declaration.
"Shipwrecked."
His voice cracked. "But alive." He took pride in any victory, even if others might see it as defeat. He once said to me, "There's enough that grinds us down each day. We've got to acknowledge anything that seems like good news."
The man got up and left the room. I took his seat.
"I'm dying?"
"No."
"Releana. I'm the liar."
The statement stunned me, so I said, "We've got to find you help."
"On a mountain?"
"If we're on Twilight Peaks ..."
"Excellent. We might be able to get some help from troll barbarians."
"They're not barbarians," I said quickly, though I had never met any of the crystal raiders.
J'role closed his eyes. "Yes. Whatever." His face contorted with pain. Then he relaxed slightly. "Releana," he said hesitantly, and opened his eyes. I felt he was on the verge of saying something significant.
"Releana!" someone shouted from above deck. The cry carried panic.
"I'll be back." I gave him a peck on the forehead and rushed out of the room.
2
As I ran through the corridor, others were awakened from sleep by the cry of my name.
Each one looked startled and sleepy. Each let me pass and then followed. I realized I had become the group's leader. When exactly had that happened? My crew followed up the steps and out onto the deck.
Dozens of trolls dressed in armor made from gleaming crystal approached the ship off the port side.
The ship had landed with the deck nearly perfectly level with the ground. A huge fissure ran through the foredeck, up along the forecastle, and over the sides of the hull. It seemed that if the airship had suffered a hull breach, it would sink just as a sea vessel would. The ground around the ship was barren, and covered with small rocks and a few boulders. The mountain we sat on continued far above us, and I became dizzy looking toward the peak.
Around use stood many other mountains forming the Twilight Peaks. Beyond the gray mountains grew the jungles of Barsaive, now nothing more than a blur of green.
The trolls stood still and silent, gathered in tight clusters. Each stood about eight feet high, with horns growing from their foreheads, and large teeth protruding from under their lips. Their bodies bulged with muscles, and there seemed a kind of exaggeration of masculine qualities about them, in the females as well as the males. From their stance and build, it seemed they could do little but bash things.
For the most part they wore thick furs for armor, and a few had robes or cloaks fashioned from tapestries they'd acquired on their raids of the lowlands. However, many also had the astounding crystal armor that had made the trolls so famous.
Their crystal armor did not cover their entire bodies, as I'd been led to believe from the stories I'd heard. Instead, most of the thick, colored crystals grew from the fur or cloth armor. Sections of crystal armor covered the shoulders of some trolls. Others had shields made of crystal. A few had breastplates strapped on with thick strips of leather. And there were weapons made of crystal as well. Spears, swords, maces. The colored crystals Were smooth and shaped with many facets. The sunlight struck the magical weaponry and arms and shimmered deep reds, twilight blues, jungle greens, and other colors.
The trolls stopped their advance a few hundred feet away, taking up positions behind boulders and tucked into huge cracks in the cliff.
I tried to think.
I failed.
Around me my crew shifted. I noticed that they had gathered the swords taken from the Theran sailors. Good. That was good.
We were outnumbered, under armed, under muscled, still weak from our slavery. That was bad.
I wanted very much to turn around and foist responsibility for the next few minutes on someone else. But I had seen leaders panic at the moment of crisis before, and it usually meant defeat. I was the leader. Being the leader meant being alone. I had to make a decision. I had to do something. That's all there
"Shipwrecked."
His voice cracked. "But alive." He took pride in any victory, even if others might see it as defeat. He once said to me, "There's enough that grinds us down each day. We've got to acknowledge anything that seems like good news."
The man got up and left the room. I took his seat.
"I'm dying?"
"No."
"Releana. I'm the liar."
The statement stunned me, so I said, "We've got to find you help."
"On a mountain?"
"If we're on Twilight Peaks ..."
"Excellent. We might be able to get some help from troll barbarians."
"They're not barbarians," I said quickly, though I had never met any of the crystal raiders.
J'role closed his eyes. "Yes. Whatever." His face contorted with pain. Then he relaxed slightly. "Releana," he said hesitantly, and opened his eyes. I felt he was on the verge of saying something significant.
"Releana!" someone shouted from above deck. The cry carried panic.
"I'll be back." I gave him a peck on the forehead and rushed out of the room.
2
As I ran through the corridor, others were awakened from sleep by the cry of my name.
Each one looked startled and sleepy. Each let me pass and then followed. I realized I had become the group's leader. When exactly had that happened? My crew followed up the steps and out onto the deck.
Dozens of trolls dressed in armor made from gleaming crystal approached the ship off the port side.
The ship had landed with the deck nearly perfectly level with the ground. A huge fissure ran through the foredeck, up along the forecastle, and over the sides of the hull. It seemed that if the airship had suffered a hull breach, it would sink just as a sea vessel would. The ground around the ship was barren, and covered with small rocks and a few boulders. The mountain we sat on continued far above us, and I became dizzy looking toward the peak.
Around use stood many other mountains forming the Twilight Peaks. Beyond the gray mountains grew the jungles of Barsaive, now nothing more than a blur of green.
The trolls stood still and silent, gathered in tight clusters. Each stood about eight feet high, with horns growing from their foreheads, and large teeth protruding from under their lips. Their bodies bulged with muscles, and there seemed a kind of exaggeration of masculine qualities about them, in the females as well as the males. From their stance and build, it seemed they could do little but bash things.
For the most part they wore thick furs for armor, and a few had robes or cloaks fashioned from tapestries they'd acquired on their raids of the lowlands. However, many also had the astounding crystal armor that had made the trolls so famous.
Their crystal armor did not cover their entire bodies, as I'd been led to believe from the stories I'd heard. Instead, most of the thick, colored crystals grew from the fur or cloth armor. Sections of crystal armor covered the shoulders of some trolls. Others had shields made of crystal. A few had breastplates strapped on with thick strips of leather. And there were weapons made of crystal as well. Spears, swords, maces. The colored crystals Were smooth and shaped with many facets. The sunlight struck the magical weaponry and arms and shimmered deep reds, twilight blues, jungle greens, and other colors.
The trolls stopped their advance a few hundred feet away, taking up positions behind boulders and tucked into huge cracks in the cliff.
I tried to think.
I failed.
Around me my crew shifted. I noticed that they had gathered the swords taken from the Theran sailors. Good. That was good.
We were outnumbered, under armed, under muscled, still weak from our slavery. That was bad.
I wanted very much to turn around and foist responsibility for the next few minutes on someone else. But I had seen leaders panic at the moment of crisis before, and it usually meant defeat. I was the leader. Being the leader meant being alone. I had to make a decision. I had to do something. That's all there
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