Moon Glade: A Short Story

Trolls were not meant to live in trees. Otherwise they would have learned to carve homes out of the towering plants, the way elves did. This was something that Ra 'jira had always firmly believed and, despite the years she spent learning the druidic arts, she still held a cautious ambivalence towards any plant higher than a fern. Her uncharitable feelings were deeply ingrained, reinforced by years of unfortunate experience. If she had her way, she would never even set foot near a tree, and she would absolutely never try to climb one of the accursed things. Sometimes, however, fate simply wasn 't on her side.

Ra 'jira had been summoned to the Moon Glade by her mentor, a wizened kaldorei druid who taught the troll everything she knew about druidic magic and the balance of nature. The summons hadn 't come with an explanation but, ever the dutiful student, she had hastened

"Thank you so much for rescuing him!", Meryl cheered, clapping her hands together. "When I saw him stranded up in that tree, I just did not know what to do! Oh, he must have been so scared!" She bent down again, only to yank her hand back in surprise when the cat gnashed his teeth at her and bolted away. The dryad pouted after him for a heartbeat, but by the time she turned back to Ra 'jira she was beaming again. She bounded towards the troll in one graceful leap, enveloping her in a big hug. "Ra 'jira! I am so glad to see you. You were gone for months!"

"Da old man called, so I be here. An ' I got ta be going, little sistah..." The troll flushed, caught off guard by the dryad 's sudden closeness. The fey 's fingers were wandering over the leather straps that covered her breast, plucking at the feathers and beads that decorated the garment. She didn 't find the fey 's curiousity surprising -- the ceremonial leathers of a headhunter were very different from the simple linen robes she had worn during her training. She supposed that she must look quite exotic to a creature who never left