The cold must be getting to her, Faurosk thought as he set his book aside. He could probably mix up a concoction to quell whatever might be ailing her, but it would take a few reagen--
Something slammed into the side of the windbreak, bowing the wall inward at a dangerous degree. It only took one more bash for half of the structure to crumble away entirely, pelting the shelter's intruder with a rain of compacted snow; The troll hardly flinched.
Faurosk leapt onto his feet, pressing against the wall in fright as he faced what may as well be the visage of death itself. Bony protrusions rose from the creature's shoulders like spikes of stone, matching perfectly with the nubby horns that crowned its head. It's white fur was tinged to brown down its front, having caught the drip of a few too many kills to maintain its natural color.
Before the mage could pull himself out of shock, the beast was upon him. It took him in one hand, throwing the comparatively diminutive human out into the dwindling sunlight. Faurosk sailed through the air and landed in a snowdrift five feet beyond the overhang's end. Scrambling onto his feet once more, the young man could already hear the troll closing ground behind him, lumbering forwards with killing intent. With only seconds to spare, he forced his will down his arm and turned to face the beast.
An invisible bolt rippled through the air in an instant, striking the troll squarely between its eyes and scrambling what little graymatter it had. The creature stumbled to a stop before dropping to one knee and grabbing its head with both hands, loosing a mournful wail of pain that tore across the muffled tundra. Despite the beasts awful show of confusion and fear, Faurosk knew his stunbolt would only buy a few moments at best. His mind raced, trying to find some way to handle the foreign creature before him. He was only barely an adventurer, let alone a
monster hunter-- What was there to do?!
The answer came to him in a flash of inspiration, lighting up his prospects like a spark in a powder keg. Snow blanketed the landscape, and it
wanted to melt, it really did-- To do anything more than that, well, it might need some urging. The mage dropped to his knees as the troll stopped groaning. One shouted incantation and two very cold hands later, the snow around them melted in a flash and swirled up the troll's legs. Faurosk threw a splayed hand skyward as he waited for the right moment, but the beast was hardly patient. It stepped forwards, bringing a heavy arm down towards the human's head. Razor sharp claws slashed a trio of deep grooves across the mage's features, leaving lines of white hot pain that trailed from his temple to his jaw.
Frigid water wrapped up the troll's torso and back down its arm, and Faurosk held onto consciousness just long enough for the liquid to bubble around the creature's head before he crushed his fist shut. In an instant, the transmuted snow grew still. Ice encapsulated the troll from its toes to its horns, capturing it in a moment between primal fury and bone-shaking terror.
The mage fell back into the snow and stared up at the veritable ice sculpture of a troll before him, chest heaving with a mixture of diminishing panic and arcane drain. He was exhausted and fading from consciousness, sure, but very gratefully alive.