Chapter 13

"Why does this seem like a terrible, terrible idea?" Dewey muttered as he flew along next to Paige.

Paige swung the sword from side to side as they traversed the path. "I'm not certain we had a choice."

"Of course we had a choice, Paige. Just say 'sorry, pal, can't help ya.'"

"He has the bark we need."

"Fine, fine. I guess it's a necessary evil."

They continued down the tree-lined path until they reached a fork in the road.

Paige stared up at the wooden sign. Three posts, fashioned into arrows, were nailed to the stake.

"Acadia Palace," Paige read from the sign pointing back the way they'd come. She glanced over her shoulder. "That must be Prince Whatever's palace where the tree is."

Dewey jabbed a finger toward the path on the right. "This way. Troll Bridge."

"Right. What's in the other direction?" Paige asked, leaning around the sign to read the third arrow. "Mount Dread? Ugh." She winced and stepped onto the other path. "Sounds awful."

"I'm not sure Troll Bridge is much better," Dewey said with a wrinkled nose.

"It sounds way better than Mount Dread. That sounds really horrible."

Dewey shot her a sideways glance as they trudged along. "We'll look it up when we get back. I bet you it's way better than the stupid Troll Bridge."

"Oh, come on," Paige said, letting the sword's tip drag on the ground as she walked. "How bad can this be? We'll walk up to it, give them a few gold coins, and be done."

Paige's footsteps ground to a halt, and she winced. "Wait, do you have gold coins?"

"No! Why would I have gold coins? Anyway, I doubt they'd help."

"Why? Isn't that what trolls want?"

"No, Paige," Dewey said, his head lolling in annoyance. "Trolls do not just want gold. What is it with you and gold? Dragons hoard gold. Trolls want gold. Is that all you think supernatural creatures do?"

"No, of course not," Paige said with a shrug. "Vampires don't want gold. They want victims."

Dewey rolled his eyes at her. "You're really prejudiced, aren't you?"

"I am not. Look, I'm sorry I don't know what trolls want in life, okay? Until two weeks ago, I thought trolls were nasty people on the internet."

"I guess," Dewey said before he lifted his head, peering around at their surroundings. "Is it getting darker?"

"Yeah," Paige replied, waving the heavy sword at the sky before letting it drop back to the ground. "Looks like they colored the sky a darker shade of blue. They must have had the sixty-four packs of crayons."

"Switched from sky blue to straight blue?" Dewey inquired, staring up at the darker sky.

"Or denim," Paige answered.

Dewey crinkled his brows and shot her a glance.

"What?" she said with a shrug. "Coloring is a stress reliever."

"I didn't say anything. I, too, am a colorer. I have the 120 pack of crayons, though. And colored pencils. Ronnie bought them for my birthday."

"Wow, look at you with the fancy coloring utensils. I have a plastic tub with crayons in a baggie."

"Oh, Paige," Dewey groaned. "Grow up! Buy a pack of crayons."

"Until recently, I didn't have any money to buy crayons. Though I may invest in some after I get my first paycheck."

"You could even splurge and get the metallic colors. They're really nice."

Paige narrowed her eyes as the sky switched shades again. "Metallic colors? Do you have them?"

"I do. Remind me to show you. They have a really nice hue. Especially the–"

A rustling noise interrupted his comment.

They froze. Dewey flitted onto Paige's shoulder, a paw gripping her head.

"What was that?" Paige whispered.

"Not sure," Dewey hissed.

"Should I keep going?"

"Sure, why not? Nothing to be afraid of, right? I mean, the trees have gotten thicker and darker. The trunks are twisted and gnarly. The sky is growing darker with each step. And I'm pretty sure those are storm clouds overhead. But, yeah, why not?"

Paige shot him a glance before she flicked her gaze at the gray cloud drawn above them. A thick, jagged bolt of lightning struck from it. She inched forward until raindrops hung in the sky.

"It's raining," Dewey breathed.

Paige ducked and slid past a raindrop, then turned sideways and side-stepped around another. "Sort of. We can just avoid the raindrops by walking around them."

