Trolloc Encounter

by Merrlyn al'Dora

Kora stamped her foot, tossing her head, her nostrils flaring at the stench of burned flesh. Merrlyn reached down her hand to steady the mare. Kora ignored her touch and began dancing with rage. Merrlyn sat her calmly and let the pony let out her own anger at the same time. Selina Sedai and her mount just stood there, unwavering as statues, her gelding just flicking his ears occasionally, as she watched her warder down the ridge picking through the debris. Aes Sedai were like that though, smooth faced and calm no matter the circumstances. Perhaps it was a talent acquired with wielding the One Power for a length of time.

The village had been utterly gutted, man and beast alike littered the scene below. The Trollocs garish faces, a mesh of both animal and human, contorted with rage, mingled with fallen humans whose faces were fixed in expressions of horror and pain. They had gone down fighting, the village had mounted some defence but it hadn’t been enough. The dead were the lucky ones. Merrlyn cringed as she thought of the fate of those who had survived the onslaught. They had been carried off and were bound to meet with more horrifying ends than those had below.

Merrlyn shivered again as Larvin climbed the slope on his warmount. The stallion looked ready to charge, grinding it’s teeth and snorting. Selina and Larvin talked for a moment and then Larvin turned to lead the way, followed by Selina and Merrlyn hurriedly brought up the rear. She always brought up the rear. Selina turned her head back slightly and said, "We will travel through the night and make the best possible speed to catch the Trolloc party. Larvin says the tracks are fresh even if the decimation is not. They are not more than four or five hours ahead, hopefully some of the villagers will still be alive."

Merrlyn frowned, "How have we not seen signs of them before now?" Her brow furrowed with suspicion. "Or have there been signs of which I know nothing?" Selina turned in her saddle again and looked at Merrlyn, she hadn’t liked the tone of the Accepted’s voice. Merrlyn pushed her chin up and met Selina’s gaze. "There have been signs," the Aes Sedai conceded, "however they are not the reason we are out here and they are not your concern. We are only involved now because they propose a threat to our mission."

Merrlyn stared at the woman, "You mean you would ignore what they have done and what they might do in the future if they didn’t interfere with your plans?" She was horrified. Selina sighed silently at the girls face. "There are sometimes more important things at stake than a band of marauding Trollocs, as much as it pains me to see the destruction they bring. Now concentrate on the path ahead. There is no myrddraal with them so they are not highly organised." Merrlyn scowled and snorted with Kora as Selina turned back to the direction Larvin had taken. One thing about travelling with Selina Sedai had taught her was her ‘place’ as an Accepted.

She sighed and waited for a glimpse of the quarry, scanning the ground for marks of their passage. If you knew what to look for it wasn’t very difficult. Trollocs weren’t known for hiding their tracks well, if at all, they had indeed left signs everywhere. Foot prints, broken twigs and branches, scuffed earth, slashed trees, the list went on and on before her eyes. Merrlyn could see them and knew that Larvin was accurate in saying they were only hours behind what they sought.

She had never seen a Trolloc, until this evening they had been lecture notes and pictures. Now they were close and terrifying. As night fell so did Merrlyn’s spirits, she tensed as she began to feel the far off feelings of fear.

In a situation such as this the Talent of Empathy could be a great asset or a liability. Selina wasn’t aware of Merrlyn’s unusual gift and Merrlyn wasn’t about to enlighten the other woman unless asked directly. She could feel wisps of the villagers fear and pain in breaths, almost as though it were carried on the wind. That, however, was impossible and she dismissed the thought as soon as it entered her mind. Shaking her head she tried to dispel the feeling of uneasiness that had descended, stamping down on the fear roiling in the pit of her stomach.

Larvin came closer to the two women and was surprised to see a similar expression on the Accepted’s face as the one painted on Selina’s. They both shared grim determination and recognised the necessity of the situation, though he was sure for different reasons for the last. Selina Sedai had seen such horrors as there had been back at the village before, Merrlyn, as far as he knew, had never seen anything close. Merrlyn frowned as she caught his attention and he turned back to the night, amusement flickering across his eyes. They were getting close now. He dropped his voice to a low murmur for Selina’s ears only, "Should we not leave the young one back here out of harms way?" Selina never glanced at the girl, replying, "No."

The corners of Larvin’s mouth tightened, the only sign he was unhappy with the decision. He didn’t want to have to look out for the child and he didn’t believe it was necessary to expose one so young to what may have befallen the townsfolk. She looked pale and drawn as it was, even if her chin indicated the determination not to show her fear.

