An Informative Encounter

"The humans attacked first!" The troll shouted, pointing at Morden.

"We never attacked you!" replied Morden. "You came out of the forest swinging at us!"

The troll on the ground was mostly reformed at this point and sat up with a grizzly look on his face. "Angur said he saw it happen! Humans attack, so he attack back!"

Dashra said, "He doesn't mean now. They were attacked by humans recently." He walked forward and asked, "Are you or your friend here Angur?"

The two trolls looked at each other hesitantly, then the troll who had been reformed said, "I, Og. this, Ug."

The troll pounded his chest and then pointed to his teared up partner. "We brothers."

"That doesn't answer my question, trolls," said Dashra "Who is Angur?"

Og and Ug both looked at each other again. A look of fear could be seen in them both. Ug said, "Angur big, bigger than troll. Look like troll, but more hair and stronger. Much stronger."

Og agreed, shaking his head profusely. "We come to home. In cave, friends dead, we see Angur with his friends. We attack, he beat us, like human but more. He said humans did it and that he killed humans for us. Then he kick us out of home, he say it payment for revenge."

Morden grabbed Og by the collar bone, digging his fingers below the skin and around the bone and pulled him hard until their faces almost touched. "How many were there?! What weapons did they use?! When did this happen?!"

Grenda grabbed his arm but a simple shrug of his shoulders knocked Grenda to the ground.

"I'm not about to give up my one lead just to be nice!" Morden yelled. "Tell me!"

Og was clearly in pain. He was not used to anything being stronger than him as he was a natural predator. To him, having his life at the mercy of another was foreign and this was the second time.

"He and friends in cave! Og can show, but they scary! Many friends! Ug can count!"

Morden looked at Ug who turned even more pale at his death glare. "Ug can count to five, no more!"

Morden noticed the grip he had was actually searing the flesh of Og who promptly started to grab his hands and scream in pain. He quickly let go of the troll and watched as the wound refused to heal.

"So you're saying there's more than five? Do you know how many more?"

Ug said, "Many five, five five, Ug do not know!" Ug looked at Morden with terror in his eyes.

Dashra walked to Morden and said, "Possibly 25 if the troll isn't lying, but I don't think he is. Trolls aren't the smartest but they know when they're in danger."

"I think they attacked because they thought we were the ones who attacked their tribe," said Morden. "Listen you two, the humans did not attack your tribe. We had no reason to do it. I think that this Angur character attacked your tribe and stole your home.

"I don't think they cared if you lived or not and let you go."

Og and Ug both stood up and walked to each others side and both looked at Morden then around them.

Morden sighed, "I don't plan to kill you or hurt you any more. But when come back later, can you show me where your home was? I want to talk to Angur but not right now."

Og grimaced and asked, "You friend of Angur?"

"No, but I think he may have done to me what he did to you. I am leaving now. I will see you two eventually. Do you have a new home?"

"Yes!" said Ug excitedly. "Big cave new home. Next to big rock, water too." He pointed to the North towards a large hill about two miles away. A waterfall could be seen from a distance.

"Very well. We are leaving. Oh and don't go to Angur anymore. He doesn't like you and he is not your friend."

"If you fight, we fight." Og hit his chest and Ug's arm nearly knocking him over. Ug hit Og's head in retaliation and they started a small brawl right in front of everyone.

The group stared at the two trolls wrestling and after a few seconds all turned around and walked away.

Cauwen said, "At least they get along well."

After they all got onto the wagon, they continued down the loose trail back to the village.

"I'm sorry, Cauwen," said Morden. "I almost attacked you earlier. I was so blinded by my anger that when you tried to stop me I thought you were an enemy."

The thought of Morden attacking her made a chill run down both their spines. For Cauwen it was because she would have ended up looking like the earlier troll mush, but for Morden because he would have killed an innocent person because he lost his temper.

"I understand. It scared me senseless though. I can't even imagine being the target of that."

Dashra hugged her from the side and she rested her head on his shoulder. "Did you use an angel rune during that fight?"

Morden looked confused for a moment then asked, "No, why do you ask?"

"Because the only time I have ever witnessed muscles bulging like that or hands becoming as hot as frying pans were either through magic or angel runes, and I never saw you do any hand signs or hear you say any chants."

He had not considered that. Sure he was strong, but to be able to do that much damage was surprising now that he looked back on it. "Did they really bulge that far out?"

As he said that he looked at his arms and noticed his entire shirt was torn to shreds around his arms. A look of shock appeared on his face.

"They were about twice their normal size at their peak. You also burned that trolls flesh so badly when you grabbed him that I still don't think its healed. That's the work of magic or a rune."

"I'm sorry but I don't know magic. I never used a r-"

The next second Morden's vision became all black and he couldn't hear anything. After a few seconds, he noticed dark red eyes looking at him from an immeasurable distance away, but they were so large that they covered his entire vision. They lit up the world around him in a red hue and it was then that he noticed he was standing ankle deep in an endless sea of what he could only guess was blood.

The eyes stared straight into his soul. A booming voice erupted from everywhere and sounded like thousands of voices all at once. Morden couldn't understand the language but he knew immediately it was exactly the voices he heard every day. What it spoke was complete gibberish to him, but he could understand every single word.

