“We have to go after them!” Khojun implored. Despite his missing eye and the small and medium wounds he had suffered during the fight at the gorge, he was fit. ”Are we just going to let a new tribe settle near us? Recently, new wanderers have been crossing our borders all the time, and most of the time we kill them!”

  Tok’Moji sat back in his huge hut, warmed by a crackling fire, on a jatal chair made of wood, bone and leather. Unsure of how to deal with this new situation, as well as his champion, he tapped his fingers on the edge of the leather backrest. “What we have to do is still up to me,” the jatal warned calmly but weightily. “Just as I have not yet decided what to do with you.”

  “You mean because I smashed our traitorous neighbors?”

  “No, because you started it without asking,” Tok’Moji replied. To his left sat Ine’kata and Suara. To his right sat the high priest Banjhan and Zu’ji. ”Do you really think I wouldn’t have reacted the same way as you?”

  “Of course you would have.”

  “Then you better give me a very good reason why I should overlook your disobedience,” Tok’Moji said very seriously. ”Because this isn’t the first major offense you’ve committed in such a short time, and even a champion must submit.”

  Khojun couldn’t hide how angry he was in his body language and the muscles in his face, and that he just wanted to erupt like a volcano. The fact that all those eyes were on him, which he went through one by one and which partly condemned him, fanned this anger all the more. Only when he finally arrived at Suara’s compassionate gaze did he release a deep snort from his quivering nostrils. “It was exactly the same thing you already mentioned that made me act the way I did – my offense,” he explained. To his knowledge, his Jatal had withheld the information about the presence of the unclean, but he could not confront him without betraying Suara. Not that he wanted to keep her out of mere gratitude and tact, for she could still be useful to him in the future. “I know that interfering with the trials was an extreme sacrilege and even though I made sure that we won the main fight, I still feel a debt that needs to be repaid.”

  The answer astonished the trolls present, especially the slightly doubting Tok’Moji. “And the fact that this impure beast was in the middle of the fight had absolutely nothing to do with your disobedience?”

  “I see it more as a sign from the tiki,” Khojun replied conscientiously, not shying away from the gaze of his jatal. ”How was I supposed to know that this filth would appear out of nowhere? I set out because the Baldslayers entered our territory and was rewarded with the chance to avenge my brother.”

  “Khojun speaks wisely,” Banjhan agreed. ”He may have disobeyed and acted foolishly, but the fact that this giant, of all the trolls from the endless green of the Diamond Jungle, has reappeared out of nowhere... that is a questionable sign and one that Khojun could not have known. Even less could he have foreseen that even the venomonsnakes would disregard the trials. Something is going on here and our next steps should be chosen carefully, my jatal.”

  “And what would those be in your opinion?“ Tok’Moji asked, leaning sideways to the high priest.

  “Well, unfortunately, this impure giant is out of our reach for the time being,” Banjhan pointed out. He and the Riverfangs knew their territory, and with the destruction of the crossing, an important waypoint on the border of the Underwood Furrow had been lost. “Although we must interpret what it is about him. The descriptions of Khojun and our warriors, this overwhelming power to crush stone like sand. Perhaps it was Khojun’s path to make this discovery and report it to us.”

  “In this I agree with Banjhan,” Zu’ji agreed. At the same time, she gave the champion a meaningful look. ”That is exactly what I said to Khojun before the great battle began, that this could be his atonement, and I was right. The all-seeing serpent has once again shown the way.”

  The mention of Haruk’Zil was a thorn in Banjhan’s side. “If that had been the case, why would the Venomonsnakes attack?” he argued disparagingly. “They are loyal followers of the serpent, so they would not have opposed us if we had followed the path of Haruk’Zil.”

  “With the breaking of the sacred tests, they may have lost the favor of their tiki and didn’t know any better.”

  “And why were the Venomonsnakes there then?” Banjhan countered with a raised eyebrow. If only because of his dislike of their tiki, he suspected that the herbalist was working with the enemy tribe. However, Banjhan had no proof.

  “Maybe you should fight one and capture it, then we can ask.”

  “They share the same tiki, after all,” Banjhan pointed out with a smirk, and the conversation began to overlap more and more chaotically. ’Maybe they will receive you.”

  Zu’ji proudly raised her nose as if she were looking down on the old troll. ’Are you insinuating something about me?”

