AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“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.”
