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-----In retaliation, the troll slashes at Sol with its claws and tries to reach in for a bite. However, the Gorian avoids the attacks by pivoting first one way and then the other. The men behind Sol shout their support and two of them jab their torches at the monster as they try to flank Sol.
-----Sol then dives inside the troll’s reach as it reaches for him once more. With two strong stabs, Sol fells the creature in front of him. He first stabs upward ripping into the troll’s neck. Perhaps hitting something vital, its dark blood pours down its chest. Sol then leaps and stabs the great sword deep into the monster’s chest. By hanging onto the hilt, Sol’s weight drags the sword downward, opening up the monster’s chest.
-----With a scream of pain, the troll collapses onto the bridge. The watchmen quickly set upon it with their torches.
-----“Damn!” says one of the men in his excitement.
-----“That’s the fastest I’ve seen someone take down a troll!” says another.
-----Two of the other men yell into the night, releasing their own excitement and tension.
-----Within moments, the troll’s body is alight!
-----As the warrior busies himself cleaning his blade of dark blood as best as he's able, he watches the body of the troll burn. After he's certain the creature will not rise again, Sol waves to the others and orders, "Douse those spare torches, an' let's get back t'our positions. Leave th' body, fer th' night it'll serve as warning t'any others who'd bother us this night. We'll clear it away come morn." He resheathes the Lathanian blade and begins to calmly walk back to his post. Any who were perceptive would note he was anything but calm, as the fingers on his sword hand continued to flex and un-flex as the rush of battle takes its time in fading.
The Fifth of Solentide, D.Y. 500
-----As Sol and his five watchmen return to the hedge, they are met by five more warriors, two of them women, from the village. They bear grim faces, but they express surprise at seeing the Gorian and the others walking from the bridge. The other men with Sol quickly update the new arrivals on what has happened.
-----“Aye! We was watchin’ the riverside n’ just after the last shift left to retrieve the lot o’ you, this damned troll showed up across the river raisin’ bloody hell!” One of the men reported.
-----“It was Sol,” another man said, turning to face the young warrior, “He had us light torches as he was rushing the thing. By the time we chased him out onto the bridge, Sol had the thing down and we burned it.”
-----“That’s the fastest I’ve seen someone take down a troll!” repeated another.
-----Very quickly now, Sol’s watch patrol settled down and kept their eyes open scanning the river line, the bridge and the darkness beyond. Even though, everyone seemed to be very alert, nothing else seemed to transpire past the midnight hour.
-----After a long while, there appeared to be a lighting among the clouds to the east. The sun would rise in about two hours.
-----The rest of the night drifted by uneventfully. The smoldering remains of the troll soon died out after a while and some of the men went to check to make sure the monster was truly gone. They reported back that the beast was nothing more than ashes.
-----After resting for about six hours, Whisper finds it even darker in his small woods. The clouds have not broken, but this will only serve to conceal him more as he moves out.
-----Whisper made his way back down to ground level, using the climb to give his body a proper stretch. He patted the tree, thanking it for its shelter, before gathering his gear, and taking a few moments to adjust the placing to make it easier to bear.
-----Then he set back out towards the edge of this wooded marsh, and then out into the plains.
-----The Wood Elf would parallel the trail road, until he found where it joined the other road. Then he would parallel ~that~ road until he got closer to Black Bog.
-----He wouldn't be able to move above a trot, for fear of breaking his ankles or leg on a sink hole or animal burrow, but that suited him for now. He also gave some thought on how subtle he could leave his trail sign for the others. After some thought, he came to the conclusion that Raven and Rinda could find most trail signs he could devise, but that it would be more astute to be a bit more obvious.
-----After all, no matter how good a human or the magic he or she possessed, they did not have Wood Elven eyes.
-----Swiftly and silently Whisper left the wooded marsh. Sadly, the woods seemed to be sleeping and not just from the presence of night. Somehow Whisper got the feeling that the consciousness of this small wood was slumbering fitfully as if trying to sleep through a nightmare. The surrounding countryside also appeared to reflect this as hardly a noise was heard to reveal anything stirring in the wild. The overcast clouds added to the effect of a country in distress.
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