The day was cloudless and the midday sun shone warmly down on the Diamond Jungle. Its leaves rustled in the gentle wind and the wild animals roamed through the undergrowth, swam through the rivers and flew over the treetops. For the jungle, it was business as usual.

  What was unusual, however, was the company that accompanied Djar’Ku and Jeli’rhawa. While the two were walking next to him, the still seriously wounded Blood Tusk lay on a self-made stretcher, which consisted of two long, thinner logs, a reasonably flat stone and leaves lying on top of it to serve as a soft surface. The bleeding of the gladiator had at least been stopped, but he hadn’t received any more wound treatment and his defiant, strong will alone allowed the unconscious man to linger in this world for the moment.

  He was being transported by four Revenants, created from fallen Redshards, with each holding one end of the two wooden trunks, while their master walked on the other side of the stretcher with his hardwood staff, which looked like a bone. “It’s not much farther,” Ja’Jen said knowingly through his elephant mask, Kriz’kriz perched on his right shoulder. ”Your party has taken refuge in a cave basin.”

  “These... scouts are quite useful,” Djar’Ku agreed, but his stomach did turn a little at the thought of said scouts. ”Is there any way to get one or two of them?”

  “No,” Ja’Jen replied soberly. Just as the four troll carriers had been brought back from the dead by him as Revenants, so the Yani priest also used dead birds with glowing blue eyes to serve as scouts for him. ”I try to make as little use as possible of animal Revenants because animals are pure and do not deserve this fate.”

  “Do you release them soon?”

  “That’s what I wanted to express. I always use new ones when I bind them.”

  Djar’Ku didn’t ask out of fear, but he was still cautious. “Do I want to know how long trolls have to endure this fate under you?”

  “No.”

  “I thought so,” Djar’Ku whispered respectfully. As he had learned from the Yani priest, after he had performed a ritual for all the dead Redshards, revenants were fully conscious, without the slightest spark of self-control. ”But now we’ve been walking for a few hours and I wonder how we’re going to continue?”

  “I already told you that when I arrived,” Ja’Jen replied. The Yani priest had been searching for the wanderers for over a week. ”I want to help you bring him back to your group, and then we’ll go our separate ways again.”

  “Yes, I’m not deaf. Fortunately not yet,” Djar’Ku noted. However, he suspected that if the Yani priest was going to all this trouble, there must be a good reason for it. ”You said back then that this is no ordinary troll. Of course, a hermit with your skills and spiritual connections often comes into contact with unusual things. So why the long way here?”

  Jeli’rhawa was amazed that the old warrior spoke so casually and almost on equal terms, even somewhat demanding, to a Yani priest and voodoo sorcerer.

  “Oh, I knew it was right back then not to send you to the Jatal of the Dark Sea yet,” Ja’Jen laughed dryly. If you looked into the eye slits of his mask, you saw only shadows as usual. ”However, even I am not yet sure what exactly awaits me here. A vision led me here. I saw a stormy, bloody night and the giant in the middle of it. After that, I recognized at least the Underwood Furrow and saw a gorge with a crossing above it, towards which three large waves were rushing, while under the shadows of the floods a herd of starving, miserable elephants were running towards the bridge.”

  “Bridge...” Djar’Ku murmured thoughtfully and anxiously. He immediately thought of the crossing the scouts had mentioned and he was almost certain that his group were the weak elephants. “We are on our way to just such a crossing. Beyond it, there are promising signs of safe places to settle.”

  “Yes, I’ve long been aware that your trolls are the weaker part of the vision,” Ja’Jen admitted unconcernedly. He was helping to get the giant to safety at the moment, but he also knew a little more than he was saying and he would not actively interfere in the unfolding events. That was simply not his job, his responsibility, and as an outsider, he was not really interested. “I’m really curious to see what exactly all this means. The only thing that is absolutely certain is that a lot of death awaits us on the near horizon.”

  “Well, sure,” Djar’Ku agreed, unsuspecting. ’Blood Tusk took care of that.”

  Ja’Jen turned his head to the old warrior and he was at least bluntly honest. ’I’m not talking about what has already happened, but what is yet to come.”

  Djar’Ku returned the Yani priest’s gaze silently and urgently. He had understood.

  The three of them continued on their way together for another half hour, until first Ja’Jen and then his revenants stopped. “Your group is close,” he announced, and his servants gently lowered the stretcher. “From here on, my helpers and I will leave you.”

  “All right,” Djar’Ku replied, looking beseechingly at his companion. “Jeli’rhawa, please go and get the others.”

  “Of course, Djar’Ku,” the scout nodded dutifully and started to run.

