You suspect how this troll situation will end. Returning home, you find the plain bronze sword your mother gave you when you were still a small boy, just after your father died. Once it seemed enormous; now it feels light and nimble in your hands. You set to work sharpening both edges. The argument in the great hall must already be roaring, but you put it out of your mind and work on the blade until it gleams, then move through a few quick sword forms.

It's late and Para still has not returned, but you snuff out the candle and crawl up to your sleeping loft. You try to make plans for tomorrow; instead you fall into dreams.

You're interrupted by your mother's return late that night, but then you dream again. You dream of the five strange idols you saw, and they seem to call to you from the buried place beneath the unfinished temple. You dream of finding a cave down into that strange place. You see dark tunnels, illuminated only by the single guttering flame of a lamp. The air is cold and smells of damp earth. These are strange dreams, like none you have had before.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Then, slowly, you recognize the weight of the earth over your head.

A clay lamp flickers in one hand. In the other you carry your naked sword. You wear only a plain tunic and your mantle, but your feet are bare. A smooth tunnel slopes down before you. Below, you hear the call of the idols. Behind you, creatures whisper and hiss in the darkness: the trolls.

This is no dream.

How Did I Get Here?