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By Root 1777 0

around in a tight circle, putting all of his weight behind his sword. The blade sheared through one hip of the troll he fought, and the monster crashed down. Before it could even wail, he brought his sword down again and through its neck. Its head rolled into the darkness beyond the lantern light. Geth punched his troll in the belly with his gauntleted fist. As it folded over, he dropped into a low spinning kick that swept its legs out from under it. The troll fell back with a grunt—and Chetiin dropped out of the shadows, landing on its chest and plunging his curved dagger into its ear. The troll spasmed, then lay still. Chetiin rolled off and gestured for Geth. The shifter raised his sword and chopped off the monster’s head.

“Maabet!” cursed Dagii. “Midian! More fire!” Ekhaas spun. Dagii was staring at the neck of the troll he had killed. The bloody flesh was twisting up into a knob. The creature’s head was growing back.

Midian was pale. “There is no more fire! Sage’s shadow, the stuff isn’t water!”

“It wouldn’t matter,” Chetiin said. “There are more trolls at the bottom of the stairs. A whole nest—at least half a dozen. These three must have been guards.”

Dagii’s ears rose. “Trolls don’t post guards.”

“These do.” He twisted around, back toward the stairs, and Ekhaas heard what he had: the slap of running feet on stones.

Their combat had been far from silent. Chetiin’s stealthy scouting had been wasted. The rest of the nest was coming.

“Run,” said Dagii.

“Where?” Geth had Aram raised. In the lantern light, his wide shifter eyes flashed with a strange excitement Ekhaas had never seen in him before. He looked like he was willing to go down fighting.

Inspiration struck Ekhaas. “The bugbears!” she said. “They had pitch ready as a weapon. They must know about the trolls.”

“They’re Marguul,” said Dagii.

“They’re more likely to help us than the trolls. Do we have another option?”

Dagii slammed his sword down through the bud of the troll’s regenerating head, severing the raw flesh once more. “No. Everyone go!”

They ran, and the night filled up with the thrashing sound of their flight. Ashi carried the lantern, the light like a beacon for the pursuing trolls, but there was no other option. Sound alone would have given them away, and Ashi needed light to see where she was going. The shadows were more of a problem than the light. Brilliant illumination and the colorless clarity of goblin nightvision flashed in Ekhaas’s eyes as the lantern swung. Trees and bushes blended together. She saw a half-fallen tree she thought she recognized from their trek into the valley, but she couldn’t be certain.

“We need direction before we run in a circle!” she said.

“Geth, take the lead,” Dagii ordered. “Go opposite to the way Aram points and keep us on a straight line.”

The shifter moved forward to run ahead of them. Howls and hoots rose from behind—the trolls from the nest must have encountered their stricken guards. There was a single crash like a tree being knocked over, then abruptly nothing more from their pursuers. A faint hope rose in Ekhaas that the trolls had seen what they were capable of and turned back, but she saw how ridiculous the idea was almost as soon as it passed into her head. The valley belonged to the trolls. They knew the territory. The guard trolls had been able to slip up on them easily. The other trolls would be stalking them with the silence and speed of wolves.

“Stop!” she said. “Cover the lantern!”

“Are you insane?” Midian choked, but Ashi had already slid to a stop on the leaf strewn ground and slammed the shutter on the lantern. Colors disappeared as darkness blanketed them once more. The others stopped, too. Ekhaas’s instincts screamed at her to stop and listen, to try to locate the pursuing trolls, but she didn’t need to listen to know the monsters were too close. If they were going to escape the valley, they needed to put room between them and the trolls.

She focused her will and sang again, softly this time, the song bright and urgent. A short distance away, a light blossomed among the trees like