"Illustrated rain," Dewey said with a nod. "Way better than real rain."

Another crinkling noise and the patter of footsteps.

Paige stopped again and snapped her head in the direction of the sound.

"What is that?" she questioned.

"I wonder how close we are to the bridge."

"Do you think it's a troll?"

"Maybe," Dewey said.

They stood for a few breaths, their ears straining for more noise in the thick forest. None came.

Paige took another step forward. The rustling sounded again. Her muscles stiffened, and she froze mid-step. Her heart began to pound in her chest. Dewey clutched her tighter, the claws of his back feet digging into her shoulder.

"Make a run for it," he whispered.

Paige nodded and swallowed hard. She launched forward, racing down the dirt path that wound through the forest.

The trees began to clear, and Paige surged forward, hoping to leave behind whatever lurked in the dark forest.

"There, Paige," Dewey shouted, pointing ahead of them. "The bridge! Run!"

Paige pushed her legs harder, the muscles straining to propel them the last few feet toward the bridge. As she stepped from under the canopy of trees, she stopped.

Something stood in her path, preventing her from crossing the bridge. Paige skidded to a halt, her arms flailing to remain upright. Her jaw dropped open, and she stared at the creature blocking their path.

Her eyes widened, and she swallowed hard. "Is that…" She cocked her head to the side.

"A troll," Dewey said with a nod.

Paige's top lip rippled as her nose wrinkled. She stared at the small, greenish-colored creature in front of her. A tangle of green, moss-like hair topped its head. Standing no higher than her waist, it stared up at her with large green eyes. A button nose sniffed in her direction, and a mouth that appeared to be pulled into a constant smile wiggled.

It tugged at its moss-covered coat and shuffled in its suede boots, a walking stick covered in flowers tapping as it approached her.

"Hey, little fella," Paige said, her mouth curling into a sweet smile as she stared down at the cute creature.

"Paige," Dewey muttered under his breath. "I wouldn't."

Paige shot him an incredulous glance and shook her head, waving off his comment before bending over and smiling at the tiny troll. "I'm here to cross your bridge."

The troll waddled another few steps toward them and sniffed again.

Paige's smile broadened, and she straightened to Dewey's level. "He's so cute. This is going to be way easier than we expected."

"Paige–" Dewey began when the troll lifted its walking stick from the ground.

It swung the stick violently, smacking Paige in the back of the knees. She dropped to the ground, falling forward onto her hands.

"Ow," Paige shrieked, snapping her head to stare at her tiny attacker. "What the hell?"

Dewey flitted higher as the troll swung again, cracking Paige across the back.

"Ouch," Paige yelled as she tried to raise her sword to defend herself.

The troll brought the weight of the stick down on her shoulder. Pain shot through her arm and up into her neck. The heavy metal weapon clattered to the ground as the creature smacked her again, this time on the forearm.

A shriek sounded at her side. She glanced over, spotting Dewey desperately trying to free himself from a net that hung over him.

"Dewey!"

"Run, Paige," he shouted as more green creatures emerged from the woods and yanked on the corners of the net, dragging Dewey down toward the ground.

"Let go of him," Paige screamed, her fingers searching the dirt next to her for her sword.

The little troll next to her wrinkled his button nose, his fangs showing, and lifted his stick again, swinging down hard.

Paige's vision blurred, and pain shot through her head and down her neck as he landed the blow against her skull.

She wobbled on her hands and knees for a moment before the world turned dark around her.

* * *

Paige's eyelids fluttered open, finding nothing but darkness. The scent of moss and dirt filled her nostrils as she blinked her eyes, hoping they adjusted to the darkness quickly. After a few moments, she made out dim details of her surroundings.

Bars prevented her from leaving the small cell she'd been placed in while unconscious. She rose to her feet, smacking her head off the low ceiling. With a wince, she rubbed at the back of her head. Her hand found a large lump from where the troll had hit her at the bridge.

"Stupid trolls," she murmured, her voice echoing.

