Greywolf - Trolls

We left the encampment before the light of the sun had even touched the sky, with the two Lycaons, who have already scouted out the troll's den, leading the way.

Lycaons have a wolf's head on a muscular, man-like hairy body naturally hunched over, their hands much like Asena's except their claws are longer. Meaning they can't wield a weapon or use a tool. But they're wearing thick leather armor with small steel rings sewn on, and with claws like small daggers, they don't need weapons if they can get in close.

They're also intelligent, and while their harsh voices were hard to understand at first, my ear's getting used to their speech. Castor's slightly smaller than his brother, Pollux... or Fenris, as he's calling himself, and has the better nose. He motions up towards the top of the slope we're climbing. "The troll cave's just beyond the top of that ridge. I'm catching troll smell from a day ago, but no later."

"Many bones outside cave," Fenris adds. "Body of child with throat torn out, not eaten."

"Not eaten?" Fenris nods, and Asena frowns. "Trolls always first tear out their victim's throats, and then either drink the blood or share it with their children, but once the body's drained dry they begin eating the flesh."

"Maybe it wasn't hungry."

Asena looks at me and snorts. "Trolls are always hungry." She hesitates, but I know that look: the amount of mana in her body's getting really low. It's no wonder she's been so grumpy. "Alright, let's go take a look." The four of us quietly pad up the hill, avoiding the stunted trees and brush until we reach the top and peer over.

It's a flat area extending a good way on both sides, with a cliff face in front of us about a stone's throw away, and a cave entrance just big enough for an adult troll to squeeze through. Bones are scattered everywhere, stripped of all flesh and smashed open for their marrow. A cracked skull grins at me from beneath a bush as Castor sniffs the air. "All I smell is old troll, at least a day old. Nothing fresher."

Fenris points his clawed forefinger at a bush near the opening. "Child there."

I follow his finger with my eyes. The body of a little girl's sprawled out across the branches of a scrub bush, with blood on her stained white dress from the jagged hole in her throat, yet no other marks. The only sounds around us are the whirring of insects and the chirp of birds in the trees. The stink of troll would be noticeable even by ordinary humans, but it's not overpowering, as it must be in the cave. Shite, I hate trolls. "Alright," Asena says, "we're going to use the same plan that's worked before. Greywolf enters the Grey and pops out just long enough to catch the troll's attention, then runs, popping in and out of the Shadowlands as the troll chases him. Once it's out in the daylight, the three of us attack it. while Greywolf hangs back." The two Lycaons nod, and I take a step forward.

Asena grabs me by the back of my armor. "No heroics," she growls. "I mean it."

It's my turn to snort. "Against a troll in its own cave? I don't think so." I try to step forward but she's still holding on. "What?"

"Some of your back plates are cracked like a mirror hit with a fist. I need to find some leather strips and have a mage transmute them so the cracked ones can be replaced."

"What about that mage you found in the city of Kath? All he wanted were his mana stones recharged."

Asena shakes her head. "We're not going back north again, or west. We're heading south towards Bactria, and hoping Muzen doesn't send spies to trail after us."

"We should at least return the body of the little girl to her parents."

She glances at the corpse then back my direction. "We'll see."

I know better than to push her on this, and simply nod. Castor and Fenris sniff the air as Asena lets me go, and the four of us head towards the cave entrance, stopping a short distance away. Asena points at Castor, then her ear, and then at the cave. The Lycaon shakes his head and she gives me the nod. Drawing my katana from its sheath, I open a gateway to the Shadowlands and step through. Color bleeds from the world as I do a full circle with the katana raised. Everything is still, Asena and the Lycaons now shadows as detailed as the trees and bushes.

Only the bones and the child's body remain as they were. The dead live within the Shadowlands, the skull watching me with sad grey eyes as I walk past it towards the cave entrance and the shadow of the bush holding the little girl's corpse. Most of the time the dead remain where they are, and I'm sure this time won't be any different-

The corpse sits up. I leap sideways, turning towards her with my sword out, for in the Shadowlands the dead have the power to rise up and attack the living. No, she's remaining where she is, making no other move except to point at the cave entrance with her hand. I nod, showing her I understand, and she nods back, the eyes plucked out by carrion birds replaced by grey orbs in her eye sockets. They watch me as I turn back towards the cave and walk inside.

