We travel for two more days and then leave the forest. Mountains rise up on the horizon. Snow caps their peaks. There is a road here, cobbled and well-traveled judging from the deep grooves from countless wagons. In fact, a wagon is coming up the road now.

Theo and Marika look concerned. Theo leans to Marika and whispers to her. I hear it clearly.

“Our cover story won’t work with lady troll here. What should we do?”

Marika looks at me. “Lady troll, are you good with improvising?” I suppose I am, so I nod. “Please play along with me. It might be a little embarrassing, but bear with it.”

What could that mean? Embarrassing? I wish I could tell her that after you’ve had to have a nurse help you do everything, and I mean everything, nothing is embarrassing anymore. I stand up straight; I’m ready!

The wagon sees us and stops. It is pulled by two oxen, both of which stink of fear. It’s me they’re afraid of. My nose tells me there are two humans, although I can only see one. The other one is a woman and she’s probably hiding under the blanket covering the potatoes the wagon holds. He holds a pitchfork and stands in front of his wagon. He smells afraid too, but not as much.

“Ho there! Name yourselves, and explain that monster!” He jabs the pitchfork in our direction.

Marika answers him. “My name is Mary and this is Ted! I am a monster tamer, and this troll is my bound pet!”

I turn and look at Marika. You didn’t tell me this was the plan!

“A monster tamer! Is that troll really tamed?” The man seems doubtful. I see where this is going a moment before Marika speaks.

“Watch and see. Troll, sit!” I sit. “Troll, roll over!” I roll over. “Troll, smile!”

This one I do while staring at the man, and he pales. “All right, then, I believe you! Just stay off the road while we pass! My wife’s with child and seeing such a thing might lay a curse on our baby!”

It was bad enough doing tricks like a dog, but the farmer’s words hurt my feelings! I am not that ugly. Well, maybe I am; I haven’t seen myself yet.

When the wagon passes beside us Theo calls out. “Any news of the pass?”

The man shouts over his shoulder. “Pass is closed! The lord’s daughter is missing and until she’s found there’s no common folk leaving or entering Soleil!” He continues on and we wait until he is well past before stepping on the road.

“That’s a problem, isn’t it?” says Caine. “I thought taking the black out of yer hair would be enough, Lady Soleil, but lady troll here…”

I see what he’s saying. I’m going to draw attention to them if we’re seen by any men loyal to Marika’s father. I point to myself and then to the forest, meaning I could travel beside them, but Marika misunderstands.

“No! You can’t go back in there, lady troll. You saved us and I will pay my debt to you. If we can’t go through the pass we can cross the mountains.”

Her words make me feel pretty good. I’m glad I found a friend in this magical mess of a world.

Theo and the three guards look doubtful at that. Caine speaks up first. “There’s no way we can cross the mountains without a lot more gear, my lady. Also…” He looks at her in a judging way.

“What Caine’s saying is that you’re.. delicate,” says Theo. Marika reddens in anger but he raises his hands to calm her down “Marika, he means no harm. You’re a noble lady and quite honestly even I would be afraid to cross the mountains without more equipment.”

“Then we buy it in whatever town that man came from,” she says waving at the farmer who is fading into the distance.

Theo shakes his head. “That man likely comes from a village of maybe twenty people. There won’t be any kind of goods sold there other than whatever they farm. They probably don’t even have a blacksmith.”

Marika is unhappy, and she doesn’t say anything while we walk. I can tell by her scent that she’s frustrated. Theo walks alongside me and whispers to me.

“It isn’t just the cold and the altitude that I fear in the mountains, lady troll. I didn’t tell Marika, but that place is the domain of giants. Even you would pale before their might. They take their territory seriously, and will not hesitate to kill anyone who enters. The pass is the only safe way over the mountains.”

We reach the village the farmer came from and find that Theo was right. There is no inn, no store, no nothing other than a few houses made of stones and thatched roofs. People run in fright when they see me, and we pass through it without a single person saying hello.

When we are on the other side of the village, Marika speaks for the first time in a long while. “What about the dwarves?”

Theo looks surprised. “The ones your father trades with? They don’t have any reason to help us.”

“They don’t have any reason not to help us either,” says Marika. “I’ve seen the maps; I know how to get to one of what they call their exile posts. We can at least try to talk to them.”

