Valiant Valerie (the Ballad of Valerie of Mor Book 1)

Chapter Fifteen

"We won't need that tonight. I'll just get a fire going and we can lie beside it."

Valerie nodded, showing she understood, and put the bag away again.

She moved off, going to look for wood.

"It's all right, I can manage. Stay here with the horses." He left, heading away from the road.

Valerie shrugged and sat on a log to wait for him.

A few minutes went by and she noticed that the horses looked uneasy. She checked her side, her blade was still there, safe – though why it would not have been, she did not know.

A few more minutes went by and the wind picked up. The trees rustled and Valerie's hair blew around her face. She re-plaited it and thought about getting the cookware out for when Jonathan returned.

She heard a noise, like a giant cracking, and looked toward the trees again. They seemed to be moving a lot for the wind strength, according to the little Valerie knew. She watched a bit longer, but all seemed fine.

She had turned back to the saddlebags when she heard Jonathan yelling, "Valerie!"

Valerie laughed to see him, running comically with a bundle of sticks in his arms, leaping over obstacles. The laughter died as she saw the combination of terror, concern and preparation his face displayed. As he got closer, he dropped the sticks, drew his sword and dagger, and spun around to face the way from which he had come. Valerie, still unsure what was happening, drew her sword as well and stood beside him.

"What's–" Valerie was cut off by the answer to her question barrelling through the last of the trees into the glade. "Trolls," she whispered, all humour now gone.

There were two of them, which was not surprising given they usually travelled in pairs. They seemed smaller than the books Valerie had read, but they were still huge. They were at least twice the size of Jonathan, about the size of a two-storey house. They were heavy set, with knobbly skin the colour of mossy boulders. Their faces were squashed and they had little black, beady eyes. One had a small tuft of green hair sticking out from its head. Their bodies were surprisingly in proportion, Valerie had thought they were more squat with arms that easily raked the floor as they passed. Each troll was holding a wooden club. Valerie could not tell if they were male or female. Were there even female trolls?

She gulped and took an involuntary step backward.

"Stay by my side, no matter what," Jonathan said, positioning himself slightly in front of her as the trolls advance, grinning lopsidedly.

"What if–?"

"No matter–"

Jonathan did not finish his sentence as a club swung, lightning fast, hit him in the stomach and threw him backwards. He slammed into a tree and slid down it. He did not move and Valerie felt panic welling up inside. Her breathing became faster and her heart pounded. Valerie had trained to fight knights, not trolls. She forced herself to take deep breaths as she watched her opponents.

The trolls grinned at Valerie, but there was nothing very pleasant in their faces. Valerie grimaced as the troll on the left swung its club back. She waited for what she hoped would be the right moment and ducked, feeling the air rush past her as the club was swung over her head. Valerie rolled to the side, standing up again. She looked around cautiously. The second swing was a lot slower than the first and she was wary about what would come next.

She heard panting and saw Jonathan slouch into her peripheral vision.

"You did better than me, is seems," he wheezed.