Chapter 15 Chapter 12 Troll Wasteland

It is a place of scorched lands and swamps shrouded in mist, where corruption and a sense of great danger dominate even the clearest skies.The terrain was undulating, and every time a traveler climbed the hill hoping to see the end of the place, he was met only with disappointment and more of the same unchanging sight. The brave Knights of Nesme venture out into the Badlands each spring, setting fire along a long line to drive the monsters of this hostile land far from the borders of their towns.It's late spring, and it's been weeks since the last burn, but even now, in the valley, the smoke and heat from the fire is still around where the charred logs are most densely packed exude.

Bruenor, in his stubborn resistance to the knights, had led his friends into the Trollmoor, and he had made up his mind to go all the way to Silvermoon.But after a day of walking, even he began to doubt the decision.Constant vigilance was required here, and the remains of every burnt tree they passed made them stop. The black, leafless stumps and fallen trunks all looked resembling swamp monsters, and it was very strange. uncomfortable.More than once, the soft soil beneath their feet suddenly turned into muddy pits, and only a responsive companion at their side could save them from discovering the true depth of these pits.

A constant breeze blew across the wasteland, its impetus being the contrast between patches of scorching land and icy swamps, and bringing with it a smell worse than smoke and suspended particles, a sickly sweetness to Tris. It was almost hauntingly familiar to Do'Urden—the smell of trolls. This was their domain, and all the rumors about it that their party had heard and laughed about in the relaxed atmosphere of the Fluffy Staff could not prepare them for the sudden reality when they entered this place. Bruno once estimated that if they continued to sprint, they could walk the entire wasteland in five days.They did go as far as they should have walked on the first day, but Bruno hadn't foreseen that they would be continually backtracking to avoid the swamp.They had traveled more than twenty miles that day, yet at last they were within ten miles of where they had come in.

They hadn't encountered a troll or any demon yet, and that night had camped in a false sense of quiet optimism. "You know how to watch the night?" Bruenor asked Drizzt, knowing that only the dark elves had what they needed to get them through the night. Drizzt nodded. "All night," he replied, and Bruno had no objection.The dwarves knew it was impossible to sleep that night whether they were guards or not. Darkness suddenly enveloped it completely.Bruenor, Regis, and Wulfgar had only to move their hands a few inches from their faces to lose their fingers.With the darkness came the sound of nightmares that woke people up.Footprints sunk in the mud approached them from all sides.Night mist mixed with smoke blows around the leafless tree trunks.The wind did not increase, but the concentration of the unpleasant smell did, and it brought the miserable groans of the wastelanders' wraiths.

"Pack up your gear," Drizzt whispered to his friends. "What did you see?" Bruno asked softly. "Seeing nothing directly," replied the elf. "But I sense they're around, just like you. We can't just sit here and wait for them to spot us. We have to move among them so they don't swarm us." "My legs hurt," Regis complained. "My feet are swollen. I don't even know if I'll be able to put on my boots!" "You help him, boy," Bruenor said to Wulfgar. "The elf is right. We will carry you if we must, glutton. But we must not stay here!"

Drizzt took the lead, and sometimes he had to turn back to hold Bruenor's hand, and do the same to Wulfgar behind him, lest his friends fall off the path he had taken. They could all feel black shapes moving around them and smell the foul odor of the loathsome troll.Only Drizzt had a clear view of the horde of monsters gathering around them, and realized how dangerous their situation was, and he dragged his friends away as quickly as he could. They were lucky, for the moon came out afterwards, transforming the mist into a ghostly silver blanket, and revealing the impending danger to everyone.Now that movement was evident in every direction, the group of friends started running.

A lanky, shambling figure approached eerily from the mist around them, thwarting them with clawed hands as they bolted past.Wulfgar ran to Drizzt's side and slammed the troll aside with a swipe of Aegis-fang, while the dark elf focused on keeping them running in the right direction. They ran for hours, and the trolls continued to surround them.Their limbs began to get tired, aching and then paralyzed. They knew that if they hesitated for a second, death might come to them, so they kept running, their fear overwhelmed their bodies' cries of defeat.Even Regis, who was too fat and squishy, ​​caught up with their speed with legs that were too short to walk, and even pushed the person in front of him even further.