  “Is there something to assume?” Banjhan replied, and both trolls started talking wildly at cross purposes.

  Tok’Moji rubbed his temple in annoyance and raised his voice. ‘Hey, hey, hey, hey!’ he said forcefully. ”Enough of your bickering! If you act like whelps, I’ll spank your ass like whelps!”

  The threat was more than enough to silence the heated tempers.

  Meanwhile, Khojun stood there as if he were not the Riverfang champion. The opening words of Banjhan seemed honest to him, and yet he was said to have known of the presence of the unclean. Something was going on here and not knowing what it was only increased Khojun’s frustration and anger. “So, I have said my piece about everything. May I go, my jatal?”

  Tok’Moji looked at the champion sternly and scrutinizingly again. It was not easy for him to make a decision and in the end, after this attack by his enemies, his tribe needed stability. “You may go, but even if you summon a tiki – on the next offense, you will be severely punished.”

  “I understand, my jatal,“ Khojun bowed his head, before he left the hut, highly tense.

  “Well, we definitely need answers about this giant,” Tok’Moji concluded. “Reach out to the tiki, Meneka, Haruk’Zil, then we will see who has more to tell us.”

  “Our tiki,” Banjhan remarked loyally.

  Zu’ji just silently nodded to her Jatal, because she wanted to call her tiki later anyway to ask for his forgiveness for her failure. Hopefully her eyes and tongue would satisfy Haruk’Zil and there was so much more for her to think about. At least she had received a new message from the Jungleshadows and Crystalmugs, who wanted another meeting with Zu’ji, and she already knew from the first meeting that it was related to the current multitude of wanderers.

  “Good,” Tok’Moji murmured thoughtfully. ”Until then, we will focus on the Baldslayers and Venomonnakes. Their crimes will not go unanswered and we are growing steadily. It is time to get rid of them for good. That’s it for now. Go.”

  Almost three weeks had passed and while battle and death awaited the Riverfangs on the horizon, the opposite was true elsewhere: peace and quiet, birdsong and playful, narrow rays of sunlight shining through the gaps in a poorly constructed wattle fence.

  The thin light fell on the massive, almost healed body of the still unconscious Blood Tusk, who had been hearing a familiar, feminine, gentle hum in the last few days, as he was doing now.

  A troll hand gently ran over the giant’s abdominal muscles with a cloth soaked in a tincture that smelled of herbs, without being hindered by bandages or the like.

  Once more, the enormous regenerative powers of the trolls had been demonstrated, only that they were even stronger in the case of Blood Tusk. He had gotten rid of the bandages before the end of the second week. During the fights, however, he had received fire sparks here and there and suffered tiny burns on his arms and stomach. That’s why, for the first time in his life, there would be visible, if insignificant, scars on his body where the fur plum didn’t grow back, because a troll was able to heal even the most extreme physical injuries, but burnt flesh lost this all-healing ability.

  Imperceptibly and weakly, not only the first muscle strands twitched in Blood Tusk’s left arm, but also the fingers of his hand. Just as the hum was familiar to him, a scent rose to his nose that he actually knew from Haki. However, this smell was a bit different, sour and milder. The thought that this liar was touching him had already made his right hand grasp the wrist of the caring arm tightly, and Blood Tusk opened his eyes.

  The arm of the gripped troll was as calm as could be. “It’s all right,” murmured a slurred-sounding female voice in trollish. “You’re safe, together with all of us.”

  After such a long rest, Blood Tusk’s eyes needed a long moment to focus on the many blurred contours around him, just as his hearing was still lagging behind.

  “Can you hear me? See me? Say something,” the familiar voice pleaded. That wasn’t Haki taking shape. The elder Nozaka was sitting on her knees next to the giant.

  After Blood Tusk realized who was sitting next to him, he released his wrist. “Something,” he whispered in a dry voice and coughed. “Water.”

  Nozaka smiled after the troll had only said something at first. The oldest of the women had a bowl ready and gently put it to the giant’s mouth, who drank. “Slowly, slowly,” she murmured grandly. “Can you remember what happened last?”

  With a moistened throat, Blood Tusk felt better immediately. ‘I killed everyone,’ he said simply. ”Then I sat down under a tree.”

  “Were there really a hundred you killed?”

  “Does it matter? I won.”

