System Break

I stood and raised my right arm holding a torch above my head. Timing was key; the boulders would take time to dislodge and fall. I couldn't see the positions of the mountainfolk with my own eyes, they were too far away and hidden behind the rocks they sought to drop on the unsuspecting troll.

But the demon bird could see them. He swooped past them and circled back around above the troll. It ignored the crow like bird flying high above its head.

When it entered the chasm, I waited. All I wanted to do was drop my arm, but I wanted to be sure. It passed the first men, I held, and they held.

After it passed the second group, I began to wave the torch and then a few seconds later I dropped it. The torch dropped down into the chasm, it floated and swung like a leaf. The boulders did not.

They wobbled and teetered on the top of the cliff and one by one they dropped down into the chasm. The first dropped in front of the troll and startled it. It looked up as another slammed into its face.

The sickening crack reached our ears and made us smile. Arrows peppered its body as the archers let loose. The troll's warbled cry rang through the chasm and it stumbled into the path of more boulders. In a few more seconds, it was buried in half a dozen.

Reyas and I didn't waste time and scooted down the rope into the chasm.

The rocks moved as it struggled. Its cries of pain became angry roars. It struggled and arrows continued to pepper its visible fur; they were like tiny pins in a large doll.

Backpacks of coal where thrown down onto it. I was halfway down when it emerged from beneath the boulders. It flailed about consumed by anger. It picked up a boulder and threw it back from where it came.

The strangest fight had begun. Tiny men running and pushing down large rocks against a giant troll hurling them back. The men died in groups of two and three when they were struck.

Reyas and I continued to climb down into the chasm despite the treacherous exchange.

I stood thirty feet from it and my demon bird's eye view was my lifeline. I dodged the falling rocks from my allies. I held out my hand for Reyas to stay back, it was far too dangerous for her, she didn't have a demon bird companion giving her a heads up.

I ran and pushed qi into my legs and stomach. Swirls and twists of qi gave me both speed and agility; I would need it all to jump and dodge the barrage of rocks and from above and the troll itself.

It was five times my height and had ten times my strength. I looked up at the impossible target. The bigger they are the harder they fall; I told myself. Then I realised that I was big too.

It was severely wounded from the boulders, broken limbs and flesh gouged so deeply its bones were showing. Despite the severe damage - it thrashed around, and the wounds closed in front of my very eyes.

I opened my qi sight and saw it in all its glory. Trolls were grotesque lumps of devastation. But when I looked at their qi paths, they were a thing of intricate beauty. Its core equalled that of the giant boar, and I could see it draining as it healed.

Trolls were a contradiction, so ugly and yet so beautiful. I couldn't imagine copying its technique. I could barely comprehend it, let alone memorise it.

A boulder descended near me and it shocked me into action. Demon bird showed it coming down upon my head and I jumped to the left in the nick of time.

The troll snarled at me, but it was more interested in killing the ones who rolled rocks down onto it.

I waited for it to pick one up and wind for its throw. I thanked Gisael when I saw an arrow pierce its eye. I ran and leaped into the air and placed a foot on the boulder it lifted, and I leaped again onto its shoulder.

It twisted, roared and I flew before I could strike. I was headed for a rock pile and the landing was going to hurt. I used my qi and braced for impact. One foot slammed onto a rock and I turned with the momentum and let it take me as I skipped, hopped, and jumped before I skidded to a stop.

My feet were made of sturdy stuff, but they were bruised and bled.

The troll ripped an arrow from its eye and turned its attention on me. I laughed when a large rock hit it in the back of the head. Despite losing half their number the mountainfolk fought on.

Demon bird's vision saved me again. I dodged another massive rock and ran back towards the troll. Part of me felt like the mountainfolk were trying to kill me as well.

Arrows pelted its face in search of its eyes, but it turned and twisted. The brute was battered and confused. It was being assaulted from all directions. An axe appeared in its back and I recognized it. I was Reyas'; I looked for her and demon bird showed me she was still on the cliff face.

My eyes never left the troll as I charged for a second time. I ran and leaped for her axe and dodged another rock. I felt the wind from it as it flew by.

When I landed on the trolls back, I pulled on her axe and used it to climb. When it came loose, I swung and lodged it in the troll again higher on its back. I hung on for dear life as it twisted.

Its drool flew past me as it roared. I scampered across its back; I didn't want to be anywhere near those fangs. I was worried I'd lose my footing so I used my qi and stabbed my spear into the nape of its neck as deep as I could.

It roared in pain and turned. I hung on to my spear for dear life as I swung like a small child in their father's hands.

I stood on my spear. It was wood. It was fucking wood and it felt alive. I used tree-run and stuck to it like glue. My only weapon was my platform. So, I punched the troll in the back of the head using qi strike.

I punched so hard pain shot up my arm. I smashed it with all the qi and strength that I had. It whirled and twisted trying to pry me loose as my fists broke through its skull. Its hand tried to grab me, and I ducked.

Its other hand tried to grab me, and I dropped down grabbing my spear with my hands before I jumped back up and punched it again.

A massive boulder struck it in the head, and it wobbled. It was unsteady on its feet. Blood was oozing out the wound I made in the back of its head and I could see its brains within.

Before it could heal, I stuck my fist inside and pulled out as much brains as I could. Again, and again.

It was then that Reyas appeared beside me, axe in hand and she held on with one embedded in the troll and she swung the other.

The troll fell to its knees and then forward. It was down, but we had learned the hard way that it was not out. I pulled my spear and used the remnants of my qi to pierce its brain. I used my qi to push my spear deep inside until I heard a crack.

I grinned at Reyas who was covered in blood. She laughed at me and I pulled my favourite, wicked skinning knife. The one she gifted me.

It was sharp and cut the troll's skin like butter. I worked quickly afraid of what could happen. As I worked Gisael and the others appeared. She worked with Reyas to dig out the qi core.

I was almost done skinning when they rolled the core out. I used my sight and I could see streams of qi leaving the core and into the troll. It was still healing.

"Take it away, further," I yelled.

They rolled it around boulders and down the valley. Only when it was sixty feet away did the streams of qi abate.

"Enough," I called. We had made a new discovery. The troll didn't need to be decapitated or burned. We just needed to separate it from its qi core.

When the mountainfolk gathered, I said, "You can keep your coal. Take it home. You can have its meat too."

Skanvord looked confused. "Don't we need to burn it?"

I shook my head and pointed. "When its qi core is that far away it can no longer heal."

The skinning was done, and I went to retrieve my spear. I pulled it as hard as I could, and it wouldn't budge. Reyas helped me by hacking away at the troll's skull but it was no good. My spear was damaged, it was sheered in three places along its shaft.

I was more upset with the loss of my spear than the deaths of the mountainfolk. I'm a terrible person.