you,” he reminded her.
“Yeah, but I didn’t want it to seem like now that things are… you know… bonded and all between us that I don’t need to carry my own weight.”
A shiver ran up her spine as she glanced toward the creatures. If she wasn’t mistaken, the misshapen creatures were keeping pace with them.
Silvas’s lips twisted slightly, though the smile didn’t reach his eyes. If anything, he seemed hyper focused on her now, his expression tight. She felt his concern as he prodded along their bond. It was the only sign of just how unsettled he was.
“Is that issue of your concern that I am sensing?” he asked softly, his head canting to the side. “You are doing a remarkable job if your plan is to slip off the side of the mountain as you’ve nearly done thirty-five times, or, at the rate we are going, to camp out on the rocks tonight,” he murmured.
“Ouch. No. My point is, shouldn’t I be scaling down the side of the mountain looking sexy and perfectly at ease like you do?” she stated impatiently. “Or at least have good enough vision to figure out what the fuck those monstrous rock things are over there, because they are creeping me the fuck out,” she nearly shouted. She gestured in their direction with a wave of her hand. She was definitely certain that they were staring at her now, if the reddish glowing pinpricks of light reflecting in their eyes was anything to go by.
As Silvas jerked his head around in their direction, the one at the front suddenly stretched up twisted arms raising to the sky, jagged, sharp ends hooked menacingly as it slashed through the air in her direction, a bellowing, blood-curdling howl raised in the air. What the actual fuck?
“Mountain trolls,” Silvas snarled.
His lips curled back from his teeth as he hissed loudly in fury. Turning in place, Silvas took two bounding steps toward her as she watched the creatures tear large rocks from the ground. Strong arms ripped her up off her feet. She was flying through the air as he skidded off the side of the rock before spinning and leaping for another foothold as a giant boulder whistled by them. The impact of it crashing against the ground nearby vibrated through Diana as the rock burst into hundreds of pieces. She cried out as several stung and abraded her skin painfully.
“Trolls? What the fuck… They don’t even remotely resemble Raskyuil!”
“Mountain trolls are different,” he growled as he effortlessly leaped again, neatly evading another massive, plummeting rock. “They are large, aggressive, and possess limited intelligence.”
“Can’t you use your kingly influence to scare them away?” she demanded. She ducked her face against the protective shelter of his body as another rock exploded around them.
Silvas chuckled dryly as he sprung lightly from stone to stone. “What influence? Unlike the forest trolls, they don’t form any sort of recognizable social organization. They won’t acknowledge my authority. You see the larger one in the front and the two smaller in the back?” he asked as he gestured with his chin toward them.
Diana risked another glance in their direction and nodded weakly. Though they were too far away to see much in the way of clear details, their size difference was easy enough to make out.
“That is the only sort of social unit you will ever see mountain trolls in,” he stated as he dodged behind a wall of rock. “The larger troll at the fore is the female, the two others are the males in her harem. I am guessing she is a younger troll, since on average an adult female will have anywhere from five to seven males in her harem. They protect her and any young that are born and follow her direction.”
“So why the hell are they attacking us? We pose no threat to them. We aren’t even anywhere fucking near them!”
He chuckled humorlessly, his arms briefly squeezing her tighter to him as he picked up speed. “Because, while they are usually scavengers, they won’t hesitate to kill anything that looks like it may be easy prey. Apparently, your manner of descending the mountain attracted their attention,” he informed her wryly. “The males will attempt to kill you from a distance with the hope I will abandon your corpse so they can safely approach with their female to eat at their leisure. Normally they would turn to stone when touched by the sun, but it seems they are able to