Chapter 777: Captured By Trolls
Behind them, opposite from the cliff they had been perched next to, the once-still terrain had come alive. The rocky and grassy ground shifted and heaved, a sight that was as mesmerizing as it was terrifying. Massive boulders, each one easily the size of a large tree in both height and width, began to roll toward them, gaining momentum with every second. The ground beneath their feet vibrated with the sheer weight and force of the approaching stones, sending waves of anxiety through the group.
These boulders were enormous, dwarfing even the towering figures of the group, whose average height was seven feet tall. The stones hurtled forward with a crushing inevitability, their surfaces rough and covered in thick moss, making them look like ancient sentinels of the earth itself. The group braced themselves, prepared to face whatever force was driving these monstrous rocks toward them, but just as quickly as the boulders had started, they came to a sudden, jarring stop—mere feet away from where they stood.
For a moment, all was silent, the boulders looming over them like ancient titans. Then, in a slow, deliberate motion, the boulders began to unfurl. Massive limbs extended from the moss-covered stone, and the boulders revealed themselves to be something far more dangerous. The rocky exteriors split and shifted, revealing towering figures of stone trolls, their bodies covered in patches of thick moss and lichen.
Each troll stood as tall as a large tree, their eyes glowing faintly with an ancient, earthen light. Their limbs were thick and powerful, hewn from the same stone that made up their bodies, and their movements were slow, but filled with an undeniable strength. The trolls’ faces, rough and angular, were expressionless, yet there was a primal intelligence in their gaze as they regarded the group.
"What the hell..." Orion muttered.
"Who! Are! You!" A troll came from amidst the crowd, taking the helm at the front of the rocky gathering. His speech was primal yet carried weight that showed he was most likely the leader of these trolls.
"We are humans," Findir spoke for all of us. "We don’t mean any harm to you or the environment."
"Then what is purpose here!"
"We are lost, but we need to find a Magic Tower. Do you know of any?"
"Magic Tower?" The troll scratched his grassy chin, but to no avail said, "I don’t know."
"Then we will be on our way," Findir raised his hands as if in surrender while backing up.
The rest of the group followed and as they inched closer to the edge of the cliff, Cy whisperingly asked, "What are we doing? Hey! Findir! Are we jumping off of this cliff?"
A drop of sweat rolled down Findir’s cheek. "They’re not here to just see us off, dumbass. They’re here to capture us. Humans aren’t common here and most semi-intelligent creatures like these take things like us as slaves."
"What?!" Bella exclaimed.
"Heyyy..." One of the trolls groaned. "They’re trying escape. But human have no wings..."
"Everyone!" The leader shouted. "Capture humans!"
The trolls erupted in a deafening roar, their voices echoing off the surrounding cliffs as they charged towards the group with earth-shaking force. The ground trembled beneath the weight of their massive, rocky forms, each step sending shockwaves through the earth. Findir and Orion exchanged a quick, determined glance, their plans forming in an instant but aligning in one crucial aspect: they needed to jump.
"Jump!" Findir shouted, his voice barely audible over the thunderous stomping of the trolls. Without hesitation, he leaped off the cliff, followed closely by Orion, who urged the rest of the group to do the same. Cy, Luna, Aisa, and Bella all followed suit, each of them launching themselves into the open air with a mix of fear and desperation.
As they plummeted through the sky, the reality of their situation hit them with the force of the wind rushing past their faces. The drop was far longer than any of them had anticipated. They felt as though they were falling from the very edge of the world, the ground below an unfathomable distance away. If they were on Earth, it would have been as if they were plunging from space straight down into the Mariana Trench—a terrifying, seemingly endless descent.
But before they could put their hastily formed plans into action, something caught their attention. The mountain they had just leaped from—the very one that had provided their only escape—began to shift. The rock face split open, revealing rows upon rows of deep, terraformed caves stretching as far as they could see. Within these caves, massive trolls pumped their weapons into the air, their mouths dripping with anticipation. There had to be thousands of them, their cheers and roars creating a cacophony that reverberated through the mountain.
