocket. Close to where she sat, she searched the cave floor for strong twigs, all the while keeping an eye on the cave’s nosey rats gathering nearby. While pulling the twigs through her hair and untangling its curls, she discovered her earring was missing. It must have been lost when Zote captured her. Memories of her mother’s promise when giving her the earrings flooded Laelia’s thoughts. The lavender stone of the earrings will bring you tranquility and keep you in the company of friendly spirits. Sadly, she wondered where are these spirits her mother spoke of?

  Slowly she combed the hair on her tail and took comfort in the precious jewels braided into its tip. Laelia recalled the evening Odin gave her the green emeralds, blue sapphires and red rubies. Smiling, she thought about the happy time spent in her warm cave while weaving these gems into the hair on her tail.

  Laelia’s smile, which like the warmth of sunshine charmed everyone she gave it to, faded into tears. Here, in this cave, she was now completely helpless. Her mind screamed, Where is my brother? How could I be so unfortunate as to wake up in a catacomb filled with dead trolls and an odious bog troll? Curling her tail tight around her body, she cried herself to sleep.