As the marshland grew wetter and gave way to strange new growth and bogs filled with muddy slime, Cassandra oddly enough was comforted by the sight of the troll ahead of her. Jah'ren moved easily between the halfhidden marshponds, never loosing his footing, and never seemingly discouraged by the waistlong grass.

The smaller human fought her way through it behind him, leaving an obvious track if someone would be stupid enough to follow them into the marsh. Since the feeling of fear was disappearing, her mind replaced it with a growing annoyance of not being able to match the other hunter abilities and dexterity. Although Jah'ren was ahead, he did not leave a single trace in the tall grass, no footprints in the mud, while Cassandra had to struggle through, the grass tearing at her clothes, its sharp edges leaving red stripes where her skin was exposed. The mud sucked at her boots, making each step heavier than the last.

"Jah'ren help?" the troll offered when he realised how much she struggled.

"No!" she hissed back. "I can do this. I'm just smaller than you, and the grass is tall!"

The green eyes sparkled humorously and before she could react she was lifted onto his shoulders, one leg on each side of his head.

"No grass," he laughed and continued walking.

"Jah'ren," Cassandra begged. "Put me down, please. I can walk!"

The troll did not answer at fist, but when he had had the time to think of a good answer, he turned his head upwards and smiled:

"Kas san dra look for enemy. Jah'ren walk. Kas san dra tell what see."

She gave in with a sigh and decided that since it seemed she was stuck with the troll she could at least teach him to pronounce her name right.

After almost an hour she gave in, letting him win with the argument that every syllable should be equally important, or at least she though that was what he meant.

"Okey," she agreed. "But you can call me Cass, since it seems we are friends. And I never knew you could pronounce the difference between a K and a C, my name is spelled with a C, you know."

"Yes, Kass," he said, and she could hear the smile in the words.

In silent protest she dangled her legs, resulting in her heels hitting his chest. He just laughed silently, his shoulders shaking a little.

****

Dusk fell before the troll stopped and lifted Cassandra down from her lookoutpoint. Within the next ten minutes, while she was rubbing the blood back in stiff limbs, he had already gathered grass and twigs to make a fire. The annoyance she had felt earlier returned even stronger when she saw the effectiveness with which he worked. Every single movement was planned and he never even moved an arm without purpose, using no more energy than was necessary for the task in hand.

"Jah'ren go wood, Kass make bird?" he asked, handing her the bird that had been shot that morning.

Cassandra nodded happily, finally getting a task she was certain she could handle. She had always been a good cook, first in her mother's kitchen and then she had taught herself new ways of cooking when she was on the road, finding the right herbs for different meat and learning which growths were eatable and which would make you sick.

"Knowing him he probably cooks like a gourmand," she muttered, still annoyed.

The anger was not directed towards the troll, but towards herself and her obvious lack of skill when he was near. These four years since she left the village and found her own path she had been training hard. She had been learning to find her way, to track and to hunt. Still, after Jah'ren had come into her life she felt like a small puppy watching the old wolf, desperately trying to match up in experience and strength. Everything she knew, all her skills and abilities which had earlier made her proud, seemed now pointless and made her want to hide in shame.

When the troll returned a pleasant smell had started to fill the air. Cassandra smiled when he sniffed curiously and mentioned he was hungry. The words of her mother when they had been baking together in the kitchen at home came back to her; "The path to a man's heart goes through his stomach".

Smiling at the memory she realised she had no intention of finding her way to the troll's heart, or if even he had one, her grasp of troll anatomy being rather shaky. She watched the tall shape fold the long legs under him and sit down by the fire, laughing inside when thinking about what her mother would have said if she knew her daughter was cooking a troll dinner.

They ate in silence, both being too hungry and too tired to talk.

Afterwards Jah'ren leaned back against a rock, sighing.

"Good food," he said, nodding contently.

Cassandra could not help congratulating herself for the meal; it had really been excellent, even though the bird had been somewhat thin and the herbs were crushed and a little soggy after a long time in her pack. She leaned back as well and felt full and safe for the first time in weeks.

Jah'ren went through one of the pouches he carried around his waist and took out a strange, black root. After taking a bite of it he handed it to Cassandra motioning her to do the same.

"What is it?" she asked, smelling it.

"Good," was the answer.

It tasted a bit like liquorice, a strong, but pleasant taste. She did not inquire more about what it was, knowing troll cuisine well enough to figure out that she might not like the answer.

They sat watching the smoke curl against the dark curtain of evening a while, chewing happily on the black root. It made Cassandra feel safe and warm and relaxed. So relaxed she forgot to be afraid and started asking the questions she had not dared to ask sooner.

"Why haven't you got tusks?" The moment it left her lips, she knew it was a stupid question. She did not even know if every troll had them, just that she had never seen one without.

"What tusks?" Jah'ren asked.

"Big teeth," she said, blushing by how stupid that sounded. She tried to gesture what she meant. "They come out here, like fangs, long teeth. I just though trolls had them…"

She watched him, trying to find any sign of anger or insult. Thoughtful eyes observed her intensely, making her blush even more.

