Forward, always forward. That was Blood Tusk's mantra and the only thing he could do. The giant had been on the move for a whole day and had only slept a few hours that night, because the never-silent jungle and the constant rustling of leaves had been a real nuisance to him. Predators had also kept an eye on him during the night, but his sheer strength had so far kept any hunters at bay.
He didn’t like it here at all. The thought he had had in the puck camp had become what Abaroth had said. No matter where Blood Tusk went or looked, it made no difference to him. Everything looked the same and yet was different for him. His nose was overwhelmed by many unfamiliar smells and again and again there was a new sound that challenged his battered ears. Besides, his left arm looked strange. During the day, he was able to chase them away as far as he could, but at night he had not only been bitten by blood-sucking insects. He couldn’t see what his now-spotted neck looked like, but he could clearly feel the burning of his skin and muscles there. The giant had walked under a series of poisonous vines. Besides, the gladiator’s feet were so used to bricks and sandy soil that the unsteady, littered surface of the jungle could make every step an adventure. The mighty warrior couldn’t cope with the environment and so he could only march straight ahead. When the smell of water hit his nostrils, he abruptly changed direction and rushed through the undergrowth.
While many small animals were frightened away by the sudden noise and movement, a snake rolled up quietly hissing near a stone and clattered with the tip of its tail. When the hasty troll came too close to it, it snapped forward quickly in defense and bit him in his calf, even though he simply walked past it anyway.
The much-needed, delicious water had Blood Tusk's attention, and his tremendous stamina allowed him to withstand the venomous attack. The water in front of him was crystal clear, and after he stuck his spear into the ground, he scooped several handfuls of it up to his mouth. The waterhole was not large, and there were no hidden dangers below the surface.
It was a welcome moment of calm when Blood Tusk dipped his troubled feet into the pleasantly warm water before he really noticed the discolored snake bite on his calf. The insignificant wound didn’t burn, but he noticed that he felt nothing at all in that leg anymore and that he would soon no longer be able to move it properly. However, this fact did not make him despair, and he only became angrier, which in turn gave him drive. You could also say that he was not only too stubborn to give up, but also too stupid. He also knew that these trolls could attack him at any time, so he couldn’t worry about trivialities like a scratch right now.
Indeed, all four of them were there, in the form of Miraki, Zanu and the other two trolls, but they waited patiently, well hidden. However, that wasn’t just because they wanted to see the giant suffer some more. Unlike him, the trolls had been keeping an eye on the approaching threat.
It was a mammal with short, dark brown fur that had some of the most effective vertebrae and muscles in the world and knew how to use them. At the moment it was crawling silently through the bushes and, despite its normal size, it was as big as a flounder when it came to girth. Everdevil was the common name for this animal, and it could not only contract its muscles and shrink or puff them up and exert its maximum strength. It had a front and back, and yet it could easily turn its arms and legs, all of which had an opposable thumb, as well as its head, in all directions. Coupled with its excellent reactions, this made it one of the most athletic and agile hunters in the world, and everdevils were never alone on the prowl.
There were three of these hunters in total, at a certain distance from each other and from different angles, to cut off potential prey from any escape route.
Blood Tusk was a stranger to this environment and yet he had a bad feeling that he couldn’t put his finger on.
The everdevils didn’t miss that. They were animals, but their instincts were razor sharp and for a moment their movements froze.
The everdevil, who was on the far left, then began to puff out his muscles and approached with enough noise.
Blood Tusk leaped to his feet at once, looking at the creature, which was completely unknown to him. He knew many beasts from the arena, but this was not one of them.
At best, the everdevil was half the size of the gladiator, but it scuttled nimbly from side to side, always with its flattened upper body and bared sharp fangs.
It was a distraction that allowed a second everdevil to silently approach the prey from behind, while number three waited in reinforcement. From one moment to the next, the second ever devil used its muscles and ran to jump at the prey.
In a full turn, Blood Tusk caught the beast and threw it so far back that it flew with its front to the nearest tree.
However, the beast caught the impact with its hands and feet and with disgusting, cracking sounds, it simply turned its head around and pushed itself straight back off the tree.
Blood Tusk was now attacked from both sides and the evérdevil clung to him with considerable gripping force. He tried to grab them, but when he grabbed one, it literally dangled around his arm. He found it even harder to grasp the beast on his back, and it bit him in the arm and shoulder. The agile beasts didn’t have claws that went deep, but their nails were sharp nonetheless and they tore through the giant’s skin. To free himself, the gladiator threw himself to the ground and rolled around. With the help of his weight and the continued force, the beasts let go of him briefly, but no sooner had he straightened up with his numb leg than they jumped at him again.
Blood Tusk snatched up his spear, which was stuck in the ground, so that one of the ever-devils leaped onto the tip and only one remained hanging from him. The wound was not fatal and the gladiator had to let go of the spear because of the wild movements of the beast, but the everdevil howled and rolled around in pain.
The hunters’ backup now broke out of its hiding place, but it was no use.