"Paige?" Dewey called.

"Dewey?" she answered into the darkness.

"Paige," he shouted again.

A teal hand waved between two bars across the space.

Paige took a step toward the bars. A rattling echoed in her cell. She glanced down at her leg, finding a large shackle clamped around it connected to a thick chain. She grimaced at the latest development before shambling toward the bars, dragging the heavy chain behind her.

She clutched at them and stared out into the darkness. Dewey's dark eyes shone back from behind another set of bars across from her, glowing like a cat's in the dark.

"Paige! Are you okay?"

"I think so. I have a killer headache, though. But other than that, I'm all right. Where are we?"

"Tree dungeon. Where else?"

Paige sank down to sit, shaking her head. "I can't believe those things are so mean! They look so cute!"

"Yeah, they look cute. But they are far from it. Nasty little things. Maybe worse than Shrieking Pixies."

Paige let her head rest against the bars for a moment before she scanned her new space. "We have to get out of here."

"No kidding," Dewey said. "Except I don't know how we're going to achieve that."

Paige tugged at the bars, attempting to move them. After a few grunts, she gave up. "Okay, those aren't budging."

"Nope. They're made from tree roots. Attached to the tree we're inside of."

"We're inside a tree?" Paige inquired, scanning the space.

"Yep. Underneath it, actually. They have entire cities built under the forest."

"What? Don't they live under bridges?"

"No, those are water trolls."

Paige pressed her face between the bars to stare at Dewey. "What kind of trolls are these?"

"Tree trolls. Mean, nasty tree trolls."

"Of course. At least it's not water trolls, I guess."

"Why? They would have just asked for gold and been done with it."

Paige pressed her lips together into a thin line. "You said trolls didn't want gold."

"I said not all trolls want gold. Water trolls, it just so happens, do. Tree trolls do not."

"What do tree trolls want? Maybe we can barter for our freedom."

Dewey opened his mouth to answer when noise sounded on the stairs. "They're coming!"

He slinked back from the bars into the back of the cell. Paige winced and scurried backward, then she lay at the back of the cell like she remained unconscious.

She opened one eye a tiny bit to spy on the new arrivals.

Three tiny green trolls glanced into each of the cells. They muttered to each other in a language Paige could not understand despite the necklace she wore to assist in magical language translation.

One of the trolls jabbed a finger toward Paige's cell, then waved its chubby hands in the air. Another nodded and rubbed its hands together, its shoulders shaking as it laughed. The third thumbed toward Dewey's cell and made a statement. They all burst into laughter before they took one final look into the cells and waddled away.

As the sound of their voices faded, Paige pushed up to sit and scrambled to the front of the cell. "What was that about? I couldn't understand them even with the Crystal of Understanding."

"They're probably using crystal blockers. Anyway, I speak troll, and it was nothing good."

"What did they say?"

"Never mind. Let's just focus on a way to get out of here."

Paige clutched at the bars and stared at him. "Dewey! What did they say?"

Dewey's teal face, covered in shadows from the flickering torch near the opening, pressed against the bars. "They said you should make a nice meal, but may be tough. They plan to roast you on an open spit. And they'll save me for a late-night snack."

Paige's jaw dropped open, and she crinkled her nose. "Those jerks!" She tugged against the bars again. "We've got to get out of here."

"Yeah, no kidding. The sooner, the better. Before they're serving Roasted Paige for dinner."

Paige scrambled to her feet, ducking so her head didn't hit the ceiling. "And a light snack of Dewey for dessert."

She ran her hands over the walls enclosing her, searching for a weakness. "Can you fit between the bars?"

"No," Dewey reported. "Not even a chance. The bad thing about being captured by tiny creatures is that their cells are designed to hold tiny creatures."

Paige kicked at the bars holding her in the cell. They did not budge.

"Ugh," she groaned, sinking to sit.

She let her head fall into her hands. Tears formed as she stared down at the large chain clasped around her ankle. Even if she could find a way out of the cell, could she free herself from the chain?

