Stop!
All of a sudden, a green flash ran through his mind. This surprised him, since he had not expected a new flash – or perhaps the pain was making him see things that were not there. But he noticed amid his agony that the Ogre’s aura was beginning to change color. It turned from brownish to greenish, and an instant later it was an intense green. Lasgol had no idea what this meant.
Stop! he ordered it with his last moment of sanity.
The monster froze into immobility, looking at Lasgol vaguely, while its mental aura turned completely green. It stopped its pressure, and Lasgol felt no more pain. He took a deep breath of relief and tried to clear his mind, where the pain was still echoing with a terrible intensity.
Put me down!
The Ogre obeyed.
Let me go!
It obeyed again. Lasgol could not believe it. He supposed that he was now mastering the beast’s mind, and it was obeying his orders. Realizing that he might have discovered a new skill, he named it at once so that he could remember it and recall it more easily later, as Egil had always suggested he should do. The first thing that came to his mind, seeing what had become of the Ogre, was: Animal Domination.
He took a few steps away from it, and also from Camu and Ona so that he would not put them at risk, but the Ogre did not even glance at him. Its eyes were still distant, as though it were in a dream, Lasgol had no idea how he had developed this skill, but he thanked the Ice Gods. Probably it had been the danger of dying that had made it possible. He would have to talk to Egil about it. He was surprised that his mind should be generating such a non-stop range of ideas, especially since his body and his limbs hurt so agonizingly.
Suddenly he noticed something else: the intense green of the Ogre’s mental aura was beginning to fade. He took a couple more steps away from it, seeing the green fade and the aura regaining its original brown. This looked ominous. The Ogre seemed to come out of its reverie. It turned its head, saw Lasgol and roared in fury.
On your knees! he ordered.
The Ogre began to move forward. Its fists were clenched, and it was roaring at the top of its voice.
Stop! Lasgol ordered – and then realized that his skill was no longer active. The effect had been short-lived. He swore under his breath and called upon the skill again. He searched for his energy, concentrated on the mind of the approaching Ogre and invoked the new Animal Domination skill.
He failed. There was no green flash.
He realized that he had not yet mastered this new skill sufficiently to be able to call upon it at will. He knew that he needed to do a lot more work before he could use it again. Instantly he decided that he had to find some other way to carry on the fight. He turned and fled like lightning.
The Ogre was still roaring behind him, beside itself with rage. There would be no more games. If it caught him now, he was a dead man. He saw the entrance of the cave and ran toward it. He had no intention of going inside, but an idea had occurred to him and he was going to put it into practice. The fact that the monster was blind with rage was working in his favor, and he intended to use that to his advantage. He glanced behind and saw that it was getting closer. He swerved abruptly and ran in a straight line, this time moving away from the cave. The Ogre was taking great strides which covered the space between them a great deal faster than he would have liked.
Suddenly Lasgol heard a metallic click, and knew what it was. The Ogre had stepped on the first of the traps he had set. There followed an explosion of earth, which blinded the beast and stunned it. Taken aback, it roared as it tried to wipe its eyes to get its sight back.
Lasgol stopped and took out an elemental arrow of earth, and before the Ogre could recover, he released. The arrow hit the monster in the torso with an explosion like that of the trap, although much smaller, blinding and stunning it. The beast screamed in rage and battered its head with its fists, trying to get rid of its bewilderment.
Lasgol released two more arrows, normal ones this time, but these did not have the power to pierce the creature’s tough skin, which was like the bark of a tree. After this encounter he would make an effort to develop a kind that was powerful enough. He felt unarmed in the face of that enormous monster with its impenetrable skin.
Elemental does affect, came Camu’s message suddenly.
Camu! Are you all right?
Pain, but not die.
Thanks to the Ice Gods!
More elemental, Camu advised him.
I’ll try. How’s Ona?
Lame. Strong blow, not die.
Poor Ona. Don’t you move from where you are, and if anything happens to me, run!
We not leave you.
Don’t argue, this isn’t the moment! Do as I say!
Not argue.
Lasgol was not sure whether this meant that he would not argue because he accepted the order, or because he would do what he pleased. Probably the latter. Unfortunately, he had no time for arguments. He had to finish off the stunned Ogre before it recovered.
Amid roars of deep rage, the Ogre managed to recover some of its vision. It was still bewildered, but now it could charge again. Following Camu’s advice, Lasgol