Drizzt knew their escape was futile.Wulfgar's hammer must have slowed, and each minute they stumbled and stumbled more and more.There were many more hours to pass in the night, and not even dawn could guarantee that the hunt was over.How many miles can they run?When they're on a path that ends in a bottomless swamp with a hundred trolls behind? Drizzt changed his tactics.He's no longer just running, he's looking for a place where he can protect himself.He saw a hillock, maybe ten feet high, steep on three sides and almost vertical from his perspective.There was a lonely sapling growing towards them, and he pointed it out to Wulfgar, who immediately understood the plan and changed direction.Two trolls closed in to block their path, but Wulfgar, snarling in rage, charged forward.Aegis-fang blasted blow after blow with sudden fury, and the other three companions were able to make their way up the knoll by keeping close behind Wulfgar.

Wulfgar turned to join them, and the stubborn trolls continued to pursue, now in a single file. Regis' movements were surprisingly nimble, and even disregarding his big belly, he climbed up to the top of the tree on the hill in an instant.And Bruno's body is not suitable for climbing like this, he has to continue to struggle every inch he climbs. "Help him!" Drizzt yelled at Wulfgar, leaning his back against the tree, swords in hand. "Then you go up too! I'll resist them!" Wulfgar's breathing became heavy gasps, a streak of blood streaked across his forehead.He fell to the tree and began to climb after the dwarf.The roots had loosened from their combined weight, and it seemed that for every inch they climbed, the tree sank an inch.Finally Regis took Bruenor's hand and let him up to the high ground, and Wulfgar joined them after Lu Qing came out.Having secured their own temporary safety, they return to their friends.

Drizzt was fighting three monsters, with more trolls lining up behind him.Wulfgar was halfway up, thinking about jumping down to die by the drow's side.But Drizzt, looking back at his friends' progress every once in a while, noticed the barbarian's hesitation and read what was going on in his mind. "Up!" he cried. "Your hesitation doesn't help!" Wulfgar had to stop and consider the reason for the order.His trust and respect for Drizzt overwhelmed his desire to rush back to join the fray, and he reluctantly forced himself up, joining Regis and Bruenor on the little rise.