“Dwarves have tunnels all through the mountains,” says Andrew, who might have a little dwarf in him judging from the width of his moustache. “But they do nothing for free, and we’ve precious little to pay them. Gold and jewelry mean nothing to them; they can mine their own metals and craft their own baubles. Even your father’s mithril only earns him a little of their favour.”

We walk on for a few more minutes and then leave the road. Apparently we’re going to try Marika’s idea, judging from the fact that she has taken the lead. We trudge through a farmer’s field when an idea comes to me.

“Hey,” I say, just to get their attention. When everyone is looking at me, I tap my bandolier. The two potions in it tinkle under my talon.

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“What do you mean, lady troll?” asks Theo.

Marika understands. “I appreciate the offer, lady troll, but I can’t ask you to pay our way with your potions. Besides, you only have the two, and dwarves are notoriously hard bargainers.”

I shrug, do my little trick where I draw my own blood, and make two more healing potions. While they watch I repeat the process until my bandolier is full: ten weak healing potions. I tap it again. I smile, but Marika is angry.

Marika has caught on to me. She grabs my wrist and glares up at me. “Are you bleeding yourself to make these?”

Caine has an extremely strange expression, and he smells odd too. It takes me a moment to place the smell: nervousness and a little disgust. I think he just figured out what his potions were made of.

I nod to Marika. I don’t see what the big deal is. I nick my palm and show her that in seconds it’s all healed. She smacks my hand and I barely feel it, but the emotion behind it strikes me hard. “No! Not unless we have to! I don’t want… I don’t want anyone hurting themselves for me.”

Tears form at the corner of her eyes. I look away, because I feel pretty bad. I didn’t mean to make her cry; I just wanted to help, and this is all I can do. Marika glares at me again and steps ahead, walking fast to get some space between us.

Theo comes to the rescue. “Marika, lady troll did this of her own accord. You didn’t ask her to use her blood to make these potions, she volunteered it. How rude would it be to refuse her assistance now that she’s already done that for you? For us?”

Marika doesn’t answer but I can tell by the way she smells that she’s no longer angry. She smells sad and guilty and now I feel even worse. I step forward, easily catching up to her. When I’m beside her, she tries to get away. Her steps speed up. I catch up. She speeds up a little more. I catch up. After a few moments she’s almost running, but I can keep up with my long legs easily. Then she slows down again and looks up at me. Tears fill her eyes.

“Why? I owe you too much already! Without my noble house I can’t pay you back with money, and there’s no guarantee that the temple of Verity can help you. Even if they do, that’s their power, not mine. And now you want me further in your debt?”

I shake my head gently. How to explain? I rub my fingers together, hoping that means ‘money’ here too. Then I mime pulling my pockets out and shrugging. I have no money so this is all I can do.

Marika walks in silence a moment longer. Her small hand grips one of my fingers and I look down in surprise. She is walking beside me, not looking up at me, but holding my hand. That’s good enough for now, I guess.

The mountains that looked so far away when we left the forest are closer than I thought. We walk all day and find ourselves sin the foothills, with the cobblestone road ending and replaced by a dirt path. There are few wagon tracks on this path. The fields beside it are overgrown and haven’t been tended in a long time. I wave my free hand at them and look at Marika.

“The dwarves don’t like humans settling too close. Once they come out of their mountains they tend to make things uncomfortable for anyone nearby. Things would be easier if they would just come live with humans, but the dwarves that you see out here are all exiles, or so they call themselves, and won’t live amongst anyone but their own kind.”

I don’t understand, but I can’t ask questions yet, so I just shrug.

It’s getting dark, but Marika insists on walking on. She says we’re close enough that we can make the banishment post, whatever that is. The guards are all restless and even Theo seems doubtful, but when I see torchlight in the distance I point it out.

“Can’t see a thing,” says Theo, and I realize that our own torches probably kill their night vision. I point at his torch and then again to where I saw the distant light, and he nods in understanding. “Ah! Lady troll says we’re close to something.”

That lifts everyone’s sprits and we pick up our pace. Soon we find ourselves entering a camp made up of several covered wagons surrounding a fire. When we’re seen several guards step forward, but Marika makes me do a few tricks and convinces them all that I’m a tame monster. I am beginning to feel like a pet.

