Early morning light drifted in through the small window in my room. For the first time in my life, the morning didn’t bring pain. Instead, it brought a gentle knock on the door.
“It's time to start work.” Came the rough voice of Charlie.
I got out of bed, the floor hard against my feet. As I stood, I couldn’t help but smell the bacon cooking.
“I’ll be right down,” I said, heading for the door. My stomach growled. I couldn’t remember when I last ate.
I opened the door, and the smell immediately got stronger.
I bounced down the stairs, my heart so light; all I could think about was how I was free.
Then a mop and a broom were rather rudely shoved into my hands. “Good, you're awake; the dining room needs mopping.
I grumbled, “I need to eat something.”
“After,” said Charlie as he walked away, a rag in his hand and an apron on.
My hands shook with a hunger I can’t describe, but I gripped the broom handle tighter and began to sweep.
After I finished mopping, I propped myself up against a wall and sighed, feeling the warm wood beneath me.
“Here,” Charlie said. I looked up to see him holding a plate of steaming eggs, bacon, and potatoes. I grabbed it quickly and sat at a table, shoving two pieces of bacon into my mouth at once.
“Thank you,” I mumbled through a mouthful of potatoes as Charlie sat across from me. His eyes seemed to see too much, more than I ever wanted them to. He stared at me as if he were studying my every move.
“What? Do I have something on my face?” I asked, looking around for a cloth to wipe my face.
He shook his head. “You are just eating like you haven’t seen food in weeks.”
I met his eyes steadily. “I haven’t.”
He leaned in, putting his elbows on the table. “Now why would they starve you?”
Before I could answer, the tavern door burst open.
The smell of rot hit my nose before I saw them.
Large, lumbering masses of muscle flooded into the tavern. Ten or more stood snarling in the doorway. Their rank made me nauseous. I stopped chewing and swallowed hard. Charlie stood and looked back at me.
“What are they?” I asked Charlie, as I stood too.
He met my eyes. “Trolls”
For a moment, the world stood still, as if taking a breath, then the troll at the front opened his mouth and let out a bellow so loud it shook the room.
“What do we do?” I yelled to Charlie.
“Fight.” He responded as they began running at us.
Charlie began yelling to the other people in the tavern. I couldn’t understand what he was saying, but a man with long black hair ran up the stairs and started shooting arrows. One shot straight through a troll's eye. The troll reached up and pulled it out.
“I don’t know how to fight!” I yelled to Charlie.
“Good time to learn!” He yelled back.
I balled my hands into fists as a troll stampeded towards me. I threw a punch and landed on its stomach. It chuckled, lifted me up by the wrist, and threw me hard across the room.
I hit the wall and the world went black.