Hearthstone quickly scrambled out of the way as a tree was thrown at him, ducking down behind some rocks. The troll had come out of nowhere and attacked them, probably smelled the god blood in Magnus or Blitzen. Hearth peeked over the rocks to see where the other two were, Magnus darting around trying not to get stepped on as Jack hacked at the troll's legs, the sword having some trouble cutting through all the thick skin and fat and muscle. He scanned the clearing to see where Blitzen had ended up, finally spotting the dwarf struggling to untangle himself from the branches of a tree, having been knocked up there by the troll failing its thick arms around, blood dripping down his forehead. Hearth grit his teeth as he felt rage bubbling up in his chest at the sight of Blitzen injured, grabbing his bag of runes as he considered which one would finish off the troll quickly but also very painfully.

He decided on Thurisaz, the rune of Thor, that'd take care of this beast. But he'd need to get closer to use it. Luckily the troll was distracted with trying to shoo Jack away and step on Magnus, giving the elf a chance to dig the rune out of his bag and jump back over the rocks. He dodged and weaved, ducking under the trolls failing arms to slam the rune into the monster's stomach. The trolls let out a gargling cry of pain before suddenly exploding in a bright flash of light, knocking them back, leaving nothing but a crater and the smell of burnt flesh behind. Magnus slammed into a tree as Jack arched through the air before stabbing into the ground, Hearthstone landing in some bushes. Blitzen fell out of the tree before scrambling up onto his feet, clutching the deep cut on his forehead as he stared at the crater and then looked over at Hearthstone.

"Holy shit buddy, that was awesome"

He called out to him as the elf sat up, edging around the smoking hole over to the other two. Magnus pushed himself up and helped Jack pull out of the ground.

"A little heads up next time might be nice Señor"

The sword grumbled, runes on his blade flashing in annoyance. Magnus ignored him and walked over, meeting Blitzen half way around the crater.

"Here let me fix that"

He said as he easily healed Blitzen's wound before looking over at Hearthstone.

"Hearth, are you alright? Did you break anything?"

He asked but the elf didn't answer, a frown on his face as he stared forward, blinking rapidly. He rubbed at his eyes furiously, shaking his head. Blitzen frowned with worry at his odd behavior and walked over to him, crouching down.

"Hearthstone?"

He frowned worriedly, going to touch his shoulder. Hearth jerked away from him, looking around wildly.

"Who's there? Why's it so dark?"

He signed quickly continuing to stare around with wide unfocused eyes. Blitzen froze in shock and quickly grabbed Hearthstone's shoulder, who flinched at the sudden contact but quickly relaxed as he recognized Blitz's strong hands.

"Magnus, Kid, he needs some of those healing powers of yours"

The dwarf said quickly as he glanced back at him, Hearth clinging to him as he rubbed his eyes with his other hand, as if he was hoping to just rub the blindness away. Magnus quickly hurried over and knelt next to them.

"Whats wrong?"

He asked, hands already glowing as he looked Hearthstone over, not seeing any obvious bleeding or broken bones.

"I'm not really sure, but something's wrong with his eyes"

Blitzen answered, freaking out a bit as Hearthstone started to sign rapidly again, confused and panicked.

"I can't see Ican'tseeIcan'tseeIcan'tsee"

He kept signing over and over again as his breathing picked up and tears gathered in his eyes, feeling totally lost and helpless. Magnus grabbed his hands, not something he'd normally do to the deaf spell caster, but he needed to sign to him against his hands so he'd be able to feel each sign.

"Try to heal you, be calm"

He signed slowly and clearly as Hearthstone shook slightly before moving his hands up to gently press hands over his eyes, focusing on surging his healing energy into him. But this wasn't a physical or mental wound, there was nothing he could for him. Magnus pushed a little longer before pulling his hands back and shaking his head.

"I-I can't fix it"

He stuttered as he looked up at Blitzen.

"What no, this can't be permanent, there's got to be a way to fix him"

He said, starting to panic as Hearthstone rubbed at his eyes again, letting out quiet whimpers, making the dwarf even more freaked out, used to him being constantly silent.

"Mm looks like what you got there is a classic blinding spell, that troll probably used it when he got too close"

Jack hummed, the sword having hovered over, bladed tilted down towards them. Blitzen looked up at him desperate for a solution

"If it's a spell there has to be some way to reverse it, right?"

He said hopefully but the sword tilted from side to side in lieu of having shoulders to shrug.

"Nah, you just have to wait for it to go away, a few days, maybe like a week at most. It's just a simple defense spell"

Blitzen bit his lip worriedly, at least it wasn't permanent but still... Hearthstone was shaking in his arms, clutching the front of his vest as tears gathered in his eyes. He hated seeing him like this, Hearth usually so strong and in control of his emotions. He pulled one of the elf's hands off his vest so he could trace words slowly on his palm, having no other way to communicate with him

"Temporary... only last... few days..."

He traced the letters one by one, Hearth slumping limply against him once he was done, relieved it wasn't permanent but still fearful by the thought of having to spend so much time totally helpless. Blitzen held onto him tightly, not sure what to do, just going to be stuck waiting for the spell to go away.

"If... If there's nothing we can really do, I'm just going to take him home. There's no way he can fight like this"

The dwarf muttered as he scooped Hearthstone up bridle style, the pale man clutching tightly to him. Magnus nodded as he stood as well, taking Jack's hilt and flinching as he felt the strain of hacking at the troll but thankfully wasn't enough to make him pass out.

"Yeah, don't want him to get hurt"

He sighed with a worried frown, feeling pretty bad his healing powers couldn't help.

"I'll drop by tomorrow, see if I can't find any cure in Valhalla"

Magnus suggested, Blitzen nodding as he let out a sigh, Hearth pressing his face into the crook of his shoulder, the dwarf feeling the wetness of tears soaking his clothes.

"Alright... See you then kid"

He said as he shifted his grip on Hearthstone and headed back through the woods to return to Nidavellir, feeling like the next few days were going to be rough on him and especially his elf...