  “That’s right,” Nozaka nodded. She put the half-empty bowl on the ground, choosing her next words carefully, because it was exactly like Haki’s story and once again the giant didn’t seem to remember that he had used overwhelming powers. “You probably don’t care, but you were out of action for almost three weeks and we found this place for our new village just thirteen days ago, and you’re lying in the hut of the elders right now.”

  Blood Tusk raised his head and chest a little so that he could look around.

  The back part of the meager hut consisted of a natural earth wall, in front of which a small fire burned, its warmth and light radiating back into the room. Many things were still standing around in sacks or wicker baskets and the wattle wall went in a semicircle from the earth wall, while the roof was a spanned piece of leather.

  Blood Tuskeven caught sight of the sleeping Djar’Ku. “I thought you were Haki at first,” he murmured as he slowly raised his upper body. Even sitting, he towered over the oldest next to him. “Don’t want to be touched by her.”

  “Yes, I know,” Nozaka said, amused but reserved. She had had enough drama about lust and entitlement in her life to make her take the situation far less seriously. ’And of course you thought I was her. After all, I am her O’Ma’Ma.”

  Blood Tusk repeated the word incorrectly. ’Omoma?? What is that?”

  “I am her mother’s mother,” Nozaka revealed simply. ’It’s called O’Ma’Ma. Some also say Grand’Ma’Ma.”

  The revelation was not relevant to Blood Tusk, and he was unaware of the significance of Haki’s bloodline as a former La’Jatal. “I’ll deal with it. I have nothing against you.”

  “I wouldn’t care if you did,” Nozaka replied in the gladiator’s manner, and she rose to clean the herb-scented rag in an extra bucket of water. “You saved us, several times, and even if I agree with Sa’Thuk about you, I would take care of you with the same diligence I take for my own anytime.”

  Blood Tusk nodded. Of all the things that came with the mostly unfamiliar social life, he always understood this fact. “You don’t have to like each other to fight together.”

  “Do you like anyone at all? Has anyone in this arena ever meant anything to you?”

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Why should someone?” Blood Tusk murmured. His trollish still needed practice and consideration, but this reflection brought him to a realization. ”I mean, Abaroth is strong and doesn’t annoy me like others.”

  “Who is Abaroth?” Nozaka asked. She had been one of those who had hardly listened to the arena stories. ’A gladiator?”

  Blood Tusk had long since understood how much trolls hated Abaroth’s manner, but that was of no concern to him and he did not hide his parentage. ’Yes, a Sethek.”

  Nozaka paused for a moment, staring at the rag over the water bucket. “That’s truly fascinating,” she breathed with her eyes closed. It wasn’t anger or disgust that guided her now as she hung up the rag to dry and turned to the giant. “You don’t hate trolls, you don’t hate Sethek, and yet you’re so angry at Haki for telling a little lie?”

  “A lie is a lie, no matter what you say about it.”

  “And she didn’t apologize?”

  “Yes, but I didn’t care,” Blood Tusk snorted. He got up slowly, because after this time-out, his muscles and senses had to get a feeling again, although the experiences of the jungle were spread out crystal clear before him. ”All that troll lying just brings trouble.”

  “It is what it is, but you shouldn’t just shrug off an apology,” Nozaka said. It was not her intention to interfere in her granddaughter’s affairs, but she wanted to make the giant understand. ”You are one of the best things that has happened to her in all these years, and according to her, you are even more, a miracle that first revealed itself to her. That’s why she clung to you so much and only wanted you for herself.”

  “It’s just more troll trouble.”

  “She’s had to deal with that all her life,” Nozaka mentioned. The bedding on which the giant had lain was a pile of soft reeds, covered by a large cloth blanket, on which Nozaka made himself comfortable. “She had to fight harder for every bit she got than most trolls do, and a life in the jungle is extremely hard already, as you have experienced only too well.”

  Blood Tusk could at least agree with that. “And yet I’m no liar.”

  “Stubborn or perhaps pigheaded, you are either way,” Nozaka smiled patiently. “But that probably goes hand in hand with your strength. However that may be, so that you understand why I mentioned that I would take care of you again at any time, here’s the thing.” If there was one thing that most people in old age were good at, it was bringing the events of the past back to life with their words, no matter how happy or painful they were, and Nozaka felt wistful. “My husband was the Jatal of the Treetamers for a long time, respected and strong, blessed with a son and three daughters. Haki’s mother was our second daughter and her older sister was in demand. Many wanted her as a mate, but as daughters, they don’t always have a choice - especially not those of a Jatal. An ambitious young warrior wanted our eldest daughter as a mate, but she and my male rejected him. The young warrior felt insulted and had the influence to challenge my male to a fight for leadership. It was a hard fight, but my Jatal died and in his blind rage, my son challenged the young warrior shortly thereafter and he too died.”

