Chapter 4

All three of us were carrying a deer on our shoulders when we returned to the village. Besides that, we had several rabbits in the backpacks. It was clear to me that no serious hunting had been ongoing in this valley for some time. The problem with that was if the herds became too big, the animals might starve and get sick. Too big a herd also invited more carnivores. Personally, I had no problems with the wolves - as long as they feared me. If the wolf packs became too big they also might forget their initial fear and come close the human habitat, which wasn’t a good thing.

I had been talking about those things with Leilatha and Shalana during our hunting trip. In a way they were good hunters, but they were somewhat surprised about my idea of the ‘big picture’ - that we, as hunters, might and should help nature to maintain a balance between the herbivores and carnivores in the area. Of course we couldn’t influence the weather, but at least we might be able to help nature through the extremes. Even if the extremes here - in this valley - seemed quite tame when compared to what could happen behind those mountains.

It probably was too much to say that we were friends now, but at least we got along - and all of us were looking at the possibility of another hunting trip together. If somebody had asked me what had happened and why we had started getting along better after my meltdown, I would not have been able to explain it. Maybe I just needed to accept that I really didn’t understand the female species. Well, I could see that those women who were responsible for making the food for all of us were almost ecstatic because of what we brought them. They usually had enough meat, but there was only so much you could do with chicken and lamb. Almost immediately they started asking if we could do something about the wild boars that caused a whole lot of trouble to the plantation. As I had never hunted them, I didn’t dare promise anything - except to think about it seriously. I had heard - during my trip with the Guardians - that those animals were dangerous and difficult to hunt.

““So, the hunting trip went okay?””

I was again in our rooms with Fainauriel and Bellcauniel, eating some fresh bread and drinking some tea - after thoroughly washing and changing clothes and a few ‘yes, dears’. Obeying them made my life sometimes much easier - and we all did stink a bit. During the hunting trip I had developed some sort of an easy truce between my companions and myself - to the level that we bathed together in the stream, next to each other. The same happened now in the village, and I was sure that there had been at least a few raised eyebrows. Well, those were the only things that rose in that occasion. Just to be on the safe side I used plenty of water that was quite cold. They were good-looking young women, after all.

““Yes, it did. In several ways, I guess.””

““Most likely it was a success since none of you even has a black eye.””

It took me a moment understand that Bellcauniel wasn’t joking.

““Then we probably should consider it as a great success, I believe.””

I wasn’t joking, either.

It wasn’t that I would become a fully accepted resident of the village after that trip - but it helped a lot. I wasn’t yet in completely good shape, but I was getting better and I was quite willing to do some wood chopping whenever possible - and of course there were more hunting trips, since the amount of game in the valley easily allowed that. We even managed to catch three wild boars that had been troubling the people who took care of the plantation - and I had to admit that those animals caused some shivers, even to me. We had been careful and made sure that each one of us had two crossbows ready, but still, the third boar had almost managed to surprise us. We three promised each other that if there’s a next time with those animals we’ll be even more careful. However, the amount of fresh meat we brought in that day made the cooks extremely happy.

After that, I spent some time discussing with them the ways to prepare the wild boar for food - especially how to make sure that it would always be properly cooked.

The autumn was clearly there when we were on another hunting trip; this time we used horses and headed almost directly towards the northern part of the valley. Closer to the Trolls - the Ugly People.

Even though we were nearing the Southward equinox, the autumn weather was quite warm and pleasurable - at least to me. Having four horses - or three ponies and Luna - with us would mean that we’d be able to carry some more meat for the winter. I was almost certain that the winter here wouldn’t feel like a real winter to me. Yes, it would snow at some point, and the trees would lose their leaves, but most likely there wouldn’t be several moons with a permanent snow cover.

““Tell me, is there any real connection between your valley and the next one, the one North of yours?””

““You mean between us and the Ugly People?””

““Well, yes.””

The disgust in Leilatha’s tone was easily recognized, but I ignored it since I now knew that there were times when she couldn’t really hide her real feelings. Besides Trolls, she hated Guardians - a lot. Even if I had been helping them, I wasn’t counted as one, not anymore.

““There’s a narrow pass that stays accessible throughout a year. However, it’s very seldom used and when there’s some official meeting, the delegation usually leaves their valley through their eastern pass and goes around the mountains. It’s a longer way but I’ve heard that the way through this Northern pass on their side is quite a hard one. Despite that, we always have some guards watching the pass. Why?””

I hesitated for a moment. I knew that we were still quite a ride away from the pass, but there was a distant feeling I couldn’t fully ignore. Or the feeling was that I didn’t sense that much from the direction of the pass, even if I had a feeling that I should. I wasn’t able to sense game - or Elves. Which in the case of Elves was okay, but somehow it felt wrong. There was too much of nothing. No game, nothing. I shook my head.

““I don’t know, it might be nothing ... However, can you tell me how many of you are usually there, guarding the pass?””

““Not so many, from three to five. I don’t really know. There hasn’t been much activity in that area.””

Suddenly I felt sick, very sick.

We had stopped. I pushed my sensing skills to my limits. I would have been even better if I had dismounted from Luna and moved a bit further away from the others, but somehow I was sure that it wouldn’t change anything. The more I tried to sense, the stronger the feeling of uneasiness became. I also felt that we needed to hurry - and there was the sickening feeling that we were already late. I shook my head.

““No! Now I’m sure that something is wrong. Very much wrong!””

Things were wrong indeed, very wrong. Things were probably at least eighty Trolls wrong. None of us three wanted to think what had happened to the Elves who had been guarding the pass. Or more likely, we all thought about it for a moment and then stopped. Things were really, really wrong.

