Chapter 3, rest and darkfall.

The journey through the forest went slowly onwards. Occasionally Mirra would call out to Hrafnir and then jump off into the undergrowth to gather some herb or berry she had discovered from the vantage point on his shoulder. Many stories were shared; mostly by the girl. The squirrel had woken up but was kept semi sedated and tended to by the little troll, who wanted to make sure it was loyal to her before she headed out on it again. Hrafnir started to feel a bit like a pack mule but didn't complain as the company was very pleasant and different from the slow and grumpy mountain kin he was used to. He didn't quite agree with her treatment of the squirrel either but it seemed happy.

Nightfall approached with a scent of water on the air. Vegetation grew more dense as a small forest lake appeared in front of them; stretching fairly far to each side. The surface lay still and black but for some mosquitoes and other insects spreading sparse circular ripples.

"These branches and brambles are tiresome" Hrafnir concluded and sat down next to a mossy log half covered by the water. "This would be a nice place to stay for a while" he added; prodding at the water with a reed. Mirra agreed. After having fed the squirrel ample supplies of her sedative herbs and nuts she tied it to a branch and jumped up on the log looking out over the lake. Abundant water lilies were closing up their flowers for the night, slowly and barely noticeable. "You should have one of those on your shoulder, Hrafnir. They are beautiful, I wouldn't mind sitting in one" she smiled. He sighed ponderously.

A few hours later the moon had risen and Mirra had gone to sleep on a bed of leaves inside the hollow log. Hrafnir was still sitting next to it. He felt happy for having some time alone to gather his thoughts. Sitting there he noticed a mysterious light that started dancing around the water lilies, occasionally settling down on one; luring it to open up it's petals before fluttering away again. He chuckled softly, dipping his feet in the cold water. The wisp twitched upon hearing him and fled toward the shoreline a bit further away.

Rising up he noticed something gleaming where the will-o'-wisp had fled. Between some branches he could make out the shape of a small human girl, eerie light surrounding her as she sat praying with her head bent towards the water surface. Carefully and with surprisingly little noise he braced himself and approached her.

"What are you praying for, little human?" he asked. She was dressed in delicately embroidered pale blue silks and her ghostly glow was enhanced by a slight translucency to her entire figure. Long locks of golden blond hair shone as the wisp circled her and she turned to face him. "Prayers are not for my kind, troll" she responded, "but still I try."

She paused. Her features were child-like, barely more than twelve or eleven in human years, but there was a different age to her expression. Hrafnir sat down next to her. "I've been told I'm a good listener" he said.

"Many centuries ago these lands were the hunting grounds to a castle. My name was Leliana, and I was the second daughter to the lord. My days were spent sewing, playing the piano and singing but sometimes my sister and I would sneak off to this lake to play. One day my mother took me aside and told me of the man my father had decided should be my husband. He was a prince from a far away kingdom and would come to claim me within the next cycle of the moon.

I got very excited and ran to tell my sister. She didn't react the way I expected. We had discussed our possible future husbands extensively and had been day dreaming together about our marriages, but instead of rejoicing she got angry with me and wouldn't speak to me for several days. I thought it was because she would miss me.

When she finally would pay me attention again she broke down and explained she had heard horrible things about the prince. She said he had the heads of three previous wives cut off and had beaten yet another one to death. I was shocked and scared to hear her tales. My nights got haunted by nightmares and as the day when I would be wed approached I could not sleep at all for fear of the future."

The ghost sighed and continued. "When my mother came home with my wedding dress I was in a state of panic. After the maids had dressed me I begged to be alone for a while. I had decided that rather than having my life taken by a brute of a husband, I would end it myself. Terrified, I swam to the bottom of this lake until the world faded around me.

Some days later I awoke to the sound of wedding bells. On the shore of the lake my sister was standing with her new husband and prince. She threw her flowers in the water and kissed him.He was no brute. He was a handsome young man, gentle and loving. I tried to reach through the surface of the lake but the sun was shining and imprisoned me in the dark waters.

