The Swap

Chapter 9: There is a Troll Under the Bridge­­

I stepped onto the bridge.

"See," I told Kendra. "Not everything is dangerous. This isn't some fairy ta-"

I was nearly swept off my feet due to a great shaking in the bridge suddenly interrupted me.

A huge, ugly troll came out from under the bridge.

I flew backward to avoid being crushed by it.

"WHO DARES DISTURB MY BRIDGE!" it roared, swiping around its huge arms. Thankfully, it hadn't noticed us.

Kendra and I quickly took refuge in the nearby trees. Unfortunately, they wouldn't keep us hidden for long.

"I would say I told you so, but this is not the time," Kendra said.

"Well, how do we defeat it?" I yelled frantically.

"We can't! They're immune to fairy magic!" Kendra yelled back.

"We can call Chirp," Kendra said, trying to find a solution.

"He'll take time. Time which we don't have!" I whisper-yelled, gesturing to the troll, which stomped closer to our hiding spot.

"Well then, let's fly to the other side!" I suggested.

"Are you insane! It'll easily catch us." Kendra protested. "Did I mention they like to eat fairies?"

"Well, we've gotta get to the other side somehow."

"We can take a detour and cross the river further away from here."

"And waste another day? I think not." I tried to convince Kendra. "Come on, we're really quick, he won't have the chance to catch us."

Glancing at the troll, which was coming towards us, Kendra said "Fine"

Flapping our wings, we flew off.

As we flew past the troll, it swiped at us. Kendra, in my body, quickly flew to the other side. I, on the other hand, was not that lucky. Kendra's body was not the best at flying, and at that moment it was very clear.

The troll grabbed me, smirking.

"I GOT A PESKY LITTLE FAIRY!" it roared "ALWAYS PRANCING AROUND ON MY BRIDGE AS IF THEY OWN IT!"

Kendra whirled around, looking at me.

"Rae!" She yelled.

However, the troll didn't care about her. It was too busy gloating over the fact that it had caught me.

"I HAVEN'T EATEN A FAIRY IN A LONG TIME! YOU SHALL MAKE A DELICIOUS DESSERT FOR ME!"

Kendra looked around panicked.

Suddenly, I started feeling lightheaded.

'Stop it, Rae. You can't lose consciousness now! You're about to be eaten by a troll! You need to stay awake and help Kendra get you out of this mess!'

The thought of the troll snapped me awake.

The troll, however, started swaying around, as if it was going faint.

Its grip on me loosened and I flew out faster than a mouse being chased by a cat.

The troll tripped on a log and fell face forward into a bunch of yellow flowers.

The flowers looked awfully familiar.

Just then, Kendra ran up to me and hugged me.

"Rae! I'm so glad you're okay! I thought that I was gonna lose you!"

"I'm so glad that I'm okay too, but how did the troll suddenly lose consciousness?"

"Sleepy Sunflowers," Kendra replied, gesturing to the yellow flowers around the troll.

Sleepy Sunflowers were sunflowers that looked normal, but they excreted magic pollen that made fairies, and apparently trolls, sleepy.

"How did they come here?" I asked, confused.

"When I saw you were in trouble, I panicked. Your magic must've responded to my panic and created these Sleepy Sunflowers."

"But only the most talented spring fairies can do that. I'm not talented at all." I said in disbelief.

"Don't say that," Kendra said. "You've got a lot of potential. That's why you're in NAGS. You just need to find it."

"Thanks," I said to Kendra, smiling, though I didn't believe her. But it was still nice to have someone say something nice.

"Come on now, let's get going," Kendra said and we were on our way.

We walked for a bit when a question arose in my mind.

"How are we gonna find out where exactly Freppy lives?" I asked. "I mean, Treppy told us he lived in this forest, but he didn't give us really detailed instructions."

"Perhaps we could call out his name?" Kendra suggested weakly.

"That could awaken other monsters, which is something I'm in no mood to deal with right now."

"Well, I'm at a loss for ideas, so I don't know."

"Wow! The Great Kendra is at a loss for ideas!" I said with mock surprise. "That's impossible!"

"Shut up." Kendra groaned. "Besides, I'm not Kendra right now, I'm Raelynn. You're Kendra remember."

"Ugh! Don't remind me." I moaned. "That's the whole reason we're trekking through a dark forest full of monsters on a quest to find a gyn named Freppy."

Suddenly, a gyn popped up in front of me.

"Greetings, fairies." It spoke. "I am Freppy. You called?"

Kendra and I looked at each other. We didn't know that it would be this easy to find Freppy.

"You're Freppy?" I asked.

"The one and only."

"That's great! Freppy, we really need your help." Kendra said.

"Let me guess, my brother did some mischief, and you need me to reverse it?"

"Yep!" I spoke. "Spot on."

"Ugh." Freppy groaned. "I've told my brother so many times not to get in so much mischief and inconvenience some poor souls to come and find me! He'll never change."

Kendra and I glanced at each other, trying to figure out what to do while Freppy was ranting.

Freppy noticed us and said "Come inside my hut. It's not much, but as my guests, you should be comfortable."

He led us to a small hut in a clearing in the trees.

"It's not much, but it's my home." He spoke. "Come inside."

We went inside to find that it was a quaint little house. It was very cozy, though.

"I forgot to ask your names. What are they?"

"I'm Raelynn and she's Kendra."

"Ok. So, what trouble did my troublesome brother cause you?"

"I'm in her body and she in mine," I spoke.

"So, that's Kendra's body," Freppy said pointing towards me.

"Yes."

"And that's Raelynn's body," he said, pointing toward Kendra.

"Yes." I clarified.

"So, can you help us?" Kendra asked.

"Yes, I can. However, it's not as easy as snapping my fingers and the wish will be reversed." Freppy explained. "I need something precious to you to reverse the wish."

Kendra spoke at once.

"Take my powers!"

AN: The chapter image is Freppy's hut. Freppy looks the same as Treppy.