Vitiosi Dei (Heritage of the Blood Book 2) by Brent Lee Markee Page A

behind them closed with a barely audible zhoop , the twin doors at the front of the room swung open. The children and young teens around him stood respectfully erect as one of the most hideous individuals Shawnrik had ever heard of, let alone seen, walked into the room.
                  After careful consideration, Shawnrik decided that what he was looking at must be a troll. His first reaction after realizing this was to reach for his weapons, which were not where they normally were, as he had bundled them up and placed them into his packs. Another moment passed and he felt glad that he had been standing towards the back of the group, as everyone else in the room seemed to be standing with an air of reverence looking upon what Shawnrik assumed was a woman.
                  Curiosity quickly began to take the place of the panic he had felt moments earlier. Shawnrik began to wonder who someone would have to be to be that repulsive and still garner so much respect. The woman's skin was a dark green, and she stood nearly as tall as the two Giants who had entered the room with her. Bulbous growths could be seen across the woman's face, and he could see others on several other areas of skin that were showing. She was nearly twice as wide as any of the Giants he had seen thus far. Having heard stories about trolls and their savage might, he realized that those stories couldn't do justice unless you had seen one in person. He certainly wouldn't want to fight anything that big, especially if they healed anywhere near as fast as the stories said they did.
                  After getting over his shock, Shawnrik looked at the two Giants who had escorted the troll into the room and realized that they were nearly as interesting as their companion in their own right. Shawnrik kicked himself after a moment that he had been so distracted by the troll that he had failed to take note of his surroundings. The two Giantesses were not quite as tall and stocky as the Cloud Giant women who occupied Tranquility Mist. He thought back to one of the stories Dunnagan had told him about the many races on Terrazil, and that almost every race had several variations in their family tree.
                  The two women were not only shorter than the Cloud Giant women that he had met, standing at about ten to ten and half feet tall, but their skin was also a beautiful light golden hue. Golden locks flowed down about their shoulders, and where one had eyes like bright blue sapphires, the other's smoldered like smoky quartz. If he was remembering the story Dunnagan had told him correctly, he thought that the two women in front of him must be the branch of the family known as Sun Giants.
                  “Greetings, villagers of Tranquility Mist.” The voice that emanated from the hideous troll woman was perhaps the single most beautiful voice he had ever heard. It had an airy musical quality that sent a chill up his spine. It took Shawnrik's mind a moment to come to terms with the fact that the voice was coming from the woman.
                  Surely the gods have a sense of humor.
                  “Greetings, Headmistress Blackbriar,” the villagers replied in one voice, which nearly made Shawnrik jump. He realized then that he needed to calm down or he was going to have a heart attack. Taking a deep breath, he watched the events unfold.
                  “It is good to see all of the familiar faces, and a few new ones,” the Headmistress said with what Shawnrik assumed must be a grin, because her features had softened up quite a bit. “Today is a very busy day, and we are expecting quite a few more students, so I will leave your acclimation in the very capable hands of Instructor Daymarr.”
                  Shawnrik felt sure that the Headmistress's gaze had fallen on him when she began to talk about new faces and hadn't left him until she had turned to