Chapter 2

"See?" Lilia said with a knowing smile. "I told you that one has something about him."

I nibbled on the inside of my cheek, watching the shadow demons. They'd shoved themselves into a table that was squashed into the back corner of the room. Two of them barely fit, their arms and legs twisted at odd angles. But the one—the unnerving one—relaxed on the chair like he belonged, despite being broad and muscled, just like Lilia had said.

They all wore the pin now. Balder had waddled over and had proudly handed each of them the metal fist pendant before wishing them Thor's blessing and luck.

And they'd certainly need it if they had any hope of not coming last.

"I don't like him," I said over my shoulder.

"You've not even met him!"

I eyed the shadow demon. He lounged there with his arms folded like he owned the damn place. "He has too much swagger. You can tell he thinks he'll win."

"Likely for good reason." Laughing, Lilia slid a bar of chocolate wrapped in golden foil across the table. "Does this help?"

Greedily, I snatched the treat into my eager little hands and hastily unwrapped the foil. The dark cocoa practically shone beneath the orange glow of the tavern. I took a bite. Liquid pleasure coated my tongue, and I moaned.

"Fates," I murmured, closing my eyes. "There's literally nothing better than this in the whole bloomin' world, and I don't have to venture outside this mountain to know it."

"I can think of a thing or two," a lyrical voice said, so close to my ear that I tumbled off my stool. My backside sparked with pain when it hit the stone. Narrowing my eyes, I looked up. The swaggering shadow demon peered down at me, his lips curved into a wicked smile.

"I can't say this is the first time a woman has collapsed in my presence, but it's definitely the most amusing."

I scowled. "Watch out. If your ego gets any bigger, you won't fit inside this tavern. No more ale for you."

He laughed—actually laughed—damn him. And before I knew what was happening, he'd wrapped his hands around my arms and hauled me to my feet. The warmth of his skin burned through my tunic. Scowl deepening, I twisted away from him and brushed the dirt off my backside.

"My name is Tormund," he said, like he was oblivious to my annoyance.

"Wonderful. Thanks for telling me," I replied, turning away and doing nothing to hide my eye-roll.

A pause. "And your name is…"

"Astrid," Lilia called out rather helpfully, or so she thought. I just wanted the swaggering shadow demon—Tormund, he'd called himself—to go away now. At least half a dozen dwarves were watching us intently. The weight of their stares settled on my back like a mine cart overladen with sunstones.

"Astrid." Tormund tried out a suave smile, then motioned toward the bar of chocolate on the table. "I was wondering, could I try some of that?"

I blinked at him. "Wait, let me get this straight. You came over here uninvited, knocked my off my chair, and now you want to eat my chocolate?"

"Uh oh," Ragnar muttered.

"It's been a couple months since I had any cocoa," Tormund said. "And based on your moans of pleasure, I definitely want to wrap my tongue around a piece of it."

I coughed, my face flushing. Every word that jumped to the tip of my tongue died before I could speak it. Before I could conjure a reply, Lilia leapt to her feet. She tossed a second gold-wrapped bar across the table, and Tormund snatched it mid-air, reacting with the speed and grace of someone who'd spent a lot of time honing his reflexes. Hmm.

"Have that one," Lilia said. "I brought an extra for the winner."

Tormund's brow arched. "You flatter me. The competition hasn't even begun."

"You better prove me right and win then, eh?" She smiled.

I shook my head, promptly settling back onto my stool and whisking my own bar out of sight. I'd promised my neighbor a square of this, plus I wanted to ration the rest. Clearly, I couldn't eat it out in the open without risking losing it to a thief. And with my back now firmly pointed in Tormund's direction, I figured he'd take the hint that I was done with the conversation.

He did not take the hint.

Palming the table, he leaned in, the light of the sunstone lamps glinting off his horns. "Astrid, eh? That's what you said your name is?"

"Yes," I said, keeping my eyes forward. His face was far too close to mine for comfort.