The troll moved to the side of the drow, their foul claws reaching for him from every direction.He heard his three friends begging him to get away and join them, but he knew the monsters had cut off his escape from the rear. A smile spread across his face.The light in his eyes shone. He charged into the main group of trolls, leaving the knoll where the monsters couldn't catch their party, and startled friends. The three companions, however, had no time to ponder the fate of the dark elves, for they soon found themselves under the relentless attack of trolls from every direction, scrambling to seize them. Each of them took a defensive side.Fortunately, the backside of the hillock was even steeper; in some places the cliffs even faced down in sections, making it impossible for the trolls to catch them effectively from behind. Wulfgar was deadliest of all, knocking down a troll with every blow of his mighty hammer.But before he could catch his breath, another troll took his place. Regis swung his tiny mace around, to no avail.As the troll approached, he hit it with all his might on fingers, elbows, and even the head, but he couldn't dislodge the ground-clutching monsters from their positions.Every time a troll climbed the hill, Wulfgar or Bruenor had to withdraw from their own fights and knock the monster down. They knew that if they missed a blow, they would find a troll standing beside them on the top of the knoll, ready to attack them. Disaster struck within minutes.Bruenor turned to help Regis as another monster climbed its palms to the top of the mound.The dwarf cut down cleanly. So clean and neat.The ax cut the troll's neck and passed through, beheading the troll.But although its head rolled down, its body continued to climb.Regis fell backward, too frightened to react. "Wulfgar!" Bruenor called out. The barbarian turned, not slowing down enough to see the headless foe clearly, and Aegis-fang slammed into the guy's chest, hammering it flying from the top of the knoll. Two more hands grasped the edge of the hillock.On Wulfgar's side, another orc was more than halfway up the slope.Behind them where Bruenor had been, a third had climbed up and straddled the helpless halfling. They don't know where to start attacking.The hill was captured.Wulfgar even considered jumping down into the crowd of monsters, killing as many enemies as possible and dying like a warrior.That way he wouldn't have to see his two friends being torn to shreds. But suddenly, the troll on top of the halfling struggled to keep its balance, as if something was pulling it from behind.One of its legs buckled, and it fell backwards into the night. Drizzt Do'Urden drew back the knife that had been slashed at its calf as he passed it, and rolled nimbly onto the top of the knoll, regaining his footing beside the stunned halfling.His cloak was in pieces, and blood stained many places on his clothes. But he still smiled and told his friends with the fire in his lavender eyes that it was too soon to say he was finished.He charged at the stunned dwarves and barbarians, slashed at another troll, and quickly finished it off at the edge of the hill. "How did you do that?" Bruenor asked, staring blankly at him, knowing immediately as he rushed to Regis that he now had no way of asking why from the inseparable dark elf. Drizzt's bold jump earned him an advantage over his foes.The troll was twice his size, and the monsters behind those he was wrestling had no idea he was approaching.He knew there was no way he could do lasting damage to these monsters (when he ran away, the wound he stabbed would heal again, and the limb he severed would grow back), but this daring strategy won him Take the time you need, avoid the swarming monsters, circle around and escape into the darkness.Once he was free in the night, he made his way back up the knoll, slashing through any troll that wasn't thinking of him with an equally fierce blade.When he reached the bottom of the knoll, it was his quickness that saved him, for he had even passed a troll on his way up the knoll, so fast that the surprised monster had no chance of catching him . Now the defense of Xiaoqiu has become stronger.With Bruenor's furious ax on either side, Wulfgar's thunderous hammer and Drizzt's lightly dancing scimitar, the climbing troll had a hard time making it to the top.Regis stays in the middle of the small rise, and when a troll gets too close enough to grab a friend, he selectively strikes to help them. The trolls continued to swarm, and the crowd of monsters increased every minute.The inevitable outcome of this encounter was well understood by this group of companions.The only chance is to open a way to escape from the gathered monster group, but it is too late for them to repel the enemies in front of them, and they have no spare energy to find a solution. Except Regis. The incident happened suddenly.A twisted arm, severed by Drizzt, crawled into the center of their defensive circle.Feeling very sick, Regis frantically beat it with a mace. "It's not going to die!" he screamed as the thing wriggled on and grabbed his small arms. "It won't die! Who will hit it!! Who will cut it! Who will burn it!" The