Selina studied her warder from under her lashes and knew he disagreed with her choice. However she didn’t believe the girl was going to crumble under the pressure. Merrlyn had survived the Whitecloack Questioners which proved almost to a certainty that she wasn’t as fragile as she looked. Admittedly she was shy and quiet at times but she also didn’t recoil from someone in need, her exploits with the baby dragon were an indication of this. She had been scrubbing pots for sometime after that incident and the Mistress of Novices certainly hadn’t held back with the switch. Larvin wouldn’t have to look after the child any more than he did herself. She hoped.

Merrlyn stared straight ahead of her with grim determination. She was not going to be sick. The fear she had been feeling had intensified to heart wrenching terror and the pain had increased to complete and unadulterated agony. Agony at physical suffering or mental anguish she couldn’t tell, but agony none the less. She lowered her eyes when Selina and Larvin rode talking for a few moments. Larvin didn’t want her to come down on the ambush with them, she could tell. She was just as glad they were too busy to notice her sway in her saddle. Her white knuckled grip on the reins seemed to be the only thing between her and the ground.

She was going to make those Trollocs cower before her and they were going to feel their victims pain, her pain. She would make them suffer. Kora wasn’t happy with this line of thinking, a thread of disapproval skimming across her mind. She didn’t care. They would pay for what they had done and for what they were about to do. They were close. She could feel it.

Larvin nodded and separated from the two women, weaving through the trees to encircle from the other side of the camp, if that was what the gathering could be called. Close enough now to hear the sobbing of captives and the screams of others, guttural voices and grunts made by Trollocs. There were no sentries, nothing to hinder their approach. Merrlyn waited to embrace saidar until she saw the soft glow around Selina. Opening the flower in her mind the sweetness of saidar filled her very soul. She waited.

Lightning flashed from the sky and Larvin made his attack. He moved as if in a dance at a court ball, all grace and fluid motion. The blade, no ordinary sword in his hands, it was part of his body, moving as if it was controlled with his mind as his feet surely were. Seeing warders-in-training practicing held no flame to this. Balls of fire ripped through the air around her, exploding in front of her, suddenly bringing her back from her reverie. "Release the captives, I’ll take care of the Trollocs." Selina may not have shouted but the instructions carried over the sound like whispers in a silent room.

Some of the prisoners were already free and had taken the opportunity to pick up tossed weapons and defend themselves. Merrlyn moved into the throng of death and narrowly escaped a blade slicing towards her chest within the first three steps. A fire-ball ripped from her outstretched fingers and her attacker shifted to the side clawing at his burning body. The smell of burning flesh disturbed the warm night air. Kora danced around the Trollocs towards the villagers with some skill. There were nearly forty Trollocs, not including those already fallen back in the town.

Continuing to throw fire balls at those in her way she made steady progress to the still bound town’s people. Just as she reached those yet to be freed a Trolloc loomed at her from the side. Kora reared, throwing her fore hooves out in a near panic. Merrlyn screamed her fury, throwing her pain and that of his prisoners at him. He squealed like an over-stuffed terror stricken pig. Later Merrlyn wasn’t so sure that he was afraid, did Trollocs feel fear as humans? She wasn’t sure but he certainly felt something. She bombarded his poor simple mind with all her anguish and rage. It felt as though some part of her was being drained, emotions flowed out of her and she was enveloped in icy calm.

The Trolloc wavered on his knees, having sunk there in the onslaught. Larvin appeared from behind and cut the creature down where it quivered. Putting it out of it’s misery. It hadn’t felt like a normal man would have, it didn’t know remorse as far as she could tell, but it did recognise pain. "Move girl," Larvin tossed his head towards the stricken faces of the village people. Merrlyn wove weaves of Air and Fire, freeing the prisoners and herding them into the night and safety, a clearing already decided on.

Not long after, both Selina and the Warder appeared in the fire light, a soft weave of Fire that gave a little light and comfort to those gathered around it. Selina Sedai looked slightly drawn with fatigue, Fire was not as easy for her as for Merrlyn and it showed if you knew what to look for. Larvin hardly showed a mark from what Merrlyn could see. It was hardly surprising considering the way he moved. The Aiel called it ‘dancing the spears’ and Merrlyn wondered if Warders in training were shown the dance of the sword.

The entire battle had lasted only half a candle mark yet it had seemed an eternity. Merrlyn quivered in near exhaustion and the villagers clung together in relief and fright. Selina began to tour the group, healing the more serious injuries and encouraging sleep. On the morn they would take the survivors to a neighbouring village and continue with the true purpose of their trip out of the Tower.

Time was running short and Selina hoped they weren’t already too late. The message had been most insistent on haste and there had been far too many delays already.

Part Two