Flashback ( PDFDrive )

—you carry the hate for what these villains tried to do to your species
in your heart.”
“And you think that makes you more valuable than us?” Bo
snapped.
“That, and I’m a better fighter,” she said, finally stepping out to
face them.
“Sophie, this is Tarina,” Grady said, introducing her. Sophie had
already guessed, even though the female looked nothing like the other
trolls she’d seen.
Tarina was neither tall nor short, neither lean nor muscular—but
her averageness ended there. Her greenish hair grew in strands as
wide as dreadlocks, but they had a smooth, glossy sheen—the same
sheen that coated her blue-green skin, making her look like she’d just
stepped out of water. Her huge yellow eyes filled the top half of her
face, and her nearly lipless mouth took up most of the lower half, with
a small snub nose jutting above it. She stood barefoot and wore only a
shaggy gray-green garment that covered her from her shoulders to her
knees. Sophie had assumed it was made of fur, but when Tarina drew
closer, Sophie realized it was actually made from some sort of moss.
And tucked among the thick, scratchy-looking lichen was a strap that
hung diagonally across Tarina’s body and wrapped around her back,
where Sophie could see the edges of a large iron weapon peeking out
—some sort of cross between a scythe and an ax, with a sharp point on
the end of the pole for stabbing.
“It’s okay to stare,” Tarina said, her voice taking on a chirpy quality.
“Empress Pernille warned me that you’re not familiar with my
species.”