They would often come to walk in near the lake, happy and in love. With time they moved into the castle together as rulers and had children of their own playing by the shores. It was many centuries ago now and the castle has crumbled to a ruin. Every night I have been sitting here praying for release. I sinned against my family and myself, trusting in a sister who couldn't bear the thought of not being the first to be wed away."

Hrafnir sat silent for a while, digesting the story. Humans were very strange, he concluded. "While I don't understand why you would want to be given away to a stranger, I do understand betrayal" he said slowly. "It is important to care for those who trust you".

The little girl gathered her skirts and walked out to one of the biggest water lilies and urged her wisp to settle down on it. With a sharp tug she picked it once it had blossomed and carried it back to Hrafnir. "Here, I want you to have this to remember me by. Keep me in your thoughts and one day I might be set free" she said as she took a deep breath and gently blew on the flower, surrounding it with her glow. "It will not wither until I do."

Hrafnir gratefully accepted her gift and sat with her until she faded when the first rays of the sun rose over the tree tops in the east.

Chapter 2, where our hero finds a fellow traveller.

The large red squirrel sniffed at the air and stood at it's hind paws scouting, tail twitching. Mirra lay in the bushes waiting for it to calm down. Her furry little hands twined the hemp fibers harder, knotting them into a suitable lasso. With slow movements she checked her upper left pocket for the cookie crumbles; making sure they were safe.

The squirrel sat down again, focusing on cleaning his muzzle and chattering quietly to himself about whatever it is squirrels find interesting. Nuts, she figured. Squirrels like nuts.

Her beady little eyes shone out of the dirt she had rubbed on her face to mask the scent of troll and give her ample camouflage. Rolling over on her stomach she started creeping towards her target, hemp lasso slung over one shoulder. She was close now; only a few inches to go.

The big red creature hissed loudly as she jumped on its back and threw the lasso around its neck in one agile motion and then they were off. The speed alone was enough to make her dizzy but what made it worse was the world occasionally disappearing underneath her as the squirrel jumped from tree to tree in a state of panic.

The hemp rope held firm and she clutched at its neck with her legs, initially rather clumsily but after a couple of seconds she got the spirit of it. "Yeeeee haaaaaa!" she shouted smiling wildly; urging the critter on.

Hrafnir had just woken up. He yawned towards the bright mid-day sun and was making a motion to sit up as the little rider on her red steed slammed into his belly. The mount got knocked out by the impact and fell down on his lap and with it so did the forest troll.

"Hey watch it you big fat lump of rock! This is no place for loitering!" she shouted as she jumped up to check on the squirrel. She examined it carefully and shoved some of her cookie crumbles in its mouth.

"It'll be alright, don't worry tiny" she continued, addressing the squirrel. "I'm going to take care of you and explore the world beyond these dull trees."

Hrafnir stared bewildered at the two of them; slightly confused with the abrupt start of the day. "I'm sorry little girl, I didn't mean to hurt you" he rumbled. "I was just waking up. Didn't mean to sit in the wrong place. I'm new here, you see, I'm an adventurer." The last part was said with a hint of pride. "Is there something I can do to make it better? Do you like flowers?" he stretched one of his thick, stubby arms over his shoulder and picked a bluebell; presenting it to the girl.

Mirra looked at the mountain troll, tilting her head, but accepted the flower and placed it on her head. "I like blue" she smiled back at him.

"Where are you going'?"

"I don't know. I'm wandering for a while. The mountains don't fit me any longer" Hrafnir responded, pondering her words. Mirra looked at him appraisingly. "Since you knocked out my squirrel you might as well help me do the same thing then. I won't be going near any mountains, that's for sure. They give me the shivers."

"I like that! You probably know more about this forest than I do; like how to get out of it for example. Is there something beyond it? I heard stories when I was smaller.."

"You're still pretty small, for a mountain troll. And flowery."

