The children exchange hesitant glances before one of them, a boy with a mop of unruly brown hair, nods cautiously. "You… you played marbles too?"
The monster, a hulking troll with slate-gray skin and curved tusks, chuckles, his deep voice carrying no menace. "Of course. Though, I was not very good at it."
The tension eases slightly. One of the girls, braver than the rest, nudges a marble toward him. "Wanna try?"
The troll carefully picks up the marble between two thick fingers, rolling it experimentally before flicking it forward. It bounces off another marble and spins to a stop. The children erupt into laughter.
"You really weren't very good at it!" the brown-haired boy exclaims.