"Tusks," he said, having trouble pronouncing the word. "Yes, troll has tusks."

"Not you," Cassandra fished, hoping to get him to explain.

"No."

The atmosphere sank a little, none of them wanting to say anything else. Then Jah'ren spoke again, slowly and without his usual cheerfulness.

"Jah'ren young hunter. Long time go now." Cassandra nodded, encouraging him to continue.

"Human." He held five fingers in the air. "Hunt Jah'ren. Hunt long, run long. Jah'ren dumb, do wrong. Human…" He searched for the word.

"Captured you?" Cassandra tried.

"Yes. Capture, rope and metal rope."

"Chains," she said, trying to keep from stopping him, but knowing how he liked to learn new words she was getting quite used to fill in the pauses and correct his language.

He lifted his hair from where it covered one ear and showed her the scruffy remains of what had once been a long, pointed ear.

"Troll hurt. Ha ha," he said, snarling.

Cassandra looked shocked at him. They had cut the long point of the ear and what was left had been torn into shreds of skin.

A finger pointed to his whitened eye.

"Human. Burn with fire."

"Is it blind?" she asked, trying to keep her voice from trembling.

"No, see little. Like water in sky."

"Like fog and cloud?"

He nodded and stroked the finger down along his cheek to the edge of his lips.

"Take tusks from Jah'ren. Many gold."

"They took your tusks and sold them!" Cassandra shivered when remembering something that had been hanging on the wall back home. Her grandfather had often told the story of how he had killed trolls in the wars, and taken their valuable tusks.

"Yes." His voice had turned sad now, like it was a painful memory. He held the left hand out towards the fire showing her the strange marks around his arm she had already noticed, but not dared to ask about. Now she could easily make out each link in the chain that had left its bite in the skin.

"Metal rope. Chain."

She could almost imagine hearing bones breaking as the chain had tightened around his arm. Fascinated as well as disgusted she touched the ruined skin before pointing at a deep scar above one eyebrow.

"And this?"

"Troll did. Fight Jah'ren."

"That one?"

The scar went from his throat and disappeared under his leather vest, thin and pale on the blue skin.

"Human. Warrior. Kill Jah'ren first pet. Long time now."

"How many scars have you got?" she asked, feeling almost drunk with the repulsion of her own race, and suddenly understanding how little she really knew about the world, and her new friend.

"Many," there was a smile this time. "Many time fight. Human, orc, troll, noliving people, tauren, elfish… many, many human. I kill."

Cassandra shivered at those words. She could not manage to speak for a while, and Jah'ren seemed to have lost all his need for conversation already. She stared into the flickering fire, trying to shut out the pictures of burning houses and embers held against one green eye.

"I…" she began, feeling something build up inside her. "I am alone."

"Alone? Only Kass?"

"Yes, alone."

He did not protest this point, although she expected him to. She drew breath quickly and decided she did owe him something for what he just had told her.

"I was in the forest, with my sweetheart."

"Sweetheart?"

"Someone you love, a friend, but more than a friend."

"Love," the troll nodded, drawing a heart in the dirt with a twig. "I know."

"We were in the forest. Talking of the future. Then he told me there was smoke from the village. And we ran home. There was an orc and Simon protected me."

"Protect," Jah'ren nodded. She hoped he grasped what she was talking about.

"He was cut down on the spot. I had a knife and jumped on the orc from behind and I stabbed him through the neck. But Simon was dead."

She closed her eyes, feeling the warmth, smelling the smoke, seeing the flames roar and eat their way through what was left of the small village by the seaside.

"They were all dead. Everyone."

"All tribe?"

She nodded, understanding he meant the village.

"All tribe, all family."

"Family?"

"Mother, father, sister, brother… and Cassandra. That is a family. Someone you love, those who give you life, and those who are with you when you grow up. Brothers that pull your hair, and sisters that steal your doll. Family."

She had decided not to cry, but the tears came nevertheless. He touched her cheek carefully, wanting to comfort, but she slapped his hand away.

"It was a raiding party. Looking for blood. There were trolls. Many trolls. I could hear their singing while I hid in the bushes. The orcs laughed, the trolls sang."

"Not Jah'ren," he said softly. "Jah'ren not kill."

Cassandra recovered from the sudden burst of feelings.

"No, you didn't. But you killed humans."

"Yes. Human fight, Jah'ren kill."

The silence closed in on the small camp again. Soon there were only the noises from the swamp on one side and the marshlands on the other. Frogs, birds, things lurking in the grass, the crackling as the last pieces of wood slowly turned into embers and ash.

Cassandra had curled up, trying to get her feelings under control, and before she knew it she fell into a strange, troubled sleep, dreaming of faces she couldn't remember anymore, places she knew better than anything, that would never be the same again. She dreamed of killing Simon in the forest thinking he was the orc, and her grandfather and some other men whose names she could not recall laughing as they burned Jah'ren and the chains cracked his bones.

She had the faint recollection of a soothing voice on the edge of dreaming, hands touching her and the soft fabric of a blanket being wrapped around her.

And then, when she awoke, she really was alone.

****

Yay! New chapter! Pleased review if you like it!