Chapter 1
The Trolls and Battles
“Alright everyone, let’s move out.” Screamed Caption Sally Alvar as she walked away from the communication basin. People ran out of the room barking orders, while Sally traveled towards a second Lieutenant who had been meeting scouts in a different location. “There is a company of Fae and humans heading towards a pass to meet up with some trolls. It seems they are heading straight north. There are a few human villages and wolf packs in that area but we are not sure what their target is yet.”
“Blue Moon Pack, Ma’am,” the Second Lieutenant said without hesitation.
“Are they sure?!”
“Yes, there seems to be someone at that location that interests the Pale and Red queens very much. The order is no survivors.
“Has their Alpha been informed?”
“Yes, the Alpha and his warriors are meeting up with Company 119.”
“Why are they taking the pass? They should know if we catch wind of it, we will engage them there.”
“It seems they are very upset with the order to take the pass, but the Red Queen wants the pack leveled by morning.”
“Well then, we cannot allow them out of the pass. There is a door just 4.5 miles away from Wayward Pass . The 119 is already through their closest door and has come out to the east of the passage. We are taking a door to the west. I will contact my aunt and make sure her unit goes to Blue Moon just in case we fail. Whatever is there must be protected at all costs.”
Sally said a prayer for safety for both the 119 and the 120 and the protection of whoever the Queens wanted dead. Why now, why with the end so close? All three of the Queens were being squeezed between the Rogue Army and the Hunters Army. A third Army had just been formed, the Lost King Army, and they were posed to push the queens into one last battle in the center of the continent of Sharleneton. This unholy mission must have been very important to them. The door came into view. It opened to a hallway with a hundred doors which were all alike. Half way down the hall was a brightly lit door with a bin next to it. She started to run towards the door, grabbing a pouch before going out that door. Bright light hit her eyes as it flickered between the trees, a thickly wooded area laid out before her. The sudden chill hit her as the air had to be 20 degrees cooler than their base camp. She stopped, sniffing the air before running ahead of the large group of humans and Fae that were filing out of the magic door, each with their own pouch in hand. Once she was at the edge of the woods she sniffed again before closing her eyes and listening to the world around her. One of her second lieutenants walked up next to her.
“I can feel a large group just south of the pass.”
“Mitch, do we need our wheels?”
“At top speed.”
“Spread out and wheels out,” she screamed as the first platoon ran out into the open area away from each other. They pulled out what looked to be a toy four-wheeler from the sparkly black pouch. Each one placed their toy on the ground and then took four steps away from it as the toy started growing into a full-size four-wheeler big enough for two people. Everyone but Sally jumped onto their own four-wheeler, starting it up. No sound could be heard from the motors or from the wheels rolling over the ground. Soon the silent army made their way to their future battle field at top speed while their major ran ahead of them. They stopped half a mile from the opening of the pass, touching their four-wheelers with their pouches, causing the machines to return to toy size, allowing them to place them back into the pouches. Everyone lay on the ground waiting for their next order. Sally sat in front of a large boulder just ahead of them with her eyes closed, listening to the world. Second Lieutenant Mitch and Darico both came up behind her on their bellies waiting for her orders. Her eyes opened suddenly “Trolls” she whispered, causing both men to look at each other with worried expressions. “But where? I should be seeing them.” A few moments later, war cries could be heard from the other side of the pass. The trolls must have come up the other side of the pass behind the 119. Sally looked at Second Lieutenant Derico, “Rain hell down on the enemy forces after they enter the pass. I trust you with this task. I will at least help slow down the trolls. Make quick work of the first, for the trolls may not be far behind.” Before he could say a word, Sally was off again running and jumping over rocks and boulders. She found a narrow gap in the pass towards the mouth of it and jumped to the other side, making her way behind the cliffs of the pass to battle with the trolls. She used her communication watch to send the location of the gap back to her company. They would forward the message to the 119.
The sounds of howls could be heard when Sally realized that the trolls had not attacked the 119 but they had come upon the Blue Moon forces. Major Syros had brought one of his Platoons with him, leaving the other three at a low point of the pass about midway along, waiting for the enemy forces to arrive.
“Mayor Sally, thank you for coming. These giant brutes are creating far too much noise. I would appreciate any aid you could provide me in silencing their atrocious screams.” Said the older hunter who led the 119. His smiling eyes almost hid his pain as the man focused on the task at hand. Sally returned his smile. It was hard not to remember his wife and kids before their village had been razed. Sally was in the same grade as his youngest. She too had big bright smiling eyes, but instead of pain they had pure childhood innocents behind them. Their faces must have never left his mind.