  New troll stories and yet everything seemed the same to Blood Tusk. On the other hand, he felt sympathy here, because his previous views had not changed, despite the rough nature of the trolls and the jungle. “Only weak males have to force females.”

  “Well, that’s exactly what happened,” Nozaka sighed sadly, but she didn’t let herself be carried away by it. ”The new Jatal lost no time in claiming my eldest and planting his seed in her, and that very often in just a few years. A blessing in disguise.”

  “I don’t get it.”

  “Well, my oldest was the La’Jatal of the new Jatal and she and her whelps were fine,” Nozaka mentioned with a sad smile. ”My other daughters, however, like me, were of weak, disgraceful blood. We were now at the bottom of our tribe, despised and our descendants would be too. That Haki’s mother found a male who truly loved and desired her was truly a blessing from Mirihiji.”

  “Nonsense,” Blood Tuskgrumbled. He was exposed to more and more troll stuff and then it sounded stupid to him, who wasn’t exactly the brightest. ”The eldest daughter is fine and she was of the same blood. Why should it be different for her than for you?”

  “Because she was now part of the young warrior’s family,” Nozaka pointed out, leaving out the stranger’s name. For her, letting him be forgotten as a dead man was the best revenge. ”The male’s blood is almost always superior to that of the female.”

  Out of respect, Blood Tusk had tried to follow the elder, but he was slowly losing the thread. “And what does Haki have to do with it now?”

  Patience had its limits, even for Nozaka, and she sighed slightly frustrated. “In short, she was treated very badly all her life, through no fault of her own. Trolls like Djar’Ku were the exception, but how would you feel if you were constantly treated disrespectfully and with hostility for no reason?”

  “I wouldn’t care and I’d kill anyone who annoyed me.”

  “Yeah, maybe you would,” Nozaka breathed soberly, before she remembered what Haki had told her about the giant. ”Don’t you understand? Like you, Haki had many fights, but she never got a real reward for her victories. You were the very first real reward she ever received.”

  That statement was enough to make Blood Tusk click, and he murmured thoughtfully. “Hm, yes, I remember how good my first reward was. I was allowed to be with a female for the first time, and after that I kept getting new ones.”

  “So... can you understand Haki for lying to you?”

  “Yes,” nodded Blood Tusk, rubbing his temple. “Doesn’t change anything though. I’m leaving, so she won’t get me.”

  Nozaka nodded as well. “I thought as much, and it’s probably for the better.”

  Not that Blood Tusk was curious, but after several trolls constantly tried to persuade him to stay, this opinion was a change for him. ”Why better?”

  “We are all truly grateful, now and forever,” Nozaka said wholeheartedly, yet she expressed her thoughts without restraint. ”But after what everyone has heard and seen, what you can do, a lot of trolls are afraid of you and at least half want you to leave soon. Of course, others want you to stay, but that would only lead to conflict and we are now a completely new, untried page. I beg you, don’t be the first great rift. Remain what you truly are: a miracle, thanks to which we can flourish, and a mighty fighter who will shed blood in the arena.”

  The elder’s obvious rejection, voiced for many, did not bother Blood Tusk. “And Haki won’t come after me or anyone else?”

  “Haki will take time, no doubt,” Nozaka admitted, smoothing the crumpled surface of the cloth ceiling. “But she will realize that you were a reward for everyone, because we are a new tribe: Treetamer, Pointspears, Wrathweaves and whoever else joined us - that’s all in the past now, and with it all the good and bad we carried with us in our old lives. Everyone can now start over as Wildrunners.”

  “Just like that?”

  “Just like that... life among the trolls also has many good sides,” Nozaka smiled happily. ’But I’ve taken up enough of your time. Go outside and enjoy the view of our new village. Get some rest before you go your way.”

  “I will,’ Blood Tusk replied sincerely. ”Thank you.”

