The forest didn't answer with sound, no birds, no insects, no wind through leaves, only that suffocating stillness that made every whisper feel louder than it should.
"This is a troll…" The lizardmen closest to the trapped creature said.
The words came out cautious, like naming it might wake it. The lizardman's tail tightened behind him, and his head angled as if he expected the thing to lurch the moment it was identified.
"I can see that," Ludwig said as he got a closer look.
