41 The Adventures of Davion and Meridiana

The air was getting colder and colder as the two began to climb further up. Whether it was the carried or the one that was piggybacking her, none of them really felt it. Meridiana was still slightly annoyed by the strong wind blowing on some of her open wounds but it was not hurting her. It has been a few hours since they left the rest of the group and in front of them were standing some very tall mountains.

They knew that the western part of the Massalia Kingdom was riddled with mountains and snowy peaks and the reason why the Republic of Avenio couldn't really attack them. There were only three passages that an army could really use and the only one that was taken by the enemy army was the one in the North. At the same time, the closer one was from the fallen Kingdom of Pankow, the less he will be able to see a huge number of soldiers. Because after the fall of that human kingdom and their rebirth as undead, monsters were more in control of the mountains than the civilized nations.

Albeit to the two commandants of the Demonic Army, they already crossed the territory of multiple groups of creatures, from subterranean threats to aerial predators. And as they kept climbing as fast as they did, their brief passage was tolerated. At one moment, Davion, the Orodil stopped himself and listened to the wind. Meridiana was at first scared of an attack but soon realized that he was just listening. Otherwise, she was certain that he would have dropped her in the snow and launched his assault on the incoming attackers.

For nearly a minute, he noticed the changes of tonality in the surrounding and even the modulation of the cruel squall of the mountain. He wouldn't say it to not scare the succubus, but too many beings were communicating about them right now. He was also certain that a few elementals of either snow or ice were heading toward them. Normally, the elementals were peaceful and only attacked after being threatened, but he couldn't take any risk. The reason for their behavior was the fact that those beings made of sheer energy didn't need to eat, sleep or even rest. Just by being alive, they will grow stronger and stronger, be able to manipulate their environment with greater mastery. That's why they don't seek their death.

Nature is cruel at the same time, for they are a true treasure cove. Numerous materials are created exclusively by the elementals and even the Demonic Empire had numerous vital infrastructures powered by them. As for the barbarians and lesser monsters, eating or consuming a part of the corpse of an elemental could improve their own body, mind, soul. Elixirs made of the heart of elementals are present in this world, but only in the memory of one soldier. He heard that a few centuries ago, the Archmage sought every heart of elementals older than a century and whoever give him one will be personally taught by him. Two people managed to do it and they reached the 6th Circle even when their talent was non-existent.

For Davion, it didn't take very long for him to deduce that the Archmage probably used a bit of the elemental body to grant them the capability to manipulate the same elemental that those monsters. After that, the soldier often dreamed of meeting a dead elemental by luck, even when his vision of the latter was clearly wrong. But for the moment, he couldn't just hunt them with Meridiana on his back. Even without her, to face a group of ice elementals unharmed, surrounded by snow and a cold wind, was definitely not a healthy thought.

He started running again, scouting the way and analyzing any bits of information available. Each time there were too many signs of ownership, he took a detour and, in the worst case, ran at full speed before the master of that place noticed them. During nearly two days that would have taken weeks for normal humans, he kept climbing until the slope was finally in their favor. The tired and slightly frozen face of Meridiana smiled at this sight and she already wished they will never take the same route again. However, even a supreme commander like Davion couldn't avoid everything.

As he jumped down a cliff of 10 meters in height, the originally sturdy ground filled with rocks suddenly broke down. They fell again, but only a few meters more, ending in a deep hole, twice the size of Davion. They were stunned at that sight but looking around; they realized that it was a true trap made by simple minds. There were no sharp spears on the bottom ready to pierce everything, no poisonous substances to either weaken or even kill them. Just a dumb hole, quite badly shaped with a nice camouflage above. Davion had to recognize that the camouflage was really well made since it fooled him. The little mantle of snow covering everything probably hid the imperfections but the creators of that device still thought of the stones.

"Kâ, Dabak Houshta Gli!"

A scream of joy in a very guttural and deep tone resonated nearby. It didn't take a genius to guess that it was related to their unfortunate state. The two foreigners of this world frowned and tried to see if they knew that language. This time, however, they were not betting on the very limited knowledge of the dead soldiers like they usually do. A lot of planets created by the Ancients had the same races present on them. Contrarily to most of the intelligent race like the dwarves or the elves, the monsters were incapable of deviating of their original language. Meaning that in the same world, two humans could have their minds working to create something just for not speaking the same language but that was impossible for most of the monsters, especially the dumber ones.

"Gli, Gli, Gli, Takrâ Diramo!"

From the looks of it, two individuals were conversing but what they were spoking sounded strangely familiar for Davion and Meridiana. Without even seeing their kidnappers, they knew that they were a species of a troll, with near certainty. The words or sounds could have been spoken by something else, but the guttural way they were talking betrayed their origin. It was neither bad nor good news for them since the behavior of a troll is fluctuating between being bloodthirsty and being curious.

