Chapter 1: Earning my weapons

My father had been a ranger and his and his. I had trained all my life to follow them and as soon as my twentieth year came I left the large fortress in Blue Pass. Many went north through the pass to earn their place, I went west along the mountains. I traveled with only my pack and slept high in trees each night.

It was a month before I reached the area known as the Haunting. The forest was thick and had a hunting parties of orcs that came through. I slept in a huge tree in the very crown. I dozed and woke twice for patrols and then my eyes snapped open to the shaking of the tree. There was not much of a moon but I saw the two trolls.

They stomped as they returned carrying the bodies of dead orcs. I climbed down when the sun came up and started to follow the tracks. The stench told me I was close to the troll lair long before I found it. The lair was carved into the stone cliff far below the ruins of the ancient elven fortress Glimmer. I looked around before beginning to set my traps.

The trolls would not come out until the sun had set so I took my time. When I was ready I climbed into a huge tree and waited. They would smell me but I had made a lot of tracks before using a cover scent and climbing the tree. The sun was barely down before the huge trolls emerged.

There were four of them and they sniffed the air and grunted and growled to each other. One strode out as it continued to sniff and stepped into the first trap. The hole was not really that deep but it was only meant to hold the monster briefly. The bottom dropped and the sides snapped up and into its ankle.

It roared and struggled but the foot was caught. A moment later a thick branch swung around with force and slammed into its chest. The others were moving towards it as it tried to stagger back but fell since the one foot was stuck. I pulled a cord that released another trigger and a tree groaned.

It whipped up and over and a sharp iron spear point was slammed through the troll’s guts. It was yanked out as the tree came up and back but the barbs ripped guts out. The troll screamed and roared as it continued to struggle. The others shifted around as they watched the other one dying.

Somehow it did not surprise me when one bent and started pulling its guts out. They squatted as it jerked and began reaching into it and tearing it open and pulling out organs and eating. I shuddered as I watched them begin to eat the other troll before it was even dead. It was a long night as they tore it apart and gorged themselves.

They went into their lair early but I waited until the sun was well up before climbing down. I went to remove the ropes and set up another trap before checking bird snares. I cooked the two chuckers I caught and went back to work on the next trap. I had to drag a dead tree trunk a few hundred paces using a block and tackle.

I moved the remains of the troll after using a saw to cut off the head. I made a few checks before climbing into the tree I was using and resting. I woke to the sunset and shifted before laying still to watch. The trolls were sluggish and came out late. They were looking for the remains from last night and hesitated when they reached the spot.

A moment later they started for where I had moved the remains and one tripped the trap. The huge tree trunk I had lifted and prepared snapped forward and began its arc. Four thick fire-sharpened stakes were on the end. It caught the one on the right in the lower chest and stomach. Without the force of the tree, the stakes would never have penetrated.

They did and the end of the tree slammed into it and threw it back. The other two were knocked aside and stared at the troll struggling on the end of the tree trunk as it continued to swing. One walked to it and yanked it back and it screamed and roared as it came off the stakes. I had cut barbs into the stakes so guts were torn out.

This time the two left unhurt waited a long time before they began tearing and ripping the wounded one apart. They were very sluggish when they returned to the lair. The next morning I began climbing the cliff above the lair entrance. I used ropes and started setting up the next trap. I went out foraging and ate before going back to work.

The hard part was using the block and tackle to lift the dead tree up the cliff. I was very tired when it began to get dark and climbed to my nest in the tree. The trolls did not come out although I did glimpse one in the lair opening as it looked out. I slept once the sun was up and woke in the early afternoon.

I went out foraging and used the saw to remove the second dead troll’s head. I was back in my tree early and napped until I heard the snap of the trap. I twisted and saw the dead fall drop down the cliff as the troll fell just outside the lair entrance. The stakes in the trees slammed through its back as it roared. The tree fell to one side and yanked the troll onto its side.

The other troll came to the entrance a minute later but waited until it was completely dark before moving to free the other one and then drag it into the lair. That was the last I saw of it for the night. The next day I foraged and ate before setting another trap. The troll did not come out that night or the next or the one after that.

It was just after sunset when it emerged and looked around. It sniffed the air before moving towards the area where I had left the rotting bodies of the first two trolls. It moved almost cautiously and I pulled the trigger when it entered the trap. The grate made of thick branches snapped around.