Chaos Lives in Everything - 52. Chapter 52

Skold darted towards a rather large pine tree; he moved smoothely across the frozen earth. The ground shook under his feet. He jumped out of the way just as the troll sliced at him with his axe. The blade missed him by centimeters.

The troll swung the axe again. Skold jumped up and grabbed a tree branch just in time. He swung up just in time and continued to climb. The branches swayed underneath his feet. Half way up the tree he turned and emptied both Uzis into the troll’s face.

The troll stumbled back once. It roared in a mixture or aggravation and pain, trying to shield its face with its free arm. The elven silver bullets tore into the beast. Black tar-like blood rained down onto the glowing snow. Skold quickly reloaded both Uzis and continued to climb.

It didn’t take long for the troll to recover. It roared and grabbed a hole of the massive tree trunk it its hands. It started to shake the tree. Skold lost his footing and dangled from a branch like a monkey. Gritting his teeth, he dug his fingers into the brittle branch. It was all he could do to keep from falling. Somewhere Dom was waiting, waiting for him to give the okay. With the way things were going it might have to be sooner rather than later.

Give us a few more minutes to dance. I’m not done having fun with the beast yet.

Skold pulled himself up and regained his foot long enough to jump towards the next tree. For a moment he soared through the cold Romanian winter air before landing gracefully on top of the tree. The troll had not yet noticed that he was gone. Skold watched as it continued to shake the tree, becoming more and more agitated. Skold grinned mischeviously. These creatures really are stupid.

“Dom!” Skold shouted. “Now!”

Dom immediately bolted out from behind a cluster of trees. The troll was still none the wiser, unaware of what was happening. It pulled at the tree, trying to pry it out of the ground. Dom took advantage of its distraction and struck the troll’s leg from behind with the axe. The axe let out a great hollow thunking sound as it cut through the troll’s flesh. The beast roared in pain and turned around to face Dom. Dom ran back in the direction of the trees, trying to take cover.

With a single yank the troll pried the tree from the ground in an explosion of snow, dust, and dangling nerve-like roots. Before it could swing the tree at Dom Skold let out an ear piercing whistle. The troll’s spiked head turned, glanced at Skold and then back at Dom. Skold could sense the rusty wheels of thought turning in its head. Which one do I go for? Which one, which one?

“Come on you foul piece of shit!” Skold shouted; he pulled out the rest of his grenades. “Over here!”

That did it. Again the troll charged. Skold leapt through the air towards it. He soared directly over its head, pulled the pins on the grenades, and dropped them directly into the troll’s mouth. He landed feet first in the snow next to. The troll stopped. A loud gurgling sound emitted from its belly.

“Take cover,” Skold said to Dom. “The thing’s going to blow.”

Dom cursed. “You’re shitting me?”

“You know I have no sense of humor.”

“No shit.”

They ducked behind the trees and watched the troll as it continue to stumble around drunkenly. It tore at its stomach with its claws, tearing into itself. Apparently the beast had enough sense to know that something wasn’t right. The grenades went off one by one, exploding inside of the troll’s belly. Black fluid flooded out of its mouth and nostrils, from the holes that had been punched in by the grenades. The troll fell to its knees, tried to stand up again, only to fall back down.

Skold almost felt sorry for the creature. Almost. It was like watching an animal dying, fighting to stay alive. He wondered if the troll was smart enough to know that death was inevitable. Didn’t all living creatures have some engrained sense of what death was? It gave one last dying groan and fell over on its side.

For a moment Skold and Dom just stood in the snow and the silence, listening to the race of their own hearts.

“Let’s go,” Skold said. “We need to catch up with the others.”

It didn’t take them long to catch up with the rest of the troops. They were nestled behind the trees. Within sight, just yards away, Paladin’s palace stood. It was tall and impassive and very foreboding. Golden light glowed from within the crystal windows. Skold pulled out a pair of binochulars and scanned the tops of the towers and the entrance. Skold frowned. There’s no guards. None at all on the outside...

“I don’t like this,” Skold said. “It’s too quiet. I don’t think Samhein would just send a single troll to fight us. He knows better. It’s a trap.”

“Of course it’s a trap,” Dom rumbled. “It’s like you said, by now he already knows that we’re here. I say we just charge and get this over with.”

Skold grinned. “And make a terrible bang?”

“Just to make them shit their pants.”

“Let’s do it.”

Skold gestured for his troops to follow him. He led them stealthily across the tower. He kept his eyes trained on the palace, expecting that at any second chaos would erupt. But it didn’t. Everything else was quiet. Nothing else moved. The double doors that led into the castle were made of thick oak and very, very tall. Skold and Dom pushed at them but no matter how hard they pushed the doors would not budge.

“It must be locked from the other side,” Skold said to his small army. “I need the mines and remote detonator.”

Skold planted the mines and waved for everyone to take cover. They pressed themselves flat against the side of the wall. Skold glanced at Dom. He was suddenly, dismally, very nervous. I want you to do this with me, he tried to say with his eyes. Dom seemed to get the message because he laced his fingers through Skold’s with one hand and placed his other hand over the detonator. His hand dwarfed Skold’s other hand, the hand that was placed on the detonator. As always Dom’s flesh was unnaturally, deliciously warm.

Dom nodded once and together they pressed the buttion.