  Outside, the construction work was in full swing at lunchtime and not even a fraction of it was finished, but although tree trunks, sticks, stones, reeds and other materials were lying around everywhere and many still had no permanent shelter, you could feel the peace and well-being of all the trolls. Paths were laid out with rakes and the surroundings offered plenty of space, as there were only a few trees at the main construction site, but they were extremely wide, with thick, juicy crowns that stretched even further.

  The front part of the village was flat terrain, with bushes and meadows, which the trolls partly plucked and cut. In the middle, the part from which Bluthauer could see everything, the grassy ground rose. It was hilly and steep enough on the sides and at the back that you couldn’t easily march up, which provided an ideal defensive position for the future.

  Up here, the huts, which had been ideally placed against the partial earth walls, were already the furthest away and from the highest point, as befitted a jatal, Sa’Thuk watched the impure one for a moment, but he had enough other things to do and he disappeared into the largest hut he had begun.

  The Wildrunners near the elderl-hut soon noticed Blood Tusk and for somewhelps, of course, he was a heroic sight and they wanted to do nothing more than rush to him. However, the parents held back their children and either avoided the giant’s eyes or symbolized gratitude with prayer hands and a smile.

  “Thanks to you, I won a bet,” said a man’s voice from the side.

  Blood Tusk looked in that direction. ’Bet?”

  “A surefire bet!’ Zalun grinned, imitating the rubbing of coins with his fingers. ”I said that Yani would never take you. A few warriors had a different opinion. Their bad luck.”

  “And now you want to give me some of it?”

  This question caught Zalun off guard and he looked puzzled. “Eh, what?”

  “You won something because of me,” Blood Tusk stated naively. “I have a share of the victory. Can I have some of it?”

  “That’s not how betting works,” Zalun laughed heartily. “Besides, I would never have taken you for a troll who values coins.”

  “I don’t, but I could have ben with trolls from the jungle,’ Blood Tusk shrugged, unsuspecting. ”A lot of things are strange about you.”

  “No,” Zalun shook his head in good humor. However, there was another reason for his good mood, although he looked a bit sleep-deprived. ”I think betting works the same way everywhere... one thing we all have in common, huh.”

  “What?”

  “That’s the first time I’ve seen non-trolls as equals,” Zalun waved it off. “On the other hand, after so much blood and death, I’ve also seen real peace among trolls for the first time.”

  Blood Tusk let his eyes wander again, oblivious to the troll culture, but even he could see the truth in this new village. ’Yes, I don’t see fear anywhere here.”

  “That too, but I’m talking about our neighbors.”

  “Who?”

  “Shortly after we arrived here, a few emissaries from another tribe showed up,” Zalun murmured. The father and warrior had never been a wanderer before, but he had heard enough dark stories before and he was pleasantly surprised that the strangers hadn’t sought a fight . “An hour away from us, a new tribe that has been in the area a few weeks longer has also settled and they came in peace.” He was still cautious and didn’t believe in anything lasting. ”They said that they were driven out by large pigs from the north, where the Diamond Jungle ends. That alone is a lie. Where should our jungle end? It is everything! It is endless!”

  “Not true,” Blood Tusk denied. He had spent his whole life in the arena, but the giant knew that there was no jungle there and he had smelled and seen the endless blue of seawater. ”In Khuwix, there is only jungle behind the wall on one side. On the other side is water, endless water.”

  The salty ocean was as foreign a construct for Zalun as the jungle was for the giant. “With anyone else, I would have said nonsense,” he admitted. “But a large jungle needs a lot of water. Yes, your words make sense.”

  “And if they didn’t make sense?”

  “I would still believe you. You’re not the kind of troll who would talk unnecessarily,” Zalun said, imitating subservience. ’Besides, I don’t want to get beaten up by you. I’m already done.”

  “Yes, you look weak,’ Blood Tusk replied bluntly. ”Was the fight that hard?”

  “Ha, I’d prefer the fight from three weeks ago!“ Zalun grinned and half-heartedly punched the giant in the arm. ’And all because of you!”

  Blood Tusk squinted at the bruised area. Was that a troll gesture? ’I don’t get it,” he replied, with a soft blow to the arm of his servant.

  The attack was not gentle by Zalun’s standards, however, and he let out a howl of pain, like a whelp that had just been punched too hard. “My new female,” he said, breathing out a long puff of air as he rubbed his arm. “Apart from the litter of new whelps she’s brought, she’s like a ravenous wind-jackal. All there is is work, work.”

  “Females don’t have whelps that quickly.”

