Born To Be Free | a trolls story

11. I'll see you again

"What are you doing here Creek?" Iris yelled, balling up her fists, "I thought I told you that I never wanted to see your face again!"

"Oh come on cousin, can't we just put all of that in the past?" Creek smirked, Iris didn't say a word, she just glared at Creek, "so I see you're still finishing the work your dad started, huh?" He said, breaking the silence.

"Nearly ten years, I'll be released at eleven," Iris stated. Her father was part of a scouting academy, where trolls and other creatures train for a certain amount of years in order to keep the forest and their tribes safe. But unfortunately, he was eaten by a bergen and he still had at least eleven more years until he could be released, so Iris had to finish the trial for him.

"It is a shame," Creek started. Iris perked up her ears.

"What?" She asked.

"Well, you're father kept on leaving as you were growing up..."

"That might be," Iris said angrily, trying to keep her temper in, "but he always returned."

"Not only that but when he died, he left his trial on your shoulders and here you are, spending over half your life training." Creek spoke. Iris couldn't take it anymore, she whipped her hair at him, wrapping it around his neck.

"It wasn't his fault!" She snapped, "he was a better father than yours! Your dad abandoned me when I was barely a day old!"

"Our dad, Iris" Creek corrected, "you were born to him."

"He is nothing to me!" Iris spoke through gritted teeth, trying to hold back her tears, "I know his wife died while giving birth to me, but he has no reason to throw me out like I was nothing!" Iris paused, then took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. "I don't need you or Zack." Iris always called her birth parents by their first names, she didn't have the courage to call them 'mom' or 'dad'.

"So you're just going to remain alone in the world?" Creek chuckled.

"I'm not alone, I have Branch," Iris said, turning away from Creek, "and as soon as I'm released, I'm going back to him."

"You don't know?" Creek asked, putting a hand on her shoulder, "I came here because I needed to tell you that..." Iris turned to meet his gaze. "Branch is gone..." Iris' eyes widened.

"What?" she asked, tears forming in her dark blue eyes.

"The bergens attacked troll village. They took a handful of trolls, including Branch and myself...he didn't make it." Creek explained. Iris stared at the ground, shaking her head.

"No...no...you're lying," Iris whispered, her quiet voice soon turning into a shout, "all you ever do is lie!"

"I know it's hard to believe," Creek said softly, "but I'm the only family you have left. He's gone now," tears began to stream from Iris' eyes, down her purple cheeks. Creek started to smile, "I need your help with something..."

"Creek, I-I...just need some space right now..." Iris sighed as she turned and walked out of the hut, Creek nodded.

Iris sat on one of the tree branches outside her hut, looking up at the stars. She couldn't bare the thought of her little brother being dead. There was a part of her that didn't believe Creek in the slightest, but the other part of her did. Iris remembered the last time she saw Branch. She was sixteen at the time, a year older than him. They were walking around the outskirts of the village, when two larger trolls approached them.