Page 31 of Alien Viking's Plunder

“Mine,” Bragr said, taking a step closer until the tip of the sword was a finger’s breadth from the troll’s nose. “Drop her!”

“Not,” the troll said, its eye rolling. “Found.” Then it swung its long arm at Bragr, faster than he would have guessed it could move. The big fist came at him from the side, and he ducked beneath it, placing Brisingr in its way.

The impact made a hard, unpleasantclang, as if he had struck stone.

But the troll felt it, too, and in the light from the brightening horizon Bragr saw it drip black blood on the snow.

“Found this,” the troll said again. “Wife.” Once more it swung its fist at him, and once more Bragr met the long arm with the blade of his sword. This time the troll roared with pain.

“Drop her, and you can go home,” Bragr said. “It’s either that or I kill you.”

“Wife,” the troll said.

“She’s already mine,” Bragr said. “She can’t be yours, too.”

The troll swung again, and this time the Viking had to step back to avoid the punch.

“Widow,” the troll decided, having had an idea. “You dead. She widow. You die. She widow. My wife. You die. She my wife. You die. You die,” the troll droned on slowly.

Bragr sighed. He could hack at this thing and hope to give it a real injury, but it had incredibly thick skin and the wounds didn’t seem to bother it at all.

He may have to hit the eye and push the blade further in, hoping to pierce the troll’s tiny brain.

He hadn’t finished the thought when something hit him at the side of his head, so hard he staggered and fell to the ground.

It was a second troll, having snuck up on him while the other was droning on.

Bragr bounced back on his feet, furious with himself for having fallen for it. He was about to ram Brisingr into the first troll’s eye when he saw that Josie was awake and struggling to get down from the troll’s grip. She was doing well, too — the troll had to use both hands to try to keep her in place.

Bragr didn’t hesitate. He ran at the second troll and swung the sword at its face, forcing it to pull back while he placed a hard kick in its stomach. Overwhelmed, the troll fell backwards, sitting down in the snow.

That danger gone for a moment, he ran at the other troll, ducked under its swinging fist, and slashed Brisingr at its side. The blade connected, and while the troll was trying to understand what was happening Bragr used his other hand to help push Josie off the troll’s shoulder.

“Kick him!” he urged.

She got it and placed a hard kick at the troll’s head. She fell to the ground behind it, head first. Bragr just had time to notice that she was still clutching her spear.

He saw no reason to continue the fight. No honor was at stake here. He ran around the troll, avoided both of its windmilling arms, grabbed Josie, threw her over his shoulder like the troll had, and ran uphill as fast as he could.

Behind them the trolls were grunting furiously to each other, but they were too heavy to run. They didn’t even try to follow.

Bragr stopped and let Josie down to the ground, looking her up and down. “Hit you on the head?” He gently touched the side of a red mark at her temple.

She smoothed down her clothing and checked her spear. “I didn’t know how long his arms really were. I didn’t see that fist coming.”

He peered over at the horizon. It was brightening. “Trolls can move their hands fast. But nothing else about them is quick. For instance, I wonder if these two know the danger they’re in.”

Josie quickly grabbed his wrist, looking up at him with her crystal-clear eyes. “Don’t kill them! Let’s just get away.”

He liked her touch and put his own hand lightly on top of hers. “Of course I won’t go down there. The danger comes from Straum.” He nodded towards the horizon, which was getting so bright that it was hard to look at.

Josie stared down at the trolls, who were now lumbering away down the slope. “Why?”

“If they don’t get to their cave before it rises, its light will kill them.”

She raised her thin, finely-curved eyebrows. “Don’t tell me they turn to stone?”

“Ah, you have trolls on your planet as well?”

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