Under The Bridge

Chapter 7: The Weight of Doubts

   Darius sat at the edge of his bed, staring blankly at the journal in his hands. His mother's delicate handwriting filled the pages, but no matter how many times he read the words, they offered no comfort—only more questions.

The trolls. The deal. The ancient magic that had haunted his family for generations.

And now, the knowledge that he was tied to it, bound by a promise his mother had made. A promise that had taken her life and was now coming for him.

But the one thing that weighed on his mind more than anything else was the troll. The creature with glowing red eyes and a voice like gravel that had told him about the deal, that had haunted his dreams, that had watched him for so long.

Why him? Why now? Why had the troll sought him out? What did he stand to gain from Darius learning the truth?

Can I even trust him?

The questions gnawed at him. Darius wasn't naive. He knew that trolls—creatures of myth, beings of old magic—weren't to be trusted lightly. The man under the bridge had told him things that no one else would, but why? Why was he willing to share this knowledge, to lead Darius down this dangerous path?

There had to be more to it.

With a frustrated sigh, Darius closed the journal and tossed it onto his bed. The answers were still slipping through his fingers, and every time he thought he was getting closer to understanding, something pulled him back into uncertainty.

What does the troll want from me?

He pushed himself off the bed, pacing his room as his thoughts churned. He couldn't let himself be dragged blindly into this. If he was going to face the magic, if he was going to find a way to break the curse that had haunted his family, he needed to know who he could trust.

And right now, the troll was at the top of that list of doubts.

Determined to find out more, Darius sat back down at his desk and opened his laptop once again. He had already dug into the myths and legends of trolls, but there had to be more—something specific about the one he had encountered. The way he had spoken, the way he had moved—it was like he wasn't just a troll. He was something older, something with purpose.

Darius typed in a new search: Last trolls of the ancient world.

He clicked through several articles about trolls in mythology, their supposed extinction, and how they had been driven underground or destroyed over the centuries. According to most legends, trolls had once been numerous, roaming the forests and caves of ancient lands, making deals with humans, hoarding secrets and magic. But by the time the modern world had taken shape, most had vanished, killed off by humans or retreating into the deepest shadows.

Darius scrolled through the information, reading about the last known trolls in history, how they had been hunted, or how they had gone into hiding to escape the wrath of humans and the rise of modern civilization.

But one article, buried deep in a thread of obscure folklore sites, stood out:

"The Last Trolls: Guardians of Magic or Lost Beings of Vengeance?"

The title alone made Darius's heart race. He clicked the link and began reading.

The article was long, filled with references to old texts and forgotten myths. It told the story of how, in the centuries before trolls disappeared from the world, some had taken on specific roles—guardians of old magic, protectors of ancient deals made with royal bloodlines and powerful families. These trolls had not vanished like the others; instead, they had gone into hiding, waiting for the right time to return.