In the Shadowlands, the light remains constant no matter how far underground you go, and I can see all the way down the passage. And this tunnel just keeps going. At least I can't smell anything yet, because the troll stench is going to be awful. Lucky me.

Tendrils of the Grey crawl around the rocky floor like questing snakes, a few floating through the air past me as the passage widens into a large open area where the troll is sitting in front of a fire. It's as tall as Asena, but spindly with long arms... son of a Etruscan whore. There's three more smaller trolls about my size, sitting around the fire as well. Shite! Asena's fierce, and I'm sure the Lycaons are too, but they won't be expecting four at once. I need to warn Asena- Wait, what was that?

A Shadow creature laughs from somewhere deeper within the cave, a burbling, insane sound answered by two other voices. Night Hags? Shite! Do they know I'm here? The voices continue their insane cackling as one voice rises above the rest. "Shadow-walker, I can taste the scent of your blood. You will be the feast."

"The feast," the other voices call out. "The feast!" Shite, open the portal, open the portal. An oval of darkness lit by a dancing fire appears and I run through it as insane screams echo in the Shadowlands behind.

Color returns to the world as the rancid stench gags me. Four creatures glance up at me with surprised looks on their squat faces; I move with inhuman speed, and slash the largest across the face with my katana. It bellows, knocking one of the smaller trolls into the fire as I run past them into the passage towards the cave opening, my body slowing down as time gets its grip on me once more.

Loose gravel, I'm slipping... don't fall, please don't fall. The trolls are bellowing behind me as their claws scrape on stone. The opening's close, don't panic... shite, it's right behind me. Asena's voice shouts, "Call the Grey, call the Grey!" There's a troll's hot breath on my neck as color bleeds from the world.

"The feast, the feast!" Bony fingers shatter Artifact back plates from my armor as I run out of the cave past Asena, my body going through the Great sword she's swinging one-handed as if I were a ghost, Castor and Fenris suspended in mid-leap. The Night Hags claw at me again as I open another gate and fling myself through it.

Color returns as I trip and tumble forward, knocking the wind from my lungs as I hit the ground hard. I need to move, join the fight, but I can't breathe... That's better, I'm getting my wind back... wait, where's my katana? It must have flown from my hand when I landed. I roll to my knees facing the cave.

The large troll's down with its neck almost severed, but one of the smaller troll's wrestling Asena for her sword while Castor and Fenris are ripping apart the second. Shite, the third one's avoiding the fight and looking at me. Get up and find the sword. I scramble to my feet as the troll starts running towards me... There's the katana, sticking out of the dirt. I race over and rip it out of the earth with its point out as I turn around.

The troll impales itself on the blade as it knocks us both to the ground. It screams, spitting bloody froth, and with my right hand I push the sword in to the hilt as it bites down on my shoulder. Its teeth dig in despite the Artifact plates, making me yell in pain, but it isn't strong enough to break my bones. It lets go to bite again as I dig at my belt for the Artifact dagger with its sideways facing elk horn handle, and shove it through the creature's eye.

The monster throws me off as it claws at its face, ripping out the black knife blade and throwing it to one side as it staggers to its feet. Green and yellow gobbets of gore spew from the gaping hole where its eye used to be. It bellows as it lurches at me, but now its dropping to its knees, curling up into a ball as it falls onto the ground.

Movement from the corner of my eye and I turn... It's only Fenris, racing over to help me. The other three trolls are dead. He rips out the last troll's throat with his claws as Asena pulls out an Etruscan gladius she uses as a long dagger and begins carving out the creature's hearts. I sit back on the weed choked ground and watch, wincing from the pain and trying hard not to show it as she finishes with the first three and walks over to the last. She pulls my katana from its chest and throws my sword onto the ground beside me, before rolling the creature over onto its back. Asena cuts into its chest like a butcher would a cow.

I watch in the same horrid fascination I always have, as she spreads the ribcage wide open, and cuts out the creature's heart. It resembles a normal heart except for the green growths covering it like large emeralds, the nodules glowing even in the bright sun. Asena gets to her feet and places the heart with the others under a thorn bush, then wipes her gladius on the dead child's clothes. She begins cleaning her steel sword as I stand up and retrieve my katana. Wotan's blood, this shoulder really hurts, but I need to clean the ichor off the Artifact blade.