other three couldn't duplicate to respond to the halfling's desperate pleas, but the last words Regis uttered in panic gave him an idea of ​​his own.He jumped onto the twisted limb, temporarily pinning it to the ground, then fished the tinder box and flint and steel from his bag. His trembling hands could barely strike a fire, but a little spark did the deadly job.The troll's arms began to burn and crackle as it curled into a ball.He didn't want to miss the opportunity in front of him, scooped up the burning limbs and ran towards Bruno.He cocked the dwarf's ax and told Bruenor to send the enemy before him up the edge of the hill. As soon as the troll stood upright, Regis directed the fire into its face.Its head burst into flames, then, screaming in agony, it fell from the hillock, unleashing its deadly fire upon its fellows. Trolls fear neither sword nor hammer.Wounds cut on them heal instantly, and even severed heads grow back instantly.These encounters even hastened their multiplication, as the troll would regrow a severed arm, and a severed arm would regrow a troll!More than one cheetah and wolf had feasted on a troll carcass and then died while a new troll had grown from its belly. But even trolls aren't completely fearless.Fire is their weakness, and trolls of Evermoor are not universally familiar with fire.The burned part cannot be reborn, and a troll that is burned to death is eternal death.It's like God's deliberate design, and the troll's dry skin is as easy to catch fire as a dry kindling. The monsters on Bruno's side by the hill either fled or fell on the charred corpses.When Bruenor saw the sight he'd been waiting for, he hoped to ease the strain on his eyes and patted the halfling on the back. "Wood," Regis thought. "We need wood." Bruno slid his backpack off his back. "You'll get the wood, glutton." He smiled, pointing to a sapling growing on the edge of the knoll in front of him. "I have oil in my pouch!" He ran to Wulfgar. "Tree, boy! Go help the halfling!" was his only explanation as he passed the savage. Wulfgar knew his part in the plan as soon as he turned and saw Regis fumbling for a bottle of oil.No troll dared to return to the other side of the hill, and the smell of burning flesh came from below.With a strong pull, he uprooted the sapling and handed it to Regis.Then he turned to help the dwarf so that Bruenor could split the wood. A short time later, the flaming projectile lit up the entire night sky around the knoll before falling among the trolls with a thud and sparks.Regis ran to the edge of the knoll and sprinkled the oil on the nearest trolls, sending them into a frenzy of terror.They continued to rout, fleeing between the panicked monsters and the rapidly spreading flames. In a few minutes, the area below the hill was wiped out. For the next few hours, the group of friends did not move at all. See, except for the mass of writhing wretched stumps, and the twitching of the burned torso.Drizzt stared blankly, wondering how long these burned and irreproducible things could live. Although they were completely exhausted, no one was going to sleep that night.It was dawn, and there was no sign of trolls around, but a cloud of smoke hung high in the air, and Drizzt insisted on going. They leave the ground they hold because they have no other choice, and because they refuse to give in where others may already be faltering.They didn't touch anything at once, yet they could feel the eyes of the wasteland still resting on them, a calm that foretold disaster. Later that morning, as they trudged through the grassy dirt, Wulfgar stopped suddenly, hammering Aegis-fang at a small piece of blackened wood.In fact, he hammered a swamp monster, and he crossed his arms to block it before he was hit, but the magic hammer was powerful enough to split the monster in half.His terrified companions, a dozen or so, fled from similar positions and disappeared into the wasteland. "How do you know that?" Regis asked, for he was sure the groves were almost impossible for the barbarians to manage. Wulfgar shook his head, admitting he didn't know what drove him to do it.Both Drizzt and Bruno knew and agreed with him.They are all functioning intuitively now, and their exhaustion has long since prevented their minds from thinking rationally and consistently.Wulfgar's reflexes continued at a high level of precision.He might catch a flicker from the corner of his eye, so subtle that his conscious perception didn't pick up the signal.But his survival instincts responded.The dwarf and dark elf exchanged glances for confirmation, not too surprised that Wulfgar still showed the maturity of a warrior. But Drizzt continued to pull them along, looking for another defensible position, although he doubted whether he could find a position as well designed as the one the day before.They still have enough fuel to last them another night if they can light a small line of fire long enough to maintain their advantage.Any small rock, or even the remains of a tree will suffice for them. What they found was another swamp, extending out of their field of vision in every direction, perhaps for miles. "We could turn north," Drizzt suggested