Bonus Chapter 3: Trolls Awakening

Bournace's POV:

Long before I ever held a tome, before I could utter the word “magic,” before I had thoughts deeper than hunger and survival — I was a troll.

A real troll.

Flesh caked in mud, mind clouded by instinct, my son Miko and I dwelled in a moss-ridden den carved into the cliffs of the Forgotten Crescent. We were not thinkers. We were not poets or warriors. We were not feared because we were strong — we were hated because we were ugly. And in the world of men, ugly meant unworthy.

The humans came with torches one day, screaming words I couldn’t understand. They threw rocks. Burned our moss beds. Called us beasts. Monsters.

Miko was small then — barely up to my hip — and they kicked him like he was a stray dog.

I remember holding him tight under my arm, shielding him from the fire. My body still bears those burns.

That day, we learned what fear was.

And what hatred looked like.

But we also learned... curiosity.