This time Blood Tusk got hold of the everdevil, who was still hanging on to him, with both hands. Like a weapon, he swung him over his head and knocked the opponent, who was jumping at him, to the side. However, Blood Tusk did not treat this weapon well, because he slammed it on the ground, again and again. His numb leg made every movement difficult for him, so he fell to his knees and at the same time he lifted his other knee onto the everdevil. He fixed him and smashed his head with a bare fist.
The only uninjured everdevil was in a renewed attack pose, but it remained still with its back arched. The beast stared hungrily at the battered, wounded prey, but the look in Blood Tusk’s eyes was more than just a warning to the beast.
Blood Tusk looked at the pinned, wriggling fellow and limped over to him. With the help of the spear, he pinned him down, only to then give him the coup de grace while staring at the last everdevil.
The beast realized that there would be no prey here and quickly stole away.
Victory, another victory for Blood Tusk. These were the thoughts of the moderately wounded giant, for he had suffered worse wounds before. However, he had never been so exhausted, hungry, thirsty and in such an unknown, hostile environment. Roast meat would do him good now, and he had unintentionally bagged prey. He drew his sword, but he looked at the weapon and the furry everdevil hesitantly. The gladiator had no idea about skinning, and even though he knew how to roast meat over a fire, he had never in his life made a fire without the help of flints.
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“Look at him,“ Miraki sneered secretly and quietly in the bushes. ‘Like a whelp, a big, stupid whelp with no mother around to offer him the fat, milky breasts he craves.’
”He can still eat it raw,” Zanu said, and the warrior was to be proved right.
Blood Tusk might not know how to hunt and process, or make fire, but in the end, there were instincts in all of them. He rammed his sword into the ever-devil and opened it just enough to get at the furless, deep-seated flesh. The gladiator took a hearty bite and began to feast on the raw lump without hesitation.
“At least he has the true will of a Troll,“ Miraki admitted, trying to hide her sympathy. ‘But we should strike now, while he is still weak.’
”Zu’ji said we know the jungle,” Zanu mentioned confidently, as he rose slowly. ”If that is true, I can defeat him on my own now.”
“Are you crazy? Did you see what he just did to the everdevils?“
”I see it as a test. If we are truly acting in Haruk’Zil’s interest, we will catch the ancestor and bring him back,” Zanu said proudly. He was standing, but still in the protection of the hidden one. ”Besides, the unclean one still owes me one after the attack on the caravan.”
“So that’s it,” Miraki stated teasingly. ”You want to show who has the bigger weapon. Please, spirits with you, or rather, greet the spirits for me as soon as you’re over there.”
Zanu was not deterred by the words and a possible death, because it was true. The pride of a male swelled too much in his chest and rationality was out of place now. Nevertheless, he approached like a true troll hunter, unseen and silent. He was so good that not even the instincts of his target sounded the alarm or the gladiator was just too busy with the silence of his hunger. “Just over a day,” Zanu announced. His voice was clear and menacing. He didn’t step completely out of the protective trees and he wore half a war mask that hid his eyes and forehead. ”And look at you, unclean scum. One more day and you die.”
Blood Tusk froze instantly and turned his head to the voice, eyes fierce with battle. His great fangs, chin and mouth were slicked with fresh blood, bloody tendrils dripping everywhere, making him look more beast than troll. Bits of flesh stuck to his fingers as he sat up. “You’re the one I knocked out.”
“That won’t happen again,” Zanu stated firmly as he spread his feet and pointed his spear at the ancestor. ‘This time, I win.’
Far from weak, but just as far from being in better physical condition, Blood Tusks decided that he had to win quickly. He was sure there were more of these trolls around, so he had to take his chance while it was one on one. However, he could only limp towards his opponent, sword in hand.
This was Zanu’s world and he saw every flaw in the ancestor’s movements. The River fang let the gladiator come and then took a step back, diving between some leaves.
A large leaf landed squarely in Bluood Tusk’s face, and he struck out at the greenery with purposeful movements. His cuts were clean and cleared a path, but the Riverfang was gone.
Instead, Zanu emerged next to another tree and plunged his poisoned spear into the gladiator’s unblemished thigh, only to deftly avoid his counterattack. “Is the jungle too much for you?”
It was not Blood Tusk’s nature to be lured by such words, but too much had happened in the last few days. “I’m not dead yet,” he replied defiantly, losing his temper more and more.
“Just because we’re not supposed to kill you,” Zanu replied. He narrowly avoided a sword blow and he fetched a tangle of vines from the trees with his spear.
The tricky tangle wrapped around Blood Tusk’s upper body and arms. It restrained him for the moment, but it also fueled his rising rage and it didn’t take much for something to break out of him that not even the arena had elicited from him.
Zanu watched as the giant, trapped in the green web, stumbled and tore liana after liana. When the gladiator took a step towards him, he just had to step back and the ancestor got stuck on a root sticking out of the ground. As punishment, Zanu stabbed again, but he didn’t inflict deep stab wounds on his target, but worse scratches. He danced around him mockingly and kicked and punched him.
