Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Fuck."
Unlike me, Geralt did not panic. "We need to get out of here - Now! Just follow my steps as quietly as you can."
I nodded and did as I was told. We made it through half of the cave and I already thought us safe, as I saw Jaskier entering the cave. He obviously saw us coming towards him but did not notice our gestures to keep quiet.
"Found anything?"
His loud voice echoed in the cave. We could hear Jaskier repeat the question three times when the sound was transferred deeper and deeper into the mine.
Geralt stopped. "Fuck."
It did not take one second and you could hear tiny feet running. The echo coming towards us made it even louder, it was impossible to tell how many there were. Geralt and I started running. Unfortunately, trolls are very fast, and they caught up to us at the last third on our way out of their territory. I risked a quick look over my shoulder.
They were ugly. Really ugly and gross. Some were quite small, some were huge. What the tales said were true, they only had one eye in the middle of their face, no nose and a large mouth. Even though their lips were closed, you could see the upper teeth. Long, sharp as daggers that had a yellowish-brown colour who could rip you into pieces within seconds. Their green skin looked like it was melting and drying at strange places over and over again. The feet were bigger than their whole body and it was a mystery how they were able to run this fast. They had nearly caught up to us when we passed Jaskier.
His face changed from confusion to fear when he saw what came behind us and joined us with a scared squeal. The three of us reached the outside and Geralt told us to lose them in the woods and meet up after they had lost us at the house, it was not far from here. Jaskier and I nodded in agreement and we split up in three different directions. Geralt headed west, I headed north and Jaskier east. While I was running deeper into the woods, I risked another look over my shoulder. Our chasers had not been stupid enough to chase only one of us. Maybe this specious was indeed mistaken and actually a lot smarter than we knew. They split up into three groups and ran after each of the ones who intruded their nest.
Trolls were fast, but a wolf was faster. I left them behind me after three minutes of heading straight north. I could still hear their grunts, so I headed into Geralt's direction where the house was, the trolls would keep looking for me in the north. And until they got to the point where I was now, I would be long gone. I knew the Witcher was a fast runner and I hoped Jaskier could escape the trolls as well.
I jogged over to the house, still making careful steps and looking out for the group that was searching for Geralt. The Witcher had headed straight to the house after we split up, he was already standing next to the house when I arrived.
"Did you get rid of them?"
"I hope so," He answered. "How about Jaskier?"
I shrugged. "Have not seen him, but I think he is alright. Might take a moment for him to get here, he is not the most athletic person."
"No, he is not. But that little exercise is the punishment for shouting in the cave."
"How did you know they were in there?"
"I saw slime on the ground. Somebody must have lost a bit of their skin in there before we went in."
That made sense. I had been so focused on hearing that I did not even took a moment to look around the cave. "I guess the dwarfs left their work place as well ..." I mumbled and turned around to the house. It looked so peaceful and calm around here. A few good memories came floating into my mind, it had been nice to live here with them. "But why did they abandon their house? They have been living her for hundreds of years!"
"Something happened." Geralt next to me said. "Maybe the Queen found out about your plan and tried to-"
"Are they gone?" When I turned back around, an exhausted Jaskier was walking closer to us.
"If you keep shouting again, they might come back!" Geralt grunted.
Jaskier rolled his eyes. "I misread the scene, okay?"
"Obviously."
"How did you get rid of the trolls?" I asked.
"I climbed up a tree," He answered in between heavy breaths. "And waited for them to pass by."
"You do know they can climb, right?" Geralt asked.
Jaskier looked over to him with a shocked face. "What?"
Now Geralt rolled his eyes. "He is not just unathletic, he is also stupid."
"Geralt!"
"Leave it, Davina!" Jaskier said and shook Geralt an angry look. "He is just mad that he is not blessed with the poet's spirit. Fight and flight can anybody! So, where are the dwarfs, if not in the cave."
"I have no idea," I said with a shrug. "Nothing makes sense anymore."
"Maybe we can find a clue if we look around the opening," Geralt suggested.
"You guys do that, I will get the horses." I agreed. "If we do not pay attention, the trolls might catch them."
Geralt went around to the backside of the house while Jaskier looked at the front side like it would magically tell him where its owners were. The horses were still at the spot we left them, eating grass nearby the opening. I grabbed Roaches reins and reached for my horse when I suddenly felt something hit my shoulder.
It did not hurt, but it felt like somebody had thrown a little bag with flour against me. As I turned around, I found myself standing in a purple dust cloud. I noticed too late what it was and had already breathed the mist in.
Within seconds, I started to feel tired. My mind was still awake, but all my body wanted to do was go to sleep. Somebody stepped behind me, put his hands around my waist and lift me up into the air. It took me a few seconds to realize that the person was carrying me away from Jaskier and Geralt. I heard a horse move behind me and then knew what was going on.
"GERALT! JASKIER!" I screamed with the last amount of energy I had left, but they turned around too late. My abductor had already managed to pull me onto the horse. I tried to fight him off, but I could feel my body shutting down even more. My arms felt like they were made out of steel, too heavy to even lift.
Jaskiers eyes got bigger, and he just realized what was happening. "Davina?"
Then I saw Geralt coming closer.
"GERALT!"
"DAVINA!"
The last thing I saw before I fell into unconsciousness was Geralt angeringly pulling the yelling Jaskier back and told him to get the horses.
