Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 87731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87731 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 292(@300wpm)
He barely took a step when the door exploded inward, the crash shaking the cottage. Wood splintered violently across the floor as the heavy door flew from its hinges.
Chapter Twenty
The Troll
And the Witch’s Fortress
Amassive shape filled the doorway.
Kaelan reacted instantly, setting Bria on her feet and shielding her with his body as he turned toward the threat.
The creature had to duck beneath the frame to enter. Thick gray skin stretched over enormous muscles. He turned sideways to enter, his broad shoulders too wide to fit through the doorway, while tangled dark hair hung past a face made even more frightening by two large eyes black as night.
Bria’s breath caught.
“A troll,” Kaelan muttered.
Fear struck her hard. She had heard tales of trolls, their huge size and great strength, but they were nothing more than tales meant to entertain or frighten children enough to behave, or so she believed.
Kaelan knew there was only one way he could stop the troll and every muscle in his body tightened in preparation for it.
The troll’s large dark eyes settled on Bria, peeking out from behind Kaelan.
Then it moved, lunging with shocking speed.
Kaelan tried to stop him, but his enormous hand shot past him and hooked Bria around the waist.
She cried out as she was lifted high and wide. “Kaelan!”
The troll hauled her effortlessly against its chest.
Rage exploded through Kaelan and his eyes flashed gold.
The familiar heat surged violently through him as the beast responded instantly to his fury. Muscles tightened and his hands curled into fists. The urge to shift slammed through him so hard that it nearly broke free.
The troll saw it, and a cruel grin spread slowly across its face.
“Do it,” the troll warned, its thick fingers tightening around Bria.
Pain shot through her side, and she could not help but wince.
Kaelan heard it and saw pain mar her face and his eyes glowed a deeper gold.
“Shift,” the troll challenged.
The beast pushed harder inside Kaelan. He wanted out, wanted to tear the troll apart.
The troll grinned. “I tear her apart.”
The words struck with brutal precision, and Kaelan froze.
The beast roared inside him, demanding release. It wanted blood. It wanted the troll dead. Most of all, it wanted Bria safe. Yet even through the fury, he knew the troll spoke the truth.
A shift required precious moments, moments Bria did not have.
The troll nodded once, satisfied he would be obeyed.
Bria felt fear claw through her chest as she looked at Kaelan. Never had she seen such fury in him. Never had she seen him look so close to losing control and beneath that fury she saw something else.
Fear, though not for himself, for her, his first thought was always for her.
The troll turned toward the doorway and ordered, “Follow.”
Kaelan took one slow step forward.
The troll tightened its hold around Bria and once again she winced.
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?”