  “Yes, they were already there,” Zalun mentioned, obviously. ”Don’t you understand? It’s Nira’theba. She’s been my second female for a good six days and one that hasn’t been taken for several moons. Have you ever had a female that was completely under-fucked?!”

  “Yes,” Blood Tusknodded. The fact that he had had the same female before did not seem important to him. ’Don’t understand problem.”

  “Apart from the fact that I suddenly have five whelps and an active new female?’ Zalun questioned almost plaintively and in a low voice. In his mind, as in so many male minds, his new experiences were a dreamlike notion. Of course, he got his money’s worth, but the reality was a real piece of hard work. “Ma’rhia is still there, and blessed be the tiki, I often took her before and will never get enough of her, but since Nira’theba has arrived... she is just as insatiable and ravenous. Every night is a threesome until dawn, and then there are the individual opportunities throughout the day. The two of them take me to Yani early, I’m telling you.”

  “Do you need help with that?“ Blood Tusk asked with a matter-of-factness that he would have shown even to a complete stranger.

  “Help?” Zalun weighed the question with a raised eyebrow. “Help with...”

  “The females.”

  Zalun wanted to make sure he had understood correctly. “If you say help, are you asking me whether you should fuck my females?”

  “Yes.”

  Gratitude or not, every male instinct in Zalun was triggered immediately. A male had obviously set his sights on his females. “With anyone else, I’d think this was a very bad joke,” he said seriously, with a suppressed growl. Zalun didn’t hold it against the gladiator, but he was just a male, too. “You seriously want to take my females?”

  “You said you can barely take it anymore,” Blood Tusk replied. However, he also had an extremely strong need for sex, after his little break. ”But I would like to, yes. Know how soft and wild Nira’theba is.”

  Zalun’s eyes widened and hearing that the giant had already had Nira’theba had the same effect on him as he had complained about with Ma’rhia. “You don’t think I can handle the two of them alone?”

  “You can, but you said that they will finish you soon,” Blood Tusk reasoned soberly. Despite his own overwhelming urge, his offer had primarily been meant as a genuine offer of help. “Together we can do them.”

  “Can we?’ Zalun murmured. The thought of seeing the hungry females defeated for a change made him smile and his tension eased. “Well, maybe such an action would rein them in a little.”

  “Then let’s go.”

  “No promises,” Zalun clarified soberly. The situation was tricky, because in the end he and his family owed the giant everything. Nevertheless, Zalun was not asked to do this, but was offered the opportunity, and where his thoughts began to wander, he was back to the realization that the giant had really brought this on him. At least it had been Ma’rhia who had reluctantly asked Zalun to take Niratheba as a mate as well, because both families were now connected anyway at Blood Tusk’s request, and Ma’rhia couldn’t stand the half-baked idea. Zalun knew that she would never have tolerated another female besides herself and he hadn’t felt the need for one either, but it had been strange circumstances, perhaps even wanted by the tiki, just like now. “Only if they both agree, understood? I won’t force them into anything.”

  “I don’t want that, too,” Blood Tusk agreed with a grumble. “Would be weak.”

  “It’ll be something,” Zalun murmured. He had seen the eyes of his female, the way they had stared at the giant from time to time, and there was nothing wrong with thoughts and the permissiveness of troll culture meant that some shared carnal knowledge with each other. ”And if it does happen, it’ll definitely be the least annoying troll stuff for you.”

  “Possible,” Blood Tusk merely nodded. Would that change his decision not to stay with the Wildrunners? Certainly not, but still, he recalled what had crossed his mind during the fight and he took another look at this village, as well as the surrounding jungle, in all its vivid splendor. For the first time in his life, things weren’t quite as clearly laid out for him as he was used to and he had to ask himself some questions, but not right now. Now, hopefully, there would be a long, extensive mating with two females. He couldn’t imagine a better reward after all the hard victories and the prospect made the corners of his mouth twitch minimally upwards as he walked with Zalun.

  With this temporary peace, the nameless troll had completed the first stage of his journey. Even a simple gladiator like him was aware that a long and grueling road still lay ahead of him. He remained ignorant and clueless about the strange powers that lay dormant within him. What was it all about? Did Haruk’Zil want him at any cost because of that, or was it just about finally exterminating every ancestor? Mortal, supernatural or divine powers, they all waged a constant battle, because in the end, only the strongest would conquer the Primal.