to Bruenor. "We've now moved far enough east to escape Nesme's influence." "The knights will catch us by the river," Bruno said gloomily. "We can cross the river," Wulfgar suggested. "Do trolls like water?" Bruenor asked Drizzt, intrigued by the possibility.The dark elf shrugged. "Well worth a try!" Bruno declared. "Gather some logs," Drizzt instructed. "Don't spend time tying them together, we can do that in the water if necessary." They let the log float beside them like a buoy, and they slipped into the cold, calm water of the great swamp. Yet they weren't thrilled with the sinking and muddy feel that pulled them with every step.Drizzt and Wulfgar found that there were plenty of places they could go, pushing the temporary substitute boat steadily.Regis and Bruenor, whose legs were too short to reach the submerged ground, lay on top of their respective logs.At last they grew accustomed to the eerie silence of the swamp, and saw the waterway as a peaceful respite. But back to reality is really cruel. The water around them erupted, and three troll-like figures suddenly attacked them.Regis lay nearly asleep on his log and was thrown down into the water.Wulfgar took a blow to the chest before pulling out Aegis-fang, but he wasn't a halfling, and not even the monster's considerable strength could push him back.The monster surfaced before the ever-vigilant dark elves, and before its head was fully out of the water, two scimitars were slashed on its face. The fight starts off fast and furious.Enraged by the endless demands of the Grim Wasteland, the group of friends responded to the attack with unparalleled fury.The troll in front of the dark elf was chipped to pieces before he even stood upright, and Bruenor had time to prepare for the one that fell Regis. The troll in front of Wulfgar struck twice, but unexpectedly received a savage attack.Since it is not an intelligent creature, its limited reasoning abilities and combat experience lead it to believe that no one should be able to stand up and prepare to fight back after two direct blows from it. However, although it realized the truth later, it couldn't make it feel comforted, because Aegis' Fang had continuously attacked it and knocked it below the surface of the water. Regis floated back to the surface, hanging one hand on the log.One of his cheeks was brilliant with bruises and scratches that looked painful. "What are they?" Wulfgar asked the dark elf. "A type of troll," Drizzt deduced, continuing to poke at the motionless figure lying on the bottom of the water in front of him. Both Wulfgar and Bruenor understood why he kept attacking.In sudden terror, they began pounding on the forms lying beside them, hoping to maim the wreckage enough that they would be miles away before the things came to life again. Beneath the swamp's surface, in murky waters lacking eddy stillness, these pounding axes and hammers harassed other sleeping dwellers.Especially one that has been sleeping for many years, it will not be disturbed by potential dangers hidden nearby, it knows that it is invincible, so it is safe. Dazed and paralyzed by the blow just now, as if the assault had sent his soul to breaking point, Regis fell helplessly on top of the logs, wondering if there was any fighting spirit left in him. .He didn't notice when his logs started to deflect from the hot moor wind.It was hooked by a small row of protruding roots, and floated unfettered into the quiet lagoon covered with lotus leaves. Regis stretched idly, half aware of the change in his surroundings.He could also vaguely hear the conversations of his friends behind him. Cursing himself for being careless, he began to struggle to break free from the stubborn grip of lethargy, but the water ahead of him was already spinning.A purplish, furry shape broke through the water, and he saw rows of brutal, daggerlike teeth attached to its huge ringed mouth. Regis was conscious now, unable to cry out or react in any way, transfixed by the imminent vision of his own death. A giant worm. "I thought the water would at least give us some protection from those nasty things," Wulfgar sighed, before delivering the final blow to the wreckage of the troll lying in the water beside him. "At least it's easier to move," Bruno interrupted. "We gather the logs together and go. Don't count how many other fellows of the same kind as these three follow us in the area." "I don't want to stay here and count," Wulfgar replied.He looked around, confused, and asked, "Where is Regis?" It was the first time in the chaos of the battle that any of them noticed the halfling drifting away.Bruenor began to yell, but Drizzt covered his mouth with a hand. "Listen," he said. The dwarf and Wulfgar stood still, listening in the direction the dark elf was looking intently.After a while of adaptation, they heard the trembling voice of the halfling. "...what a beautiful stone." They heard it, and immediately knew that Regis was using the Pendant to solve his troubles. The seriousness of the matter became clear at once, for Drizzt saw a blurred image through a gap in the trees, perhaps a hundred feet to the west. "Bug!" he whispered to his companions. "Larger