"No, no, no, no!"
And Sarushan.
Big black boots stomped as she ran. She pulled apart the front of her robes and skirts just to move a little quicker, the scarf around her shoulders and head flapping in protest. Her heart raced as panic set in. Throwing herself down the boulders that banked the river, Sarushan scuffed her heels on grit as she lost her balance. The troll smashed its way out from between the treeline.
"Graaaaugh!"
"Aaaah!"
One hand on the pebbly shore, the dale-woman kicked herself back up. Her knees gave way to a sharp pain when she leapt onto a fallen tree that conveniently bridged the river. Waving her arms out for balance, she couldn't help but whimper, crossing the slippery, rotten trunk. Half way across, Sarushan dared to glance back. She saw the giant-kin testing the make-shift bridge with its hairy palm.
"Go away," she yelped! The stinking troll grunted its refusal.
Trying desperately to get the last few metres behind her, Sarushan felt the trunk beneath her feet rock and slip. Jerked forward, it was only by sheer luck her footing remained fast. Head down, she saw the thickly knotted vines that ate away at the fallen tree sway heavily, the violent white rapids below spitting and churning. Only then did the traveler dare to look back and see the giant-kin that followed her across the river.
"No!"
"Waaaugh!"
"What?"
Sarushan had turned, arms still waving feebly by her side. Face to face with the crooked monster, her eyes met his. It looked hungry, covered in warts, salivating a frothy, bubbling ooze.
"DO. YOU. SPEAK. COMMON?"
Without a hint of understanding behind its savage expression, the great beast took another heavy step forward. Its thick, flat toes curled around the tree, gripping for balance.
"LOG. WILL. FALL. LOG-WILL-FALL!" She screamed.
Again the entire thing shifted beneath their feet. Sarushan, squealing, fell to her hands and knees, knuckles white as she tried her best to grip its damp, spongy surface. The insidious heat of the creature hung over the back of her head for but an instant, before the traveler gasped and threw herself away from its stinking, outstretched hand.
"Om nom nom!"
"Oh, you know that word!" She shouted, before quietly chastising herself. "That's not even a word."
Sarushan's green eyes snapped back, then around, as she managed to support herself on two feet and a knee. She took the edge of her scarf in hand and lashed it out. Catching the monster's attention, the traveler flailed around the embroidered cloth like a weapon. Understandably, it looked confused.
"Veritas, Credo, Oculos!" With a sudden motion, Sarushan cast forward the scarf. It soared ahead, billowing in the wind of its own accord, undulating, spinning, cast deep against the snowfall, defying gravity. The troll looked on, wide eyed, for the briefest of moments stunned and wondering what foul evocation was about to befall it. Then nothing happened. The scarf was taken by the wind, and swept away.
Sarushan gasped for air, caught in the chaotic tumult of the cold river. She managed to look behind her, up at the troll so confused by her prestidigitation. The powerful hand of the currents pulled her under.
Spoiler:
"Om nom nom," she repeated to herself with a tut, patting down her robes. "Where do these trolls go to school. Really." After finding all her things in order, though lacking her scarf, the dale-woman took a moment to fix her hair.
"Well then. Which way is it to Sarshel," she asked herself, looking around the nondescript wilderness, the running river, all other landmarks concealed by the tall woods. "Gosh. This might be a problem."
It was going to be a long walk home.