The troll king, Kafirr, was as still as stone and the color of it too. His blue eyes were washed-out, but the intelligence and ferocity in them unmistakable. He wore a crown of frost. It glittered and glistened in the lights thrown from the sconces. His nose was sharp like a knife and dipped down to his upper lip. His hair was black, his teeth similarly colored, and his hands looked like claws. Zaria trembled under his penetrating gaze.
“Is that the Stag Lord?” the king asked after several long minutes of silence. His voice was rough and guttural, as if he’d been a chain-smoker for many years.
Jorkden nodded. “He is. My trolden and I captured him, his human companions, and his winter-wyvern. The wyvern is being taken to the training center, but if my king wishes to inspect the beast, I can have him brought here.”
Kafirr’s face remained stoic and expressionless. He gave Zaria the creeps. “And in their possessions? Did they have them?”
Jorkden motioned for one of trolden to step forward. The troll that did struggled under the burden of carrying the children’s bags and Hector’s equipment. He dumped it all the first chance he got. Two more trolls stepped out of the lineup and poured out the contents of the bags.
Everything was tossed helter-skelter. Zaria blushed, when her unmentionables appeared. Every embarrassing shade of pink, purple, and canary yellow fell out for all to see. Lucky for her, the trolls were ignoring her underwear for they had just unrolled the maps and were talking excitedly. Then the stargazer fell out of Aleks’ backpack and was absently picked up by one troll who examined it.
“This item is hot,” he said.
“Let me see,” commanded Jorkden who snatched it and peered into the holes. “Magical. Perhaps from the witch in the woods?”
He looked to Zaria and the others to confirm, but nobody spoke. He smiled and tucked it into his pocket.
Aleks bristled. “That’s mine,” he growled. “My grandmother gave it to me.”
“I think you mean, it’s mine,” Jorkden replied smoothly, oozing false charm. Then his mood changed like quicksilver, and he barked at the three trolden still rummaging through the children’ things. “Thorkel, did you find them?”
“They’re not here, sir,” the troll on the right, who must be Thorkel, said. He wiped at his bulbous nose sullenly and elaborated, “We’ve searched. They don’t have it.”
The king was unimpressed. “Jorkden, this is the third time you’ve returned without the shoes.”
“Your highness,” Jorkden pleaded. “We captured the Stag Lord. He had Helena’s shoes last –”
“Shoes?” Geirr burst out, confounded. “This is about some girl’s shoes? Are you kidding me?”
Mangus who’d been standing nearby, stomped on Geirr’s foot. Geirr yelped and glared at Mangus.
“Stuff it,” snarled the troll.
Zaria looked to Hector. The man looked like he hadn’t a care in the world. When Jorkden picked him up by the scruff and slammed him to the ground, Hector had the audacity to laugh. Laugh! Zaria couldn’t believe it.
“Where are the shoes?” Jorkden roared, slamming a fist into Hector’s jaw.
“He’s going to get us killed,” Aleks muttered, sending Zaria an I-told-ya-so look. “The trolls weren’t after us. They were after him.”
Filip stepped on Aleks’ foot. Aleks flinched and glared at Filip. Filip raised a brow. “Would you shut it? Now is not the time for blaming anybody, not even Hector.”
Zaria could have kissed Filip. “Exactly,” she concurred, sticking her tongue out at Aleks. When Filip glared at her, she ducked her head.
“Back me up,” Filip muttered before straightening and stepping boldly forward. “Excuse me.”
The king’s attentions were fixed on Jorkden and Hector’s grappling. When he didn’t turn to Filip, her friend lost some of his bluster.
“Ahem. Excuse me,” Filip tried again.
This time the king looked at him, tapping his clawed nails on the armrest of his throne. The king arched a supercilious brow. Filip gulped. He looked like he wanted to shrink from the king’s attention. Zaria nudged him forward, silently giving her support.
Filip took a deep breath, gathering his courage. He spoke in a rush. “We were with Hector last night. We know where he might have hidden the shoes.”
Zaria wanted to kick Filip. This was his plan? “Filip, no!” she hissed.
