[General POV]
With a slow and deliberate motion, Aldril slid Anguirel to his side, the delicate movement of his wrist whispering the experience gained from those fencing lessons taught by Malenia.
In Glóin's eyes, the delicate touch Aldril had with his sword sent shivers down his spine. Had he not seen with his own eyes how Aldril dispatched orcs and trolls as if they were mere meat, Glóin would have believed he was just another 'elf flower,' as dwarves liked to mock the elves.
What Glóin didn't know was that those slow and delicate movements were the result of the trauma Malenia had inflicted on Aldril. Each dance, as Malenia liked to call it, had to be delicate and lethal, regardless of the condition he was in. He had to maintain the fevered grace of a painter wielding his brush.
"You dance alongside death, you must maintain the elegance and respect it deserves," Malenia would say every time Aldril's wrist faltered. He remembered it: the icy pressure of Malenia's sword on his shoulder, a touch as light as a deadly caress.
Then it happened. With a thunderous burst, Aldril shot from his position, the frozen lake creaking under his feet, cracks spreading in all directions like a web of ice lightning. In the blink of an eye, he was no longer there, moving like a falcon in a dive, his silhouette barely a flash against the glow of the shattered ice. In a sigh, he closed the distance, his charge unstoppable. The first troll barely had time to react before death fell upon it.
With a sharp flash of metal, the troll's armor cracked beneath the edge of Anguirel. The sword vibrated with joy, its steel singing with every inch of flesh and bone it passed through. With a subtle flick of the wrist, Aldril changed the angle of his strike, and the icy air carried with it the echo of a perfect cut. A moment later, the troll lay on the ground, split in two.
The trolls didn't take long to react. They weren't like their clumsy, savage kin; these were descendants of the first beasts shaped and corrupted by Morgoth. Creatures born from the abyss, forged for war and destruction.
Their instincts screamed for them to flee, to escape from the blade that had just severed one of their own with terrifying ease. But their pride, carved into them by the cruelty of their ancestors, kept them rooted. They would not flee. They could not. With a roar of primal fury, they charged into battle.
One of the trolls swung its mace with tremendous fury. The air hissed with the weight of the weapon before it crashed into the ground like a lightning bolt falling from the sky. But Aldril was already gone. With a dancing twist, he dodged the blow and, in an elegant jump, landed beside Glóin.
The impact shook the frozen lake, causing a web of cracks to spread with an ominous crackling sound. A thin fissure opened in the surface, revealing the dark, icy water, eager to escape from its frozen prison.
Beside Aldril, Glóin took a few seconds to react, shaking off his daze with a quick motion of his head. Then, he let out a fierce roar, a battle cry filled with fury and months of repressed emotions. His eyes gleamed with rage as he fixed his gaze on the five remaining trolls.
"Come on, you bastards!" his voice echoed in the frozen darkness.
With quick steps over the cracked surface, Glóin charged into battle, his axe raised and ready to sink into enemy flesh. The troll focused on Aldril ignored him... a fatal mistake. With a precise motion, the axe blade sank into the beast's unprotected knee, cutting through muscle and tendon. A scream of agony erupted.
The lack of strength forced the beast to fall to one knee, its face inches from the ground, a movement Glóin didn't waste. With a yank, his axe came free from the troll's knee like a buried thorn, and with a swift motion, he drove it into the troll's face.
"Here's one!" Glóin roared with fierce jubilation, swinging his axe proudly. "Don't dare ignore me, clumsy beast, or my steel will bathe in your blood!"
In his battle frenzy, he didn't see the other troll coming until it was too late. A colossal mace descended like lightning, hitting him with brutal force. A dry crack resonated in the air before his body was hurled, crashing to the ground with a muffled grunt.
"Damn it, you broke a rib," he muttered as he reluctantly got up. "You hit like a sissy!" he shouted as he raised his axe high, taunting the trolls.
The troll that had struck him roared in indignation, raising his mace above his head. He charged towards the dwarf with blind fury, but something in his body failed. He barely took a step before his legs buckled, and with a confused bellow, he collapsed like a felled tree. His massive body hit the ground with a dull thud, further cracking the frozen structure of the lake.
"What a stupid beast, I'm right next to him and he dares to ignore me" murmured Aldril, who, with a simple gesture of his sword, dispersed the blood that was dripping from it.
"Aldril, bastard! That troll was mine!" Glóin shouted indignantly.
"No, it wasn't. You let it hit you and lost the right to kill it."
They spoke as if the death of the trolls were a child's game. Maybe for Glóin, facing all six alone would be deadly, but with Aldril, he had the luxury of relaxing to the point that he didn't pay much attention to the fight and threw himself at the trolls like a hungry predator, which was how he got hit.