Amidst the spectacle, two colossal arms of stone, each several meters tall and wide, emerged from the mountain. With an unsettling speed and precision, the rocky hands reached out and scooped the group from the air. The impact was far from gentle—sharp rocks and jagged edges cut into their skin, leaving them with painful bruises and bleeding cuts as they were separated by the hands. Orion, Luna, and Aisa found themselves trapped in the left hand, while Findir, Cy, and Bella were caught in the right.
The stone hands dragged them back into the mountain, pulling them deep into the trolls’ domain. The caves widened into a vast, open space, a den of unimaginable scale. The center of the den was a massive cavern filled with a web of bridges made from stone and wood, crisscrossing above and below them. Straw and wooden huts clung to the walls, lit by enormous cauldrons of flames and smaller torches—each as tall as Cy, the tallest among them.
The trolls’ cheers grew louder as the group was carried towards the center of the cavern. Hundreds, if not thousands, of trolls, chanted and sang in a primal, guttural language, their voices a terrifying chorus of anticipation. The group was unceremoniously thrown into separate, massive steel cages that clanged shut with a finality that sent shivers down their spines.
As they gathered themselves within the cages, they realized they were now in the very heart of the trolls’ den. Before them, seated on a gargantuan stone throne adorned with murky white crystals, was the largest troll they had ever seen. This troll was a true giant, towering over the rest of his kind, his size comparable to a small hill.
The figure seated on the gargantuan stone throne was unlike any troll the group had ever encountered. The troll king’s sheer size was staggering; he loomed over the entire cavern like a living mountain, his form casting a massive shadow that enveloped everything beneath him. His body was a testament to ancient power, hewn from stone and earth itself. His skin was a rough, weathered gray, marked by deep cracks and crevices that ran along his limbs and torso, resembling the surface of an ancient, craggy mountainside. Thick patches of dark green moss and lichen clung to his body, giving him an appearance that was both primal and regal, as though he had risen from the very earth he now ruled.
The troll king’s muscles were massive and corded with strength, each movement causing the ground to tremble slightly beneath the weight of his colossal form. His limbs were as thick as ancient trees, with gnarled, stone-like hands that could easily crush boulders into dust. Despite his immense size and the raw power he exuded, there was an unsettling grace to his movements, as if he were a part of the earth and air around him, rather than merely an inhabitant of it.
His face was a landscape unto itself—broad and rough, with features carved in harsh, angular lines. His eyes, set deep within his skull, glowed with a faint, earthen light that seemed to pulse with an ancient intelligence. These eyes were the color of molten amber, burning with a quiet, dangerous intensity that spoke of eons of wisdom and a feral cunning that had kept him alive for untold centuries. His nose was wide and flat, resembling the edge of a cliff, while his mouth, lined with jagged, stone-like teeth, was set in a permanent scowl that radiated an aura of unyielding authority.
What truly set the troll king apart, however, was the crown atop his head. This crown was unlike any royal headpiece seen in the human world—it was a massive, jagged circlet of murky white crystals that jutted out in uneven, sharp angles as if it had been torn from the very heart of the earth. The crystals gleamed with an ominous light, reflecting the flickering flames of the cavern in a way that made them appear alive, almost as though they pulsed with the troll king’s own heartbeat. The crown, heavy and imposing, sat firmly atop his head, a symbol of his absolute dominion over this subterranean kingdom.
Draped around his shoulders and waist were strips of tattered, ancient cloth, barely covering his massive form. The fabric was coarse and stained with the dirt of countless years, its original color long faded into a dull, earthy hue. Despite its state, the cloth added to his presence, giving him the air of a ruler who cared little for the trappings of luxury, concerned only with the raw power he wielded.
The troll king’s gaze swept over the group, his eyes narrowing as he examined his new captives. There was a chilling intelligence in those amber orbs, a calculating mind that seemed to weigh their every move and word. As he leaned forward on his throne, the earth seemed to hold its breath, and the trolls around them fell into a reverent silence, awaiting their king’s next move.
"You all have trespassed within my domain," His voice was murky and deep, yet held an intelligence similar to grown humans. "I hope you all didn’t think you could escape."
