As his feet crashed into the monster's shoulder blades, he swung at its neck. The monster toppled forward, and Jake's blade flashed in an impossibly fast blur. The monster lay still only a foot from the grove of trees. Green oozed from its neck. Flattened against a tree trunk, Lily stared. Her heart hammered so loudly that it drowned out the hum. The monster's eyes were open and sightless. It had all happened in less than thirty seconds. "Sorry," Jake said. "I accidentally chased it toward you." She swallowed hard, her mouth dry. "What is it?" "Troll," he said. "You should be fine here now." "Uh-huh," she said. Green blood soaked into the pine needles. "Really," he said. "Just stay hidden." "Uh-huh," she said. "And try not to scream next time. You could lure more monsters." Jake wiped his knife on the grass to clean off the green blood. Watching him, Lily asked, "How did you move so fast?" His knife arm had struck so quickly that she'd barely seen it. Even Olympic athletes didn't move that fast.
