Firedhelien by Princess Melody
Chapter Four:
The Trolls

The woods in Middle Earth at night were something completely beyond my comprehension. The very trees themselves seemed to be alive, whispering to each other. Their leaves rustled and moved to an invisible breeze. I looked around me and shivered. I could feel eyes watching me. Stop it girl, I thought uneasily. Pull yourself together, you’re being paranoid. Nothing’s gonna hurt you, Not while you’re with Nuindacilion and Legolas… Still, the woods unnerved me. I looked over my shoulder and then around me, using all of my powerfully enhanced senses to scan the surrounding woodland for any slight movement that could spell danger. I took quick glances at Nuindacilion and Legolas. They too seemed uneasy. Suddenly Legolas stopped dead. His eyes widened and he turned to us. “They’ve seen us. It’s too late.” He whispered, unable to contain the note of fear in his voice. “We can’t run. We must fight them.”
“Who?” I asked urgently. “Who must we fight?”
“Trolls. They are coming. Three of them....”
I had read a fair amount about Trolls, and basically I had learned is that they were practically invincible. No sword or arrow was a match against their brute strength and thick hides. They were night creatures, living in dark places and only coming out after the setting of the sun to hunt. They had only one weakness. Light. One slight speck of sunlight was enough to slay even the biggest and most powerful troll. I looked around, my mind racing again. In the back of my head, a plan was forming. “Nuindacilion,” I whispered urgently “I need you to get out your sword. You too, Legolas. I have a plan.” Legolas and Nuindacilion unsheathed their swords. They were brilliant, and blazed with a sharp light of their own, but I knew that light wouldn’t be enough to slay three trolls. There was a loud thud as a troll smashed its way through the trees, followed by two more.

They were huge, possibly ten feet or more, with green, mucus covered skin and tiny beaded eyes. Their massive bodies were powerful and muscly beyond belief, and they carried clubs as big as tree trunks, which they wielded around with incredible force. They stared at us, baring their horrible fangs and anticipating the satisfying meal that three Elves would make. A wave of nausea flooded over me at the sight of these monsters and I hoped that my plan would work. They advanced on us. I was absolutely amazed at how fast they could move..

I closed my eyes and concentrated intensely as I imagined a ball of dazzling white light coming from my hands. I focused every particle on it wishing, hoping, waiting for it to materialize. I felt a strange tingling sensation in my fingertips and I ventured to open my eyes. The tingling spread through to my hands and intensified, but I ignored it and kept on concentrating, using every single particle of my being to make the dull light that was forming above my hands more and more powerful. As each second passed I could see the light growing stronger, and the trolls getting closer. Nuindacilion and Legolas raised their swords and kept their eyes locked on them. The trolls stopped suddenly and roared. The light was now so dazzling and bright that it lit up much of the forest as if it were in broad daylight. The Elven Brothers shielded their eyes from the brightness and held up their swords. Rays of silver light shot off their swords, making them blaze stronger than any torch in my world. The trolls collapsed to the ground, shaking the earth with their bellows. My plan was working. With the combination of my light and the light from the swords was too much for them. I could see their skins turning from slimy green to a cold grey. They were turning into stone. The bellowing stopped. The trolls were now nothing but harmless statues, kneeling with their massive hands over their eyes and their clubs unheeded on the ground. I relaxed and the light slowly faded. The world turned dark again. The trolls were dead.

I took a step forward and collapsed on the soft ground, overcome with exhaustion. Nuindacilion gasped and rushed over to me, Legolas hot on his heels. “Firedhelien!” He said in a half gasp, half whisper “Firedhelien! Speak to me! Stay awake! Try to stand up!”
I groaned and made an attempt to stand up. I got to my feet, swayed and fell into Legolas’s arms. The last thing I remember before I succumbed to unconsciousness was Nuindacilion Talking urgently to Legolas about getting help…

Continue to chapter five...