"Then you're the one who knows all about the Everstone."

I bristled. "And what makes you think that?"

"I asked around about it. Everyone said you're the expert."

Narrowing my eyes, I risked a glance in his direction. His eyes were keenly focused on my face, like he was trying to read my reaction—and like he was far too interested in what I had to say. How did he even know about the gem?

I frowned. "I thought you were here for the competition."

Down here in The Deep, us dwarves had tried to keep the matter of the Everstone to ourselves. We hadn't wanted word to spread to the mainland, where Isveig, the ice giant conquerer, had ruled with an iron fist. Isveig had been exactly the kind of person who'd try to take the stone for himself. ‘Course, he'd been defeated over a year ago. And so some of us—not me, of course—had gotten too lax about the stone. Someone must be talking.

Tormund's eyes sharpened on my face. "Oh, I'm here for the competition, love. Worried I'll best you?"

I snorted. "Me?"

His eyes dropped to my chest. I flushed and crossed my arms over my ample bosom. "Excuse me. Eyes up here, or else I'll—"

"You have a pin on your tunic."

"What? No, I…" I looked down, and the glint of the metal pin stopped me short. It sat proudly on the right side of my chest for all to see. "But…I didn't put that there."

I tried to pry it off my tunic, but it was stuck there. And it would remain so until the end of the competition. Thor, the god who blessed this competition, didn't much like quitters. Once someone entered this damn thing, there was no backing out of it. ‘Course, I'd never enter the Fittest Under the Mountain willingly. For one, I wasn't all that fit. And for two…well, I didn't care much about winning, except when it came to the Everstone.

"It won't come off. Thor doesn't much like quitters," Tormund said, repeating my exact thought, like he'd been reading my mind or something.

I scowled up at him. "You did this. You somehow put the pin on me. All so you could what? Keep me distracted while you hunt for the Everstone? Or fates, maybe you're really trying to get rid of me so I'm not a problem."

With my anger narrowed on Tormund, I was able to keep my panic at bay. Truth was, no one had ever died participating in the Fittest Under the Mountain, even if it was dangerous at times. But that was because no one entered who couldn't handle it.

And as decent as I was at mining, I wasn't even close to being prepared for this.

"There are far easier ways to get rid of someone." Tormund leaned down, palmed the table on either side of me, and levelled his gaze with mine. I swallowed and tried to shuffle back, but the table blocked my way. "My plan is much simpler. I'm going to find out everything you know about the stone. Then I'm going to take it and the champion's cup." His eyes dropped to my pin again. "Good luck with the competition."

He pushed away from me and strode back over to his table. The murmur of voices suddenly rose in his wake, and it was only then I noticed the entire tavern had hushed to listen to our conversation. Narrowing my eyes, I yanked at the pin again. The damn thing clung to my tunic like a cavern pond's leech.

"Oh, Astrid." Lilia knelt before me, her brow furrowed. "I'm so sorry. We'll find a way to get this pin off your shirt."

I shook my head. "It'll never come off, Lil."

"Hmm. You might be right." She sighed. "Well, that's fine, then. It doesn't need to come off. You just won't compete. Problem solved."

But if I didn't compete willingly, the magic of the Isles would find a way to make me join. In the past, others had tried to back out at the last minute. Not once had it worked. Something always happened to nudge them into the arena. Quitting wasn't an option.

"Nevermind that," I whispered. "I'm more worried about him going after the Everstone."

Lilia pressed her lips together, then said, "Just don't tell him anything. How long have dwarves been hunting for it? Decades. He'll never find it."

"I hope you're right." Steeling my spine, I twisted toward Tormund's table in the back corner of the tavern. The other shadow demons were chatting animatedly, sloshing their beer and singing along to the bard's latest song. But Tormund sat silently with his back against the stone wall, his eyes right on me. My heart pounded. He lifted his tankard from the table and angled it my way, as if he were giving me a cheers across the room.

