Jazzy - In the Shadows

Not very far from Virginia's new cell, the Trolls were relaxing around a table, enjoying a large dinner. Blabberwart was helping herself to a rather large turkey leg, Bluebell was gulping down an oversized cup of red wine, and Burly was feasting on a plate of ribs. The trio ate very loudly and sloppily, oblivious to a new presence in the room.

"I send you to bring something to me, and this is what you spend your time doing?" a voice sounded from the doorway.

"Boss!" Burly and Blabberwart shouted in surprise. The quickly dropped their food and stood up as straight as they could. Bluebell sank back in his chair, somewhat ashamed of himself and afraid of a potential beating. The days of his father still haunted him sometimes.

"Where is she?" she asked them. She glanced around the dismal eating room, somewhat disgusted.

"In a cell, down the hall," Burly informed her roughly, walking closer to the doorway.

"Was she alone when you caught her?"

"No. She was with that wolf," Blabberwart said, wiping the remains of the chicken from her mouth.

"What did you do to him?" she asked quickly, snapping her head to Blabberwart, expecting an immediate response.

"Knocked him out and took the girl." Blabberwart said simply. Was there something else they were supposed to do?

"That's it!?" Her voice shouted. She rubbed her face with her hands, obviously in aggravation, and exhaled slowly. Why did she hire Trolls? If they didn't have that Troll Dust... she thought grimly. The trio nodded their heads, affirming the accusation. They didn't understand what was so wrong about that. The mission was just to grab the witch and bring her there.

"Don't you idiots understand!? He's a wolf, he'll find her and he won't stop until he does!" She could feel her face become red with anger and rage. She had to fight the extreme temptation to slapping all of them. Didn't they understand the risks? Those three idiots had just cost them much of their safety. She knew the potential of a wolf when their mate would be taken away; there was no reason or understanding, no, they'd want revenge.

"We covered our tracks too well," Burly began, dismissing the worry with a disbelieving hand wave. "We grabbed the witch and ran to some horses in the forest, then took off."

She ignored the 'witch' accusation. Whatever that meant, she didn't want to worry about it, it wasn't important. Whatever they thought of her, who was she to correct them? She continued with her previous thought. "He could follow that!"

"Nah, he was out too long to follow the scent. Even a wolf wouldn't be able to after that long. Besides, our horses are too fast to leave that much of a scent behind."

There was a moment of silence. Their boss quietly pondered this information and then spoke again. "Take me to see her."

"All right. We moved her earlier today to a different cell. Put a little bit of Troll Dust into her food," Burly said proudly, grinning.

"Why did you do that?" she asked, quite confused.

"It's a more secure cell. Impossible for a witch to escape."

"No, why did you put Troll Dust into her food, when you could just shoot her with it?"

"Hey, Troll Dust costs a lot to make! This stuff doesn't grow on trees, it's very expensive! When you shoot it at someone, it takes a lot, but drugging their food, takes much less. Saves a lot of money," Burly explained.

"Oh. Well," she said, still a tad confused. She shook her head, then looked at the group once again. "Take me to her," she repeated.

"Hold on a second. Where's our money? Ya know, this is going to cost a lot. We would've liked to deal with her ourselves. That is, if your offer hadn't been so nicey nice. So, where is it?" Blabberwart asked, shoving Burly to the side.

"You will get it soon enough, now show her to me!" She felt her anger raising as she began to loose her temper. Trolls!

"All right," Blabberwart said, then turned to Burly and whispered, "Suck an Elf, have you noticed how bossy bosses are!?" Burly only nodded in reply. The four left the dining room and Bluebell grabbed the cell keys on his way out. They headed down the hall, towards Virginia.