#luaria

It was confusing to me, meeting a troll whom you've never known that would call you 'brother' and challenge you to a duel in the same breath. She had a turbulent spirit about her, a sense of chaos, and that may have been why I ignored the temptation to say 'no'.

Our ensuing match was swift. She was quick, but haphazard. The only difference between her and the beasts that I've spent my sweeps fighting is that she was smart enough to read my movements. I just happened to read hers better.

She was downed after a few brief exchanges by the shaft of my pike crashing between her neck and shoulder, leaving her stunned on the ground. It was a wonder to me that she was still conscious. Perhaps there was a part of me that held back from using my full force.

I started to think that I shouldn't have. She struggled to stand and crumpled before she could reach her knees, but the look in her eyes was baleful, at best. I still can't decide whether I was annoyed to see such a face from the troll who had challenged me, to begin with. I didn't make an enemy, but the fury in those eyes seemed to suggest otherwise. She might've had potential if she had any sense of control, or any sense of what she was fighting for.

I turned my back to leave as she spoke. She asked me, 'You're just going to leave? We finally found our kin, and you're leaving it at that?'

It's exactly what I chose to do. We may be blood, supposedly, but I have no need nor reason to regard her as kin. She was to me as any other troll I've passed by in my paths that I've taken.

Still, I try to push it to the back of my thinkpan even as I write. I don't know why it bears upon me even now.

I wish that I knew what Nivira had to say.