These were all blows that Blood Tusk’s imposing body and will could take, but the dignity of the fully acclimatized giant was extremely damaged. He didn’t like it here, he didn’t know anything here, and he wanted to go back to the arena. Hunger, thirst, and, even if he didn’t feel it that way, unconscious fear took over every trait of the otherwise silent gladiator. He dropped his sword and let himself hang in the remaining vines.
“Is that all?” Zanu asked confidently. “Maybe Haruk’Zil was wrong after all.”
“I don’t think we should question our tiki,” Miraki admonished in Trollish as she came out from behind her cover, as did the other two warriors. “Who knows, maybe Haruk’Zil is just showing us that the ancestor isn’t that special and he’ll end up as a sacrifice in the deep temple as soon as we bring him back.“
”It had better be. I’ve had enough of this filth,” Zanu spat on the ground. ”And I’m not building a sledge this time, and I’m not pulling it. After all, I’m the one who took it out. My work is done.”
Blood Tusk didn’t understand a single word, and one might have thought that he was unconscious, but that was not the case. Inside, the troll’s heart beat like a slow but fateful drum. He had barely raised his eyelids, and the Riverfangs couldn’t see it, but the giant’s eyes were completely white. Unusual amounts of saliva ran from his mouth and the vines around him tightened imperceptibly.
“That wasn’t skill,” Miraki complained. “He was weakened.”
“I don’t care, woman,” Zanu waved him off, “You have fun with him. I’ll keep watch.”
The pucks had chosen the title Berserker because Blood Tusk was a true fighting machine and had already won victories with the worst wounds in the bloodiest fights. Here and now, however, the gladiator was to give this term its true meaning. He made soft but distinct sounds that indicated that he was anything but unconscious, and pulsating veins formed on his thickening muscles.
“I think he needs more poison after all,” one of the Riverfang warriors estimated, but this fatal miscalculation would cost him dearly.
Suddenly, Bluood Tusk broke free of his green bonds. He lifted the Riverfang with him and ran with it through the undergrowth. Everyone could hear when the ancestor rammed his victim against a tree, spraying not only a huge pool of blood from its mouth. Bones broke and flesh inside the river tooth burst before the thick tree gave way and fell over.
“Tiki, impossible!” Miraki exclaimed, frightened. Her remaining comrades-in-arms gathered around her, while they couldn’t see everything because of the dust that had been stirred up.
From the cloud, Blood Tusk stood up, and it seemed to be true. He was even bigger than before, with exaggeratedly thick muscles. The Riverfangs didn’t know it, but he was in a state of deep trance, completely obsessed with surviving and killing. His previous wounds were all still there, and yet it was as if they didn’t exist.
“Has he been deceiving us this whole time?”, Zanu whispered, swallowing. What he saw here was nothing compared to the trial fights. ‘Look at him... what is that?’
There was no time for an answer, because Blood Tusk attacked so quickly that it was hard to follow him, and he was just running straight ahead. The difficult terrain was no longer a factor. He trampled everything down, tore everything he got stuck on with him and with a leap that the riverfang avoided, he felled another tree.
“More poison!” Miraki said, picking up her blowpipe and shooting darts immediately.
Blood Tusk got some in the back, but even after he turned around, he didn’t bother to dodge. The poison didn’t do anything for him at the moment and he became the hunter, only he wasn’t quiet and stealthy. Thin or thick trees, small or large boulders, everything in his way was destroyed with unnatural force or used as a weapon. Especially when he used one of the trees as a club, he killed the remaining riverfang warrior with it.
“We can’t do anything!” said Miraki. Neither she nor Zanu could hardly attack, because dodging and running was the only defense against the furious attacks. They had long since been driven deeper into the jungle, and the local wildlife fled in all directions from the angry berserker.
All flight was in vain, however, when Blood Tusk leaped so high that he could have rivaled a bird flying over the trees. He landed right in front of Miraki, who was caught by his hand. That alone broke her skull, and yet he smashed her into the ground again.
Zanu fell backwards onto his bottom. He was petrified, unbelieving, and all his previous arrogance had vanished into thin air.
The dust smoke caused by the gladiator’s swirling devastation rose into the air. He had lost sight of the last river tooth, but he was very close and, roaring menacingly, he ploughed through log after log like toothpicks.
All this destruction and the accompanying noise attracted a completely new kind of attention. Not only did a completely new, alien pair of troll eyes observe the scene from a reasonably safe distance, but the resounding sounds also reached a wide, silent river, below the surface of which a gigantic shadow slowly appeared.
The monumental snout of an king alligator pushed itself out of the water and a dragon-worthy rumbling emerged from it.
Zanu knew the sound only too well, but it also suited him very well, because Blood Tusk looked up at the leisurely emerging beast.
The U-shaped mouth of the king alligator alone was big enough to swallow Blood Tusk in one clean bite. To inexperienced eyes, the river lizard, which was about 10 meters long, had feet that made the ground vibrate and was about the height of a young elephant, looked like a colossus of nature, but it was actually rather average among them.
If Blood Tusk hadn’t been in a trance, he would have had more than just respect for this primeval monster and would have confronted it only when necessary. Now, however, he felt nothing but burning rage and saw nothing more than another target to kill.
