It moved again. The creature stood up from the concealing grass, tilted its stout head slightly and sniffed the air. It had rough, splotchy gray skin and a bulky, hunched body. Its long, muscular arms reached down from its broad shoulders and disappeared into the brush. At this distance and with the covering it was impossible to determine the creature's exact size, but Morgan could quite plainly tell that it was bigger than he was.
Renna stared wide-eyed into the field. "What is that?" she asked quietly, her gaze trained on the beast.
Zanadar peered intently at the creature for a moment and then tightened the straps on his armor. "It's a troll," he said simply, testing the grip on the sheathed sword across his back. "And it's been causing the trouble at Jon Harkin's farm." He noticed the stable hand's uneasiness. "It's quite all right. We're upwind, and it doesn't see us."
Renna did not look convinced. "Why didn't you tell us what it was before? You were lying when you said you didn't know what made the tracks."
Elandar's eyebrow arched. He gave the big man a slightly amused expression. "It seems you aren't nearly as clever as you think you are," he said with a grin.
Zanadar shrugged. "I suspected they were troll tracks, but I didn't know for sure, and I didn't want to cause any excitement if I was wrong."
Morgan did not believe that for a second, but something else was bothering him. "What is a troll doing here?" He asked, "I've never even heard of one in this region."
"You're right about that," the big man answered, happy to change the subject. "It is a long way from home. Your guess is as good as mine as to why it's here. Trolls tend to do most of their thinking with their stomachs. I'd wager that had something to do with it."
"So what are you going to do about it?" Renna asked, still carefully watching the beast.
"We have to kill it," Zanadar replied, "They are vicious, violent creatures. If we don't, it's only a matter of time before it feeds on Halflings instead of their pigs." Zanadar frowned. "It's probably a little late to be asking this, but how well trained are these horses?"
"They're the best we have," the stable hand said, "They won't spook."
"Well, at least that's good news. Morgan, how skilled are you with those maces of yours?"
"Why?" the ranger asked dubiously.
"If I charge it, it may run. I need you to circle around the side and keep it between us. Can you do that?"
Morgan had never seen a troll before, let alone fought one. "I can try."
"Good. Let's get this over with then. I'll circle around to the west," the big man pointed his mailed glove in the opposite direction, "You go around to the east. Just don't let it get by you. I'll do the rest." With that, he nudged his horse into a subdued trot and looked back over his shoulder to Renna and the old man. "You two stay here. As long as you don't move, you shouldn't draw any attention to yourselves."
"I was slaying monsters before you were born," Elandar rebutted, "Worry about yourself."
"Be careful, Morgan," Renna called softly as the ranger began to slowly ride around the opposite side of the troll. Morgan carefully removed the darkened maces from his traveling pack, all the while keeping his eyes on the creature, which seemed preoccupied with something in the waving grass.
Morgan had not known what to expect after finding the tracks. But a troll? The ranger would never have guessed such a creature would wander this far from its home and end up in the peaceful land of the Halflings. Yet here it was. Morgan grinned. After all that had happened in the past several days, he did not know why he was the least bit surprised now.
He could see Zanadar circling around the creature on the other side, gradually inching closer. The troll batted playfully at whatever it had discovered on the ground, probably tormenting some small animal. Across the field, Morgan stayed even with Zanadar, while keeping himself at a safe distance. He was nervous and found himself holding his breath as he inched silently around the beast.
Suddenly, the wind changed direction, gusting strongly towards the troll. Morgan froze in his saddle. His horse bayed nervously side-to-side as the troll's head shot up and sniffed the air suspiciously. It turned its gaze in the ranger's direction.
Morgan tried to keep himself low, a feat not easily accomplished on horseback, but it was too late- the troll had spotted him. The creature rose out of the grass, its icy stare locked onto the ranger as it reared back and then charged. It barreled through the fields toward him, pounding forward with its large, muscled arms. Despite its size, it was surprisingly quick.
Zanadar spurred his horse. The big man's mount raced through the grass, trying to catch the beast. He shouted something that Morgan couldn't quite hear as he drew the large sword from across his back. Barely slowing, the troll threw back its head and let loose a deep, penetrating roar.
A pair of large patches of grass behind the creature began to twist about awkwardly as two more trolls stood up in the brush. Morgan heard the big man curse as he pulled up hard on his reigns and narrowly missed colliding with one of the beasts. His horse stumbled to the side but the big man managed to stay mounted. The ranger silently scolded himself. Of course there were more, they knew that from the tracks.
The first troll continued its charge toward the ranger. This was not going how Morgan had hoped. He was not sure how to deal with the beast but was confident that standing there was not the answer. He kicked his horse into action just in time to avoid the troll's rush. The creature let out an angry wail as its charge came up short, then it spun around and lunged at Morgan.
At its full height, the troll stood nearly eye to eye with the mounted ranger. Grasping the reigns tightly in one hand and his mace in the other, he did his best to beat away the beast's powerful claws.
He managed to fend off most of the troll's attempts to maul him and connected a solid blow to the creature's knuckle. The strike only further enraged the beast. As Morgan tried to ride out of its reach, the troll growled viciously and snatched the hind leg of the ranger's horse. With a sharp tug, it pulled the frantic steed to the ground and sent Morgan sprawling into the grass.
The ranger took the fall well and quickly rolled to his feet as the troll turned its attention toward him, allowing the horse to recover and gallop off. So much for it being well trained. Morgan certainly did not blame it though. He readied himself as the beast reared up on its legs to attack. It towered over Morgan, its shadow enveloping him completely. Its rank breath seeped into the air as the troll seethed and furiously hurled its fists at Morgan.
