can be back before dinner!”
“Great!” Sandra threw a glance at the groaning table of the mayor’s. “Sounds delicious, but don’t get your hopes up, hon. I’m not going to rush into it, so I’m likely to be later than you expect.”
“That’s okay! I’m sure spending time with the mayor’s daughters will be grand as well.”
Sandra nodded. It was nice to see Mira so excited about something, even something that involved so much danger on Sandra's part.
*
Without directions, the troll’s camp would have been easy to find. With directions, Sandra was there in less than an hour. The brush around the camp thinned out from the stamping of heavy troll feet, and the trees started to look snapped and broken from the passage of a massive creature. Troll tracks became far more common: huge clawed foot prints that Sandra could fit both of her feet into. The site of them was making her start to doubt the intelligence of this plan, but each time she thought of returning she remembered the look of hope on Mira’s face.
Besides, Mira was right. If they could leave a city to its fate to save just one prince, did that make them terrible people? Also, if she couldn’t handle one troll, what chance did she have against a dragon? Granted, dragons didn’t regenerate, but it would be a much greater challenge.
So here she was. Alone in the forest with a couple of bottles of Greek fire, a couple of vials of acid and a potion that the alchemist insisted she take with her.
“This is a special brew that the mayor wanted me to save for the champion of our town.” The alchemist had said, gesturing wildly with hands stained red and blue from the chemicals he worked with every day.
“What is it?”
“It’s a magical distillate which will give you the power of an ox!”
“A bull’s strength potion, you mean.” Sandra had turned the potion this way and that, admiring its red color.
“Yes. Fine. A bull’s strength potion. It should give you an extra edge when you fight the troll.”
“Great. I’ll take it.”
She’d left the bows and crossbows with Mira. A single arrow wouldn’t do much against a troll, even if she was lucky and tagged an organ. Swords, daggers, knives and a war axe she’d packed back in the castle were the weapons she brought with her.
Against a ten foot troll, they still seemed woefully inadequate.
Sandra could see the smoke from the troll’s campfire when the first trap nearly got her. She swung her sword down to clear a thick tangle of brush and she heard the distinctive ‘thwack’ of a mechanical trigger. Without thinking, Sandra dove backward and away from the clump of bushes. The trigger was followed by the more powerful ‘ka-chunk’ of many heavy, wooden things springing free of hiding places. The bushes were torn apart by large wooden stakes which slashed upward at cruel angles, and two trees flanking the brush shuddered with the force of the trap’s release.
Sandra took a deep breath, stayed crouched and watched for any further activity, then let the breath out in relief. Where she had been standing there were now seven wooden stakes, all about the size of a person, piercing the air. A little slower and they would have been piercing her. She tentatively stepped forward and put her hand on one of the stakes. While the craftsmanship was rudimentary, the stake itself was heavy and thick. If it didn’t go through her armor, the force of the blow certainly would have broken bones.
Devious.
It was further explanation as to why no one else had succeeded at this venture before. Just reaching the troll was going to be difficult.
She proceeded onward more carefully. She picked every footstep carefully, and in the fading light of day she scanned every tree and bush before passing through it. By the time the troll’s fire was within view she’d avoid three more trip wires, two deadfalls, and at least one
“Great!” Sandra threw a glance at the groaning table of the mayor’s. “Sounds delicious, but don’t get your hopes up, hon. I’m not going to rush into it, so I’m likely to be later than you expect.”
“That’s okay! I’m sure spending time with the mayor’s daughters will be grand as well.”
Sandra nodded. It was nice to see Mira so excited about something, even something that involved so much danger on Sandra's part.
*
Without directions, the troll’s camp would have been easy to find. With directions, Sandra was there in less than an hour. The brush around the camp thinned out from the stamping of heavy troll feet, and the trees started to look snapped and broken from the passage of a massive creature. Troll tracks became far more common: huge clawed foot prints that Sandra could fit both of her feet into. The site of them was making her start to doubt the intelligence of this plan, but each time she thought of returning she remembered the look of hope on Mira’s face.
Besides, Mira was right. If they could leave a city to its fate to save just one prince, did that make them terrible people? Also, if she couldn’t handle one troll, what chance did she have against a dragon? Granted, dragons didn’t regenerate, but it would be a much greater challenge.
So here she was. Alone in the forest with a couple of bottles of Greek fire, a couple of vials of acid and a potion that the alchemist insisted she take with her.
“This is a special brew that the mayor wanted me to save for the champion of our town.” The alchemist had said, gesturing wildly with hands stained red and blue from the chemicals he worked with every day.
“What is it?”
“It’s a magical distillate which will give you the power of an ox!”
“A bull’s strength potion, you mean.” Sandra had turned the potion this way and that, admiring its red color.
“Yes. Fine. A bull’s strength potion. It should give you an extra edge when you fight the troll.”
“Great. I’ll take it.”
She’d left the bows and crossbows with Mira. A single arrow wouldn’t do much against a troll, even if she was lucky and tagged an organ. Swords, daggers, knives and a war axe she’d packed back in the castle were the weapons she brought with her.
Against a ten foot troll, they still seemed woefully inadequate.
Sandra could see the smoke from the troll’s campfire when the first trap nearly got her. She swung her sword down to clear a thick tangle of brush and she heard the distinctive ‘thwack’ of a mechanical trigger. Without thinking, Sandra dove backward and away from the clump of bushes. The trigger was followed by the more powerful ‘ka-chunk’ of many heavy, wooden things springing free of hiding places. The bushes were torn apart by large wooden stakes which slashed upward at cruel angles, and two trees flanking the brush shuddered with the force of the trap’s release.
Sandra took a deep breath, stayed crouched and watched for any further activity, then let the breath out in relief. Where she had been standing there were now seven wooden stakes, all about the size of a person, piercing the air. A little slower and they would have been piercing her. She tentatively stepped forward and put her hand on one of the stakes. While the craftsmanship was rudimentary, the stake itself was heavy and thick. If it didn’t go through her armor, the force of the blow certainly would have broken bones.
Devious.
It was further explanation as to why no one else had succeeded at this venture before. Just reaching the troll was going to be difficult.
She proceeded onward more carefully. She picked every footstep carefully, and in the fading light of day she scanned every tree and bush before passing through it. By the time the troll’s fire was within view she’d avoid three more trip wires, two deadfalls, and at least one
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