Riddle in Stone (The Riddle in Stone Series - Book One) (40 page)
Read Riddle in Stone (The Riddle in Stone Series - Book One) Online
Authors: Robert Evert
Tags: #FICTION/Fantasy/General
Edmund scurried back, putting himself out of the troll’s long reach.
“Kravel and Gurding?” the troll asked, unnerved. “You’re joking.”
Becky reappeared out of the darkness, leaves and thorns sticking in her muddy fur. Keeping her distance from the troll, she snapped at the night air.
“Not at all. A . . . a c-c-c-couple, a couple of years ago they spoke with you about me. Something about a weapon made of a bluish metal, I believe.”
The troll flinched.
“You stutter,” he said, as if putting together distant memories. “And you have a dog.”
Get him in the knee! If he can’t run, you might be able to get out of here alive.
Edmund lunged forward again, jabbing at the troll’s elephant-like leg. The troll parried the blow with a swipe of his spear, the force of which nearly wrenched the ringing sword out of Edmund’s hands.
A cloud passed over the bright moon, plunging the valley into deeper darkness.
The roar of the river continued unabated.
“If you know Kravel and Gurding,” the troll said, stepping back still further, “tell me this. Which is the smart one?”
Force him into the river. Perhaps he’ll slip on the wet stones.
You’re good as dead if you stay here. You can’t fight a troll. You’re just a stuttering fool of a librarian!
“Kravel,” Edmund said, sliding to his left. “Kravel was the smart one. Gurding was just an idiot who did what he was told. But they didn’t have a brain between them.”
The troll retreated another step, keeping Edmund in front of him.
“What do you mean ‘didn’t’?”
“I killed them,” Edmund lied.
He sprang forward, the tip of his sword coming within an inch of the troll’s left knee.
Damn! You’re never going to stab him with this tiny sword. You need something bigger.
The troll laughed. “You’re a fine liar. I just spoke to—”
Suddenly, something the size of a bat flew through the dimness, sailing just behind the troll’s head and splashing into the river’s foamy current. As the troll spun to see what it was, Edmund drove forward again; this time his short sword scored deep into the troll’s enormous thigh. Black blood spurted, sizzling as it hit the damp ground.
Howling, the troll whirled around, his spear connecting with Edmund’s ribs. Edmund flew backward, landing ten feet from where the troll stood.
Becky launched herself at the distracted troll, biting its ankle.
As the troll attempted to fend Becky off, Edmund scrambled to his feet and charged. Shifting his weight, he was just about to impale the troll through its unprotected belly when something cold smacked against his temple. He fell sprawling to the ground.
“Sorry!” Pond yelled from the ridge high above them.
On his back, his head swimming, Edmund felt blindly for his weapon.
“There’s a reward for you,” the troll said, ignoring Pond’s volley of stones and the growling puppy clamped onto his leg. “A huge reward!”
Edmund’s fingers wrapped around the mud-covered hilt.
If only I had a lance or—
A longer sword? Your spell! Your spell! Use your spell!
The troll bent over, reaching for Edmund’s throat, and gloated, “You’re going to make me very, very wealthy!”
His hand trembling, Edmund pointed his short sword up at the troll and uttered the incantation his father taught him when he was a child. “
Forstørre nå!”
In a flash, the sword doubled in length, piercing the troll between his eyes and popping through the back of its skull with a bone-splitting crack.
The troll shuddered, then toppled forward. Its immense leathery torso crashed down on Edmund’s face and chest, pinning him against the rocky ground. He screamed for Pond as the troll’s hot blood coursed over him, burning his skin.
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