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“Really? Because if I hadn’t come along, you would have touched Braun’s wound, and then you would have been infected too.” I can feel myself glaring at him as he throws that in my face.
“Are you saying I’m reckless?” I see his surprised look at my question. “Well, let me tell you, I’m not, and if you knew anything about me, you would know that. I don’t want you following me anymore.”
“Fine, I won’t follow you. I will accompany you, but one way or another, when you leave here, I will be with you.”
“Argh,” I mutter angrily as I snap around and walk away from him, making my way out of the kitchen.
“Where are you going?” he asks from right behind me, which has me stopping abruptly. Looking over my shoulder at his calm face, I glare.
“I told you I’m going out. If you want to follow, that’s your problem.” And without another word, I make my way out of the house. I can’t hear him, but I know he is right behind me, as I can feel his presence. Now that I am outside, I have no idea where I want to go. I just wanted to oppose him. Stepping into the forest, I make my way through the trees, walking aimlessly.
The forest has always been my sanctuary, but now, with everything going on, I feel a restlessness around me that has me on edge instead of at peace. I realize that I am very close to Trollis, a cave where most of the Trolls in Eternity Fae live. Trolls turn to stone in the sun, so they only come out at night and stay inside the cave during daylight hours.
To be honest, I don’t usually walk this way, as Trolls aren’t the friendliest of beings, but I need to check on as many as I can, and Trolls are one of them.
“This isn’t a good idea,” Drez suddenly says from just behind me, but I don’t pay him any heed, as I’m still upset. To my surprise, I see many of the Trolls outside. Only the guards are usually outside during the day. Walking up to one of the stone statues, I wait until the Troll opens his eyes.
“Why are you all outside?” I ask.
“None of your business, Fairy,” he grunts.
“You will answer her,” Drez says from right beside me in a voice that brooks no argument. I see the Troll glance at Drez, but then he closes his eyes and does not open them again. Drez lifts his hand as if to prod the Troll, but I stop him.
“It’s okay. Let him be,” I say as I place my hand on his arm to stop him. “We will look for Toof and speak to him.” Toof is the Trolls’ leader, and even though gruff and abrupt, he will hopefully listen to me and give me some answers. I can see by Drez’s face that he’s not happy with letting this Troll to his rudeness, but I’m sure he realizes it will accomplish nothing to upset a Troll, so he soon nods in agreement.
Looking around, I find Toof’s statue. “There.” I point as I start making my way towards him. “Toof,” I call when I am standing before him.
“Why are you disturbing my sleep?” he asks with a frown.
“I’m sorry, Toof, but I have to ask you, have you been having any problems here with any shadows?”
He doesn’t answer immediately. “Yes, that is why we are outside.”
“Are you saying they are inside?” I ask, looking towards the mouth of the cave where all the trolls live.
“I don’t know what it is. All I know is that five of my people have died.” I feel my stomach tighten in anger. “Do you know what it is?” he asks. I have always found it strange to talk to a Troll who has transformed themselves into stone, and this time isn’t much different, as it’s perturbing when you have the Troll looking at you with his stone eyes, the mouth moving but no expression on the stone face.
“We simply call them shadows; we have found that they don’t like light. You can fight them by lighting up your cave with as much light as you can manage.”
“We don’t need light to see,” Toof says indignantly.
“Not because of you and your people, Toof, but because of what is attacking you. They don’t like light.” Toof does not answer for a few seconds, but then he finally agrees to try.
“We have to try to help each other at this time. We still don’t know what is manipulating them, so if you find out anything, or if you need any help, please come to us.”
Toof simply grunts, which doesn’t tell me anything but which I have to accept. I know that Trolls don’t like outside help from anyone, but sometimes we need to accept what has been offered to us.
I turn away, feeling deflated even though I was able to give Toof the information needed for him to temporarily conquer the shadows in his home. I am sure it won’t solve the problem in the long run.
“This is useless,” I mutter as I start walking away from Trollis.
“Useless?” Drez asks as he steps next to me.
“Yes. Even if they light up their cave, how long will it be before a shadow slips past and gets to another Troll?”
“You have done the best you can with the information we have, at least you have given them a chance. That is something they didn’t have before you came to talk to them.” I stop and turn to look at Drez. What he says is true, and his words appease some of my anxiousness.
“Thank you. I just wish we could do more.”