Fenris bends down to retrieve my knife, holding it as best he can while coming over to meet me. His gaze drops to my shoulder. "You're hurt."

"It's not too bad," I reply, wincing as I reach out to take back my knife. "By tomorrow it'll just be bruise marks." Taking both weapons, I walk over to the child's body, and even though I know her spirit's gone, I bow. "I promise to bring you home to your parents, but right now I need for you to suffer a small indignity so the troll's blood won't pit the blades."

I begin cleaning both blades as Asena calls out, "Greywolf, what happened to your back?"

"Three Night Hags," shuddering despite myself. "I meant to warn you about the small trolls, but there wasn't time."

"They made it a lot more fun than I thought it would be," Castor says, wiping his claws on the child's dress as he looks at my armor. "I think you're bleeding into the leather."

I gingerly sheathe the katana as Asena looms behind me. "Turn around."

"It's not that bad-"

She spins me around as I stifle a gasp, her fingers already unbuckling my chest armor before pulling it off and tossing it aside. There's a dark stain on my faded black arming tunic as I pull it off. "Most of its teeth couldn't get past the armor," Asena's fingers probing the puncture wounds as I wince, "but its fangs did. What did I tell you about staying out of the fight?"

"No one told the troll."

Asena only grunts as she lets go of my shoulder. "You'll be fine in a couple days, but I should still bind this up."

"I get pack," Fenris growls, "and Castor bind wounds." He motions towards the pile of troll hearts. "Should eat while fresh."

"He's got a point," Castor tells her. "The sooner you take in the mana, the better you'll feel."

Asena frowns. "But with your claws-"

"I've learned to adapt over the years. Go ahead and eat, I've got this."

Asena doesn't hesitate but heads for the hearts she's piled together, while I start walking towards an outcrop of rock not far away. "It's better if we leave her to eat in peace. It's kind of disgusting."

I reach the outcrop and sit down, Castor's wolf head looking over his shoulder as the sounds of ripping flesh begin behind us. "Yecch, I see what you mean. Why doesn't she roast them first, or make a stew?" I stifle a laugh and he looks back at me. "What's so humorous?"

"Apologies," I reply as he sits beside me. "It's just that I never expected you to be so civilized."

He assumes the haughty manner of a noble lord while raising his muzzle into the air and giving an indignant sniff. "I'll have you know I'm a highly educated monster." He looks so ludicrous that, despite my shoulder, I burst out laughing, which he joins in on. "Actually," he continues after a moment, "my father's a noble of the Caucasi kingdom, north of the Eastern empire province of Armentia, and we had a tutor who taught us Greco-Roma and the Greek classics. Not that we paid much attention in our youth."

He sounds almost regretful. "Castor, you can tell me to go to the goddess Hel if you don't want to answer, but what's it like being Lycaon?"

He shrugs his muscular, hunched over shoulders. "Literally being a human in the body of a monster. Pollux and I are the youngest of five boys, and our father told us to make our fortunes in the wide world as we were two Lycaons too many for the nobility to handle. So we guarded caravans like you and Asena were doing, until we met Karl and he took us in." He motions out towards the far off plumes of rising smoke from the camp's cooking fires. "The People of the Eternal Sky accepted us as no civilized folk have ever done, and Pollux is even talking about getting married... or, at least he was."

I recognize the slight growl at the end of his words for concern and not anger. "He introduced himself to me as Fenris, and showed off his tattoo like it was a badge of honor."

Castor sighs. "He's changed. We used to be close as twins, but now I'm by myself while he's found new brothers among the Chaldean Wardogs of Amazonia."

On the slope off to my right there's sounds of crackling brush, likely Fenris dragging Asena's pack. "You could always leave the White Horde and join us. It'd be nice to have someone else to talk to."

He gives me a truly wolfish grin. "After the stories I heard last night, I imagine so. She sounds, ah, interesting to live with."

I can't help but snort. "You've got no idea. There was this one time-" From behind me, Asena's begun cursing in Germanic, and I whirl around. "What's wrong?"

She's down on her hands and knees, shaking her head like a baffled bear. "I finished the troll hearts and stood up, but then everything began spinning around." I scramble to my feet and race towards her as she adds, "I think those trolls were sick."

"Not sick," Lys' voice says from behind me, "just poisoned."