A Fairy Tale With Two

Chapter 9

     The sun warmed and the clouds cleared only a few hours later, and the barren moors gave way to a series of rocky hills, which took them a rather long time to get through. After that, the hills transformed into a forest with sparsely planted oaks, pines, and spruces.

     The sun was beginning to sink in the sky, and Rowan felt herself drawn to the book in her satchel. She longed to read it, but not in front of the others. It was hers, and she didn't have to let anyone else see it.

      "Do you hear that?" Aliyah lifted her head suddenly, "Water!" She sprinted forward through the trees, and Kaden glanced back at Rowan, "I could use a drink. You coming?"

       Rowan stowed away her thoughts of the book, realizing how dry her mouth was, "Heck yeah!" she exclaimed, and chased after him until they skidded to a halt on the edge of a river. But it was twenty feet below them in a raging river that roared through the gorge.

      Aliyah was standing away from the edge nervously, "This is just the farther part to the gorge we fell into a couple days ago."

       Rowan winced at the iciness of the memory, "Yeah, let's not do that again."

      "Look," Kaden pointed to their left, "That's a bridge!" They all turned to look, and sure enough there was a rickety bridge not too far away from them.

      "Sweet!" Aliyah grinned as they all raced towards it, "Can you believe our luck? Hundreds of miles of forest and we come out a hundred feet from the only bridge!"

     "That's not the bridge," Rowan said, slowing her run before they reached the wooden structure that arched across the raging river, "The main bridge is described to be 'thirty feet long' and 'made of stainless steel from the best miners in all the four kingdoms'. I've read about it before."

     "Maybe someone built one for their own convenience," Aliyah suggested, "That's what I'd do."

     "Whatever, let's just use it," Kaden stepped forward, but Rowan thought she saw a flash of movement from beneath the bridge.

     "Kaden, wait!" she shouted, but it was too late. An enormous hand reached up, batting the hunter back across the bridge and into a tree. Rowan pulled Aliyah back as a beast dragged itself from the small ledge beneath the bridge.

     Abnormally large hands fitted onto thin, lanky arms that went down to the hideous beast's knees as it slouched low. Its face resembled a bulbous potato, seeming oddly proportioned with its tiny black eyes and large ears. Its clawed hands left deep gashes in the ground, and it grunted something incoherent as it saw them.

      "River troll," Aliyah gasped, stepping back a few paces to get out of arm's length.

     "It's got a bridge," Rowan didn't back up at all. In fact, she didn't seem scared, "It's a river troll with a bridge. Their own rules prevent them from eating us unless we refuse to play its game."

      Kaden sat up slowly, rubbing his head. He saw the huge creature and leapt to his feet.

      "Relax," Rowan didn't take her eyes off of the growling troll, "Hello, there. We want to cross your bridge."

      The troll's face contorted into a horrible grin, the open mouth dousing her in its foul breath and giving her a view of its broken, rotting fangs, "Ah... a game, you seek?" It's voice was low and gritty, sounding almost like a boot crunching on granite chips. Rowan tried not to cringe away.

     "Yes," she said in a confident voice, lifting her chin as she faced the monster, "If we guess your riddle, you'll let us pass."

     "And if not..." the troll's grin twisted wickedly up the corner of its mouth, "You'll all stay for supper."