One guard, a tall woman with a spear and shield, approaches us and greets us politely. “Are you looking for entrance into the dwarf hold?” When Marika nods, the woman shakes her head. “Might as well turn back. The exiles aren’t letting anyone in. Apparently they’ve got a problem in their tunnels and can’t afford to spare any guides.”

“Maybe we can help them,” says Theo.

“Ehh,” says the woman doubtfully. She looks up at me. “Not unless that troll is secretly a priest. Go talk to the exile in charge. He’s the sulky looking one in the chair.”

We leave the circled wagon camp and approach a large stone structure. It’s carved right into the stone of the mountain and looks like interlocking diagonal monoliths, like a zipper made up of rocks from Stonehenge. It arches over a flat wall of stone.

Beside it are several structures. They look like igloos but made of rock, and they are all connected. They are all also very low to the ground, and there’s no way I could enter them. Thankfully we don’t have to.

A man—no, a dwarf— sits in a chair beside the entrance to one of the buildings. His beard is long and touches the ground, and his body is as wide as he is tall. He really does look sulky. When he sees us he gets up and walks toward us. He carries a hammer over his shoulder and he looks comfortable with it.

When he’s close enough he stops and raises his hand. “Halt, humans. And troll. The Undergallery is closed to all, exile and topsider alike.”

“I am Marika Soleil, daughter of Lord Soleil. We have traded with the dwarves of the Undergallery for a long time; can we not impose on your hospitality for even a moment?”

“No. Our king is ill and trapped between life and death. Your trade agreement, whatever its terms, are suspended until he recovers or dies.”

“How long has he been ill?”

“That’s none of your business,” says the dwarf. “The only way anyone can enter is if they can heal our king. You are all obviously not—“

Something grabs my hand and lifts it up. It’s Marika. “My friend the lady troll is a gifted alchemist and blessed by Jinx. She may be able to help.”

The dwarf looks at me. “Is that true? Speak the name of a god, any god, if you are more than a beast.”

“Verity,” I say, because I’ll be darned if I’ll say Jinx like he’s my patron or something.

“Hmm. You are an alchemist?”

I tap the ten vials on my chest. ‘Those are all healing potions,” says Marika.

“Prove it to me.” The dwarf crosses his arms.

I raise my hand to claw my skin, but the dwarf shakes his head. “Trolls heal on their own. Cut one of your human friends.” He pulls out a knife with a beautiful golden blade. “Use this. No tricks.”

The knife is too small for my hands, but it fits Marika just right. Theo offers his arm, and rolls up his sleeve. But instead of cutting him, Marika lifts the knife and jams it into her palm. She cries out in pain, and Theo’s eyes widen.

“Marika! You shouldn’t have done that!”

Marika’s smile is weak. “Couldn’t bear to think of cutting you,” she says to Theo. Then she turns to me. “Lady troll, if you please.”

I pull out a potion and offer it to her, but the dwarf shakes his head. “Not that one. Use... that one.” He points to a different potion and I realize what he’s doing. He wants to be sure that I don’t just have a single potion to fool him. I do as he asks. and pass the potion to Marika.

She can’t open it because of her injured hand, so I pull the cork out with my teeth. One of my teeth comes out with it, which is a shock but doesn’t hurt. While Marika drinks the potion, I feel around in my mouth for the first time. There’s a lot of teeth in there. That must be what my mouth catches on when I smile.

The tooth itself lights up in my Eyes of Alchemy.

Troll Tooth - Sharpen

That’s interesting. A potion of sharpening? I file that away along with the tooth. I’m a walking alchemy ingredient factory, it seems.

The dwarf watches closely while Marika drinks, and then even closer while the wound in her hand closes. The moment it is fully healed, he turns and taps the stone wall behind us with his hammer.

“Outsiders with an alchemist offering to help the king,” he says to the blank stone.

The stone melts away in a perfect circle, expanding until the hole is large enough for even me to walk in. Once it gets to size it stabilizes and the dwarf behind us speaks.

“They’re willing to accept your help, it seems. Good luck.” Without another word, he returns to his seat.

I look at the darkness beyond the wall. I’ve never been under a mountain, but there’s a first time for everything. I step forward, and the others are right behind me.