We could only estimate the size of the group that had stopped for the night since there were guards on each side of the camp. We were on the western side, high up on the hills, hidden from view. Our Luna and the smaller horses were tied to the trees down on the trail.

““We need to warn the others, as soon as possible.””

Leilatha spoke in a low voice even though we were far enough from the group and I used my skills to make sure that nobody was close to us.

““One of us can do that. The moon is almost full and as soon as the rider is further behind the cliffs she can start riding, alternating the horses. Which one of you is the better rider?””

The women looked at me like I had lost my mind.

““Just what do you think you’d be doing? There are at least eighty of them, maybe one hundred.””

The way I smiled wasn’t a happy one.

““Not much, just slow them down. Do some reconnaissance. Slow them down a bit more, maybe take their horses away from them.””

We argued for a moment, but eventually Shalana took the horses after leaving almost everything behind her. Since there shouldn’t be anything threatening on the way back to the village, she left both of her crossbows and all the arrows.

““Leilatha, Stian - don’t do anything stupid. Just keep an eye on them.””

I smiled at Shalana.

““My dear Shalana, I have a long-term plan and it doesn’t include dying, at least not yet. After all, neither of you has succumbed to my charms, yet.””

The first look on her face was shock but it was followed by smile - when Leilatha slapped my head from behind.

““Asshole.””

““Hey, I promised to be like that.””

That brought me a poke to the chest from Shalana - with a smile. Without any warning I pulled her close and hugged her.

““Shalana, ride safe. Remember, your task is the most important. You must get there safely. Otherwise, they will get no warning.””

Then I kissed her cheek and pushed her away before she could react in any way. I didn’t want her to sense how I really thought about my odds against dozens of Trolls.

Once Shalana was safely on her way towards the village, Leilatha and I started talking about tactics. Like, I really understood something about tactics. But I had gone against an overwhelming opponent and the Ugly People before, which made me a sort of an expert in this. I had survived all those incidents, after all.

““I think that there are two things above others we need to do - first, we must slow them down so that the village has time to prepare themselves. While doing that, we need to diminish the number of the Ugly People able to fight. Unfortunately, before we can really do that, we need more arrows. Leilatha, do you know what kind of bows they are using?””

She grimaced.

““I’m not absolutely sure. However, I think that they might also be using crossbows, somewhat larger than these.””

While saying that she touched the crossbow she was carrying. I had already cursed myself for leaving my other crossbow home, since now would have been a perfect moment to have two bows ready. However, if the Trolls had crossbows, too, we might be able to create some extra confusion to the attack.

““Okay, before we can do anything, we might try to get more arrows - and maybe some crossbows to shoot them with.””

By the time we reached the pass, midnight had already passed. Even in the moonlight it would have been total madness to try to reach the former guard post without going down to the trail. We had decided to trust my instincts that told me that there were no creatures between the encampment and the pass. Luckily, we had been right.

There were two guards outside the hut, close to each other and talking. Even though it was night, there was some light in the hut, indicating that there was some activity going on. I had only briefly tried to sense the number of people inside but once I got some feeling, I pulled back immediately just to prevent myself from attacking immediately. Leilatha noticed how I stiffened for a moment before forcing myself to calm down and turned to look at me. I turned towards her and spoke with low voice:

““Two outside, maybe three more inside. At least some of them should still be alive. Can you kill the one on the left with one arrow, as silently as possible?””

Even if it was dark I was able to see the change in the way she looked. I guess that she knew just as well as I did what was happening inside the hut. She just nodded to me.

““Good. On my mark; I count down from three.””

We had mastered our timed shooting while hunting and there was only a single sound as we released our arrows. I had selected one of my wooden ones even though I knew that I’d probably lose it. However, the way my target was sitting meant that I couldn’t really target his chest. So, that was it.

We were lucky and both our targets slumped down, almost without any sound. The wind and the noise coming from the hut covered the rest. Without even looking at the dead guards, we soon were at the door of the hut.

The fact that the hut consisted of a single room benefited us now, since as soon as the door opened we would be able to see everybody there. Leilatha had her crossbow ready and she also had her knife easily available. I had put my crossbow and backpack down and I was now carrying only my short sword. I had three fingers up, and then two when I pointed to the left, and one when I pointed to the right. Once Leilatha had nodded, I opened the door.

Those three Trolls had no chance. Leilatha’s arrow went through the head of the one on the right and I beheaded the two others, one from behind and one from the front. The last one of them saw my approaching sword but there was nothing he could do to prevent it since he was supporting himself with his arms while pumping the Elven woman under him. My only worry was that the falling head might hurt the woman some more.

All the four women were alive, one of them just barely, since she was still bleeding from the wound she had received from an arrow. I guessed that she had been the one patrolling outside when the attack came. What made me really sick was that being wounded hadn’t prevented her for being molested - but the real anger came from the fact that one of the women was Melima. One of the guards from the last trip. Melima, who liked girls, but who still wanted to have a baby. My baby. Now she was lying there, raped Earth knows how many times. I made a promise to kill as many of those Trolls as only I could. As painfully as possible.

As much as we hated it, Leilatha and I knew that we had to leave. Luckily Leilatha was able to do some magical healing while I did my best to clean and tie the wound of the most seriously wounded woman. When we left, two of the women - Melina and someone I didn’t know - were able to move around a bit. When I got outside to collect the arrows and all the crossbows the Trolls had had with them, I also tried to sense if there were more trolls coming through the pass. At least I wasn’t able to sense anything coming from the other valley. Or I did sense some game but not that disturbing ‘nothing’.