A group travels through Salvar comprised of their Chief, Burkhart, a hunter named Tucker, an archer named Dalia, and a warrior named Anubis, the youngest. Their goal is Archen, but Dalia soon disagrees with their planned route, as it leads directly through known troll territory, and decides to find her own way there. She is followed by Tucker, and Anubis nearly leaves as well, but Burkhart scares him into staying. It takes a few days to reach the mountains, and the young warrior remains convinced they won't survive, a thought the Chief accepts with a worrying morbidity.
In the night a snowstorm arrives, and they both suffer through the cold. They've seen plenty of signs of the massive troll, Zalma, and Burkhart's thoughts turn to the past. He reveals to young Anubis that he and Dalia were once lovers, and asks the lad to give her a letter should things go south. Upon investigating some noise, the Chief returns to warn the young warrior that the troll is upon them, and escapes on horseback to lead the beast away.
Anubis chases after them, and soon comes across the old man bleeding beneath the behemoth. The troll chases him instead, and he runs nearly back to the cave where she found them before turning to fight. Just before Zalma is upon him a thrown sword embeds itself into her back, and the young warrior watches in horror as the Chief is killed. He doesn't let this stop him, though, and takes the opportunity to attack the beast in the same weak spot Burkhart had told him about; she falls dead, but at a heavy price. After grieving for his fallen father figure, Anubis moves on with the letter in hand to fulfill Burkhart's last wish.