  Djar’Ku waited until she had disappeared behind a tree. “We are deeply in your debt,’ he said, feeling a sense of connection, but he was not naive. ”Without you, we would never have been able to bring Blood Tusk here. At least not so quickly. Does your help come at a price?”

  “Don’t worry,” Ja’Jen reassured him, mixing a touch of dark humor with his voice. ’Bllood Tusk has paid handsomely for my help. I’ll let you keep the few scraps of your life force instead of ripping them out and feeding them to my birds.”

  Kriz’kriz cawed. ’I wouldn’t mind. I’m hungry.”

  “Haven’t the whelps made you fat enough in the last few weeks?“ Djar’Ku teased with a smirk.

  “Nargh, I’m so glad,” Kriz’kriz whined. “Home soon. No more interpreting.”

  “What? You want to leave? After you were able to witness with your own eyes what Blood Tusk has accomplished?” Djar’Ku asked. He believed, although the batparrot would never admit it, that she had enjoyed her journey. ”Not at all curious about what will happen next?”

  “I go where Ja’Jen wants.”

  “Oh,” Ja’Jen laughed weakly. “As far as I’m concerned, you can stay with them a little longer.” In response, Kriz’kriz began to caw shrill and flap his wings. That was enough for Ja’Jen to concede. “All right, you’ve done your duty and will stay with me,” he said, and his bird became calm again. His servants were walking back the way they had come and he prepared to follow them. “I expect you’ll be dead by the time we meet again.”

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  “If that means I’ll get some well-earned rest, then so be it,” Djar’Ku replied with respect, and a slight upward turn to his lips. “I’ll see you on the other side, then. Safe journey.”

  “You, too.”

  Djar’Ku exhaled wearily and sat down next to the stretcher. He hadn’t slept much at all since he had left the group and returned to Blood Tusk. He and Jeli’rhawa had only rested for a short while while Ja’Jen had performed his ritual, which had lasted a little over two hours. “I still don’t know why exactly I came back,” the old warrior murmured wearily. ”Ja’Jen’s words made me think that your time was still far off. Besides, we had a deal in which you paid considerably more than you have received so far. And yet, I don’t know if that’s why I came to you. When I was young and wild, I would have seen a troll like you as an enemy, just because you embody such dominance and strength that I would have to prove myself against and if I had won, I would have been feared and respected. A troll who defeats you could probably create an entire kingdom.”

  Blood Tusk didn’t realize a word of what was being said. He just lay there, but even if he had been conscious, he would have probably reacted at a loss to this statement.

  “It is a fact that you are ignorant and impure,” said Djar’Ku, but he did not look down on the giant. It was rather the opposite, although he quietly expressed his admiration. ”At least from the point of view of us, as you call us, jungle trolls. So how is it that I leave my group because of an impure one and more and more come to the conclusion that you are more troll than many in this green, infinite ocean? You could have everything, everything you want, take it by force. It would be your right and that although you do not live by our customs, were not raised by us and even despise the tiki.” Djar’Ku made no secret of it and said the latter in full consciousness. The fact that his group worked with such a blasphemer and had not yet been punished by the tiki, and had even been saved from complete destruction thanks to Blood Tusk, twice now, made the old troll think, not just since then, and raised secret doubts about the tiki. “Maybe I came back because you can do what I can’t do as well as I used to – protect my tribe,” Djar’Ku said, moved, because it brought more and more of his past days to the surface. ”No, even that’s not nearly true. Even in my prime, you would have been superior to me, and precisely because I know that, I am apparently just like Haki. Knowing that a troll like you is at the side of my group, my new tribe, would allow me to see this world more peacefully and leave it with the same peace of mind.” Fortunately, no one was present as the old warrior could not hold back two fleeting tears. ”Or if only you had been born earlier. You would have saved them for sure and not failed like I did: My sons and my daughter, my female... yes, that’s why I think I really wanted to know if you were still alive. My family is long gone, long before we fled, but you could protect new families for sure. No, not sure - you can,” Djar’Ku realized as he noticed movement and fell silent again.

  Jeli’rhawa came running back with four warriors, one of whom was Zalun and the female with whom Blood Tusk had enjoyed himself at the last rest. All of them distributed themselves around the stretcher, panting heavily, and they stared only at the wounded but still living gladiator. Not one of them made a sound, as if they were afraid that a tiki would personally smash them from the sky.

  Only Djar’Kun could tear them out of their stupor. “Come on,” he instructed as he stood up. “Each of you take one end of the stretcher and then off to the camp.”

  No one replied, and they all simply did as they were told and carried the giant carefully.