As the two of them were still thinking about their future acquaintances, Meridian couldn't help but exclaim "Wait for a second, gli is the word for food, right?" That small sentence provoked a match in the memory of Davion and he turned around to see the still perplexed Meridiana. "I know that language, it's fine." His near permanent impassive face broke into a small smile that flustered the succubus. Right after this, she heard him saying something in a very good imitation of what she previously heard.

"Nama Dabak Fikarisha Vedigera." Two shouts of surprise could be heard and the trolls answered immediately. "Gli Gorgabak Dake…"

A slap could be heard and the sound of someone hitting the ground followed as well. Apparently, the two were having a disagreement.

"Ho Gli, Tyro Uhanz!" Unlike her fellow partner, Meridiana was completely lost. She only knew about the word food because she repeatedly heard it from the trolls in the Demonic Army but that was the only word from their original language. Normally, they should have used the intergalactic one but it was still not unusual that in a moment of excitation, some native words could be pronounced. Staring in the eyes of the Orodil, the latter began to explain to her.

"They were talking about the fact that they hunting and found us as their food. Later, the one that probably got it was scared by the fact that the food was talking. The other one explained that we were not food but humans, translated by uhanz. But the way he talked seems to indicate that he is familiar with some humans, even if it was highly improbable, considering the local environment."

Right after he finished his explanations, a huge face appeared in the hole above them. The troll had blue skin and numerous layers of ice and snow on him, but apparently, nothing that bothered the monster. He was wearing a heavy armor made of beast skins, probably his prey from the past and was looking weirdly at the two trapped foreigners. He began to converse with Davion and about a minute later, he disappeared from the opening. Before the succubus even started to question that, Davion firmly grabbed her and jumped near effortlessly out of the hole. It was only a few meters but that managed to make the big troll stagger in confusion.

For him, it was the first time a prey left the hole he took a very long time to dig in the frozen ground so easily. He had killed numerous monsters and beings intelligent enough to not be described by that term thanks to his trap. Looked downward to see his companion, he saw the exact same face completely surprised. Profiting of that moment if confusion, the two commandants of demons examined their friendly trapper.

Like the rest of his race, he was looking vaguely humanoid and even like a very tall and big dwarf. By that, it meant that he had body disproportionate, with his lower part being very short. For a troll, of course, meaning that while his legs were probably a little more than 1-meter-tall, the entire creature was just a head above Davion. His very tough and resistant blue skin was protecting entirely and his face harboring a big dumb smile was threatening even in that state. From the looks of it, this type of troll didn't have any hair on their body or what they were capable of seeing outside the skin armor.

The two ice trolls regained their composure and began to chat with Davion happily and in a short notice, the three of them would have seen like lifetime friends from the outside. Perturbing, even more, the exiled Meridiana that was barely understanding a word once in a while. From what it seemed an eternity from her side, she saw the troll that was previously on the ground pointing in a direction. Tugging some of the clothes of Davion to indicate that she still existed, she saw the Orodil still entirely covered in his clothes excusing himself.

"So, what is going on?" The slightly exasperated succubus immediately assaulted her protector with questions. She was tired of waiting in the cold for nothing and while it was not threatening, it still caused discomfort for even Davion.

"We talked about who and what is residing in those mountains. Apparently, it was a good choice to not have gone underground since even the trolls don't dare to enter the caverns. Before the Dark Gods appeared, numerous races were fighting for the control of the mines. But apparently, a troll became a Eyrro, a term I never heard of. Following this, their race thrived for a small period before the dark gods targeted that part of the world. Now, even after countless suns, some traces of their passage are still present, especially underground. Terrors that shouldn't have been created in the first place."

"Did they really talked like that?" As scary their description was, she was confident that whatever was really lurking in the dark caves won't necessarily be a problem for them. And she was dumbfounded to hear a troll talk in such a descriptive way.

"No, they are incapable of doing that. It is just my analysis after all they said. Anyway, they pointed toward the shortest path to descend the mountain, but warned me that it is extremely perilous."

Both of them shrugged at those words. The only reason why she was being carried was that she was far too slow for Davion, but even her would probably be able to cross that mountain without dying. It would only be cumbersome because she would have fought many unnecessary encounters. Right before leaving, Meridiana still asked something that was bothering her.

"Why did they talked about humans? When they heard you, one said that, why?" Davion raised his hood and looked in the eyes of the succubus. And proceed to say with his most formal tone.

"They have a deal with a group but after saying this, I couldn't even get another word from them. All I know is one thing, they called those humans black and white in their language."