“No,” David responded, calming at last. “But I can feel them. And it . . .” David paused, then spat, “It is creeping me out.”

That almost made Tamani smile. “I think the Ticers can take it from here,” Tamani said, wishing he felt more certain. “We should go.”

David muttered something that sounded like agreement and followed Tamani back through the barricades.

“Run,” Tamani said, kicking into a jog. “In a while they’ll be drawn back to the potions on the road and should leave you alone.”

They jogged together down deserted side streets Tamani hadn’t travelled since he was a sprout. The bees retreated slowly at first, but after a few minutes David was left with just a few stubborn stragglers.

“I thought magic didn’t work on the trolls,” David panted.

“Bees aren’t magic,” Tamani said, pausing for a moment to get his bearings.

“But that stuff they threw into the square – the glass things – those were potions, right?”

Tamani grinned now. “Yes. But potions for the bees, not the trolls. It stimulates them to attack animals. Unfortunately, that includes you.”

David nodded, leaning over with his hands on his knees. “Brilliant,” he said, taking one more deep breath before following Tamani, already a few strides ahead of him.

“Hecate’s eye,” Tamani gasped, throwing himself against a wall as they reached the corner across from his mother’s house only to find a dozen trolls standing over the bodies of a handful of sentries. “They must have come in a different way,” he said, peeking out quickly. They were making their way towards him – perhaps they had heard? Or—

“They smell us,” Tamani said, shaking his head and looking down at his bloodstained clothes, cursing his carelessness. “They probably followed the smell of blood all the way here.”

As the first troll came into view – an enormous lower troll that looked like a hairless grizzly bear with a nose instead of a snout – it sniffed the air.

“Here we go,” Tamani said, stepping around the corner to greet the attack. The big one loped toward them, closing the distance so fast that Tamani barely had time to raise his spear.

With a picture-perfect swing David stepped up and took the monster’s arm clean off. At the sight of their comrade’s vibrant red blood pouring from its shoulder, the others seemed to catch a kind of frenzy, sending the fight into a deadly fast-forward. David, his arms clearly growing weary of Excalibur’s weight, could barely swing his sword fast enough to repel their attacks. Tamani did what he could, stabbing out at every weapon and limb that approached him, mostly just trying to stay alive until David whittled their number down to a reasonable ratio.

How about three to one? Tamani thought ruefully.

When he felt something grab at his ankle, pulling his legs out from under him, Tamani was afraid his luck had run out. He managed to regain his footing, but not in time to completely dodge the blow of a wicked iron mace. He yelled through clenched teeth as the iron spikes tore into his right shoulder and he felt his grip slacken on his spear. The troll behind him gave a kick to the back of his knees and though he tried to catch himself, his injured arm collapsed beneath him, unable to bear his weight. He rolled in time to see the first troll lift his mace again, aiming for his head this time. Tamani was powerless to stop him.

And then the troll’s knees buckled and it lurched forward, collapsing onto Tamani, filling his mouth with troll flesh and burning his nostrils with its sickly scent. Tamani heaved against the crushing weight with his good arm, but it was only when he felt David’s strength join his that the huge troll rolled away.

Tamani climbed back to his feet and David reclaimed the sword from where he’d plunged it into the cobblestones. He had a strange look on his face.

“I owe you my life,” Tamani said, sweeping up his spear. “Again,” he added.

“I didn’t do it. I mean, that one I did,” David said, pointing to the two halves of the troll that had kicked Tamani’s legs out from beneath him. “But I turned to get this one and as I raised the sword he just . . . collapsed.”

“Must have taken a poison dart,” Tamani said, scanning the troll’s body, then looking around the street for their concealed benefactor. Not finding one, he just waved his thanks to the empty streets.

He adjusted his arm, trying to find the position that was least painful on his shoulder, giving up after a moment and just dealing with it. “We’d better get to the house before any more trolls see us.”

When they burst back in through the front door, Laurel was there to greet them, brandishing the same knife Tamani’s mother had nearly killed him with earlier. Something in Tamani’s core sank low to see Laurel holding a knife. She must have been terrified to be wielding a weapon, even if she didn’t know how to do much damage with it.

“It’s you!” she said, her voice heavy with relief as she tossed the knife from her the way Tamani might discard rotten fruit. “They’ve been outside for a few minutes, and all we could do was stay as quiet as possible.” She threw her arms round them both and Tamani couldn’t help but wish the embrace was for him alone.

“How is Jamison?” Tamani asked, but Laurel was shaking her head.

“How are you guys? Hurt?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Tamani said. He pushed past her and down the hall. He couldn’t focus on himself for even a moment or he wouldn’t be able to keep the pain at bay.