2. Lucky encounter

"Fine then, since you persist I should meet your stubbornness with a proper response," Faus cast inferno, a flame spell that conjured up a raging fire tornado that grew in size the more magic he fed it. He pushed the spell towards the recovering trolls engulfing one and turning him to ashes while giving the others some nasty burns while the hastily retreated away.

The other two coming from his side pressed on though, raising their weapons high to squash the puny elf that dared harm them only to be met by a lightning spell Fey cast that ravaged their bodies and rendered them immobile but only for a few seconds as they regained their wits.

However this time they didn't attack, instead they shouted a roar, followed by the other three.

"Faus, I think they're calling for reinforcement. We should leave before the situation gets out of control," The brother nodded in agreement, cancelling his inferno spell and casting more ice spears to clear a path for them to run.

The trolls gave chase dodging the ice spears or blocking them with their clubs. They were not willing to let such delicious prey escape. Soon the twins could hear the sounds of more of the troll brethren coming to join the pursuit.

"Sister head for the caverns, I'll hold them off for a bit," Faus turned back, switch to a water based spell, wave that summoned a literal wave of water that washed away the front runners in the troll brigade. Taking advantage of the wetness he added a lightning spell that stunned the trolls then finally cast more ice spears aiming to at least try and get the vitals.

Some of the trolls fell, impaled either in the head or heart which resulted instant death, many more taking ice spears to the legs or arms making them tumble and drop their weapons. However by now the trolls' numbers had reached around twenty five.

That was when one suddenly jumped behind Faus swinging its meaty fist at the elf which the elf managed to roll away from then skewered it with an ice spear.

Turning around to face the incoming group he was met by a swinging club. He barely managed to create a barrier spell that was effortlessly smashed and he himself launched into the air.

He tried to scramble to his feet quickly, that's when troll claws plunged themselves into his guts.

Fey had listened to her brother, going for the caverns when she realized her Faus wasn't following behind her. She looked back only to see a troll slam him away then another digging his claws into him.

"FAUS!" Fey screamed, running towards her brother while she cast her darkness spell drain across the snow slope that sucked part of the trolls vitality as dark tendrils stretched out across and weakened them. She followed up with a wind spell that blew the trolls out of her path like Ragdolls. The she launched an ice spear at the troll that had pinned her brother down, striking it square on the head as it fell to the side.

Arriving at Faus' battered body she knelt down and took in him in her arms, inspecting the opening on his belly that let out a lot of blood. She could tell the damage to his internal organs was heavy.

To make matters worse she only learned basic healing magic. The most she could do was try and close up the wounds but repairing damaged organs was out of her hands. Her brother was the more adept at healing having mastered the intermediate arts of healing magic.

"Brother, you can't die here, please..." Tears rolled down her face which she smeared with blood trying to wipe away.

A few trolls approached her warily, seeing as she cast a lightning spell that formed a cage around her and her brother.

They became agitated, and began throwing their weapons at the pillars of lightning. Most of them crumbled into pieces as soon as they made contact but debris still passed through forcing her to cast an air barrier. Still, being bombard from all sides made her spread her focus around and she wouldn't have enough magic to keep her spells active for long.

It seemed as though it was what the trolls were waiting for and they soon rejoiced in roars and grunts when the lightning spell started coming apart as Fey chose to focus more on the barrier that was now under heavy pressure.

Seeing the elf now barely able to defend herself they spurred to action running at her with all intentions to devour the two.

"Earth wall," And columns of snowy earth and rock rose from the ground impeding their path while knocking some back some of them.

"Bullet shower," Fey followed up with another spell that turned the earth walls to smaller pointed projectiles that shot in all directions being a literal shower of rocky bullets that penetrated the trolls tough skins.

The unlucky ones had their vitals punctured beyond their regenerative abilities but still a little more than ten continued undeterred, the blood from the bleeding male driving them crazy.

Fey reverted back to ice spears aiming at anything that moved. Some fell, most pressed on till one was right in front of her fists balled up in a bid to smash her. She managed to stave it off with an ice spear but soon another followed and Fey couldn't react in time as the club wielding troll swung with a lot of power.

