Chapter 41
The troll began to slowly walked while it giggled at the sight of Sun's shaking body. She dragged her hammer on snow, leaving a deep trail. Behind her, in the distance, a silhouette of a goblin standing in front of a lit torch. In front of the goblin was a small ball of fire. The goblin raised the fireball and pulled his right arm. Sun realized the goblin behind the troll was aiming at the troll with its bow.
Sun used all of his will power to move his legs and walked slowly back. He reached behind for his club. The troll picked up the pace and raised her hammer over her shoulder. Then the bell on top of the red roof rang for the entire tribe to hear. The bell caught the troll's attention, and while she was distracted, Sun yelled at the unknown goblin, "Shoot her now!"
The goblin shot its arrow, which left a glowing trail behind it. It reached its target, the troll's left thigh. The shot took the troll by surprise, and the fire quickly engulfed the troll's thigh. Sun tried to run and follow up with another attack, but then he heard the troll roar in pain and anger. The deep, loud roar caught everyone off guard. All of them looked at the source of that great sound and saw a troll standing tall with its left leg on fire. The light from the fire s.h.i.+ned a spotlight on the troll's angry visage.
The goblins entered a state of intense fear from the horrid sight of the troll. They pushed and shoved one another, trying to get away from the troll. Luckily, Smoke's voice managed to reach everyone's ear, and he calmly led the mob to safety.
Sun was frozen in place. He saw the troll's h.e.l.lish look up close, and its roar popped his eardrums. All he could hear was static. Stick saw Sun's state and ran to his aid. Meanwhile, the goblin behind the troll sent a volley of arrows at her — all of them on fire. But none of the arrows reached their target. The troll waved her hammer like a giant fan, and a cloud of snow erupted, deflecting the arrows to the ground.
Stick grabbed Sun's face and shook his head. "Sun, we got to go now!" Sun hearing slowly returned. He looked at Stick, dazed and confused. "Come on. We have to leave. Rock probably heard the bell and is heading to the forest."
"Yeah, you right. Let's go."
The brothers ran towards the crowd fleeing. The troll heard the brother's feet
The troll turned her attention to the fleeing goblins. She swung her hammer across the snow, launching a wave of snow at the brothers, burying them. Sun managed to dig himself out before the troll could reach him, Stick was still stuck. "Oh f.u.c.k, my leg is stuck!" Stick tried to dig it out. As he digs through the snow, he noticed slowly turning red around his leg. After a few grueling seconds, he finally got his leg out only to see it punctured by a stray arrow. "Sun, I need help. Sun?"
Sun stood there, motionless. The troll's large body threw Sun off his resolve. "What's the matter, kid?" A voice rang inside Sun's head. He recalled a fragmented memory — a time where he was sparring with his past life's teacher. "Why are you not moving? Are you scared?"
"I'm not scared. I'm just a.n.a.lyzing my next move."
"Oh? I didn't know a smart fighter would just stand there with his legs shaking from fear."
"Shaking?" He looked down his legs. When he saw that his teacher was wrong, he looked up to refute his statement, but instead, he got punched in the face. He fell on the concrete and was crying in pain.
"See what standing still gets you. You can't do anything if you stand there like a statue. Even if you're scared, you got to move. Your name is Shuja. Then be brave and face your fear."
Sun's momentary dream was cut short when a sword suddenly dropped from the sky. The blade was glowing bright orange, and the snow around it melted into water and steam. The hilt's leather strap was burnt black, and a tinge of smoke rose from the pommel. Looking at the sword calmed Sun's mind. He took out a pair of gloves out of his pocket and put them on.
Fear still resided in his body, but Sun knew well to fight it and not be consumed. "Stick, I'm coming!" He yelled. He charged forward at the troll while grabbing the sword on the way.
The troll and Stick gazed at the burning building in front of them. The loud explosion caught everyone's attention. Smoke anxiously rushed back to the town square. Some of the goblins following him ran back with him. They were like moths to a flame, curious to see the cause of the Chief's fortress to explode.
After some time, the troll regained her composure and continued on her path. But before she could reach Stick lying on the floor, she saw Sun running towards her with a glowing sword in hand. The troll pulled her hammer back, readying herself to swing.
Sun's silhouette grew larger as he got closer to the troll. The red fire raging behind was slowly changing its color to blue. The troll found the s.h.i.+fting of color was strange. Then she realized the color was not changing.
Blue fire burst out of Sun's upper body, overpowering the light coming from the burning building behind him. The blue flame s.h.i.+ned brighter in contrast to the red glow. Fear's grip of Sun's body was burned away by the fire. Eventually, his body was consumed, leaving only a ball of blue flame charging at the troll.
The troll panicked and swung her hammer too early, missing Sun. The most her weapon did was blowing the majority of the fire out, revealing a giant redskin. The troll pulled her hammer close to her chest.
Sun swung his sword from the right. The troll s.h.i.+fted her hammer perpendicular to the ground and parried the sword. She quickly spun her hammer with both hands until the head was parallel to her head. Then she swung it downward. Sun rotated his body away from the attack, causing her to slam on the snowy earth.
Sun punished her with a swift slas.h.i.+ng cut, severing her right hand from the wrist. The troll did not hesitate and s.h.i.+fted her body to face Sun. She hid her handless arm behind her waist and swung her hammer towards Sun, catching him by surprise. Sun barely parried the hammer with his sword. The sword vibrated from the impact, and the vibration traveled all the way up to Sun's arm.
His arms tensed from the pain and his whole body was stunned. The troll threw her hammer and grabbed the bottom handle. She placed the hammer on her right shoulder. "Sun watch out!" Stick yelled.
The troll took a deep breath and began the process of smas.h.i.+ng Sun's head clean off. But right when she was about to swing her hammer, and an arrow flew between her arm and hammer and into her eye. Her hammer missed Sun.
Sun finally regained control of his body. He leaned forward and pointed the tip of his sword, the troll's chest. "Go to h.e.l.l!" He thrust the sword through her thick leather coat and into her chest. The tip of the sword penetrated through the troll's back. She did not scream from the pain. She just closed her eyes and fell on her side.
By the time Sun realized he had won, a crowd of goblin had surrounded him and began cheering. He looked at them. He saw Smoke carrying Stick and walking towards them. The brothers embraced each other. Behind him was the mysterious archer shooting at the troll. It was Olhos. He watched as the brothers hug and the mob proclaims him to be the new chief. He took off his helmet, placed it on the ground, turned around, and walked away.