Cutter tells his tribe of his impending quest and orders them all to stay put, while off to the side Leetah makes sure Skywise will be accompanying him, orders or no.
Traveling on zwoots to save their aging wolf-friends the added stress of the desert-crossing, the four friends re-cross the burning waste, guided by Skywise's lodestone and find the opening to the tunnel of golden light, which has been cleared as they suspected it would. They enter the caverns after releasing the zwoots, but there are no trolls in the troll-caverns. The forges are cold and bat-dung cakes just about everything... what has hapenned to the trolls?
They exit into the Holt forest, to find that the humans told true: there are no trees, everything is still, seven years later, still black and ash. They return to the father-tree, Goodtree's Rest, and mourn the loss of their home's beauty and their birth-sites. Cutter finds a sapling and mourns that his cubs will be fully mature before they could even climb the tree...
As they set off, there are spies watching them. Protected from the sun Picknose and Old Maggoty watch them with greedy eyes--they've returned with the sword. The two trolls coat themselves in one of Old Maggoty's brews that kills scent, sneak up (downwind) of the four and toss bags of a sleeping potion, putting both elves and one of the wolves to sleep. When the other wolf attacks, they dust him, too. They carry off the two elves and especially New Moon, Bearclaw's sword!
The two awake, groggy from being drugged, just in time for the wolves to catch up. As the two trolls prepare to re-dust the wolves and skin them !! the elves ♦send♦ to their wolves to flee until called. As Oddbit wonders just what they'll do with two elves, Picknose decides they'll be his servants -- a troll of means needs servants! As Cutter & Skywise are serving dinner to the three trolls, discussion of what a character Bearclaw was runs around to Bearclaw's likeness for Maggoty's Dreamberry Wine. Since Cutter & Skywise have no idea what "wine" is, Picknose orders them to fetch the wine and offers them a drink...
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