The Troll War

Chapter Fourteen - On the road to Bottomless Pit

Rabbit and his twelve warriors had been struggling for two suns on their way to and through Bottomless Pit, taking turns of six pulling the siege weapon, and six just walking along and trying to relax. It was now the third sun when they came across the dead troll, his head smashed in and an arrow in his side. Puzzled, Rabbit urged his men forward, only at a slower, more cautious pace. Moving the dead out of the way of the hulking siege machine, until finally reaching the center of Bottomless Pitt. He examined the bolt that had practically cut the leaders head in two; it was a new design, and apparently quite efficient. The Prince should be warned of this development, but first he needed to reach the castle. So, onward they marched, but not with the confidence that they had before. Obviously, not all trolls were in favor of Prince Charred. It was now high sun, so Rabbit and his men found food and rested; some of course wanted ale, but Rabbit knew that they wouldn't stop at just one drink, so he ordered no ale for his men, just rest and food.

It was now about a quarter before the sun would meet the horizon, and Rabbit began his men forward. They wouldn't get far before needing to settle down for the moon, but they would be closer to their objective, and to war.

As the sun started to fall behind the trees, he noticed a clearing up ahead, turning to his men, "There's a clearing up ahead, we'll camp there for the moon." His men were more than happy to hear that, and so with renewed energy they pulled their siege weapon forward.

Suddenly Rabbit stopped. "Wait here", he said to his men, and he went forward. There was an obvious trap covering the entire road, and a sign actually saying "trap". Rabbit assumed that it was to warn those fleeing, and no one bothered to take down the sign. He smiled, there was plenty of room in the clearing around that trap for them to move the siege weapon. Signaling his men, "Come forward, there is a trap on the road, but plenty of room around it for the equipment." So, onward they came, happily looking forward to some food and much needed rest. With Rabbit guiding them around the trap in the road, six pulled on ropes, while six pushed the weapon over the rough ground.

Just as the front half of the siege machine was about half-way into the clearing, the floor beneath them gave way into a very deep hole. Caught off guard, the six pulling the machine were dragged into the pit with the machine. With the front of the machine falling down quickly, the back end flew up just as quickly, smashing into the faces of the six who were pushing. They went backwards with a thud; two were knocked out, the remaining four were badly hurt.

Rabbit looked down at his men in the pit, two were pinned under the machine, and the other four were badly bruised, but evidently not too bad off. "Well there was a trap all right, just not where we expected." He looked at the obvious trap in the road. "I wonder", he thought to himself. Stepping over he gently removed some of the support sticks, and then got on the ground and felt under the camouflage. Jumping up, "I knew it! The road wasn't a trap after all, it was a trick to get us to go around and fall into the real trap." With that he proceeded to jump onto the center of the 'fake trap', and with one suspicious snap of a branch he fell into the trap. Oh, the words he uttered . . . but finally he got hold of himself, so now, he and six others were in deep pits, and six were on the ground behind the back half of the equipment sticking out of the first pit. He called out, "Can anyone hear me!" To which he got several replies of "Yes."

"Come over to the trap in the road." And shortly one of the trolls on the surface came over and looked down, "Guess it wasn't a decoy sir."

"So it would seem, tell those in the other pit to dig under the two that are trapped to see if they can get them out from under that blasted piece of trash." As the troll turned to give the message, Rabbitt added, "Then see if you can find or fashion something to get me out of here." The troll acknowledged the added instructions, and then passed along the instructions to the six in the pit with the machine.

It took well into high moon to get everyone out of the two pits. After digging with their hands, the two trapped trolls were able to be pulled out without much effort. The six used their blades to cut the ropes that were used to pull the siege machine, then they were able to slowly climb out of the trench by climbing over the equipment. Two ropes were tied together and lowered to Rabbit, and he was successfully pulled to the surface. They made camp there, behind the back end of the siege machine.

No one stirred until high sun, and then most were still sore from what they had gone through the previous moon. Rabbit led slowly and cautiously through the woods, around the clearing, and staying at the very edge of the road they went in single file. Rabbit was not about to rush his men, giving them plenty of rest breaks as they walked. Every clearing they came to, and every village they came to, he led them well around any possible traps. This obviously was slowing their progress greatly, and he feared they wouldn't arrive at the castle until after the fighting was over. Which meant a probable death sentence from Charred, so he had to come up with an explanation that would satisfy the Prince. Not an easy task.