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He tilts his head in curiosity, as if he expected I already knew the answer. “I am a troll, of course. A mountain troll, specifically. I am the alpha warrior of the Kalzak tribe.”
Huh. Okay, then. That seems about right. And technically, I finally succeeded in my whole cryptid search. I have found a whole village of non-humans. Trolls. Who’d have thunk it?
“What do we need to search for?” he asks.
I give my head a shake, trying to clear it of the sense of wonder. “Um. We’ll need echinacea and chamomile if we can find them. And feverfew, from the looks of it. Lean down so I can touch you,” I command.
He raises a brow, but obeys without comment. As I suspected, his forehead is clammy and hot. “Definitely feverfew. Goldenseal would be good if we can find it.” I run through my mental list of herbs, making notes of a few more we should look for.
“Does your village healer have tools?” I ask. “A mortar and pestle? I’ll need to grind the herbs together and make a paste,” I explain.
Bradoc nods. “We will find what you need. First, though, we must search for the plants.”
“You know what we’re getting into, right? It’s not like we’re going to find a clearing where everything I need is merrily growing. These plants have different needs, different preferences. Grow under different conditions. It’ll take a while.”
“I am a skilled hunter. I can track plants as easily as enemies or game. Simply tell me what to look for and we will find it.”
I resist the urge to roll my eyes, since he doesn’t actually seem to be boasting. More like stating a fact. “Fine. Butfirstwe’re gonna talk to the village healer and see if they have any of what we need. No sense in searching for something you already have.”
“Very well,” he says with another nod. “You are sensible, human.”
“My name is Oaklyn, by the way.” If I’m going to be helping him, he might as well know what to call me.
“Oaklyn,” he says thoughtfully. “You are named for the tree?”
“Yes,” I say with a nod. I’m not in the mood to explain how I’m descended from dryads and everyone in my family as some sort of tree-like name. “It’s a family thing.”
“I like this,” he says in a decisive tone, smiling at me, and I can’t help but grin back.
“Thanks. I like it too.”
“We will go now,” he says. “I know a place to begin our search.”
As promised, the village healer has some basic herbs and a mortar and pestle, so I have some of what I need. Once that’s confirmed, Bradoc leads me into the woods and higher up the mountain. The trees are dense, with nothing much growing beneath them, thanks to the lack of light.
“We need to find a clearing,” I say, and Bradoc nods.
“That is where we are going,” he says.
We hike another half hour or so, and then all of a sudden, the trees open up to a stunning view. If someone told me this place was the Garden of Eden, I’d believe it.
It’s a meadow full of ferns and wildflowers and herbs, with a crystal-clear pond on one side, fed by a merry little waterfall. The waterfall is big enough to be impressive, but not so massive that it’s roaring and scary. It’s the kind you can play in.
“Bradoc, is this water clean?”
He nods. “It’s fed from the snowmelts much higher up.”
It must be a long stream, because I can’t even see the top of the mountains from here. “Perfect. Then we can get started cleaning your wound.”
We make our way to the edge of the pond and settle on some rocks. I pull off my tank top—fortunately I’m wearing an olive green sports bra underneath—and dunk it in the water, then carefully dab at the wound on his chest. He grunts at the pain, but doesn’t flinch away from my touch.
“This looks bad,” I murmur. There’s pus mixed in with the blood, giving everything a sort of greenish cast. It stinks, too, which is never a great sign. I wipe away as much as I can, including the scab that’s starting to form. I’ll need clear access when I apply the medicinal herbs.
“All right,” I say when I’m done. “That’s as clean as I can get it for now.”
“Since we are here, I might as well wash completely,” Bradoc says. He rises from the rock and peels off his trousers, which seem to be made of the troll equivalent of buckskin—some sort of dark hide.
I watch without thinking, only to be startled when he reveals that he is very much naked underneath. I shouldn’t stare, but of course Ido, because hello, big naked troll standing in front of me, completely unembarrassed by his nudity.
