The troll ran through buildings like they were soft snow. Goblins evacuating the town saw the houses get obliterated one by one with the wooden remains flying to the sky. The troll did not care what stood in its way, for it only wants one thing, to find the origin of that smell.
The five followed it through the path created from the destruction. Giant holes appeared on the side of buildings, and entire structures collapsed to the ground. Where ever they go, they saw only ruin. Their loyal followers chased after the troll on the rooftops. Archers would occasionally shoot, hoping to catch the troll's attention.
There were goblins stuck under the rubble. They were too stubborn and stayed behind inside their homes. Stick's goblins helped them get out, but the task proved to be difficult when the troll is still on a rampage.
Finally, the troll burst out of the town and into the wide-open meadow. Very few buildings dotted the land. The troll got on his knee and planted its face to the snow. It started to crawl while sniffing the ground like a dog searching for its prey.
Smoke, Rock, and Dawn caught up with the troll, which was too busy searching the ground for it to notice them. They expected the troll to turn around and attack them no that there was no building for their followers to support them on. But the troll continued sniffing the ground. "Is that thing ignoring us," Rock said with frustration.
"Maybe, but this could be our chance." Smoke responded. "Rock, Dawn. We're going to sneak behind it. Once we get close enough, we jump on top of its back and get that helmet off."
Stick and Shuja arrived not long after, "What did we miss?" Stick asked.
"Perfect timing. Stick and Shuja, we need you to distract the troll once it stops doing whatever it's doing. We three will try to wrestle the helmet off."
"Distractions got it!" Stick said, and Shuja gave a thumbs up while her lung's heavy breathing.
Smoke stalked the troll's right side while Dawn walked towards the left. Because of Rock's bulky body, he was stalking right behind the troll's blind spot. Rock tried to concentrate on the task, but the troll kept raising and lowering its butt in an eighth figure motion in front of him, which nearly made Rock vomit. But as he gets closer, Rock realized it was not the sight of the troll's bouncing butt that was making his head spin; it was the smell coming from the ground.
Dawn and Smoke realized this too. At first, they thought it was due to Stick's stinkbomb, but only managed to hit the troll, and its smell was not that potent. And the stinkbomb had a distinguishable smell. They often smell like rancid deer meat mixed with piss and feces. The scent the three was smelling though was putrid like a decaying corpse. "This smells like," Smoke's eye widened after his realization.
The troll stopped sniffing the ground and began to claw through the snow and dirt. Dirt flew towards Rock's face, getting in his eyes and nose. Dawn and Smoke ran towards the troll and jumped on the troll's back. However, the two could not move because of the troll's erratic movement.
Stick and Shuja ran in front of the troll. Shuja shot her new sets of arrows, and Stick threw his sickle back and forth with the string attached on its handle. Rock finally got the dirt out of his eyes and coughed out the ones that got inside his mouth. Then he leaped on the troll's back. His massive body slamming against its back was enough for the troll to seize its digging giving Smoke the chance to grab the helmet.
The troll stood on its knees and threw Dawn and Rock to Stick and Shuja, knocking them to the ground. Smoke sat on the giant's shoulders, trying to pull out the helmet as best he could but to no avail. The helmet was far too heavy for Smoke alone, and it was stuck on the troll's head tightly.
The troll grabbed Smoke and tossed him behind his back like an insignificant bug. Smoke got on his knees and elbows, looking at the troll, ignoring them as it continues to dig through the dirt. An unnerving feeling began to swell inside Smoke's heart. A sense of frustration, anger, and fear. None of their plans worked. The firewall kept the troll at bay, but it could still run through them without any concern. Their newly developed stinkbombs were gone, and those that they had barely did anything. And worst of all, this was just one of two trolls attacking their tribe. Smoke was beginning to lose hope.
Finally, the troll stopped digging. The brother's followers arrived and saw them lying on the snow. The troll stood inside the hole it dug up while holding a pile of rocks close to its chest and weeping. Those rocks were the remains of its daughter. White walked up to Smoke while covering his nose, "Sir Smoke, we attack now!"
