Zach had to hold back his laughter at the sight of the troll. It is half the size of a normal troll and is rumored to be completely immune to magic. The Hell God's trolls are immune to fire, but extremely vulnerable to ice. It is a smaller, weaker version of its kind.
She knelt beside her bedroll and drew her sword, "It's not immune to magic, it's vulnerable to ice!" she shouted.
She rushed past Rab and Lindis, who looked back at her. "W-what are you doing, kid? Don't run over there!"
But she didn't listen. The troll raised a giant hand and tried to smash it at her, but she narrowly dodged the blow by taking an easy step to the left. She turned around, stood up, stepped on its feet, and pushed its legs back. "Frost Slash", she cast magic, causing frost to form on the sword and glowing dark blue.
She cringed at the feeling of magic flowing through her fingers. It was one of the simplest, lightest draining spells she'd ever known in her previous life, but it still felt as if half of her mana was used in the spell. It lasts at least a few times, which is long enough. She raised the sword with both hands and slammed it on the fist embedded in the ground.
Her sword was shattered into three pieces by the blow, leaving only a few inches of the hilt. It rattled in her hand, sending painful vibrations through her hands. The worst part, however, was that even with her magic and swinging the sword as hard as she could, she only managed to cut an inch or so deep into the monster's arm. After a while, even the mark healed.
"How-" Before she could finish the thought, her feet were kicked out and she was thrown into the air. She landed hard, the broken sword flew away, rolled several times, and was injured again. She tried to move, but she was pretty sure her leg was at least broken. She couldn't put anything into words.
The beast let out a loud, angry roar. She slowly raised her eyes, and to her horror, those eyes were staring directly at her. She mentally blamed herself through the pain. She hurt it, though only for a few minutes. How long has it been since you've done something like this? No wonder it was so angry at her.
The troll charged at her, raising a thick fist into the air.
She is dying. She couldn't believe it. She was about to die at the hands of a monster she had killed dozens of before, and she had only scratched it slightly. Is this really a huge difference between her in the past and her now?
"Swan Falls!" Hadwin's voice sounded. She found her eyes drawn to the man, his sword now encased in glistening white ice rising from the blade. He intercepted the troll and chopped off its legs with a sword, covering the stump with frost.
The troll fell to the ground with such force that the world shook. The Chosen One did not hesitate, and the frozen sword struck the creature again and again. Each blow he struck cut off a piece of the troll's body.
She breathed in and began to scream, pain washing over her body and mind, tearing apart all other thoughts.
After a while, Rab reached her and knelt beside her. "Shh, shh, it's okay," he whispered, placing a hand on her forehead. "Everything is going to be okay. Troll is dead. For a moment. Just focus on me." The pain began to subside as her body became tingling and numb, and it was nothing compared to what she had felt before. kindness.
"What do you know, prodigy? Your spell is quite effective." Hadwin smiled. "I guess maybe there's some-" He trailed off as he turned to see her, the color draining from his face. "Oh. A gift from the gods. Her legs. What happened to her legs? She's still—"
"She's not dead," Rab said, shaking his head and looking into her eyes. "Zach, can you hear me?"
She wanted to speak but couldn't. All she could do was look at him. She tried to move her arms, but they refused to respond. She blinked a few times.
He sighed. "Lindis. Try to set what you can do. Joan, if only you could hear me blink twice."
She blinked twice, even though it felt almost impossible.
"Okay. You're going to be fine. Don't try to move," he said softly. "You silly girl. Why are you running at the troll like this? What do you think you can do? Break an arm first, then a leg? We shouldn't have let you come at all."
"She managed to cut it off," Lindis said. "That's better than most."
"It's good for her though," Rab said, shaking her head, the beard tickling her chin.
Hadwin slowly walked over to them and knelt beside her. "Is she going to be okay? Her legs, can you-"
"No. She needs a therapist. Much better than me. Even so, I'm not sure they'll be able to fix this. Let alone her arm. We just healed the baby and she's lucky to be alive. ” Rab looked away from her and toward her right arm.
She felt panic growing inside her.
"I'll take her with me," Hadwin said firmly. "Going back to the Queen, there's no one better than her."
Yet the words frightened her more than the thought of what parts of her had been destroyed. Zach tried to blink faster, trying to get them to consider some alternatives. Queen, Emmeline. There is no one worse than her. They'd better poison her now or throw her into the lake.
"We have a healer at camp who-"
"Can they fix this?" Hadwin asked. "How many days will it take you to get her there?"
Rab looked down at his body. "Maybe he can help. A few days. She might be lame, but—"
"We ride to meet my queen. Joan may be foolish, but her help is unquestionable. I still want to raise her. As a human, she certainly falls within our jurisdiction, even if she is now the Crystal Phoenix's One member.”
"My lord, are you sure? She's just a child. Stupid, yes, but I don't think she did anything to deserve-" Hadwin turned to the dwarf, face angry, eyes burning with fire. The dwarf quickly looked away. "As you wish. We'll get her ready to move."
"Thank you," he said sternly, and left them. "I'll get the horses ready. Do what I can."
Rab shook his head and looked down at Joan. "I'm sorry, I'll talk to the commander, maybe she can help. Go to sleep now. Save your energy, you'll need it."
She blinked at him desperately, trying to get his attention. She didn't care if she went with Hadwin. But they couldn't take her to see Queen Emmeline. It was tantamount to a death sentence, especially if she couldn't move. She struggled to move her tongue, but it refused.
"Is she really going to be okay?" Lindis asked. "Lord Hadwin looks ready to kill her himself."
"I don't know. Maybe." Sabu shook his head slightly at the elf sadly. "Joan, just do as your lordship tells you. If you're lucky, hopefully he'll believe you didn't act maliciously."
"She's just a child," Lindis said softly, then glanced back at Hadwin. "We can't just give up on her. She's one of us, isn't she?"
The elf didn't respond, but gave her a look of pity.
They sealed her fate. Why can't they see it? If only she could talk, she could make Hadwin understand.
When the dwarf returned, she again heard the crunching of leaves and grass. He knelt down beside her, looked her in the eyes, and shook his head. "Don't cry. It will take away the pain." A thick, short finger came up and wiped her eyes. Did she cry? She didn't feel it. Slowly, a bottle was raised to her lips, and a thin drop of something entered her mouth. Cold and slightly sweet, it slides down the throat. After a few drops, her vision started to become cloudy.
"Don't worry. You'll be fine when you wake up," he said softly.
No no no. She desperately wanted to scream at them. Tell them no. Please plead with them not to do this. Don't they understand? The queen hates her. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop them. Even as she gave in to the darkness, her body refused to obey her.
