"Broken Dream - Fighting Excerpt (old)" by Gwenivere Stephan

I’m not sure if it’s possible for a brain to fry in the heat, but if it is, we must’ve come pretty close to it out there. The sun beat down on us relentlessly, and my knees got weaker every minute.

"Man, it’s so hot I’m seeing things," Lou said suddenly, breaking our heat-induced silence.

"Hey, me too," Frank said. I followed Lou’s eyes and saw a strange, black shape in the distance. It seemed to be getting bigger.

"I don’t think you’re seeing things, Lou," I said.

"Uh-oh!" Alec and Rachel said in unison, fingers going to their sword hilts. I felt a rumble in the ground under my feet.

"What is it?" Lou asked. Frank whimpered and stood behind her, shivering suddenly.

"It’s a desert troll," Alec said, his fingers tensing around the metal of his sword.

"A what now?" I said, as the shape got clearer, then suddenly disappeared.

"A desert troll. Nasty things. You won’t be alive once it takes it toll. Pain and misery are all it brings," Rachel explained.

"So it’s bad?" Lou said.

"Yes."

"Well, at least it’s gone," Lou said.

"Don’t be so sure… heads up!" Alec said, and a shower of sand, rock, grass, and dirt fell from the sky. A large, black, terribly ugly monster had burst from the ground. Lou and I yelped and jumped back. This made Lou trip over Frank’s huddled body, sending them both sprawling. Alec and Rachel had their swords out, and ready in front of them.

"Kiara," Lou said, pulling herself to her feet and grabbing my arm, "what is that thing?" I gulped in reply, my fingers slowly curling around my sword hilt.

Alec was first to move, jumping forward, swinging wide and landing a blow on the troll’s extended arm. The troll roared and a wave of hot, smelly breath passed over us. I gagged and Lou stumbled back. The troll swung its massive black arm around and up, but Alec dodged it.

I got a good look at the beast then, his skin gleaming like metal in the sun. His eyes were pure white, his skin black. Greenish blood oozed from the cut on his arm. His head was the shape of a square, flat faced and ugly. Sharp pointed teeth protruded from his lips like alligator teeth. He had arms and legs like tree trunks, groping hands about the size of you’re average cars. 6—instead of the usual 5—stubby fingers tipped in hard black nailed wiggled at the ends of each hand. I shuddered.

Rachel’s hair was like a streamer as she leaped forward, swinging her sword at his ankles. She landed her blow and made the beast stumble. Rolling, she came back to her feet on the other side, skipping back and forward, her sword a shimmering arc towards the beast’s knee. Getting smart, the troll moved out of the way, roaring in anger.

A shadow appeared over my head and I jumped to the side, getting covered in dirt as his large arm smacked the ground beside me. I stumbled back, not being able to see, and heard a roar of pain as someone landed a blow. My eyes cleared to find the sword out of its sheath in my hand. The arm arced towards me again, a helpless flail against the swords of Rachel and Alec. I wrapped my hands around the hilt and lifted my arms above my head. A loud clang and the troll stumbled back, a gash in his arm. My sword slid back, and then stuck, lifting me off my feet as he raised his arm.

I gasped as I watched the ground get farther away. 4 pairs of eyes watched me go up, up, up, and then with a whoosh started to go down.

I realized in a spilt second I would be crushed, and in that second I kicked out, sending my sword flying from his arm, and myself along with it. I hit the ground hard, and the air was knocked out of me. A shower of dirt smashed onto me as his arm hit the ground again. I looked up to see Alec leap forward and up, his feet landing on the troll’s arm and flying up to his shoulder. The sword swung out and clipped the side of the troll’s head.

The troll swiped at him, but he was already on the ground again, crouched and ready, like a spring about to fly. Flailing horribly, the troll started to fall. The shadow betrayed his body, and I gasped in surprise.

"Lou!" I cried, and before I could think the sword went flying from my hands, and landed in the dirt in front of her. She grabbed it, and swung up and in. The troll gave a grunt and stumbled back, then to the side, clutching at the sword lodged in his throat. Lou, being smart, had let go and was safely out of the way when the troll fell dead and harmless into the dirt.

There was a moment of silence, and then with a sigh of exhaustion, I lowered my head to the ground. I rested for a moment before achingly lifting my head and body again. Alec and Rachel were converged around Lou, who looked like she had fainted.

I stumbled over as Lou opened her eyes. "That was freaky as all get out," she said.

"Tell me about it," I answered, sinking to my knees beside her. Then, together, we started to laugh. A crazy, exhausted, relieved laugh.

"Let’s keep going," Alec said, running his fingers through his now-dirty hair, "You two are enough to kill a person." For a moment I wondered what we had done, because it was obvious we hadn’t MADE the troll come. But I tossed it aside, to think about later.