"You're not an angel? This is new. Let's see where this goes." The booming voice(s) were so loud that Morden felt like his entire head was about to explode from the volume.

The next moment Morden was immediately back on the wagon. A searing pain flooded into his head as though a brand was being pressed against every inch of his skull. The pain caused him to fall to the floor and scream making Dashra and the others rush to his assistance.

"What's happening back there?!" shouted Grenda.

"I don't know!" replied Cauwen. "He just fell to the floor and started screaming!"

Morden's vision was completely engulfed in the rippling effects and he could hear the voices around him in a new way. It was as though they were all looking at him, as if that thing was still looking at him. The pain went on for so long that Morden lost track of time. There was no doubt in his mind that something was watching him. It felt as if the entire world was watching him and the pressure was overbearing.

The pain started to subside after what felt like a lifetime. He slowly stood up with Cauwen and Dashra's help.

"Are you okay, Morden?" asked Dashra.

The throbbing pain remained but the memory of what he saw was imprinted in his head. Whatever was looking at him was aware of him and he did not know what it wanted.

"How long was I... out for?" asked Morden.

"Only a few seconds," said Cauwen. "What's the problem? What pain are you feeling?"

"Seconds?!" Morden shouted. 'I was down for what seemed like at least an hour!'

Dashra did a quick visual inspection of Morden to make sure he didn't hurt himself during his fit. Everything looked fine so he asked, "What did you see?"

"How did you know I saw something?" Morden asked.

"I have seen several people have visions in the past. Those that weren't caused by drugs mind you. Yours looked like a very clear case of receiving a vision. Whatever gave you the vision must have been powerful too. I've never seen a reaction quite like yours."

Morden looked around cautiously. The whole world was rippling so hard that he could barely make out anything. The voices of Cauwen, Dashra, and Grenda were all blending in as though they were all flowing in water with the noise of the world.

"This fucking hurts." Morden was still holding his head. The throbbing was not going away and it was still excruciatingly painful.

"Two eyes. They were the biggest eyes I have ever seen. The size of nations. They looked through me and into my soul. It felt like the entire planet was collapsing on my shoulders. I was standing up to my feet in blood, I think. It said that I wasn't an angel and to see where this goes.

When it ended, I was back in the wagon. That's when the pain came. It felt, and still feels like there is a hammer hitting every inch of my head!" Morden started hitting his head hoping to knock out the pain.

Dashra made a face as though he was deep in thought. After a minute, he leaned forward and asked, "Aside from your sister, do you see anything that you didn't see before? They're described often as waves or ripples in the world."

'How does this old man know everything? Well I guess when you're nearly a thousand years old that happens.'

"Yeah. I see them at random times and the voices almost always change when I see them."

"When we return to the village, I'll recommend you to a friend of mine. He knows more on this topic but I do remember him talking about something similar many years ago.

He lives in Gorod and runs a business that is, at first glance, suspicious but I promise you he is reliable. Hopefully he can help you with your problem. His name is Bosoc. Also, have you ever heard the phrase 'Don't judge a book by its cover?'"

Morden nodded.

"Keep that in mind please."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll know when you see him."

"That makes me even more suspicious of him. Can you at least tell me what he looks like?"

"It's what's on the inside that counts, Morden. His business is called 'Antiques of the gods'. I'll write you a letter of recommendation."

"Is there anything that you can tell me? You seem to know more about what is going on with me than even I do."

Dashra shrugged and said, "Sorry, I only remember bits and pieces of what we spoke about and even then, he talks in shrewd terms and is difficult to understand. But trust me when I say Bosoc is far wiser than his peers. Too much so I'd say. I feel that his thoughts are just so far above our own that he sounds like a raving lunatic."

After they talked for a little bit more, Morden laid down to get some rest. Having visions took a toll on the body and he just learned that the hard way. If there were gods out there, he prayed to them that this wouldn't happen again.

The rest of the journey back to the village was quiet with no surprise attacks or crazy visions. It wasn't often these days that Morden got any mental breaks so every day that went by without something crazy happening was a good one.

-

After taking some time to rest from the journey, the villagers all chipped in to give Morden something. Some gave spare clothes while others gave him food or money. Even though he had talked to very few of them, their faces all grew to be familiar. The kindness that he felt reminded him of his colony. The only difference was the bickering was not present.

"Are you ready?" asked Grenda.

"Yeah, I just didn't expect to leave with my hands full. I don't know what to do with half of this stuff."

Cauwen walked up behind Morden and bumped him playfully. "Eating the food and spending the money is a great place to start. Even wearing the clothes doesn't seem like a bad idea."

Morden put his belongings into the new wagon and prepared to head out. "Are you coming with me again?"

At this point a small crowd had gathered around the wagon which consisted of almost the whole village. Dashra walked to the front of the crowd and said, "Unfortunately no. We must stay behind as we haven't been in the village for some time. We have things we need to take care of here.

My good friends Nyall and Fersi will be your guides. They often trade at Gorod so they can give you more information about that city than I can."

After bidding everyone goodbye and thanking them for their incredible hospitality, Morden boarded the wagon with his drivers and set off to the city of Gorod.