"No, you'll only get yourself killed. Retreat, you need to retreat."
"What Sir Smoke means? Troll stop, attack now."
"I said retreat!" Smoke snapped and yelled at his followers. Fear took hold of his mind after countless failures, and eventually, survival was the only thing occupying his thoughts. Then the troll dropped the rocks and screamed at the sky. Its loud siren call reverberated through the goblins and nearby buildings. The snow on the roof of those buildings fell off as the building shake.
The troll began to climb up its hole. Although its eyes were hidden inside its helmet, the goblins could feel the burning anger within them. Some of the goblins fled as fast they could, while those most loyal to the brothers stayed behind, urging Smoke to defeat it. White was going to join them, but he noticed Root and Mist run pass the troll towards Stick and Rock.
The brothers were helping Shuja and Dawn get back up their feet. Mist and Root and brought with bandages. "Sir Stick, Sir Rock, you ok?" Mist asked. "Shuja, what doing here? Need eba q ate!"
"Nice see you too," Shuja said sarcastically.
The siblings tried to mend the brothers' wounds, but they did not respond. "Sire Stick?" Shuja asked.
"We are not going to win. We need to retreat."
This order took them by surprise. Mist could not understand why they would give up now. Then the troll yelled once more. It glared at them before slowly charging towards them while roaring in anger. "Oh shit!" Stick yelled. But right when they ran, Mist picked up Stick's sickle and took a guarding stance.
"Mist no, come back!" Root yelled. Mist closed her eyes with tears in her eyes, regretting what she did. She wanted to run back, but her legs no longer moved. She was about to faint from the fear.
Rock, Stick, Dawn, and Shuja could not help but turn around to face the troll once more. They pulled Mist away from harm's way. Root and White caught her while the four continued running towards the troll.
Mist's sudden bravery reminded Rock the day Tama attacked the barn. She resembled Stick when he stood in the middle of the room as adult goblins barge through the door. He did not hesitate; he was ready to defend the people he loved. But he did, the strongest one of the four, hesitated. But no more.
Stick, on the other hand, was moved. Mist was just like Sun. Every time he fell, Sun would be there to help him get back up. He returned for him when Stick was about to be in jaws of death. Then he charged forward when Stick was about to get trampled by a troll, facing his fears to save his brother. Now its Stick's turn to save a life.
Then there was Dawn. She risked the most in this battle. If she died, her son would lose the only family he has, and she was afraid of that reality. She let those more powerful than her abuse and betray her trust and love for the sake of her son. Then Rock showed up, showering her selfless love. And when he stood up for her against Sum, Dawn felt like Rock would face the world for her. But what about her. Is she willing to do the same? She looked for an answer tirelessly, only to find it today. When Mist stood up against that troll, all Dawn's fear vanished. She will fight for those she loves.
Shuja, the one that lost everything, shouldn't even be here, and here she is fighting. She laughed at the brothers for their incompetence. Those halflings would have been killed in their first hunt, and yet she was the one that lost everything. Why? Because she wasn't brave enough to rescue Lite. But now, with nothing to lose, running away was the only sane option. But Mist did not run away and instead tried to protect them. Shuja wished she was like Mist, but wishes don't come true. She could only turn back and face her fear.
Meanwhile, Smoke saw the troll go after his friends and family. Smoke pushed aside the goblins surrounding him and ran. Smoke tossed aside his need to live. He remembered back in the barn when Tama and his cronies attacked. One of them tried to humiliate Smoke by playing with his balls. Smoke could have given up back then, but instead, he got back up, risking his pride. But now its no longer his pride that was at risk, but the people he cared about.
The brothers' followers stared with tears running down their cheeks. The troll stopped on its tracks as another wall of fire emerged in front of him. It turned its head to see a ball of light running towards it.
The troll watched as the fire burned brighter and then emerging out from the flames were the goblins that were chasing it. Their skin turned crimson red, their height taller than ever, and their eyes burning with conviction.