Jabir froze. His hand went to his chest, where crumbs betrayed him like glitter on his Aunt Cara’s craft table.
Oh, crud. The potato chips.
This is why I said shift first, his dragon muttered with a groan. You smell like snack food.
That wasn’t why you wanted to shift!
Gabby lifted her nose and sniffed. “Oooh… I do smell something good now.”
“Maybe the tunnel dropped food!” Mikey cried hopefully, and without further warning, dropped to his hands and knees and began sniffing the ground like a bloodhound on a mission.
Gabby rolled her eyes. “What are you doing?”
Mikey crawled to the exact spot where Jabir had landed. “I’m following the yummy smell. Like Frubbit taught us in Forest Safety Class.”
Williston squinted. “Frubbit only teaches that class ‘cause he lost a bet to your ma. He’s not actually good at?—”
“Shhh! I found something!” Mikey sat up, triumphant. In his enormous hand was a broken corner of a crumbled chip. He sniffed it reverently, his eyes glazing over. “Ooooh… yummy. Crunchy. Salty. Magic.”
Gabby lunged forward. “Give me that!”
“No way!” Mikey spun around, cupping the crumb protectively in his massive palm. “I found it! It’s mine!”
“You only found it because I led us here!” she growled.
“I smelled it first!” Williston barked.
“This is my prize!” Mikey roared, standing up and backing away as the two other trolls advanced like seagulls fighting over a French fry.
Hidden in the boulders, Jabir covered his mouth to muffle a laugh. His dragon groaned.
They’re gonna eat you. You know that, right?
“They’re not going to eat me—us,” Jabir whispered. “They’re… funny.”
They hungry.
“Which is why,” Jabir said as he pulled a fresh, unopened bag of chips from his tote, “I’m bringing gifts.”
You going to get us eaten.
“No, I’m not. You’re being a scaredy dragon.”
Jabir stood slowly, stepping up onto the flat top of the tallest boulder. He cleared his throat. “Um… Hey, there. I come in… peace,” his voice came out in a slight squeak on the last word, and he winced.
We totally dead, his dragon groaned, shaking its head and burying its snout between its paws.
Three trolls’ heads whipped around. Gabby shrieked, Mikey yelped and dropped his precious chip, and Williston made a sound like a farting goat and grabbed his club.
“Hi! I’m Jabir,” Jabir greeted with an uneasy smile as he frantically opened the bag of chips in his hand as a peace offering. “So… would anyone like some chips?”
“I told you this was the right place!” Gabby hissed, staring back at him.
Jabir crouched atop the boulder, the open chip bag crinkling in his lap as he listened to the debate unfolding before him.
“I’m telling you, it’s an alien,” Gabby insisted, jabbing a stubby blue-tipped finger toward him. “He came from the sky! I saw the blue swirly tunnel with my own two eyes.”
“You always see blue swirly things,” Williston grumbled, crossing his thick gray arms. “Remember the last time? Turned out to be laundry that flew off old widow Gnome’s clothesline.”