She crinkled her forehead as she studied the rusty chain tethering her to the ground. She stared at the root-like bars, narrowing her eyes.

With renewed determination, she thrust her foot forward between two bars, pulling the chain along with it.

"Paige? What are you doing? You can't fit between the bars."

"No, but my leg can. And so can this chain." She grunted as she shimmied forward and tugged at the chain to tighten it against one of the bars. "And I'm guessing this root will be no match for the iron here."

Paige sawed back and forth with the chain as taut as possible, inching her leg over as the root began to wear.

"You're doing it," Dewey cheered from across the space. "Keep going!"

"Do you have a chain, too?"

"Already on it," Dewey answered, sliding his little foot through the bars and threading the chain around one.

They worked for a few more minutes until one of Paige's bars snapped in two.

"Got mine," Paige reported with a grin.

She moved on to saw another apart. With two fractured, she could contort herself and escape the cell. If she could do something about the chain around her foot, she reminded herself.

Dewey finished sawing through one bar, creating a wide enough gap for him to squeeze out of the cell. "I can get out! Except I can't. I'm chained to the wall."

"I know, I know." Paige hurried to the back of the chamber.

She tugged at the chain, trying to dislodge it from the concrete pad that bolted it to the ground.

"Paige! Paige," Dewey shouted.

She snapped her gaze at him, finding him on his hands and knees, halfway out of his cell.

He jabbed a finger at the wall next to her cell. "The keys!"

Paige's eyebrows rose as she hurried forward, diving through the opening she'd created and glancing at the wall.

A set of keys hung from a hook two-thirds of the way up. Paige dug in, trying to push herself farther out of her cell.

"Can you reach them?" Dewey asked.

"I'm trying. Thank goodness these trolls are short. I may be able to do it."

She yanked on her leg, pulling the chain taut, and stretched her arm toward the keys. Her fingertips grazed the bottom.

"Come on. Reach, Paige!" Dewey encouraged, his paw balling into a fist as he seemed to will her muscles to stretch a few more inches.

Paige's features contorted into an anguished wince. She bit her lower lip as she strained her muscles to the point of pain to grab the keys. She wrapped her fingers around the bottom of one and clung to it, afraid to let go as she hovered in the air in a crab-like position.

"Don't let go," Dewey shouted.

"I'm stuck," Paige grunted. "I can't lift them off the ring. I can't move any higher."

Sweat beaded on her forehead as her muscles began to protest their current position.

Her hand slipped off the key, and she crashed to the ground with a huff.

"I can't," she sobbed.

Dewey's shoulders slumped and his head fell forward as Paige sucked in breaths.

The keys swayed, scraping against the wall until they settled back into place.

Paige's gaze fell on the keyring. She narrowed her eyes as she stared at it. She rose to her elbows and pushed herself back up into the awkward position. She stretched her arm, reaching for the keys again. This time, instead of wrapping her fingers around them, she smacked them against the lower portion.

The keyring nudged upward before settling back into place.

"Hit it again," Dewey said.

Paige banged her fingers into the keys again. They bounced up and down on the nail, inching forward. She tried again. They teetered on the edge of the nail, stuck around the wider head.

With a whispered curse, she batted at them one final time. They tumbled from their perch and splayed on the ground. Paige settled to the floor and reached for them, snagging one key and pulling them toward her.

"Got it," she shouted triumphantly, waving the keys in the air.

She scurried inside the cell and tried three keys before finding one that fit the shackle. It fell open, and Paige kicked her foot to free herself from the chains. She raced across the small cell, hunched over, and dove out the opening, crawling across the floor and freeing Dewey's back foot.

He flitted into the air and spun in a circle. "Free!"

"Yeah, now let's get going," Paige said as she climbed to her feet.

A new voice entered the conversation, uttering words Paige couldn't understand.

Paige and Dewey turned to stare at the troll that had captured them earlier.

"Uh-oh. That's not good," Dewey murmured.

"Nope," Paige said.

They stared down the tiny creature that blocked them from escaping.