Aleks piped up. “He had his wyvern collect us and took us to a cave. We can show your men the –”
“Trolden,” King Kafirr interrupted.
“Huh?” Aleks asked.
“Trolls are not men. We’re not puny humans. We’re trolden, Changeling.”
Aleks stammered, shaken that the king recognized him for what he was. “H-how d-did–”
“You smell like something disowned,” the king supplied, before dismissing him with a flip of his wrist. “Now, Jorkden, take these fine human children and lock them in the dungeons. Then put Hector in the interrogation chamber. We’re going to learn about this cave he slept in last night. Queen Helena’s shoes will be ours.”
***
“How could you?” Zaria demanded. Violet eyes burned into green. They were locked in the dungeon, deep in the bowels of Trolgar, where the earth was damp and dank.
“I just thought we could negotiate our release,” Filip mumbled, his cheeks staining red from a mixture of indignation and embarrassment.
Aleks gave Filip a slap of comradery on the back. “Leave him alone,” Aleks told Zaria. “At least he had a plan. It didn’t work, but it’s better than what the rest of us did.”
“But he betrayed Hector!”
“So?” asked Geirr. “We’re not friends with Hector. We met him last night. We have three nights left to rescue Christoffer and Hector is no longer a help to us.”
“I can’t believe you guys,” Zaria muttered, clutching at her braids in agitation. “Hector wouldn’t have been caught if he was riding Norwick. He went on foot because of us. He’s now captured because he was trying to help us.”
“By first putting us in danger!” Aleks retorted belligerently, his face reddening in anger.
Geirr laid a hand against Aleks, restraining him. “Look, we shouldn’t fight about this. What is done is done,” he said reasonably. “We can’t help Hector or Christoffer if we are locked in this cell. We should be figuring out how to get out of here.”
Zaria and Aleks lapsed into silent fuming, both grudgingly admitting that Geirr was correct, but equally unwilling to admit it aloud. Zaria kicked at a rock on the ground, scuffing her shoe in the dirt. The boys began examining the walls, the cell door, the ceiling, and the floor. The cell lacked furnishings and had no chains or metal rings in the walls. It appeared to be a hard-packed earth floor with stone walls.
Zaria pouted a minute longer before gritting her teeth and joining them. She knew they’d done Hector a disservice, but she also knew it wouldn’t be corrected from in here. She couldn’t help but think that they had none of their belongings, no weapons to help escape, and no food.
Zaria heard one of the boys’ stomachs growl. An answering echo sounded in hers. She was hungry; they’d marched quite a bit today and tonight. But if the boys wouldn’t complain, neither would she.
“We need to get the stargazer back,” Aleks said after a while, when everyone had given up and settled to the ground. His head lulled against the stone surface of the wall behind him. “If we don’t have it, we won’t be able to undo the trick on Filip’s parents and the city. Everyone will be frozen permanently.”
“Our tasks keep piling up,” Filip said glumly. “And none of it is easy.”
Geirr scoffed. “Easy? There was nothing easy about this from the beginning.” His stomach gurgled loudly. All the children could commiserate. “I’d kill for something to eat,” Geirr muttered, taking a piece of stone from the floor and tossing it at the door.
It clanged loudly, the noise reverberating in the small space. There was no answer from outside. It appe
ared they’d been cheerfully neglected. Zaria knew why – they weren’t a threat, nor could they escape. It was hopeless.
The night was slipping by faster than a landscape slid by a speeding train. Sleep was probably for the best. She closed her eyes and hunkered down, burrowing her face in the neck of her jacket for warmth. Completely exhausted she slipped into slumber, and the boys soon followed suit.
***
“Wakey, wakey,” a nasally voice said from the other side of the door. “Breakfast.”
Zaria and the boys jumped to their feet and raced to the door. Through the window opening appeared hunks of meat on a bone. The children eagerly grabbed one each. Geirr took a vicious bite, sheering a large hunk of meat off in one gulp.
The troll cackled. “Healthy appetites, good. Water next.”
He handed a few tumblers over. Zaria drank greedily from hers, slopping some down the side of her chin. The others were equally eager to slake their thirst.
