What the Troll Said

Chapter 13

WHAT THE TROLL SAID

CHAPTER 13

Before another word could be said, the Troll had zipped over and snatched up Abby.

He took off.

Down the path he zoomed.

"Abby!" Morgan shot off after him. The other two raced to follow.

The Troll, as he ran with Abby tucked beneath his arm, glowed blue and then blipped away in a flash.

Morgan gasped.

I knew it!

And she did know it. Because that's when she had first seen it. Even on that very first night, when she had met up with the Troll and she had tried to get away from him but couldn't.

This was teleportation. Instant translocation.

And this was the power of the ring.

But how was the Troll able to do this too? Didn't that mean that he also had a ring? Just like hers? But why would he have one? Didn't that mean...?

"Spirit!" Egon was shouting at her as they ran.

Morgan nodded. "Come on!" She held her hands out, one on either side. Egon took one. Filian took the other.

Morgan concentrated. She glowed. She blinked.

Pop!

Now they were catching up.

But not quickly. Every time the Troll blipped ahead, Morgan also blinked and tried to keep up. But the Troll was doing it better. He could blip away further. And faster. Morgan could only surmise that he had been doing this a lot longer, so of course he was teleporting like a pro and she wasn't.

"Argh!" Morgan clenched her jaw tight and concentrated harder.

Pop!

The Troll remained ahead.

Back at the bridge now. The Troll was over it. Then Morgan and the others.

On toward the clearing on the far side of the bridge, with the broken down buildings and boulders all around. The Troll stopped at the formation that looked like a fountain. He tossed Abby off to one side. She landed with a thump, rolled once and then stopped. A rag doll. Discarded.

Morgan and the others stopped too about fifty feet away.

The Troll took a stance facing them. He levelled his head. He sniggered.

Morgan was near tears. "Abby..."

Abby was a lump by the Troll's feet, behind him. She made no noise. She didn't move at all.

The Troll straightened up. He freed his club from his back. Squinting his eyes, he bent forward.

He roared and then it was on.

~~~

Egon shot off for the enemy before him, eyes aglow and axe forward. Filian was a white rhino and she charged in to join him.

Morgan let them go. She stood. She waited.

The three fighters engaged, smashing into each other, and it was all clubs and horns and battle axes, a blur of weapons and arms and legs.

Morgan stayed back. She fidgeted. And then the minute the struggle had shifted off to one side, she stole over and crouched down beside Abby. She bent near her friend's face. "Abby..." She checked her pulse and breathing.