than anything I've ever seen!" He pointed out a tall tree to Wulfgar, and began to turn south, pulling the onyx statue from his knapsack as he went, calling to Guenhwyvar.They will need any help the beast can provide. Wulfgar put his feet in the water, walked easily to the bushes, climbed a tree, and now he could see the whole picture clearly.Bruenor followed him, but slipped between trees, fell even deeper into the swamp, and found position on the other side. "There's more here," Regis bargained louder, hoping his friend would hear and come to his rescue.He kept the hypnotic gem spinning on the chain.It didn't occur to him for a moment that the primal monster would understand what he was doing, but the gem's light was enough to confuse it and keep Regis from being swallowed, at least for now.In fact, the ruby's magic had no effect on the creature.Giant worms don't seem to have minds, so the charm has no effect on them.But the giant worm, not really hungry, and being played around by the dance of light, allowed Regis to do the whole trick. Drizzt advanced to a position under the bushes, bow in hand, while Guenhayfal went deeper, slinking around behind the monster.Drizzt could see Wulfgar posing, standing high in the tree above Regis, ready to jump for action.The dark elf couldn't see Bruenor, but he knew the scheming dwarf would find the most efficient way to act. Eventually the giant got tired of the halfling and his game of spinning gems.The air hissed with its sudden puff, and it dripped acidic saliva. Sensing the danger, Drizzt was the first to act, casting a dark ward over the halfling's log.Regis thought at first that the sudden darkness meant the end of his life, but when he rolled off the log and the icy water hit him in the face and engulfed him, he understood what was going on. The black orb confused the monster for a while, but it spit out a stream of deadly acid anyway, and the vicious thing hissed as it hit the water and set the log ablaze. Wulfgar leaped from his commanding seat, fearlessly through the air and shouted, "Tampas!" His legs splayed, but his arms raised the hammer, fully under control. Get ready to attack. The giant worm ducked its head to one side to avoid the savage, but it couldn't react quickly enough.The fangs of Aegis shattered its profile, tore through its purplish skin, and twisted the outer ring of its mouth, piercing its bones and teeth.Wulfgar pulled out all the stops in the powerful blow, sending the monster belly-up into the water, beneath the dark elf-created darkness, a feat he hadn't expected to achieve. big success. Enraged by pain and sudden, greater damage than ever before, the gigantic worm roared, breaking trees all around and sending the creatures of the marshes running for miles.Its fifty-foot-long body curved up and down, wriggling up and down, constantly splashing water into the air. Drizzt shot, his fourth arrow on the string before the first reached its target.Howling again in pain, the worm turned to the dark elf and let out a second burst of acid. But the nimble Elf had dodged away before the acid fell on the water where he had been standing. By this time Bruenor was fully submerged, stumbling blindly toward the monster.He almost fell into the mud in the swirl of the giant worm's fury, but he finally stood up behind the monster's curled body.The huge body was twice as wide as he was tall, but the dwarf didn't hesitate, driving his ax into the hard skin. Now Guenhwyvar jumped onto the monster's back, ran from its tail to its head, and landed on its head.Before it could react to the new attacker, the leopard's claws sank into the giant worm's eye. Drizzt jerked, his quiver almost empty, and a dozen feathered shafts were divided between the giant worm's head and beak.The monster decided to focus on Bruno next, and his vicious ax did the worst damage.But before it could roll over and crush the dwarf, Wulfgar emerged from the darkness and raised the hammer hard.Aegis-fang slammed into its mouth again, splitting the weakened bone in two.Acidic drops of blood and bones fell into the swamp, and for the third time the giant roared in pain and defiance. These friends did not let go.A barrage of arrows from the dark elf hit the target.The leopard's claws raked deeper and deeper into the flesh.The dwarf's ax slashed wildly, causing pieces of insect skin to float away with the water.Wulfgar also continued to attack. The giant worm rolled in a circle.It has been unable to fight back.It could barely keep its balance in the dizzying darkness that was fast falling on it.Its mouth has been destroyed to expose the inside, and one eye has fallen out.Dwarves and barbarians attacked its protective skin mercilessly, and Bruenor cried out in wild excitement as his ax sank deep into its exposed flesh one last time. The monster's sudden convulsion sent Guenhwyvar flying into the swamp, and also bounced Bruenor and Wulfgar away.The group of friends didn't try to walk back, because they knew their mission was done.The giant worm trembled and twitched in the last struggle of its life. Then it fell and died in a sleep longer than any sleep it had ever known, a sleep that would never end.