Aldril didn't worry about Glóin's health. The ability to inspire and strengthen others, lost in time, now surrounded the dwarf with a warm glow, like the fire of an ancient forge.
[Passive skill "Inspiration" activated: target – Glóin. Strength and endurance increased. As long as no mortal blow is received, the dwarf will continue fighting.]
The notification resonated in his mind. It was the first time it happened, and he attributed it to the fact that he rarely checked his system. But he didn't mind. That notice alleviated his concern when he saw Glóin take the troll's hit. Had it not been for the passive skill, the dwarf would have been seriously injured.
"Well, putting your outburst aside, there are three trolls left" Aldril said with a wave of his hand, interrupting Glóin's annoying chatter "You three also want to participate?" slightly shifting his gaze, Aldril spoke toward a ruined wall, where the figures of two dwarves and a hobbit appeared with apologetic faces.
"Well, I guess we've been found" said Fili with a sanctimonious tone.
"I told you Aldril would find us easily" muttered Bilbo, frustrated.
"Come on Aldril, we couldn't just stand here doing nothing" Kili added with an expression of indignation.
With a sigh, Aldril shook his head in exasperation. If he weren't busy, he would have already kicked them in the backside as a lesson.
"I guess I'd better hurry up" he murmured.
No sooner had he finished speaking than two maces descended like furious lightning, shattering the ground where he had been moments before. But Aldril was already gone. With a swift twist in the air, he dodged the attack and landed with noble elegance.
Determined to end the fight once and for all, Aldril launched himself like an arrow toward one of the trolls, before it could recover its mace, stuck in the frozen lake.
An overwhelming pressure fell on his skull. The last thing he saw was Aldril's hand, gripping him with relentless force. In a single move, his head was slammed against the icy surface of the lake. The crack of the ice breaking echoed in the air, followed by an even more grotesque sound as the pressure increased. The frozen barrier shattered, and with it, part of the troll's skull sank into the cold waters.
The beast's body lay still, its limbs still trembling in a final spasm.
To the side, Glóin took action. Taking advantage of the trolls' dazed state, he pounced like a snake on his prey. Cleverly, he took advantage of the ruined terrain and climbed up a stone staircase next to one of the monsters.
With a fierce grunt, he propelled himself from the height and lunged at the beast. His axe, raised high, descended with unyielding force. The blade cut through the air and sank into the troll's head with a dry, metallic sound. Its helmet cracked, but little did it do to stop the devastating blow. Dark blood poured out as the creature fell onto its back.
The last troll lunged at Aldril, swinging its jagged sword with ferocity. It longed to cut even a single hair from the human who made its instincts tremble.
Aldril spun on his heels with a quick movement, dodging the blow and taking distance. With the elegance of a feather, he positioned himself next to Glóin, who grunted as he pulled his axe from the fallen troll's skull. The massive beast still trembled with final spasms.
"Hey, Glóin" Aldril suddenly said with half a smile "Do you want to kill the last one?" he asked with a touch of mockery.
"Of course I do!" Glóin replied, fury and joy peacefully converging in his small body.
"In that case…" Aldril grabbed him by the neck. Glóin didn't resist, though he couldn't have even if he wanted to.
"Hey, bastard! What the hell are you doing?" he growled indignantly.
"Here it goes!" Aldril shouted, tossing him with measured strength toward the troll.
The monster stood stunned and confused for a moment, barely processing what had just happened.
"Ahhh, damn it!" roared Glóin, his eyes burning with fury. His axe rose with a deadly gleam, and the momentum did the rest.
The sound of metal ripping through flesh echoed in the air. In a single stroke, the troll's head was severed from its body and fell heavily to the ground.
Meanwhile, Glóin landed face-first into a pile of snow, letting out a muffled grunt. He climbed out of the snow mound, shaking himself like a wet dog, his beard wet, further accentuating the scene.
"That bastard…" Glóin muttered, indignantly "I won't stand for anyone saying I'm the first dwarf in all history to be thrown"
With a deadly glare, he turned toward Kili and Fili, who were barely containing their laughter.
"One word about this, and you're dead" he threatened, his deep voice filling the air. Then, his eyes shifted toward Aldril "And you… never, ever mention that you threw me"
The tone of his threat was as serious as his wounded pride, but the comedy of the situation couldn't help but mock his fury.
But this brief moment of relief was shattered by a gut-wrenching scream that gnawed at the concern of those present. A voice filled with unbearable pain echoed across the silent frozen lake.
"BALIIIN!"
***
Filthy orcs! I was reading some warhammer lore and my god, orcs became my favorite faction haha.
Advance chapters in "p@treon.com/Mrnevercry"