These thoughts quickly left as Sally caught a smell of something sweet which seemed to overpower her system, followed by a cry of pain that shot pain straight through her very soul. A troll had just smashed a large werewolf into a boulder as another troll was about to hit him in the head with a huge club. Sally quickly pulled out her sword, jumping in front of the man and slitting the throat of the troll, covering both of them in troll blood. Its falling body just missed the two of them. All she could smell now was disgusting troll blood, but the need to protect was still there. Most try not to cut the beast, for they spray sewer blood all over their enemies. The smell never leaves clothes and it sometimes takes weeks for the smell to wear off the skin.
Sally turns to fight the first troll as the injured man tries to heal himself enough to at least walk. Major Syros was leading a group of part polo bear shifters , part fae, which he had managed, with great difficulty, to coerce into joining his company by unknown means. His special platoon looked more like super-sized fae with major over the top anger issues. Perfect for troll fighting. Major Syros and his specially trained platoon were working through the trolls in front of them. The troll in front of Sally used its club to knock the sword out of her hands at the beginning of their fight and she returned the favor by sending its club flying over a nearby cliff. They were locked in hand-to-hand combat as the large werewolf struggled to heal itself behind her. He had already started to shift back to his human form. The troll finally fell but two more took its place. Fifteen minutes after the second one had fallen, the last two also fell and when their bodies hit the ground, the battle at the pass could be heard. But for some reason, instead of trying to force their way to the pass to help their comrades, the trolls keep trying to press towards the injured Alpha behind Sally. Finally, Sally catches sight of a behemoth troll knocking everyone out of its way, including other trolls as it makes a bee line towards them.
“We got to get you out of here. I can’t control a fight with that thing well enough to keep it from hurting…” She grabbed the man by the arm; the word “mine” suddenly came out of her mouth. The man looked horribly shocked. Her eyes locked with his chocolate eyes and for a moment their world seemed to slow down. He suddenly shook his head and pulled his arm away. She noticed the mark on his neck which started to c***k her heart, but she had to stop the feeling. Regardless, what she felt her job right now was to stop the trolls from getting to her soldiers and to save as many people as possible. At that moment, it included this man.
“No, it is not possible.” Said the Alpha. Sally's face turned to stone as she forced him to his feet, making him walk towards the cliff.
She looked down the cliff, “that is too far down for you.” She looked around and then down again. “I am going to put you on that ledge down there. It can’t reach you there and you can get back up once you are healed. It looks like there may be a small cave. Just stay out of sight.”
“No!” He screamed in his alpha voice. It did not affect her but Sally felt his power through his voice. She could hear his bones snapping back together as his body suddenly healed itself. He was holding her hand tight while looking down at her with anger, and yet, something else. “I will fight with you. It is my people that thing wants to kill. You are my… we don’t have time for this. You keep him looking up at you while my wolf attacks his legs. We just need to cripple him.”
Sally just shook her head as she forced her hand out of his grip. “Just stay out of my way. I can’t fight right, if I think you are in danger, okay.” He started to say something when she pushed him out of the way of a flying club. The stupid monster had thrown his club at them, trying to knock him off the cliff. A roar came out of Sally like none that had heard before. Her eyes glowed as energy flowed all around her and into the ground. The sounds of the battle at the pass intensified as Sally's breathing became harder and more dangerous. She screamed at the huge troll, jumping up onto the monster's head, wrapping her legs around its neck, trying to cut off its air.
“That woman,” he mumbled under his breath as he shifted, tearing a large chuck out of the beast’s leg. It tried to kick at the Alpha while it was trying to hit Sally with its tree trunk-like arms. The beast may have been slow but he was extremely powerful, like playing tag with a train. The back and forth went on for some time when Major Syros stabbed the beast in his back. The behemoth swung around violently, knocking everyone off in different directions. Once again, the Alpha bounced off a boulder as well as Major Syros. The Fae force was finishing off the other trolls and some of them had started to make their way toward the beast. It made one last strike at the Alpha but Sally tried to block its arm with her body. He simply sent her flying over the cliff as the fae started to stab the monster in the back, forcing it to its knees. Without any thought, the Alpha jumped over the cliff after her in his wolf form. He caught up with her, cradling her with his legs, as he flipped over, hitting the water with his back. Once the force of the fall had been absorbed by his wolf, he shifted into his human form, bringing Sally up to the surface with him. He held her close as he swam towards the river bank.
“Please,” he kept whispering to her as he laid her down trying to get the water out of her lungs. Finally, water came out of her mouth. He laid her on her side, placing her head on his shoulder. He put his head into the base of her neck but all he could smell was troll blood. “It does not matter. We will figure it out later. It doesn’t matter. You are alive. I just don’t understand. I feel something and I do not understand.” He repeated this until he passed out holding her in his arms. The queens’ soldiers screamed in agony as they succumbed to the hell that was falling upon them.