Fey's reaction was to close her eyes, feeling warm blood splatter all over herself, though it wasn't her own. She slowly pried her eyes open to the site of an armless troll clutching its decapitated arm grunting in pain till its head was also relieved from its body as the troll fell to its knees then kicked to the ground.

The perpetrator, a man dressed in black, the cloak, shirt, pants, boots and even gloves carrying a large blade over his shoulder, another sheathed to his waist, his black hair rippling against the wind.

He didn't linger too long on his kill, dashing towards the remaining trolls, displaying his impressive agility as he shifted and danced in between three trolls, dodging every attack with ease while only needing a swing of his blade to sever their limbs as the fell down, crippled only for the man to land killing blows by plunging his blade straight through their hearts.

He raised his great sword once more to counter on oncoming attack, deflecting it to the side and using the momentum to make a clean slice through the neck. The remaining trolls approached carefully, however the man wasn't waiting around for them approaching them first and making quick work of the remaining.

Fey just stared, multiple emotions running through her mind. She held on to her brother tighter as the mysterious saviour approached them, assessing the situations before squatting down and meeting Fey at eye level.

"Looks like you stopped the bleeding but he won't last long, especially with this cold. We have to move, now," the man tried to grab Faus from Fey but the girl resisited.

"Who are you?" The man sighed in response to Fey's question.

"We don't have time for that. There are more trolls and they've probably picked up the stench of blood from here. The longer we stay the lower our chances. If its a name you need then you can call me Rook," the man's voice wasn't as gruff as Fey expected, it was soft, calming her down a bit.

"Alright, but where do we go?"

"There's a little settlement down the slope to the north of those ridges. An adventurer town if you will. We'll be safe there," Rook didn't speak more, grabbing the male elf and slinging over his shoulder then helping up the sister.

"You'll have to walk for a bit though. Just bear with me," And they began to move, Fey needing to lean on Rook for support as the trudged through the snow, over a few the ridges then a smooth decent down the slope. It took them a couple of hours, Rook having to carry Fey as well midway through the journey till they arrived.

* * * *

"BROTHER!" Fey woke up with a start. Images of the troll attacks flashing through her mind, her brother almost being skewered to death. She hoped it had all been nothing but a nightmare, just a bad dream but waking up in a rickety old bed within a damp dull room with nothing but a single lamp illuminating it told her otherwise.

"You're awake now," Fey turned to the voice to her right. The man who saved them, Rook as she recalled the name he gave her was standing right beside her bed.

"Were you here the whole time?" Fey asked, rubbing her eyes getting rid of the last bits of sleepiness she had.

"No. I only just entered now. Lucky enough you woke up when you did."

"Where's my brother?" Fey could now clearly see the man's face and he didn't expect it to be quite...young? Stern dark brows, brown piercing eyes and nothing but a light stubble on his chin. The human had this air of indifference about him.

"Don't worry about him. Took him to someone more specialized to tend to his injuries. He will be fine, you however probably need something to eat," Rook extended his arm and dropped some clothing onto Fey's lap.

"Got some clothes for you. Dress up and meet me outside," Rook walked out of the room not bothering to see if Fey still had something to say.

That is also when it occurred to her that she wasn't wearing her previous clothes. She had on nothing but a light robe, even her undergarments she couldn't feel.

'Did he do it?' She thought to herself, but also realizing that if he did he probably would have seen her naked figure if not even touch her.

She felt he face heat up a bit and was flushed with embarrassment. After all the only people to have ever seen her in the nude were her parents and brother and maybe one or two relatives and friends. Actually there was a lot of people who'd seen her naked and she never really thought much of it since it wasn't much of a big deal among the elves.

In hindsight there was no need to feel embarrassed and so she steeled her nerves, got out of bed and dressed up.

She found Rook waiting for her outside the door. He took a glance at Fey, seeing the blue cotton dress and stockings he'd borrowed from the inn keeper's wife seemed to fit her.

"Let's get you something to eat," Rook signalled her to follow.