Two Worlds: Clash of the Guardians (Completed)

XIV - The New Acquaintance

"Sorcerers, goodness, we can make sorcerers broth. Tasty... Yummy..." Its voice was low, as if it had spoken through its stomach, instead of its mouth. It was preparing to stuff them into its pocket when a rustle came from the forest. Its fingers loosen. 

Elli and Lukas took the chance to slip away.

"Wait, my jukebox," Elli croaked out.

She turned back but Lukas grabbed her hand. "No time."

They ran to a boulder at the edge of the forest, twenty feet from the river.

"Where are Marko and the rest?" Elli whispered, catching her breath. 

Lukas wore a horrid look on his face. He swallowed an awful lump of saliva and pointed to the front, where a large group of trolls marched out of the forest. Elli couldn't count how many of them but that wasn't important. She saw something more horrible than figures. Two of the trolls were each carrying a barbecue stick over their shoulders. Tied on the sticks were Marko and Roxy, both unconscious. The new troop marched towards the troll sitting by the river.

"We found them in the forest, murdered by the rocks," one of the trolls said.

"Goodness, I caught two sorcerers too. Tasty... Yummy..." The troll by the river rummaged through its pocket. After realizing its prizes had escaped, it roared again.

The troll that had spoken earlier on laughed, "Loser."

The other trolls laughed too. After relishing their companion's embarrassment for what seemed like five minutes, they began to fasten a muzzle over Marko and Roxy's mouth, and did so to themselves. The equipment looked like a breathing aid. After making sure that each and every one of them wore a muzzle, they dived into the river. The water splashed so high that it even hit Elli and Lukas. It smelled of urine and rotten flesh, which Elli regretted the instant she sniffed it.

"Uhh no, they've taken Marko and Roxy. What should we do?" Elli asked.

"We can't go after them. We need help. Besides, we need to find Rooney and Benedict. Come." Lukas stretched out his hand to help her up.

Elli ignored him and dashed to the site where her jukebox had fallen. It had been stamped to pieces, and lights of electricity shot out of the speaker. Her fingers shivered as she picked up the smithereens. "Can you fix it?"

"I can try." Lukas retrieved his wand from the river bank and muttered an incantation. 

Two pixies flew out of the tip and as they saw the smithereens, they cursed in a fairly audible voice. They hopped around the smithereens, creating twirls of golden dust. The dust was like glue, bringing the pieces together and minutes later, the jukebox regained its original sheen.

"Whoa," Elli whispered. The pixies, having completed their task, saluted to her and evaporated into thin air. Elli shook the jukebox, "Dorris, Dorris, are you all right? Dorris, speak to me?"

A tut-tut sound came from the speaker before Dorris spoke, "Why don't you just let me die, you horrible human! I'll never forget the stinky smell from those ogres. Having ogre feet on my face, that's so embarrassing." The witch pointed her middle fingers to Elli, and the screen went black.

The twosome laughed but after Dorris had disappeared, Elli panicked. She hoped Dorris could keep talking, as she didn't know how to react with Lukas... alone. She wasn't, however, someone who could get use to silence, so she made the blatant first move. "Uhm, well, so what now?"

"We must find the others. Let's go into the forest and search from there."

They agreed with each other for the first time.