Eighth Circle

They showed the prince and princess fighting monsters. The real-life Crispins and Lialas were dressed the same way. But, they wouldn't be fighting monsters. They would be fighting trolls. She wished Father could see her now.

Bryn gave the signal for attack. The rocket crews slammed into their targets and the groups moved off. There were eight, each with its own mission. They returned salutes. In different circumstances they would have returned kisses. That was hardly appropriate.

Liala consulted her map. Her group had to make their way through the trees to a warehouse stacked with ray guns. A guard post had been taken out by rockets but six or more trolls remained inside the building. Her mission was to eliminate the trolls and seize the weapons.

She had four Lialas and five Crispins.

'Who's fought trolls before?'

No one answered. Liala wondered if they had heard. There was a lot of noise and everyone had their heads down as they dashed over the scorched ground towards the shattered remains of the guard post. She stopped when they got there.

'I need two people who have fought trolls.'

'You're the only one, Princess.'

The reply was not encouraging.

'Who has rapid-fire ballistas?'

Half her team raised their weapons. She picked one of the Lialas and a tough-looking Crispin who had been assigned to her by Bryn.

'We will lead. The rest of you ... follow!'

The main entrance of the warehouse was twenty paces away. Allain's agent said the door was heavily reinforced and barred shut. Liala gave it a short blast with her ray gun and her companions slammed shells into it with their ballistas.

The door disintegrated. Troll-like shapes appeared and disappeared as bullets tore into them. Liala stormed inside with her two companions. She peered into corners. The Crispin lookalike stayed close by. Bits of trolls lay everywhere. It was impossible to say how many they had killed.

Liala signalled for her group to fan out. They were too close together and that made them vulnerable. She thought they were seasoned resistance fighters and wouldn't need to be told. They thought she was the heroic princess of their picture books.

Neither was true. They were all virgins. The nearest she had come to fighting trolls was fighting orcas and they weren't armed with ray guns. Orcas fought with their teeth. The most they could do was bite you in half.

'Look out, Princess ...'

The Crispin lookalike pushed her aside and caught the full blast of the shot that was intended for her. Liala returned fire instinctively and blew a packing case apart. A troll, behind it, fell senseless to the floor and one of the girls finished him off with a bullet. Another grabbed his ray gun.