"I like flowers, they smell good and never hurt anything" he stated defiantly; provoking an odd glance from his furry companion.

"You sound like my uncle Hazer, he's always talking about peace and love" she said. "I don't like calm! The wind in your hair and new sites to see! Are you sure that you're an adventurer?"

Resolutely, Hrafnir picked up the girl and placed her on a mossy patch on his shoulder. Carefully holding the unconscious squirrel he rose to the sound of grinding rocks.

"I am Hrafnir: orphan of mount Starheim. All that is left to me is adventuring."

"My name is Mirra. I think if you head towards that tree over there and keep heading in that same direction you'll eventually reach something other than the forest" she said, gesturing towards the southern end of the clearing. "But don't ask me what".

Chapter 1, Where our hero departs

"Stop sniveling about like a fleshling and eat your bone stew, boy. How will you ever grow if you can't even stay together? Your left shoulder is a mess of cracks". Mother Marblechunk glared at the little troll in front of her. Hrafnir sighed and poked at the slimy bones and hooves swimming around in the big black cauldron he had in front of him. He was almost a hundred years old already but only about the size of a small barrel.

He secretly liked the cracks. If he let them grow big enough he could plant little flowers in them and their scent would follow him around wherever he went. His mother did not like that at all; she'd yell at him whenever she found out and pull them out by the roots. That always hurt.

Reluctantly he finished his dinner and had several granite-rich rocks on the side for good measure. With big soulful eyes he looked pleadingly at his mother until she gave in.

"Go then boy, on with your adventures."

With a big grin carved on his little gray face Hrafnir ran out of the cave with his mother shouting after him, "all this running about isn't worthy of a proper norse mountain troll you know! It breaks pieces off and keeps you small! Slow down my rockling...". She would see him run off, worry cracklets appearing all over. "He'll be reduced to rubble soon. Woe is me..."

For a mountain troll, Hrafnir was very agile and quite fast paced. The other trolls in the clan of mount Starheim were thick and slow, feeding off the rich mineral veins and digging further and further into the mountain's bowels. Grandfather Hron was the biggest of them all; as wide as the short side of a barn and with a voice which caused minor earth quakes whenever he got upset. Luckily that didn't happen very often.

Hrafnir rushed towards a small glade in the outskirts of the Ever-Stretching Forest where he knew he would be able to see something truly magical. He carefully picked up some bluebells and some lily of the valley on the way; making sure he got plenty of dirt and all of the roots and arranged them on his wide back and shoulders. The sun was close to setting as he arrived and sat down in the centre of the glade. Sitting perfectly still he was almost invisible.

Several hours later the first misty streaks had long since risen from the grass and enhanced the scent of the flowers surrounding the little clearing. A shiver of excitement ran through Hrafnir when he heard the tingling voices of the mist elves coming to dance in the moonlight. Their flowing white robes swirled around him and the beautiful choirs chanting were to him like the little pieces of glass he had found under an old fire place and saved for years before finally succumbing and tasting their crisp sharpness.

It took him a long while before he could focus enough to hear the words they chanted, but as he realised what was being said he started to tremble. The song was about a sister of theirs; lost to the mountains in a cruel game between rock and air. She had gone on a quest to reach the top of mount Starheim because she wanted to get closer to the moon. On her way up the mountain one of Hrafnirs relatives had found her and she never returned to her friends. Sad and upset he listened to further tales of crimes against the elves of the mists in what seemed an endless war between his brutish kin and theirs. Tears welled up in his eyes but he remained sitting down covered with his flowers. The chanting went on for hours and it was not until the first rays of dawn that the elves faded back into the shadows of the forest.

Birds were chirping in the early morning sun. Hrafnir sat defeated in the centre of the glade. He knew his kin could be cruel but never before had he felt so distanced from them. Taking up a big chunk of grass and earth he swore an oath to seek out his destiny away from the mountain. Devouring the earth made him slightly queasy but he sniffled bravely and then lay down to rest.