The Troll War

Chapter 24 - Broken Sprocket

Dear readers, your comments & suggestions would be greatfully appreciated; likes are nice also.  My next story will probably be the story of how the Wizard Thorn Berry came into the land.  If you have any suggestions, they too would be helpful.  One of your ideas might turn into an entire book, or be part of a larger story.  But it can't happen unless to give me the suggestions.

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While the bats had homes to go to, the trolls who decided to leave Charred's service did not. They knew all their towns and villages had retreated to the castle and were safe, they thought the elves had done the same, but weren't sure. If they returned to their homes, Charred may have sent out patrols looking for anyone who abandoned their post. So, they headed towards the Land of Elf to see if it was abandoned as well. After walking about a quarter of the sun they arrived at the village of Broken Sprocket.

It appeared to be vacant, but they approached with caution fearing an ambush; but found no resistance, much to their relief. Broken Sprocket was a small village, only about fifteen homes, a general store, a small restaurant / bar, and a blacksmith's shop. Being hungry, they went to the restaurant first. A lot of the food was gone, but they did find a large pot of mushroom stew stored on a shelf, which they heated and ate. While not their favorite food, it would have to do for now

After eating they started searching all of the homes for food, and anything else they thought would be useful. As they found things, they took them to the small restaurant and sorted them; food in one pile, hunting & trapping implements in another, and so on.

Knowing that it would take Charred several more suns to reach Potts' castle, they decided that while they had some food, it certainly wouldn't be enough to last the entire war. The oldest and highest-ranking troll of the group, Hodge-Podge, sent some of the trolls out to hunt and set traps for small game, others to see what might still be growing in the various small gardens of the homes, and he sat down to start working on a plan. What would they do if a patrol came looking for them; what would they do if the elves returned to their village, they sure wouldn't want to find a bunch of trolls living in their homes. Immediate survival was being taken care of, but if this war lasted multiple seasons – then what? Hodge-Podge had a lot of thinking and planning to do.

Those that had been sent to check the gardens returned in short order, though most of the gardens had been picked clean, they did find a little. Enough to make a stew, and if the hunters came back with anything all the better. Hodge-Podge told those with the vegetables were told to "Prepare the vegetables for a stew, and hopefully the hunters would return with enough meat to make it a very hearty stew fit for strong trolls." Two of the trolls took the largest pots they could find, and went to the well in the center of the village to get water. Filling them, they slowly walked back to start making the stew.

A larger group of trolls, about thirty or so, edged towards Broken Sprocket with the same concerns the first group had. As they edged towards the village it appeared to be vacant, then one of the trolls noticed smoke coming out of a chimney. To be safe, they decided to go far around this village and hopefully find a vacated community. As they made their way around, one of the hunters heard them and, fearing they were sent by Charred, hid. This was something the rest of his group needed to know. Once the large group was well out of sight and hearing, he grabbed his small kill, (a rabbit), and walked quietly and swiftly back to Broken Sprocket.

Once back he reported to Hodge-Podge, "Sir, while out hunting I saw a large patrol of trolls, must have been at least forty ... maybe even fifty. Did they come here?"

"Humm, I didn't see them, maybe they missed this little spot. Then again, the trail led straight here for us, don't know why they didn't check." He thought for another little bit, "Well, go and prepare the rabbit for the stew, hopefully the others will return with larger game. It would be nice to have a great feast, after all the scraps we got from Prince Charred-brain." But he knew the Prince wouldn't be satisfied with one patrol, he'd send more, so he would need look-outs and a defensive strategy to go with any patrol that did visit.

Then two of the hunters returned dragging a deer, that they had already gutted and set a trap for any scavengers that might want to feast on what they left. After being informed of the previously reported patrol they went to work skinning the deer, chopping up its meat, and adding it to the stew. Tonight they would eat well indeed.

After eating, Hodge-Podge laid out his plan for dealing with any future patrols. "While making the stew, they found a hidden trap door that leads to a cellar; one troll will get on the roof of the tallest building, which is apparently this building, and stand watch from when the sun goes down, until the sun comes up. Then another will take his place on the roof, and so on until we know it is safe, or the elves come back. Once a patrol is spotted, the lookout is to go down and ring the alarm bell as loud and hard as they can, then the rest need to get into the cellar as quickly as possible."

He looked around, "Any questions?"

Only one question came, "Who's first?"

"I am. I'll take watch from now until next sun, then," (indicating the troll who asked the question), "you will relieve me. I'll make a list for who follows beyond you, and we'll keep on that rotation until we know it is safe."

"When will that be?"

"Probably when the elves return. Sorry, that's the best answer I can give you." With that, he climbed some stairs to the attic, and from there found an opening to the roof.

The other trolls decided to just sleep there in the restaurant, so they moved the tables and benches to the side and stretched out. It had been a long sun, and they were tired.