The next morning starts off well for most.

  “Help! I need to piss!”

  But not for the Knight Flayers.

  —

  After Viper and Kale are done helping Rabbit do his business, they all pack up and leave the ravine behind as the last of the ashes fall from the sky and settle in their wake.

  Rabbit was used to being the one to scout ahead with his sharp eyes, but with a broken back he was forced to sit in the sled, facing backwards, in a position that would surely be uncomfortable if he could still feel anything below the arms.

  The boredom starts getting to him, so he tries to strike up a conversation with the merchant: “So… I never got your name, merchant.”

  “It’s Halfdan. Nice to meet you.” He responds curtly, poorly hiding his nervousness. ‘He can’t break my back in his state… right?’ he thinks to himself.

  “Holy shit! Thorvald! Did ya know his name was Halfdan? You remember our Halfdan?”

  Thorvald growls front the front of the sled as he pulls it along: “I don’t wanna talk about him.”

  “Oh, come on! You and Halfdan were good buddies, right? He was a barbarian like you, after all. I remember you guys drinking ‘till the sun rose up and then again ‘till it went down again!”

  “I remember him talking about his pet pig being butchered for dinner when he was little, after that orc cut him in half.”

  After Thorvald’s last remark, a short silence follows. The merchant whispers to Rabbit, his curiosity going against his better judgement: “Can a man still talk after being cut in half?”

  “In my experience, they can’t shut up. Sometimes they last for seconds, sometimes for hours. Halfdan was the latter…”

  Just then, Eagle Eye comes running back towards the others after scouting ahead in Rabbit’s place.

  “There’s a troll at the bridge!”

  “Ha! Is he gonna ask us to solve a riddle?” Kale mocks.

  “Just the one?” Landyn asks in a serious tone.

  “Just the one.”

  “Alright. Eagle Eye stay here and guard the sled and the civilians. Everyone else, leave your armor and grab as many throwing weapons as you can and come with me.” Landyn orders.

  “Why would you leave your armor?” Anna asks, concerned.

  “If a troll hits you, no armor can save you anyway. It’s better to be light on our feet.” Viper answers her. He planned to simply leave it at that, but he saw her grow pale with worry: “Don’t worry. We’re much faster than trolls.”

  He gives her a quick kiss on the cheek and starts hurriedly preparing to leave.

  “Are you guys seriously leaving us here? What if brigands come?” Rabbit yells from the back of the sled as the men keep turning him over one way then the other to grab javelins and tomahawks from under him.

  “You’ll be fine. No brigands will take their chances with a mercenary even if they find only Eagle Eye guarding you all.” Landyn attempts to explain his reasoning, but Rabbit clearly did not find the explanation satisfactory.

  “Bullshit! He looks like somebody’s grandpa! The only reason you’re not taking him is because he can’t hit shit with thrown weapons!” Rabbit protests.

  “Shut the fuck up, Rabbit.” Thorvald shuts him down with his deep commanding voice.

  Eventually, the men finish their preparations and get going. They are only wearing their pants and shoes, and a bag of javelins or tomahawks, depending on preference, slung over one shoulder, and melee weapons slung over the other.

  None said a word before the bridge and the troll came into view. The situation was no longer the same as what Eagle Eye had reported. The troll was roaring at two riders on warhorses on the other side of the bridge. Landyn halts his men out of sight and waits to see the result of the confrontation will be.

  —

  “Sir Hans. What should we do?” The young page addresses the knight, hiding fear behind a smile forced onto his face by adrenaline.

  “We fight, kid. Do you remember what I taught you about trolls?” The knight smiles too, but his smile is one of confidence and anticipation of victory.

  “Yes, Sir Hans. I will keep out of his reach and cut as deep as I can.”

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  “Good. Let’s go now. Tonight you shall brag of slaying your first troll!” The knight cheers and flips down the visor of his helmet. He does not bother reminding the kid to get moving, he just kicks his horse in the belly and gallops towards the beast.

  The troll is a frightening creature. It is as tall as a barn and as wide as three oxen. Its skin is brown, hairless, thick and calloused all over. It is tough enough to pierce the skin, but after you get through it, your sword would get stuck in its muscles which are strong enough to then break the sword in two without much effort.

  Its arms are fingerless fists as thick and weighty as old-growth trees and when they pommel a man into pulp you could mistake their sound for that of thunder. Their mouth has many teeth, sharp and layered under red human eyes. The mouth does not exist on this beast to allow for communication or even to drink water which they do not require. It exists only to terrify its victims and to fill the troll’s giant belly.

  —

  “Doesn’t he look sort of like a giant toddler?” Kale asks.

  Viper immediately slaps him in the back of the head and shushes him.

  —

  The knight is rushing in towards the troll. His steed is mighty and fast. His sword is sharper than a razor and shines like a second sun. His armor of steel forged true fits him like a second skin.

  The sound of the hooves switches from a meaty thump against the earth into a hollow clacking against the stone of the bridge and then again they come back to earth after he has passed the bridge.

