Banished (Eila's Exile Book 1) by D.S. Bailey & Michael Anderle

Author:D.S. Bailey & Michael Anderle [Bailey, D.S. & Anderle, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: LMBPN Publishing
Published: 2024-11-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“Under the Bridge.”

Eila couldn’t hold her surprise back as she stepped out of the dwelling into a park. Winding stone paths carved through green lawns speckled with unfamiliar trees. A short distance away, the buildings of London loomed like peeping Toms.

The hut was far too small to contain the library she had just left. Three doors led into this building, two marked with a human figure and the letters WC and a third that said Staff Only. She circled the building with a smile, wondering if a river and a bridge would appear next.

“Clever, huh?” Grimrock declared, enormous hands on his wide hips as he bent to escape the hut. As he crossed the threshold, a multicolored shimmer revealed the magical barrier across the entrance. “Enough nature and trees to keep a troll happy, and it’s one of the quietest places in London—during the winter months, anyway.”

“Under the Bridge?” Eila looked at Grimrock questioningly.

He nodded.

“Under. The. Bridge,” Eila repeated, gesturing at the greenery. “I see no bridge.”

“Red Hot Chilli Peppers? Trip-trap, Billy Goats Gruff? Oh!” Grimrock exclaimed, catching on to Eila’s confusion. “Right. Not from around these parts. Got you. Follow me back inside. I’ll explain everything.”

The doorframe somehow permitted his bulk to pass through. Eila scanned the park again, taking in a pond as well as a playground filled with various apparatuses to entertain children.

When she passed back through the barrier, she was in the library again.

“That’s an impressive spell,” she commented. Grimrock was at a bookshelf and had a small volume in his hands.

He didn’t acknowledge the compliment, just turned to Eila, holding the book open. “It started with Peter Christen Asbjørnsen and Jørgen Moe, authors from Norway. Three Billy Goats Gruff, they called it. An innocent folktale created thanks to a surprise encounter with Rorik Ironclad, one of my kin, in a forest.”

Grimrock shook his head disapprovingly. “He should have been more careful, but I suppose accidents happen.” He took a deep breath. “For hundreds of years, we’d avoided detection and stayed out of the mainstream until that encounter. When those humans brought us into their cultural consciousness, the legends grew, but the tales depict trolls as stupid and brutish or evil and ravenous. Tolkien used us as war pets in his tales of Middle Earth. Ibsen marked us as servants of kings in Peer Gynt. Don’t get me started on the Harry Potter series.”

Grimrock frowned and flicked the book’s pages with the backs of his fingers. “All of that is untrue and a stain on a race that was once regarded as noble and relied upon for passage. Former friends, now feared and shunned.” Grimrock slammed the book shut and held it out to Eila. “A bedtime read, should you want one.”

Eila took the book. “So, that’s why you called this place ‘Under the Bridge?’ As an ironic statement?”

“In part. Also because that’s how it sometimes feels. It’s better to be alone and stay away from the goings-on in the world. History can leave scars that never quite heal.

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