I lifted my fingers in a rude gesture and stood. "Come on, Lil. Let's find somewhere better to spend the rest of the evening."

"Gladly," she replied. "How about your place?"

My little cottage was nestled in the dwarven village of Steingard, only three caverns west of the mining tunnels, The Wet Beard, and the cluster of larger trading shops. Steingard was home to about a hundred of us, though several families were expecting new additions which would expand our little corner of the world. The ledges that ran along the outer rim of The Endless Chasm were connected by arched stone bridges that curved over the looming darkness. Embedded sunstones illuminated the path, along with the steps that snaked skyward, linking our homes—stone cottages carved by dwarven hands.

It smelled of wet stone and algae and petrichor, laced through with a softer scent—perfumed flowers. We only had one flower that could grow here, a pale green daisy that clustered wherever we dwarves carved our homes, like the life of it was drawn to us. Someone long ago had dubbed them Daisies of the Deep.

"Steingard is mighty pretty," Ragnar said as we walked past the flower boxes clustered on the ledge outside my cottage. All four of them were overflowing with the green daisies. I needed to get another box soon. Other than mining, my biggest joys in life were baking and gardening. Since I couldn't venture above ground, I did my best to bring as much life as I could to my little corner of the world. The flowers weren't much, but they were all mine.

"Thanks," I said, pushing inside my home. We didn't lock our doors under the mountain unless strangers ventured here. Several years back, a few trolls had raided a village while everyone had been watching one of the trials. Ever since then, we'd been more careful with visitors. I'd have to remember to lock up now that Tormund and his friends were here.

At the thought of the shadow demon, all the cheer I'd found during our short walk from The Wet Beard vanished like a puff of smoke.

Lilia and Ragnar took two seats at my dining table, the wooden chair creaking beneath Ragnar's weight. Lilia politely moved one of my moss plants out of the way, adding it to the cluster of eight others I'd collected in one corner of the room. Everything I owned fit inside this small space, except for my bed, which I could only reach by a rickety ladder leading up to the stone ledge just above my head. Other than the kitchen table and the wash basin sink, I was the proud owner of a new sofa built from oak and covered in cushions stuffed with goose feathers, though I'd have to replace it after a few years. The damp down here wasn't too kind on wood.

Just like most dwarves, I had my own stash of kegs in my kitchen. I poured us all a round of ale before joining Ragnar and Lilia at the table. Quietly, they both took a sip while I pulled out the bar of chocolate I'd stashed in my tunic. Right now, I could sorely use some sugar.

"What are you going to do?" Lilia asked, finally breaking through the silence. "About Tormund, I mean."

As if there was anything else she could be referring to right now.

"There's only one thing I can do." I shrugged. "I have to find the Everstone before he does."

"But what about the competition?" Ragnar asked.

Leaning forward, I waved the chocolate bar in the air. "I have to participate, that much is clear. But the rules say nothing about effort. I'll just live up to everyone's expectations of me and fail each trial nice and early. Some of them last hours, so that'll give me loads of free time to hunt for the Everstone."

"And Tormund will be too focused on the trials to notice you sneaking away," Ragnar said with a nod. "Clever."

"Ragnar and I can help get you more time," Lilia added eagerly. "After the trials end, we'll do our best to keep Tormund occupied with celebratory ale."

Ragnar slid his gaze toward Lilia and winked. "I love it when you get sneaky."

"To clandestine quests and cocoa beans," I said, lifting a tankard high in the air.

Lilia grinned and tapped her tankard against mine. "To Astrid Balstad breathing in fresh, spring air."

"And watching the sun set over the majestic mountains," Ragnar added.

Tears welled in my eyes, but I blinked them back before they spilled down my face. Instead, I whispered, "To friendship, no matter how many miles stretch between us."

And then I popped another square of chocolate into my mouth, hoping it would soothe the twisting ache in my gut.