We made it to a small crack in the wall and managed to shuffle inside. Kiyui wrapped Feiffer in his shawl to hide the glow and deactivated his light spell. We were in total and complete darkness. I whispered to Damecus to let him know that we were hiding.

  Damecus: “Good. Now stay there and do not do a single thing until we get there.”

  Svampe: “What roars like that?”

  Agaroth: “Fuck knows, never heard out like it.”

  Dietrich: “Whatever they are, they’re big.”

  Svampe: “Maybe a chimera? I’ve never seen one, but they have multiple heads, which would explain the different roars.”

  Damecus: “A chimera’s roars would each sound different due to each head being of a different species.”

  Dietrich: “What about a different serpent? Could have been a territorial dispute.”

  Damecus: “I have encountered a malignant python before, they screech, they do not roar.”

  I have to hand it to Damecus… he knows his monsters.

  Farrow: “Perhaps grotte trolls… cave… cave trolls.”

  Agaroth: “Don’t be fuckin’ daft. They’re a myth.”

  Damecus: “Given the world we live in, their existence is perfectly plausible.”

  Agaroth: “Oh, don’t you fuckin’ start. Even if they were real, you think they could kill a malignant python?”

  Damecus: “Based on their rumoured size, it is probable. Although, I would estimate that it would take at least three of them.”

  Svampe: “There was definitely more than one roar before.”

  Agaroth: “Aye, but that coulda been lots a things.”

  Shit, shit, shit. I can feel the ground shaking… incredibly large footsteps are heading in this direction. I can see torch light entering the cavern.

  Dwynfel: “Whatever they are… they’re entering the cavern.”

  Damecus: “We are on our way.”

  Agaroth: “This place is a fuckin’ maze.”

  Damecus: “We will get there in time. We just need to be methodical and not run down tunnels at random.”

  Agaroth: “Aye, whatever, just fuckin’ well move faster!”

  Please, please let them get here soon. No way Kiyui and I can take something that big on alone. Especially if there’s more than one. The light is getting closer… just stay calm… whatever they are, they are intelligent enough to light torches… once they come round the corner, I’ll be able to see what they are.

  Kiyui gripped my hand. I can feel how tense he is. I want to comfort him, but I’m too scared to move. We are so vulnerable until the others arrive.

  Fuck… oh gods… Farrow was right… cave trolls… fucking cave trolls. Gods… we are so screwed. Five of them… there’s five of the things. Oh gods… we are so screwed. I need to warn the others. The trolls are talking to each other through a series of loud grunts… I should be able to whisper to the others without them hearing me.

  Dwynfel: “Cave trolls… five of them… three male, two female.”

  Agaroth: “Well fuck, guess I owe you a drink, Wolfy.”

  Damecus: “I believe we are not far. Do not draw their attention.”

  I never thought that I would ever see a cave troll in my existence. Even among goblins they are the stuff of legend. When I was still living in the nest, the older goblins would threaten to feed you to a cave troll if you pissed them off in any way. I used to be terrified of the things. Then, as the years went by, everyone convinced me that they were just a myth… well clearly not.

  These things are disturbingly huge. The tallest one has to be at least three times the height of Damecus… and Damecus is a bloody giant. They have the same hideous green skin as me… but they do have hair… thick black hair. The males have awful scruffy beards with bits of dead animals in them. They have huge tusks that look like they could pierce an elephant with ease. They obviously have the same attitude to clothes as goblins… they all have utility belt, loin cloth things on, but other than that nothing. The females are both topless and all of the loin cloths barely cover the essentials. It would not be a pleasant view from directly below them.

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  Two of the males threw some dead dire bores down on the ground. They were just dragging them along with one hand. Dire bores are huge… I couldn’t drag one if I tried… and these things are pulling them around like nothing. They have obviously been hunting and returned to eat.

  They are sniffing the air… shit… why are they sniffing? Focus on your food, please, focus on the food… just focus on the food. Shit… nope… they are not focussing on the food. Is it the serpent that they smell? Nope… no it isn’t… one of them is pointing in this direction… shit… shit… shit…

  Dwynfel: “Please hurry… I think they can smell us.”

  Damecus: “Stay calm. We have found the cavern. We just need to get to you. Kiyui, the second I say, cast illuminate and light up this whole cavern.”

  Kiyui: “Understood.”

  One of the males followed his nose in our direction. I sniffed and could instantly tell what had drawn his nose… sweet apple… always the sweet apple scent. I love that scent, but gods I wish he didn’t have it right now.

  The troll stopped outside the crack that we were hiding in. All I could see was a big hairy green leg in front of the entrance. Then it bent down… I could hear the sniffing… horrible great intakes of breath. It felt as though the air was being sucked away from me.

  It stood back up and made a loud grunt to the others. I couldn’t see much of what was going on because my view was blocked by the leg, but suddenly, I heard a loud smashing sound and the troll fell to the ground.

  Damecus: “Now, Kiyui!”

  Kiyui dropped Feiffer and rushed out of the crack in the wall. He raised his hand up to the ceiling and shouted.

  Kiyui: “Illuminate!”

  The entire room filled with light. Every crack and crevasse, every ledge, every rock, every speck of dust in the room suddenly became visible.

  Damecus threw me my pack and short sword. Then he went to slam his club down on the head of the fallen troll, but was accosted by one of the other males. The trolls were all wielding clubs… apart from one of the females that was wielding a great sword like a kitchen knife.

  The troll was smashing its club down on Damecus’ shield. Damecus was holding it back… but just barely. No wonder he opted for a sneak attack on the first one. He must have crawled along the walls to get the drop on it… much like he must have done when I first met him.

  Damecus: “Dwynfel, slice it’s throat open while it’s down!”

  I rushed over to the dazed troll that lay on the floor. I jammed the sword into its throat. Fucking hell this thing has tough skin. I tried to cut through the flesh but couldn’t… I resorted to repeatedly stabbing the sword into its throat. It choked and gagged on all the blood.

  Kiyui: “Look out!”

  The female with the club was heading towards me. Shit… shit… she raised her club to swing down on me. I attempted to run, but my legs are way smaller than hers… she caught up to me in a few strides. She was bringing the club down on me when suddenly she was hit by a fireball. She dropped the club and turned to find where the fireball had been fired from. She had a mildly scorched face, but didn’t seem bothered by the injury… she did however look beyond pissed off.

  I looked to find where it had come from. Up on a ledge just above the river was Phoenix and Agaroth. The troll grabbed a large rock off the ground and threw it straight at Phoenix.

  Agaroth: “Protection!”

  Agaroth stood by Phoenix’s side as the rock bounced away from them. The troll was filled with rage. It threw rock after rock. Two of the other trolls joined in. They got more and more angry with every rock that was deflected. That was until one of them grunted to the others and they all proceeded to change their aim. Instead of aiming for Phoenix and Agaroth, they all aimed for the ledge instead. The ground beneath them crumbled and they both fell.

  Agaroth: “Fuckin’ hell!”

  Phoenix: “Levitation!”

  Agaroth fell straight down into the water and Phoenix flew off to a high up walkway away from the river. The three trolls that had been throwing stones jumped up and down in celebration. The entire room shook.

  Kiyui: “Agaroth!”

  As the current swept him away, deeper into the cave system, we heard his muffled attempts to keep his head above the water via connected voice for a brief period… then he went silent.