“You have to let us out,” Geirr said to the troll, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. “We are on a mission for Olaf, the river-troll.”
The troll on the other side stilled abruptly. “Olaf of Glomma?”
Zaria nodded. “The very same. We’re meant to retrieve something for him.”
“I will tell the king.” Then the window pass-through slammed shut.
“This is actually good,” Aleks said through a mouthful of the mystery meat. “I wonder what it is?”
“Best not to know, man,” Filip replied, ripping another chunk of meat off his leg bone and slurping it down. “That was inspired, Geirr. Brilliant even.”
Geirr shrugged modestly. “It couldn’t hurt. And it’s not anything Hector doesn’t already know, so if the king wishes to confirm it, he can ask the guy.”
They continued eating in silence. Every bone was gnawed on, and all flesh stripped clean off. Zaria finished her water with a gusty sigh. “I’m full,” she said.
Filip and Geirr concurred, with Geirr rubbing his belly. Aleks was frowning into his cup, but otherwise said nothing. Zaria thought he was probably still hungry. She should have saved him some of her food. She felt bad that she hadn’t thought of it.
As time passed, Zaria began using her bone to draw in the dirt. She tried to draw Norwick, but couldn’t get him to look right. She kept wiping him away and trying again. The floor soon became uneven, which just irritated her more. She moved over a bit to try again when her thought was arrested.
“Hey guys,” she whispered, breathless with the idea.
“Yeah?” Filip asked. He was tossing his bone between one hand and the other.
“I have an idea,” she said, her insides bubbly with excitement. “I know how we can escape.”
All three boys looked at her with interest. “So, what is it?” Geirr demanded.
“We dig our way out.” A bright smile lit her face as Zaria pointed at the depression she had made trying to draw Norwick and then pointed to the bottom of the metal door. “The floor is dirt. The door just sits on it and our troll friend just gave us tools.” She pointed to the bones and cups. “We can dig a hole just big enough to escape and be out of here in no time!”
Geirr got excited. “It could work!”
“Brilliant, Zar-Zar,” Filip said, giving her a fist bump.
Aleks hesitated. “But our ‘troll friend’ as you put it, is on the way to the king and will soon be back.”
“So?” Geirr asked. “It can’t take that long to dig a hole and really, we don’t even know if the king will care. Who says river-trolls and cave-trolls get along at all?”
Filip shrugged. “I’m in. Let’s get to work.”
The four of them gathered around the base of the door. They each tried a few things to get the dirt loose. Filip found that the quickest way was to stab the dirt several times with the sharpest end of the bone. The bone broke through the hard surface just enough to scoop some of the dirt into a tumbler.
At first the pace was slow where each bit of dirt removed was a coordinated effort. But soon they could abandon the bones and use their hands and the tumblers as shovels to scrape the dirt away. The depression was growing, but they needed to move it out under the door and up.
They worked together. Each one methodically scraping, scratching, and scrapping the dirt until at last a small hole appeared letting the outside light shine down. Filip and Zaria let out exclamations of triumph. Eager fingers grappled against each other as the children hurried to widen the hole.
As they dug the hole out, it took longer to remove the excess dirt away, for they brought the dirt from one side of their hole to the other. But soon, soon, they were able to stick an arm through and not long after that had created a space beneath the door in which one of them could escape.
Zaria was the natural choice, because she was the smallest. She crawled under, contorting her body and bracing with her feet to pull and push her way through. Her shoulders scraped unpleasantly against the underside of the metal door. Hands pushed at her backside and with a pop she was free.
“What do you see?” Aleks asked.
Zaria looked around and saw winding corridors in both directions. There only appeared to be a few other doors on their stretch of the hallway. Nobody was about. “Coast is clear. Come on!”
Next to make his way through the hole was Geirr. He was closest in size to Zaria. When he got his arm and head through the hole, Zaria leapt forward to help him. She grabbed his elbow and tugged.
“Ow!” Geirr grumbled, “Watch it!”
“Don’t be a baby,” Zaria shot back and tugged some more.
