Every muscle in Kaelan’s body locked tightly.
The troll ducked through the doorway carrying Bria as though she weighed nothing at all.
For one moment, her gaze locked with Kaelan’s and neither spoke. They did not need to. She saw the promise in his eyes.
And he saw that despite her fear… she trusted him.
The troll headed into the forest and Kaelan followed closely behind him.
The troll maintained a relentless pace.
Bria quickly lost track of how much time had passed.
At first, she struggled against the creature’s hold, but it accomplished little beyond making her more uncomfortable. Eventually she resigned herself to hanging over the troll’s shoulder while Kaelan followed close behind.
The arrangement did little for her dignity, nor her stomach. Every step the troll took jostled her unmercifully. Several times Kaelan asked if she was well and each time, she answered that she was. Though by the third hour she was no longer entirely certain that was true.
The forest around them changed constantly. Strange lights appeared amongst distant trees only to vanish again. More than once Bria thought she heard voices whispering nearby, though whenever she turned to listen more carefully, there was nothing there.
Then a soft yellow glow caught her eye, drifting through the darkness just behind Kaelan and just above his head.
Bria blinked, trying to see it more clearly. The light darted between tree trunks before suddenly stopping directly in front of her face.
A tiny woman, smaller than Bria’s hand, hovered there. Delicate wings shimmered behind her while golden light surrounded her like sunlight captured inside a lantern.
A fairy? Was it possible, but then she was in Driochmor, anything was possible here. Bria had only heard tales told about fairies and not all were pleasant.
The tiny creature flitted in front of Bria’s face, shaking her head. “Truly, Bria, you let a dumb troll get you?”
Her eyes spread wide in shock. It wasn’t only that the fairy knew her name, but that she admonished her as if her capture had been her own fault.
The fairy spun in the air and flew close to Kaelan. “And you. How could you let this happen? A big guy like you can’t stop a troll?”
She shook her head again and flew back to Bria. “Do not worry. A fairy never fails her mission.”
“Mission?” Bria asked, puzzled.
The troll stopped so abruptly that Bria nearly slid off his shoulder if he hadn’t tightened his hold of her.
“Who whispers?” the troll demanded.
The fairy grinned, waved at Bria, and flew over her to flit directly in front of the troll, then she stuck her tongue out at him.
The troll roared and swung his massive hand at her, causing Bria to grab the troll’s shirt to steady herself.
Kaelan hurried toward her, feeling far too helpless, the only thing left to him at the moment… to catch her if she fell. Trolls might be big creatures, but they were faster than one would expect for such a size. Though a troll was no match for a fairy. They were quick to take flight, and they enjoyed tormenting trolls.
The fairy darted aside effortlessly, avoiding every swat and laughing at the troll’s futile efforts.
The troll’s face pinched as he swung at her again and again and missed again and again.
The fairy laughed harder.
“Damn fairy!” The troll snapped his jaws together in frustration.
The fairy spun in a glowing circle around his head before darting safely out of reach.
The troll grumbled and Bria could not help smiling.
