text: (IP) The Heart of the Red Flower The boy cowered before the giant troll, horrified by its bumpy, mossy skin and horned head. “What do you want? Why are you here? Trolls are supposed to stay within the bounds of the forest,” The boy said, cupping the seedling in his hands. He knew the legends: trolls lived everywhere within the world, and they ate humans. Didn’t they? The troll looked down at the boy with warm, smiling eyes. “I’m different from the other trolls,” The troll rumbled, its eyes on the seedling. “I need that plant, so I can appease The Darkness. She’s hungry, you see, and that plant will sate her enough that she won’t hurt us anymore.” The boy stared at the troll, uncertain. “But I found it, it’s mine.” “I will help you find another,” The troll murmured, smiling down at the boy kindly. “I am not here to harm you, little one.” The boy was afraid, but he could sense the truth of the troll’s words. He looked down at the little sprout, glowing a dull gold. “What if I go with you?” The boy asked, and the troll frowned, thoughtful. “It would be very dangerous. We will be going through The Forest of Mirrors and the Thundercloud Pass. Are you sure you want to do this?” The troll said at last, and the boy nodded. Something was telling him that he had to accompany this troll on its journey. He was also brought up short: He knew the stories of trolls and the rest of fey kind. They told lies and stole babies from their beds, never to be seen again. But this one was clearly different. All it had asked was for the seedling. The boy had grown it himself, watering it and tucking it into the soil. It was his. But something was telling him that this gentle giant needed it more. “I want to go with you, regardless of cost,” The boy said at last, and the troll smiled, revealing sharp, stained teeth. “Very well. We shall set out on the morrow.” \*\* The troll quickly discovered that his new traveling companion was a bright, curious child, asking constant questions. It was strange for him; he hadn’t been around younglings of any kind for centuries. “It is beautiful here,” The boy said, as they came to the path that led through Thundercloud Pass. Thunder boomed, and heavy purple clouds adorned the mountains like circlets of amethysts. Rain pounded down upon them, relentless, and the troll insisted the boy walk with him, protecting him with his hard, bumpy skin. The thunder was so loud and insistent that the troll couldn’t hear himself think. The deluge was such that both travelers were soon soaked, and the boy was shivering, his teeth chattering. “The Darkness is on the other side of the Mirror Forest,” The troll said, having to shout to be heard. But when they finally came to the end of the pass, there was a woman standing there, clothed all in black. “Did you truly believe that you’d go on some harebrained quest and I wouldn’t find out? You’re betraying your people, and for what? The Darkness’s empty promises?” Her voice was a seductive purr, throaty and soft. “She said that she needed The Heart of the Red Flower,” The troll replied, sweeping the boy behind him so he was out of sight. “All the Darkness does is lie, and you’d do well to know that. You never were one of us, and this is the proof.