[Amanaduial the archer]

Tallin walked away from the group, especially from Raye, counting to ten under her breath very quickly. She had heard it was meant to calm you down; it wasnt working. Shed tried it four times then gave up, too busy with the stench which was ever getting stronger. Automatically she felt for the knife nearest to her hands and easiest to get to, one in a sheath along her lower arm, able to be easily slipped into the hand, and cursed silently as she realised the sheath was empty- the night elves had found that one then. Then she froze. A sound had attracted her attention, and sound that was awfully like...

No, dont be stupid Tallin. She silently reprimanded herself. She was making herself jumpy. But as she continued she found herself moving more slowly, and more quietly than before. Her feet made almost no noise, just a soft padding. She hoped it would be quiet enough to avoid the attention of whatever was in here-

No! There is nothing in here! Tallin forced herself to believe it and straightened up slightly, but still walking slowly. All around her was complete silence; the birds had stopped singing a way back, as if avoiding this area. There was a dark cave ahead and, forcing herself not to give in to Rayes jeering, she entered.

The elf was a few metres in when she once again heard the noise and froze against the wall, her almost lupine senses heightened even further by the sense of danger. There it was again. Oh Eru... The sound of breathing. Harsh, heavy breathing, as if from the mouth of a great beast. Tallin realised too late that she had grown to easy in Raye's prescence- the murderess was still trying to get rid of her.

Tallin cursed silently and edged forward a little more, to get her bearings in the darkness. Then a huge nightmarish shape moved across the entrance, momentarily blocking out what little light there was; a giant shape, like a massive moving boulder. Tallin stopped breathing. She was in a cave. Alone.

With a troll.

Something was being rolled across now, and Tallin realised it was a massive boulder, now half across the entrance. Panic overwhelmed her; she would be trapped in here with this creature. She stepped back the way she had come, towards the light a few steps when a large crunch emitted from her feet. In her haste Tallin had stepped on something and looking down she saw the object in question and her eyes widened. A bone, and not an animals bone either; either human or elven. She felt sick; bones had never really been a problem, but this was human...and she knew the thing had heard her. It turned slowly, its massive bulk turning towards Tallin and she saw a pair of red piggy eyes one and a half times her height again above her head.

And they saw her.

The thing gave a huge roar, shaking the cave and started lumbering towards her at an alarming pace. Tallin dived to the side, out of the way, and felt more bones crush beneath her, and gave a startled yell. Trying to form more sensible words, she took a deep breath and yelled again.

"Berethion! Arrelle! Dimithil! Hw-" She stopped and threw herself out of the way again as a massive fist swung at her. Or was that a club? With a start she realised this was the same thing that had attacked the night elves when Aragilath had addressed them. Her mind dragged up without any prompting the exact images of the several night elves who had fallen prey to the beast.

Drawing her sword, not a usual oocurence, she crouched low in a defensive position close to the ground; it would be harder for the creature to distinguish her from the rest of the rocks scattered around the floor. Unless its eyesight was good in the dark...

The troll started to sniff deeply and Tallin silently cursed again. Oh yeah, sense of smell was a runner as well. She took a swing at it as it lurched towards her, but didnt do much damage as she was equally absorbed in getting out of the way. She took another deep breath but there was no need- she wasnt alone any longer. She could see the figures at the entrance, silhouetted against the light. It was probably the rest of her companions, but right now she would be quite satisfied with the night elves...