The Dwarf's Journey - Part Six

By Dr Henry

Kringos opened his bleary eyes.

He had attempted to stay awake to keep an eye on the troll, but as the hours dragged on and Tangot remained as still as a rock, the dwarf eventually drifted into slumber. He had a vague feeling of partial consciousness at some point during the night, during which he could have sworn that he heard voices and had the strange notion that he was being rocked gently.

When he finally came around, and his eyes could focus on the world around him, he could tell that he was no longer in the cave that he had fallen asleep in, and Tangot wasn’t the only person with him.

Instead, they appeared to be in a larger chamber, perhaps in a mountainside cave, although it could easily have been underground. Tangot was perched on a rock directly opposite where he was laying, looking down on a circle of rocks that surrounded them – upon which several trolls also sat.

Kringos reached for his axe, but was horrified when he couldn’t find it. He looked around frantically.

“Relax, dwarf. Your axe is here,” a deep voice boomed out. Turning to it, Kringos found that the owner of the voice, a huge troll, was holding his axe in his hand. This troll was bigger than any of the others, perhaps the largest that he had ever seen. Strangely enough, he was wearing a hat. On a smaller head, it could have been described as a beautiful hat, but placed upon the hairless boulder that was this troll's head, it looked rather dull.

The thing that confused Kringos was this: Trolls don’t wear clothes.

Having studied them in his formative years, one of the first things he learned was that they do not wear any clothing. They do this not because they are dimwitted, but because the absence of clothing makes it easier for them to blend in with mountainsides.

This troll was special though. He spoke,

“Thank you for finally waking, little man!”

Kringos scowled.

“I am Nebora, the former leader of the Trolls.”

To Be Continued...