Chapter 19: Chapter Twelve – Baleful’s Song

“Bah!” Baleful scoffed.

“On my honor, the tale is true!” Curesoon pledged.

“Alrigh’, then,” she growled. “Wha’s tha’ Troll’s name?”

The bard was baffled by the Trollop’s stubborn disbelief, and because of this, he struggled for a moment to remember what they called the Troll.

“Tha’s wha’ I thought!” Baleful laughed. “Ya’re makin’ the whole thing up!”

“No!” Curesoon protested. “Give me a moment to remember.”

“Bah!” the Trollop sneered. “Ya just wan’ time to make up a name!”

“Grinder!” the bard blurted. “Common-men knew the giant by the name Grinder!” Inwardly, he wondered how this old hag could doubt his tale or how she could have never heard of Eversave.

“Grinder?” Baleful echoed with a look of contemplation. After a moment, she added with a sneer. “It’s a good tale even if it’s all a lie.”

“A lie!” The bard exclaimed as his mouth dropped open plainly showing his astonishment.

“No li’l’ man can kill a Troll with just one cut; much less a Dragon with a thousand,” the giantess objected jeeringly. “I’m no’ fool enough to believe tha’!”

“On my honor, the story is true, and as a bard, I’m forbade from lying,” Curesoon obstinately vowed. “Besides, it's all been carefully recorded in the sacred scrolls.”

“Sacred scrolls?” she echoed with unrestrained suspicion. “Show ‘em to me.”

“I… I don’t have any copies with me here,” the bard replied with a shrug.

“You even ever read 'em?” she pressed.

Curesoon’s sighed with a hint of frustration. “Well, not myself, but I've heard all the old songs, and they tell the story just the way I told it.”

“Ol’ Bogra can sing for ya!” the Trollop let out a rumbling chuckle. Then, after a thoughtful pause, she began to make up a song. Her singing echoed up from deep within her huge throat, and thus, it was low, rough, and guttural.

 

“There’s…

“Naught in life,

“But death that's sure.

“And from that fate,

“You'll find no cure.

“Only…

“Cold and dark,

“Will be your grave,

“And none'll come,

“For you, to save.

“‘Cause…

“There's no king.

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“None, in sky, reigns,

“But you'll not know,

“When worms eat your brains!”

 

Baleful burst into roaring laughter that seemed to shake the whole world within her den. As she laughed, she rocked backwards and kicked out her huge, gnarled feet.

Curesoon rolled his blue eyes, crossed his arms, and shook his head, but because of her infectious laughter, he found it impossible to keep a smile from coming onto his bearded face.

However, the giantess paid for her mirth, for her riotous laughter soon turned into a terrible fit of coughing, and this fit was worse than any that had come before it. And when, at last, she was done, she struggled to breathe.

Wiping black liquid from her lips, Baleful considered the smaller man for a moment.

“Well, there’s no doubt ya believe it, but where’s yar proof? How’d ya know ‘e tha’ told it to ya weren’t lying?” she asked pushing the argument further and enjoying the controversy. “Only yesterday, ya’s thinkin’ there’s no more Trolls in the world, and just now ya said tha’ ‘Eversave’ killed the very last one, yet…” She paused, leaned forward, and snarled baring her huge tusks. “‘Ere be I – a glarin’ con’radiction to yar beliefs?”

“Grinder’s skull is kept in the great hall of Ataraxia to bear witness!” Curesoon disputed with more fervency than he himself thought wise. “And anyway, I said the last Troll not the last Trollop.” Now he was grasping at even technicalities in his attempt to fight back his own doubts.

“Well, ol’ Bogra ‘asn’t ‘eard of this ‘Never-save.’” She mispronounced the name mockingly. “And I think I’d’ve ‘eard of such a warrior if ‘e’s so renowned for killin’ Dragons and Trolls.” Baleful commented with a growl that conveyed a cruel and yet approving tone.

“No!” The bard retorted defensively. “He’s not celebrated for his prowess in battle but for his great compassion and the virtue of his touch, for he healed all who ever came to him.”

“Compassion?!?” Baleful echoed with a questioning sneer. “‘E sure ‘ad none for tha’ Troll!”

Curesoon was beginning to wish he had never started this story. He, himself, had far too many misgivings without this cruel giantess adding to them. He quickly forced his mind to focus again on the telling of the story, for he wished to chase away the shadows of doubt his abductor clearly seemed to enjoy sowing. Moreover, it seemed wise that he clarified to Baleful the true character of Eversave, for obviously the Trollop had gotten the wrong idea concerning the Warrior-Bard. Plus, he hoped to find strength for himself in the telling.

“It’s well known that Eversave healed the Tree-Glimmering with his own blood, and thus he healed more through his death than ever he did in his life.”

This was just the sort of statement which gave Curesoon the assurance he so longed to have, and it was of great beauty to him.

“So, this ‘migh’iest of warriors,’ is dead?” The Trollop scoffed with a deep guttural growl. “And ‘e ‘ealed with ‘is blood? Ya believe this dung?!?”

The bard felt a sharp sliver of anger creep into his heart, for this vile beastly woman was chipping away at the very foundations of his beliefs. He quietly clenched his teeth, as the darkness around him seemed to deepen to almost overwhelming.

Baleful was silent for a moment, and then, after a fit of coughing, she asked a more thoughtful question: “‘Ow’d ‘e eal more with ‘is death?” The very thought was alien to the Trollop.

Curesoon did not want to answer any more questions, but there was a much more pressing matter: he wanted to go on living. If ever he was to escape from this place alive, he had to keep Baleful from becoming dissatisfied with his story telling, and so he answered while suppressing his expression of annoyance.

“When he was slain, his blood flowed down wetting the charred remains of the Tree-Glimmering, and thus his sacred blood healed that most precious tree so that it blossomed and bloomed once more. Even now it bears the Fruit-Glimmering which will heal all who eat thereof.”

Baleful sat still and quiet, and her huge ugly face seemed to be full of utter disdain for the story Curesoon had told. It was quite clear to the bard that he would soon be showing up on the Trollop’s horrible menu.

Suddenly, without a word, the giantess gathered up her great size, and doing so, she seemed to fill the whole cave.

The bard braced for the end, but instead of crushing him, Baleful turned and stomped toward the mouth of the long tunnel that led off into darkness. As she went, she passed the strange red-flamed torch, and it flickered noisily in protest.

Then, just before she exited the den, she paused and spoke over her shoulder without looking back at Curesoon. “If this ‘Never-save’ is such a great ‘ealer, why ain't ‘e ‘ealed you yet?”

“I have no need of healing,” Curesoon replied defensively, but something in his tone made him sound less than sure.

Baleful scoffed and then continued into the tunnel.

In seconds, the giantess was gone, but Curesoon could still feel her heavy footsteps causing the ground all around him to tremble long after she had vanished from his sight.

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