"'Sky!" Crystal ran to her Recognized's side, checking to make sure he was all right. He was.
"Wait!" Duskwhisper raised a hand as others prepared to retaliate. The Finders halted their assault. "Who are you and why have you taken our food stores?" she asked, directing the question to the smirking troll.
"Dubgunk's the name," the troll responded, "and the way I see it, your food was in my cave, so it belongs to me now!"
"Surely you understand that we didn't know that this was your cave," the chieftess implored. "We never would have chosen it if we did."
"That's what you say," Dubgunk retorted with a sniff. "I think that you were trying to pull a fast one on me..."
Crystal slumped against the cave wall staying close to Darkskyfire as Duskwhisper continued her verbal battle with the troll. A battle she seemed to be losing at the moment. Growing up at Stormsinger's Rest, she'd heard stories about how stubborn trolls were, but High Ones, this was rediculous!
**Crystal, can you close that hole from where you are?**
Crystal looked up to see Wisedove looking at her with the question written in her expression.
**I think so,** the young rockshaper sent back, then closed her eyes in concentration.
"The facts are the facts!" Dubgunk was saying. "Your food was in my cave and unless you have something better to trade with, it's all mine."
"Like I said," Duskwhisper could barely control the annoyance in her voice. "If you would wait a moment for us to retrieve some of our items, I'm sure we could come to a compromise."
"Sorry, girlie," the troll insisted, once againg slinging her ax over her shoulder. "It's now or never." She turned to leave, then stopped short, looking at the spot where her exit used to be.
"I think you should reconsider," Crystal said as she rose from her crouch, putting just enough edge in her voice to make the suggestion into a threat.
"Well," Dubgunk said, turning to face the congression of elves crowded in the cave, "it seems that we have quite a predicament." She placed the pickax on the ground headfirst and leaned on it, a smug grin on her face. "You want your food back, but here I am stuck in a cave, and I don't see any way I would tell you where it is as long as I'm in here."
"You forgot one thing, troll." Echo spat out the last word as a curse, stepping forward from the group and letting her furs fall to the ground. "We have eight and four skilled hunters and gatherers who could easily seek out what little food is left in the woods. I can guarantee you, we will not starve."
"Well then--" Dubgunk began, but was quickly cut off as Echo stepped foreward and ripped the pickax from her hands.
"You on the other hand, can just as easily be sealed in your precious cave till the end of time, and unless you plan to eat that wart off your nose, you'll starve long before then. So, as you can see," the dark-haired Wolfrider said, casually walking back to join the others, picking up her furs as she passed them, "it's purely your decision."
Dubgunk stood in the center of the cave, the model of indecision. 'She's going to call ourbluff,' Duskwhisper thought to herself anxiously. Dubgunk looked at the chieftess. She had the outward appearance of perfect sincerity. The troll caught her gaze, their eyes locked... and those emerald eyes flinched. Just barely but still... Dubgunk folded her plump arms across her chest.
"You're bluffing," she declared stoutly.
"Are we?" Echo grinned. "Crystal?" All other elves filed out as Crystal took her place at the cave entrance, Imberglow and Jrean lifting Darkskyfire's unconscious frame. Duskwhisper came last, frantically searching for Echo.
**What are you doing?!** she sent to the raven-haired huntress. Bluffing was one thing, but this was murder!
**Trust me,** Echo sent back, a smile on her face.
Dubgunk was still standing where she had been before as Crystal sealed off the exit. As the opening grew smaller, her confidence began to waver visibly in her stance, but she stood her ground. At the last moment, Windweaver stepped forward and sent a small gust through the tiny opening, blowing out all the torches inside for good measure. The troll suddenly vanished into the blakness as the tiny opening was sealed.
"I can't believe you did that!" Duskwhisper shrieked at Echo. "She'll never give us our food now! Even when we let her go!"
"Calm down, chieftess," Echo replied smoothly. "I know trolls, and unless I miss my guess, she's just about ready to tell us where our food id, where her food is, and her sire's recipes for preparing it."
Already, Wisedove was at the sealed entrance, concentrating on the sense of the other inside. Frea. Worry. Anger... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... Release! The counsilor smiled in amusement. It had worked! The troll was ready to talk.