The ranger was outmatched and he knew it. On foot he was at a serious disadvantage, though he had little time to dwell on it. He barely managed to jump aside as the troll's rocklike fists pounded into the ground beside him. Moving quickly, Morgan swung fiercely at the creature's wrist, leaving a painful contusion that began to swell immediately from the impact of the heavy blow.
The troll bellowed loudly in pain and jerked its arm back. It snarled at the ranger and grabbed at him with its uninjured hand. Morgan tried to dodge but faltered and stumbled into the creature's grasp. It gripped him painfully around the torso, its long, thick fingers squeezing the air from his lungs as it lifted him from the ground. He struggled to break its hold, swinging feebly at its arms, but the troll was too strong. It secured its grip with its wounded hand and began to squeeze, crushing the ranger.
As the beast tightened its grasp Morgan began to feel light headed. "Morgan!" he thought he heard a voice call out. The troll looked momentarily back over its shoulder, allowing the ranger to glimpse Renna breaking from the cover of the trees, galloping full speed towards him on Gray. The large horse looked angry, and gnashed at its bit as it charged through the grass. Elandar called out for her to stop, but if the stable hand heard the old man's shouts she ignored them.
The troll paused briefly at the sight of Gray racing through the field and loosened its grip on the ranger. Morgan began to wriggle and the creature turned its attention back toward him just in time to catch the ranger's boot on the underside of its chin. The beast was unfazed and pulled Morgan closer, baring its teeth in a menacing snarl. The ranger quickly drew his mace back and, summoning all of his strength, swung it at the beast's head.
It slammed into the troll's temple with a sickening crack. The beast staggered backward, releasing the ranger. Morgan fell to the ground, gasping for breath. A crimson patch stained the side of the troll's head as it whirled about awkwardly, trying to stay on its feet. The ranger heard the thundering cadence of Gray's steel-shod hooves and looked up just in time to see Renna leap from the mighty horse's back and into the safety of the grass, rolling to a stop perhaps a dozen paces away.
The troll, still reeling from the blow, made a weak attempt to defend itself from the charge. But Renna's horse simply powered through, crashing headlong into the beast with tremendous force. The troll was hurled backward several paces and crumpled to the ground in an agonizing wreck. It cried out pathetically and tried in vain to rise to its feet, much to the delight of the angry horse, who gleefully stomped the troll into one final, broken heap.
Morgan wheezed for air. "I'm glad he's on our side."
"Me too," Renna said as she rushed over to where the ranger lay. "Are you all right?"
His chest ached and it was difficult to catch his breath. "I'll be fine," Morgan answered stoically. "Thank you." He struggled to his feet and looked around for Zanadar, spotting the big man back toward the center of the field. The tall grass around him was spattered with red. Zanadar grappled with one of the trolls but the other was nowhere in sight. With a deep, painful breath, the ranger began to rush toward him.
Zanadar broke away from the creature, clenched his fists and landed several powerful blows to its midsection. It reeled forward, lashing out at the big man. He stepped aside easily, letting the attack brush past him and leapt onto the troll's back, driving the creature into the ground. Morgan could not see what was happening in the tall grass, but a moment later the troll stood back up. Zanadar still clung to its back. His strong arm was wrapped tightly around the beast's neck, choking it. The big man kicked at the back of the beast's knee. It buckled, sending the two back down into the dirt. For several seconds they thrashed about wildly in the grass. Then, after a long pause, Zanadar emerged. He brushed off his hands and glared down at the ground, looking genuinely annoyed.
"Are you all right?" Morgan asked, panting, as he reached the big man.
Zanadar cursed. "Yeah," he replied, "I cannot believe I didn't see them." Though the grass was splashed with streaks of blood, none of it appeared to be from him. Except for his stormy expression and the absence of his sword, Zanadar appeared to be fine. Then he looked up. "How about you?"
"Nothing that won't heal," Morgan said, as Renna led Gray up behind him. "I had a little help." He gave the big man a peculiar look. "Where's your sword?"
Zanadar muttered something under his breath and stalked off into a particularly large patch of red grass. He reached down into the brush and, with a stomach-turning, wrenching noise, pulled his sword out of what Morgan presumed to be the other troll- though at this point it was somewhat hard to recognize. "It got stuck," he explained sourly. He gave the messy blade a disgusted look and wiped it off on the grass.
Elandar emerged from the cover of the trees and casually strolled over to join the group. "Fool girl," he said, "You could have gotten yourself killed."
"When the alternative is cowering behind a tree with you," she chirped back tartly, "I'll risk it."
Morgan bent forward and put a steadying hand on Gray's saddle for support as he erupted into a brief fit of coughing. "Are you sure you're all right?" Zanadar asked.
The ranger held up his other hand. "I'm fine," he assured him as the coughing subsided, "I'll just be sore for a few days."
Elandar looked around, scratching at the rim of his hat as he took in the surroundings. "Where is your horse?" he said to Morgan.
"It ran off after the troll grabbed it."
"It couldn't have gone far," Renna added, "It shouldn't take us too long to find it."
"Well," Zanadar said expansively, "We'd better start looking then. We don't have much daylight left and we need to find it before dark."
Renna looked confused. "Why?"
The big man gave the stable hand a hard look, and then replied. "Because these trolls weren't fully grown, which means that tonight, there's going to be a very unhappy mother out."
Submitted by
Nocte
Date
5/1/05
Source
Vanguard: Saga of Heroes Web Lore
Notes
Thestra Lore
