Asahi knelt behind a tree and watched as a troll he had come across stumbled and groaned. She was gripping her head and shaking it back and forth as if she were in pain. Then she unexpectedly twirled in a tight circle and ran head first into a nearby tree. Asahi braced his hand against the tree trunk to keep from losing his balance when the ground shook.
He watched in disbelief as she spun in a dizzying circle before her eyes rolled back in her head. She fell backward with a bone-shaking crash. Something was definitely not right. He slowly stood but remained hidden. He was glad of his precaution when, a moment later, he saw the troll’s unconscious body suddenly bow upward, and a black, liquid mass oozed from her mouth.
The mass coalesced, its size growing larger until it was about the si
