The battle had looked bad enough from up on the tower, but down here, on the ground, it was even worse. Blood soaked the grass, and several bodies, both troll and human, would never move again. The villagers had moved efficiently as soon as the trolls had retreated and moved the wounded inside to safety. The rest of them looked to her mutely, eyes asking what she was going to do next.
Bile rose in Brianna's throat when she saw someone clutching at their elbow where the rest of their arm had been. The man's face was white, but stoic.
She turned to Lyall. "They won't be expecting it if we blast them now. They're all there together. We could take them all out at once." They all deserved to die for this, without a doubt.
Lyall hesitated. "Why did they stop?"
"Does it matter? They made a mistake. It's our chance to take them down."
"What if they want to change?"
Brianna stared at him in disbelief. Trolls? Change? "Trolls don't change. They've been attacking our village for centuries, killing people every time. If we let them go, they'll just come back and do the same thing again. This has to stop."
"What if they want it to stop too?"
"That's why we need to kill them before they kill us!"
"No, I mean what if they don't want to kill us?"
The idea was preposterous. Brianna shook her head, trying to clear it. "Not want to kill us?" she repeated.
"They were cursed, Anna. Remember? Underneath that horrible form, they're human, just like us."
"That curse changed more than their appearance." She was sure of it. "Otherwise, why would they keep coming and killing us?"
"Maybe," Lyall agreed. "But what if there is a part of them that wants to be human again?"
The idea tugged at her even though she didn't want it to. Could she really blame the trolls for being trapped under a magical spell?
She shook her head. They were trolls, they didn't need her to feel sorry for them.
But the idea lingered.
"What do you suggest we do?" she asked. They did have to do something. The trolls still stood in the pass, not moving. The villagers eyed them suspiciously, but tending to the wounded was their first priority.
"Let's go talk to them."
Brianna laughed. "They can't talk!"
"Have you ever tried?"
She stared at him. "Of course not."
"Well, how about we try then?"
"You're not going without us!" Mianna said and Brianna turned to look at her. Her sister's face was deathly pale, but she was no longer shaking. She frowned in determination. "We're more powerful together. Those trolls could just be waiting for us to come up there so they can attack us, so we have to be prepared to defend ourselves."
Brianna smiled, remembering how Mianna had always been content to remain out of the fighting, doing her duty with the healing crews. Her sister had changed too.
"Let's go then," she agreed.
Holding hands, the twins in the middle, and the men on the outside, all four of them walked up towards the pass together.
The trolls didn't move as they came closer. Then when they were within talking distance, the mage troll grunted something incomprehensible to the trolls behind him before stepping forwards with his partner.
Brianna kept a close eye on the trolls behind him, waiting for them to surge forwards. It took all her courage not to turn and run.
But they didn't move.
"Ee onn unt oo ert oo," the troll grunted. "Unt eecee. Unt eedum. Unt O roll."
It was trying to talk to them. The thought was so strange that Brianna had to take a moment to believe it. Trolls could talk.
Pity she had no idea what it was trying to say.
"Why are you here?" Lyall asked. "Why attack our village?"
The troll's reply was quick. "Aagesss ak sss ik sss. Unt agesss ksss."
Even stranger, the trolls seemed to be able to understand them. And they had a specific reason for attacking the village. If only they could understand what it was. "Why have you never tried to talk to us before?" she demanded.
The troll rolled his eyes at her, not even bothering to speak.
Brianna got the message. They'd never listened.
Well who would listen, when a troll was racing at you with a sword raised?
But had they tried long before her time? Even without a sword, if a troll came at you making those strange sounds, it would have been so easy to be intimidated and to rush to strike first.
Were her people as responsible for this war as the trolls were?
She shook her head. This war hadn't started because trolls were frightening to look at. It had started because two opposing groups of mages had cast horrible spells on each other.
"Aagesss ak sss ik sss. Unt agesss ksss," the troll repeated.
And suddenly, it made sense. Part of it at least. "Mages," Brianna repeated. "You're talking about the mages?"
The troll nodded enthusiastically. "Aagesss," he repeated again. "Aagess ak sss ik sss."
Brianna shook her head in frustration. "I don't understand," she said. "If only there was some way to make it clearer."
Lyall swore. "There is," he said. "If we view each other magically, it should add some meaning to the words. Maybe enough for us to understand each other."
It was worth a try. Brianna closed her eyes and focused on switching to her magical view, a process that was becoming far more familiar, then opened them.
The troll was surrounded by darkness again, but this time, Brianna realised that it wasn't his true colour. It was as though someone had coated him in a black fog. Beneath the layer, she could see a weak, pulsating blue.
"Aagess ak ss ik sss," he repeated.
Brianna sighed. It was no clearer. She frowned. Maybe the black stuff was distorting it somehow? She reached a sliver of magic out towards the troll, trying to bore a hole in the dark fog.
"Mages make us like this." The trolls words were clear. He looked as startled as Brianna did. Then he rushed to keep talking as though afraid his time was limited. "Want mages fix!"
Brianna exchanged a look with Lyall, stunned by the revelation. The trolls wanted the curse removed.
Could they do that?
Should they do that?
"We need a moment to discuss this," Lyall said smoothly.
The troll nodded, and he exchanged a look with his partner, who squeezed his hand.
The sight touched Brianna. Perhaps trolls were, after all, human.
They withdrew far enough to be able to talk in private but not so far as to be out of sight.
"I think we should attempt to remove the curse," Lyall said.
"Why should we help them?" Mianna demanded. "Why should we care what they want after all the people they've killed?"
"They're just trying to have a chance to live a normal life, like all of us." Brianna was as surprised as anyone to find herself defending the trolls.
Mianna stared at her. "You weren't there when one of them killed Mother. He cut her head off, Bri!" Her voice rose in agitation. "How can you even consider helping them! They should all die." Brianna could feel her shaking violently through their still clasped hands.
Guilt stabbed at her. She hadn't been there, hadn't been there to help her sister. But that didn't mean she didn't share her pain. She'd seen the moment too, from far away, unable to help. "I know that they haven't given us any reason to help them, Mia. But we attacked them too. We never even tried to find a truce."
"A truce! They don't know the meaning of the word."
Brianna glanced back, afraid that the trolls might hear Mianna's high pitched words, but they were just watching impassively. She turned back to her twin. "They're human, just like us."
"Why did they stop now? Why ask us now when they haven't even tried before?" Terion's quiet question startled everyone.
Even Mianna stared at him with wide eyes. "What does it matter?" she demanded. "Surely you're not siding with them?"
Brianna stayed quiet. Maybe Terion would have some luck where she had failed?
"I'm not siding with anyone," Terion said calmly. "But we do need to think about this calmly and clearly, without letting our emotions get in the way. We need to figure out what's best for the village long term, and I can't see any way in which those trolls remaining trolls helps us."
There was silence in the group. Terion had a good point. "Even if they still want to attack us, it's better to fight humans than trolls," Brianna said in the silence.
Mianna opened her mouth to say something, paused, then shut it again. She nodded.
"So we're in agreement then? We'll attempt to remove the curse?" Lyall's voice sounded uncertain. Was he unsure if they were in agreement, or if they had any chance of removing an ancient magical curse?
Terion nodded immediately. Brianna felt herself nodding as well. Mianna hesitated, but then she nodded too. "But how about as a condition of our help, we ask them to give us their gem? Then they can't use magic on us."