by Paul J. Ward
“I mean whales,” Curl added, nodding at the elf. “With gills.”
Eve’rern sighed and shook his head.
“Oh don’t worry about that,” Tail Hammer replied. “I’ll be sticking with trolls. They’re far more tasty.”
Curl looked at Eve’rern uncertainly and with perhaps a hint of fear.
“He’s just playing with you,” Eve’rern winked.
Suddenly a new voice filled the air, loud and gruff. It was the voice of a troll, a big one.
“Curl!” the voice shouted. “Curl! Where are you! Come on out now and I promise you won’t be in trouble!”
Curl turned greener. “That’s papa troll,” he gasped. “I’d really better go.”
“Well I did say,” Tail Hammer whispered loudly.
“Until we meet again, friend Curl,” Eve’rern said with a dramatic wave of his hands. “And never, ever, stop seeking adventure. Always be curious.”
Eve’rern winked and waved goodbye.
“Goodbye, friend Eve,” Curl said simply, and with that, he turned and jumped into the surrounding branches.
Eve’rern listened to Curl as he crashed through the branches, descending fast. He could swear he heard a thump as Curl hit the ground.
“I do hope he’s alright,” Eve’rern said to Tail Hammer as the dragon prepared to take off.
“Don’t worry about him,” Tail Hammer replied. “Trolls have heads and bodies like rocks.”
Eve’rern sniggered. “Yes, I suppose they do,” he agreed, remembering how the pebbles had bounced harmlessly off Curl’s head.
“So, elf,” Tail Hammer boomed again. “Where do you want to go?”
“Giverish,” Eve’rern replied immediately, surprising himself. Meeting the curious young troll had made him realise that his long journey through Landfall was finally over. “Take me home, friend Tail Hammer, take me home.”
Tail Hammer flapped his giant wings and leapt into the sky.
CHAPTER 13
“Papa! Papa!” Curl said in feigned relief, as he threw himself at his father’s enormous feet.
“Where have you been, boy?” Papa troll thundered, holding a giant mallet in his hand.
Curl looked up at his father and boy, did he look mad! Curl wondered if Strim had woken papa troll early, just to get his cousin into trouble.
“Did Strim tell you I’d gone?” Curl asked, sounding braver than he felt.
“This has nothing to do with Strim!” he screeched in angry reply. “We were leaving early for the bridge remember! And here you are! Hiding from your papa so you don’t have to go!”
Curl’s eyes widened as he remembered that they were going to the bridge to scare the night travellers and have some fun. (Tut, tut).
“No papa, no!” Curl replied quickly, thinking of an excuse. “I left for the woods early to get us some birds eggs for the journey.”
Papa troll leaned over towards his son and scratched his big, hairy head. “Oh?” he said, hoping that he had. He was starving.
“But,” Curl said, sticking a finger up in the air, “I found this instead.” He pulled the dragon’s tooth up from his chest so his father could see. “It’s the tooth of a dragon.”
“A dragon’s tooth, huh?” Papa troll said, rubbing his hairy chin with his anger fading. In truth he was glad to see that Curl was fine. After all, he’d been telling Curl to act like a man troll so there was really no one else to blame.
He’d been too hard on the kid but that was no excuse for believing in creatures that the elves had made up. All trolls knew that the elves had made up the stories about befriending dragons to keep the trolls away.
“There’s no such thing as dragons, kid,” Papa troll said, placing his free hand gently on his shoulder. “And if there was, well, they’re long dead now. But it’s a nice tooth, so you can keep it. Now, lets go and get those eggs. We’ve got some scaring to do!” (Tut, tut).
Curl nodded and smiled at his father, happy that he wasn’t in trouble. A large silhouette over the top of the trees caught his eyes and he watched as it moved away.
He knew it was Tail Hammer and Eve’rern watching, making sure he was safe.
In that moment Curl realised that friends could come from the most unexpected places.
One sun (day), perhaps not so many anni (years) in the future, he would travel from the Black Swamp, leaving the only place that trolls called home.
Why?
As Eve’rern the traveller had himself said, because Curl was the most curious troll.
