Drifa had been hired by Melinda’s father to chase the bandits that had stolen from the noble house. That was that mere morning, yet already she was separated from the other mercenaries. They had somehow gotten involved in a fight at the inn the group had decided to stop in, and were chased off by an angry troll. Well the others had been chased off. Drifa unfortunately was still in the midst of being chased by said troll. He shouted angrily through the forest, swinging his gargantuan limbs between and sometimes even over the trees.

The path ahead was soon cut off though, a rapidly flowing river on one side, and a rapidly running troll on the other.

How long she had been running, Drifa didn't know. However, what she did know was that she was separated from her group and there just so happened to be a Troll on her heels. Which one was the greater danger, she didn't know. However, what she had figured out as she slid to a halt in front of the river bank was that she needed to do something - anything - in order to stop the Troll in it's tracks. Otherwise, well, she was quite frankly mince meat.

Drawing her sword would have been a fool-hardy idea. There was no way that she would be able to defeat a troll in close quarters combat. Yes, she was a Mercenary. Yes, she was highly trained with a sword. However, she wasn't quite prepared to get into close quarters combat. So, that wasn't the best plan.

Time was running short, and she had to figure something out. Skipping to her last resort first and reversing her usual order of attack was always an option. Drifa flicked open her cloak in order to reach for the book stuck in the pocket on the inside. Her fingers ran over the leather as she pulled it out, carefully fingering the edges.

By this point in life she knew where each story was located. It was just a matter of flipping to one with a "hero" in it quickly enough.

The troll laughed "Oh, ya reading a story before yer final sleep? Ain't that a sweet human." He approached closer, showing just how much he towered over the mercenary. "You humans have really mucked things up. Always poking your head into our business, always trying to drive us further and further until there's nothing left. Just. Like. This." The troll stepped further slowly, to corner Drifa.

The troll stepped on an old dead tree as he approached, snapping it into a makeshift club and drawing back to swing it at the mercenary.

"Come on..." The Mercenary whispered, thumbing through the pages. Ah ha! She found it. Drifa had been too distracted to truly listen to what the Troll had to say. Of course, she wasn't going to let it kill her and take her book. It was her book, after all. And, of course, her life. But mostly her book. She would take it with her to her grave.

The story she needed was right in front of her by that point. She scanned over the page. Ah ha! The story she found was about simple and easy to comprehend. So, the woman shouted out, "HECTOR! SAVE ME!" As she did this, the pages began to glow with a vibrant red light. She watched in front of her as a man, taller and stronger than her, materialized. Clearly ready to fight.

The troll swung hard and tossed the tree as the magically summoned being began to appear into the world. The creature was clearly surprised, managing to nearly miss in its attack. The tangled and gnarled branches grabbed onto the woman as the tree passed over her head. The tree landed over the mouth of the river, holding onto Drifa precariously, threatening to drop her, or worse, fall atop her.

The troll looked down at the tall man, stunned for a moment at the spell.

By her cloak, Drifa was dangling. Barely clutching onto her book. She couldn’t help Hector, and the book wasn’t waterproof… So she’d have to find a way to get the tree to drop into the water. Staying alive was important and all, but she hadn’t… Nevermind. It was easier to rip her hood and escape than it was to actually face the Troll.

So, the woman started rocking back and forth - tearing at the fabric of her cloak. Up until the point that she heard a ripping noise. The next thing she did, while she still had time, was slip the storybook into her shirt. It was the best she could do to prevent it from getting wet.

Drifa hit the river with a splash that barely registered against the natural tides that quickly carried her away from the troll’s reach. The last she would have heard was what seemed to be a bat approaching the troll. “What have you done?! The countess is awake, and said not to hurt the humans...” Soon though, even the massive troll vanished from view, the trees blurred against each other, a static darkness against the pale clouds. The water seemed endless, but the ride was quick.

Within a minute, the rocky riverbed gave way to a calm placidness, the water opened up to what seemed an endless expanse, it appeared that Drifa was now on a shore, near a ship…

As soon as she was on the shore Drifa checked her book? Was it dry? She was so nervous… Without the book, well, she was sans a source of income, a friend, and more… She checked it’s pages, seeing if they stuck in places, or tore slightly. She could worry about the ship after her book.