Book 11: Chapter 43: The Dam

“We can’t go further ahead. We have to detour. The Trolls built a dam on the river!” Lago said breathlessly.

He had gone ashore earlier to scout because the Gargoyle’s message from the air wasn’t clear enough. He never expected to witness such an amazing sight, so he hurried back without finishing his scouting.

“The Trolls built a dam?!” When first hearing this news, everyone thought their ears were tricking them. But seeing the strange bitter smile on the Rogue’s face, they knew he wasn’t joking.

Almost two days had passed since the group rescued Iristin and two others from the Troll village. The journey had been a rare break, but now their good luck seemed over.

Originally, the creek where they launched the raft joined other streams from the north and grew into a big river. According to Mastashia, it wasn’t the Winding River yet, but it was very close to the main waterway.

The river was now over thirty meters wide and ten meters deep, with calmer currents, less rough than the creek. The group hoped to follow it into the Winding River and escape the Trolls’ threat, but at the last moment, a dam blocked their way.

Building a dam on such a wide, deep river was no small thing. Though everyone knew Trolls weren’t beasts but one of the Sapient Races, they never thought such primitive tribes would do this work. It totally changed their view of Trolls.

“Let’s go see!” Qin Lun patted Lago’s shoulder and signaled him to lead the way.

“I’m coming too!” Mastashia frowned and followed them.

As she stood up, Iristin surprisingly didn’t back off and came along, making Qin Lun groan. Ever since the Highland Elf stayed near Qin Lun, Iristin felt unsafe. With her wounds healing, she often challenged Mastashia without meaning to.

But as an Elven Druid, Iristin knew how to survive in the wild, so she wasn’t a burden. They had no choice but to let her join.

Following the Rogue, they sneaked through bushes along both riverbanks for about thirty minutes and reached a high shore slope. From there, they could see the river scene over ten kilometers away.

“It really is a dam!” Qin Lun felt the same shock Lago did, looking at the dam over thirty meters wide and ten meters tall.

“How could this be? Trolls actually built a dam!” Mastashia whispered in disbelief.

Qin Lun’s eyes narrowed as he thought hard. He shared what he saw over the Team Channel so Hill and Rand could know.

The wood-and-stone dam was at least three meters thick. Its core was square rocks, covered on both sides by neatly placed logs, like a wooden wall with a stone heart.

At the waterline, some logs were rotting from being soaked, but others had fresh green shoots still clinging to them. Clearly, the Trolls fixed the dam often.

Besides the dam itself, another sight Lago had missed surprised Qin Lun and the others. It also explained why the Trolls built it.

On the dam’s upper part, the Trolls built a fence like a low wall on top of the strong stone base. Animal-hide ropes were tied to it.

Looking closely at the river, Qin Lun noticed something odd. Water flowing downstream hit the dam and formed little whirlpools at the waterline. That meant the water wasn’t fully blocked—it could leak through.

“I get it now,” Qin Lun said, banging a fist into his palm. “The dam doesn’t fit together well at the bottom. Water flows through gaps between rocks and logs. See those ropes stretching down? I bet they hold fishing nets or baskets underwater.”

“You mean the Trolls built this dam to catch fish?”

The others thought this over. Before seeing the dam, Qin Lun’s words would have sounded silly. But now, they no longer saw Trolls as dim-witted.

“The river water gets through, but our raft can’t,” Lago shook his head sadly. “We need to go around. Let’s get back and prepare.”

“No, wait!” Qin Lun grabbed the Rogue’s arm and shook his head seriously. “We can’t leave yet. We need to scout further ahead.”

Lago frowned for a moment, then understood. “You mean you’re worried about how big this Troll village is?”

“Firal worries make sense,” Mastashia nodded slowly. “From what we’ve seen before, most Troll tribes only have tens to two hundred people. Trolls eat a lot, so bigger groups can harm the local nature and not survive long.

But here, deep in Troll Claw Mountains, humans outside know little about it. We don’t know if this place can support a big tribe. If it’s larger than usual, it could spread very far. Better to check now and avoid being trapped later.”

Qin Lun and Mastashia were right. After walking a few more kilometers, they saw the tribe’s typical log fences.

Unlike the outer Troll villages in Troll Claw, this fence stood tall and strong. It looked endless, several kilometers long.

Through gate gaps, they saw lower fences deep inside too. They hid all the buildings, making it hard to see details.

“We should climb high for a better look,” Mastashia pointed to a low hill to the right of the fence.

This hill was higher than the gentle slopes they’d crossed. Its upper part had jagged rock faces forming steep cliffs.

“You all wait here. I’ll fly up to see!” Iristin looked eager. After resting nearly two days, her wounds healed enough to turn into a large eagle again.

“No, we’ll climb. The hilltop might have Crested Eagle nests. Flying there is too dangerous,” Qin Lun stopped Iristin with a hand.

The strange situation made everyone careful. For the climb, they chose shaded slopes to hide from any Trolls below.

On a rocky ledge near the top, they finally saw the Troll tribe’s full view below and their faces darkened.

The Troll tribe stretched over both riverbanks in an oval shape. It was tens of kilometers wide east to west and over ten north to south. Inside, buildings varied in style, not just stilted huts. They even saw a huge stone altar hundreds of meters around.

Hundreds of young Trolls played in open central areas. This wasn’t just a village but a Troll town!

Strangest of all, besides Trolls, the town held huge hyena-like creatures. These sharp-toothed canines seemed kept by Trolls as hunting partners. They appeared at town gates and core spots.

“I’ve heard other Harpers say some Trolls tame three-eyed hyenas. Didn’t think it was true,” Mastashia thought aloud. “This town must hold over a thousand Trolls. If they find us, those hyenas will track us fast. We couldn’t get far.”

“Then we’ll go way around,” Lago scratched his head and said hopefully. “This canyon is huge. We’ll find a gap to sneak through. I bet on it.”

“Hey, what’s that?” Iristin suddenly sniffed and looked above towards the mountaintop.

Following her finger, they saw white smoke puff from the peak just above them. It gathered in the air, not drifting away.

“Someone’s up there!” They all jolted. This smoke wasn’t natural—it came from people.

“Lago, go check,” Qin Lun tilted his chin at the Rogue. With danger unknown, Lago’s sneaking skills were needed. No time for heroics.

“Three Troll sentries at the top. They’re cooking meat!” Moments later, Lago brought news that gave them chills.

Even after learning how clever Trolls were, they’d been careless. If not for the lazy sentries and the mealtime break, the group might have been spotted sooner.

But those sentries meant Lago’s plan wouldn’t work. Trees in Troll Claw Mountains were sparse. From the high peak, everything below stood out clear.

The huge Troll town meant any detour around its base would take at least two hours. In that time, even lazy Troll sentries would likely see them. Trouble would follow.