Geirr struggled a bit, but it was clear he was being assisted on the other side of the door as well, and he too was free. The hole did not make it through the boy’s struggle intact. It was now partially collapsed.
“Oh no,” Zaria groaned.
She and Geirr got down on their hands and knees and quickly scooped the dirt out. Aleks and Filip worked from the other side. When Zaria’s fingers met Aleks’ she let out a small sigh of relief.
“You next, Filip,” she told the boys. “Then Aleks.”
With the hole wider, Filip was able to wriggle through it a little better than Geirr. He was still mightily clumsy as he labored. Aleks had to tell him twice to stop kicking and let himself be pushed.
Luckily for them all, the hole did not collapse a second time. Unlike the others, Aleks came through on his back, using his feet to propel himself up and out. Filip and Geirr grabbed his hands and yanked him hard. When Aleks came loose, the boys all collapsed on the floor in a heap.
“That was unpleasant,” Aleks murmured when he caught his breath. “Let’s not have to do that again. I feel filthy.”
“Look it too, mate,” Filip rejoined.
They were all grinning at each other. Aleks was right; they were filthy, covered in dirt from head to toe. They were especially grimy under their fingernails. But damn, if it wasn’t good to be out of the prison cell.
“So now the question is,” Zaria began, “how do we get out?”
Filip and Geirr looked at Aleks with expectation. Zaria wondered at that for a moment before she remembered Aleks boasting of his sense of direction. She looked to him hopefully.
“You know the way?” she asked.
Aleks shrugged. “Maybe. I have a good idea. It’s what I usually go on, and it hasn’t failed me yet.”
“Lead on,” Filip encouraged.
Aleks pointed to the left and started loping that way. The others followed. It was a good thing Aleks was prepared to lead them, because each hallway they turned down looked like the next and Zaria was hopelessly lost. Nothing and everything looked familiar. She couldn’t make out any landmarks to give her a place of reference. But Aleks was confident, and for now that was all that mattered.
* * *
Chapter Eight: The Frozen Subterranean River
It turned out that Aleks did know where they were. He led them through the endless series of identical passageways an
d out into the shadows of the palace courtyard. They spied a few trolls bustling about doing early morning chores. Here they halted, breathless, jubilant, and anxious, knowing at any moment they could be spotted.
“Halfway out of here,” Geirr said with a smile. “You did it, Aleks.”
“Yeah, way to go, man,” Filip added, clapping Aleks on the back. “We could not have done it without you.”
“That was amazing,” Zaria agreed, tucking her braids behind her ears. “You were amazing. I was totally confused. Everything looked the same to me.”
Aleks shrugged and modestly waved away their praise. “It’s as natural to me as breathing. No big deal.”
“Easy for you to say,” Geirr joked. “Not so for the rest of us mere humans.”
Aleks gave Geirr a dirty look.
Filip said, “So what do you say? Let’s get out of here for good.”
Zaria frowned. “What about Hector? Norwick?”
“And my stargazer?” Aleks added.
Geirr thought for a moment. “It would be better to leave now before anyone notices we are gone, and we can always return for the stargazer.” Zaria coughed. “And Hector and Norwick,” Geirr added, placating her. “But only after we retrieve the heart of Gloomwood Forest and give it to Olaf. Then we can have all the time we need.”
Just then, a troop of trolls rushed into the courtyard from all directions. The children drew back and pressed themselves against the stone wall, holding their breath lest they be seen. Morvin appeared in the palace doorway, glaring down at the scene. He stalked over to the assembled group and held a wicked looking spear high over his head. The noisome trolden silenced abruptly at the signal. The children watched, holding their breath. Had their absence been discovered?
“The Stag Lord has escaped,” Morvin thundered, his mustache bristling. “But he will not get far!”
The trolden roared their approval, beating their fists on their breastplates. The children looked at each other astonished. Hector had also escaped? How?
“We will hunt him down and strip him of his antlers and feast on his bones. Search everywhere. Do not let him get away. Check the dungeons; he might try to rescue the human children. And make damn sure that his beast is secure. Go!”
Secret of Gloomwood Forest Page 6