  Despite the silent commotion, the jungle remained extremely peaceful and the sun shone no brighter or warmer. The wanderers’ current hiding place was only a few minutes away and the path led to another long rock formation. Lush moss covered much of the stone and additional bushes hid a small turn into an open crevice. It was surprising that there were no traces of a larger group having walked here, and behind this curve, a narrow cave opening waited in the ground and wall rock, which could only be seen at second glance. The modest size of the entrance alone suggested that it had certainly taken some time for all of the hikers’ trolls to descend into the hidden recess.

  Inside, it almost felt like a secret underground paradise, even if it was cramped due to the trolls’ camps. Wild plants grew with the natural light of colorful crystals, which also served as a sufficient light source, and a fresh water spring bubbled out of the rock into a lush green pond teeming with fish and frogs.

  The trolls had, of course, noticed that the giant had disappeared since their arrival here and they had finally been informed of the reason. Now, with the return of the impure, which had spread through the valley within minutes, the interest was so great that a few warriors had to keep the entrance clear, which the wanderers watched both eagerly and intently.

  When Djar’Ku entered the cave with a serious look on his face and the carriers brought the wounded man with him, everything seemed like in another world. Except for a very soft, incredulous murmur, there was an almost eerie silence in the underground, the walls of which echoed the splashing of the water very well. On the one hand, they were all amazed that anything or anyone could inflict such wounds on this giant, and at the same time, they couldn’t believe that he could have survived his fight. The walkers cleared a passage for the wounded man, while the puppies also kept a respectful silence and their parents held them carefully by the shoulders.

  The open path led to the camp of the elder Nozaka, who had the best knowledge of healing.

  With hand gestures or whispered words, many trolls began to say a prayer of respect and thanks for the gladiator, who was carried like a savior through the center of the gathering.

  Sa’Thuk was not one of them when the wounded man was carried past him, but at least he was silent out of appreciation.

  Meanwhile, Haki stood as far away and alone as she could. She recognized a hint of the wounded man, but she didn’t dare go near him because bitterness and guilt fought for dominance in her, which was also reflected in her self-enveloped body language.

  When the giant and his stretcher were laid down by Nozaka’s fire, the passage closed and every troll tried to get a good place to observe. However, Zalun and the carriers made sure that the crowd kept more than enough distance from the camp of the elders, who meticulously inspected the gladiator’s worst wounds. “He has suffered some serious wounds,” she said, focused and impressed, but she was not concerned with this obvious fact. ”If he really fought against so many, it is a miracle that he didn’t suffer more injuries and a little frightening that he still lingers in this world.”

  “Haki said he killed a king alligator with his bare hands,” the oldest Ataz noted. The fisherman assisted the female in her work. ”If I doubted it before, even after he saved us from Nastan, I no longer have any doubt and I am not surprised that he does not want to die.”

  “It won’t hurt if we start by applying new bandages. Give me the cloth wraps, banana leaves and the bowl of pink cream.”

  While the elders started to treat the giant, Sa’Thuk had joined Djar’Ku at his side. “What did you see?” he asked quietly, even though he didn’t believe what ever he would hear now.

  “He is here - what do you think I saw?” Djar’Ku replied rhetorically and in a low voice.

  “Never.”

  “They were spread out,” Djar’Ku mentioned out of conviction and more as a warning than as a fact. ”The Redshards were like a paved road, made of flesh and blood. I believe that even if we had a village right next to them, they would never dare to attack us again.”

  While Sa’Thuk had been concerned since the giant’s admission of being captured that he might question his position, he now felt completely inferior and threatened. “Perhaps, yes perhaps, the tiki will grant him more than just mercy for this extraordinary act and honor of the trade when he crosses the Dark Sea.”

  “That’s your hope, that he dies?” Djar’Ku snorted, dismissive and amused. ”Are you so afraid of keeping our part of the bargain?”

  “I fear nothing, but I do have the responsibility for our future tribe,” Sa’Thuk lied to himself. ”And... as impressive as this victory is, it also shows me that this troll is simply not normal and I don’t want him near us any longer than necessary.”

  The more Djar’Ku listened, the less he held back his scorn. “Impressive? Who are you to describe this act as nothing more than impressive?” he emphasized. “I would really advise you to use far fewer words and let more actions follow, like he and soon fulfill our part of the bargain. He has paid more than his share and we have done absolutely nothing so far.”

  Sa’Thuk bared his teeth and growled very softly, but he didn’t want to cause a disturbance now. Perhaps the old warrior was right, he thought. The unclean one wanted to return to his arena so badly, so it would probably be best for Sa’Thuk to fulfill the gladiator’s wish as soon as possible.