  He swings in passing at the lumbering beast, leaving a shallow cut from which seeps red on its arm.

  The troll shrugs it off. It does not stop lumbering forwards. It blocks the bridge.

  The page had taken too long to follow after his teacher. He has nowhere to go but straight towards the beast.

  He points his sword straight at the beast’s face and prays that he strikes true. He must kill it in one hit, otherwise he is done for.

  He flinches. His sword veers off course. It merely grazes the troll’s cheek.

  “Robert!” Sir Hans screams in horror. The page he has trained for two long years has just been swallowed by a troll.

  The young man’s legs dangle and kick frantically at the air, but only for a second before the beast crushes his entire torso between its teeth. The armor he polished everyday and wore with such pride and confidence, ended up being no more than a tinfoil wrapper around his tender meat.

  The horse is turned to paste under the troll’s fist.

  Anger boils within the knight. Anger at the mindless beast which took his page. Anger at himself for not training the young man better. Anger at Robert for dying before him.

  The tactics he had learned in order to defeat such a beast have left his mind. All he wants is bloody revenge. He kicks the belly of the horse like he had never kicked it before.

  His steed does not take this kindly. It rises on its hind legs like a pegasus and dumps the knight on his ass. The horse runs away. A wise choice.

  The knight roars a shout more primal than even the troll could manage.

  As the gaping maw clouds out the light from above Sir Hans, he raises his sword and waits for it to come down upon him.

  The tip of his sword removes an eye from the beast, just before its teeth crush his skull.

  —

  The knight’s horse thunders past the Knight Flayers. In its craze, it is clear there is no way they can stop it.

  “Damn. A horse would’ve been nice…” Kale laments.

  Landyn does not give his men much time to sulk: “Kale, Viper: You two take the right. Thorvald and I will take the left. Wait for us to strike first.”

  The troll has scattered the remains of the two men and the horse. The pain of losing an eye made it so furious that it did not even attempt to eat, it just destroyed. Blood and guts are splattered everywhere. It is easy to sneak up on it.

  Landyn whispers to Thorvald: “Aim for the other eye if you can.”

  They put down their weapons carefully so as to not make a sound. Then they pick up a single javelin each. They puff their chests out and coil their arms back like catapults.

  “Throw!”

  After their javelins leave their grasp, a moment of complete silence falls over the forest. Everyone is holding their breath. The Knight Flayers, the troll, the birds, the squirrels, everyone. Nature itself is stunned at the immense size of their balls in that one moment.

  The four javelins all make contact with flesh. One simply grazes the beast’s neck and bounces off the thicks skin without leaving even a nick or drawing at least a drop of blood. Another plants itself in the beast’s shoulder, though it does not seem to impede the joint itself at all. Another plunges deep down into the thigh and the wood is broken away from the metal tip almost immediately as muscles flex around the foreign object, leaving steel inside the beast to be retrieved later.

  The last of the javelins proves to be the most effective. It was thrown by Viper, who had practiced throwing javelins many times in the arenas of the rich cruel southern deserts. His javelin hits the beast in the eye. Now, with half of a sword in one eye and a javelin in the other, the troll is blind.

  “HOLY FUCKING SHIT! YOU FUCKING DID IT!” Thorvald congratulates Viper.

  The rest of the fight will prove exceedingly easy. Landyn had sent his men into this fight expecting that at least one of them may not live through to the end of it, but a stroke of luck is all that was needed to turn a formidable beast into a pitiable sight.

  After about two minutes, they have used all javelins and tomahawks and even throwing knives in their possession, but the troll still writhes in pain, undying.

  “Aw fuck me, man… This is just fucked.” Kale says between exhausted gasps for air.

  Without a word, just tired heaving, Thorvald walks up to the troll, falx in hand. Like an executioner, he raises the weapon up above his head in both hands, presenting it to the gods themselves for a brief moment, so they know what piece of steel killed their champion.

  He splits the skull and ends the misery.

  —

  “You guys look awful! Is everyone alright?” Anna asks, petrified with concern.

  They look awful by normal standards, but they look absolutely dashing by Knight Flayer standards. None are wounded, just dirty and sweaty. In the chilly mountain air, one could swear they could see steam rising off Thorvald’s muscles.

  “Eh? We’re all good. Just sweaty.” Thorvald responds, confused at her reaction.

  Anna runs up to Viper and gives a hug that almost turns into a tackle: “I’m glad you’re alright.”

  “Didn’t I tell you I’m faster than a troll? Even if he could’ve seen us, he wouldn’t have caught me.” He answers with confidence.

  “If anything, I was putting myself in the most danger! You think I could outrun that thing with my stubby little legs?” Kale interrupts their romantic reunion.

  “Alright! Twenty minutes break! Then we do our chores!” Landyn announces.

  After their little break, they drag the cart to the scene of the battle. They salvage only the most valuable pieces of steel. They can’t carry everything, considering that they now have to loot the knight’s equipment too. For once in a long time, they have too much loot.

  Other than that, they also take the maimed head of the beast, dragging it along the dirt by a rope. This is all the respect it deserves.