TK Tales


The knee of the troll to Temberlyn's right gave a satisfying crunch as her foot lashed out, sending the thing on a journey to the floor which she intended would end with her blade in its throat. Of course, she still had to withdraw that blade from the one in front of her - but he wasn't likely to put up much of a fuss on that count now; she could tell by how limp he was that the towering cave-dweller was already finished. As the third one was a already headless non-threat, the ferocious little tiger-warrior was coming close to declaring victory for herself - and pity on the trolls - when she heard a croaking, gurgling voice howl, "Get her!" Flicking a glance over from the corner of her eye, she saw two more of the lumbering beasts emerging from the cave's shadowy depths - flanking a much shorter figure who wasn't much bigger than Tember herself. This, she could see, was a female troll, and unless Tember was very much mistaken, the troll-woman was in charge. While the brave tigress certainly didn't feel fear at the appearance of this new factor in the battle, she did feel a little flush of concern; the females of the troll species were notoriously much more intelligent and cunning than their brutish male counterparts, and while they didn't often ascend to positions of open dominance in a given troll tribe, they did tend to be the "power behind the throne". And this one, it seemed, had broken that backward, primitive tribal mold and risen to a place of open prominence. She would be a force to be reckoned with, Temberlyn knew, and she tightened her grip on her sword to finish off the ones she with which she was already contending, before this undoubtedly more dangerous trio joined the fray...


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On to "Not Playing Fair"