I crouch behind a rowan bush with Finn, my hand on his back pushing him to the ground, as close to the dirt as he is willing to get. His body is still and steady, but his heart is beating faster with each passing second—or perhaps it’s mine.

“Your aunt didn’t tell us what to do when we reached the trolls” I whisper in his ear, careful to avoid drawing attention. “And I don’t think they like humans very much.”

He shakes his head slightly. “Your human. not me.”

I roll my eyes so far back it stings. "You may have a miniscule amount of magic flowing in your veins, but the moronic Neanderthal bloodline coursing through your bones is far more abundant," I tell him with mild exasperation as I press my nose against the hairs of his locks. “They will devour you just as eagerly as they would a run-of-the-mill mortal.”

I bite back a smile when he tries to hide his shudder.

“Lilith. Lilith listen” he whispers with upmost seriousness. “Trolls are extremely dull creatures. I shall bargain for the map, and if that doesn’t work then I shall fight for it.”

I raise a brow and my scowl grows. He’s looking at me as though I’m the strange one. “You’d have to be an absolute fool to believe that!” I whisper-shout, careful not to let my anger raise my voice. “You can fight and bargain as much as you want, that doesn’t mean you’ll win anything.”

He stands up, his gaze intense. “If I’m a fool bound to fail, then I shall fail so spectacularly it would be a success on my end.”

“That’s not how it works!”

Before I can pull him back down, he takes a step forward catching the attention of the three trolls.

They truly are an awful spectacle, huddled around a pond with wagons full of gold and tools—and bones. Their features are flat and broad, hair long and matted, and their skin is so coarse you can chisel stone with it.

My muscles clench when they all stare at Finn.

“What do we have here!” One of the gentler looking trolls bellow. It’s long fingers reach towards Finn. He takes a step back.

“So thin” says another. “No meat on him.”

Finn makes a face while turning back to me, one that says ‘just watch’.

I fold my arms and get on my knees to see better.

"Greetings, creatures of Vagyord," he says with a deep reverence, inclining his head forward so that his locks shield his face. "We have heard that your kind holds the map to Avarinth, and I and my fellows are in dire want of it. I am here to offer a trade for this priceless item."

The gentle looking troll turns to the smallest one, and it takes out a golden scroll from the wagon.

“And what will we get in return?” The oldest one inquires, “when we can just keep the map and eat you for supper.”

Finn reels back, then plants his feet on the moss and clears his throat. He’s trying not to show fear, of course, but I wouldn’t be surprised if creatures like them smell it.

“Jewels, weapons. Um—I don’t know, human flesh?”

The oldest laughs, the kind of laugh you don’t want to join along.

“But we have all that” it rasps. “Weapons, jewels”, it shifts its pointed finger from the cart to Finn. “Human flesh.”

Finns hands inch towards the sword on his belt we bought at the pawn shop, the sword that could barely cut through bark. It’s impossible for him to win a fight against them.

“Wait!” I shout before thinking of what I’m doing.

The trolls all turn to me.

I heave a long, strained breath and step besides Finn. “The map” I lie, “takes us to a treasury of gold only we know to find. If you do us harm, you shall never see a coin of those riches.”

I see Finn tense out of the corner of my eyes and decide it’s best if I ignore him, so they can to.

“Or, we can just torture the truth out of you and get it ourselves” the peaceful looking one muses. They flash an awfully yellow smile.

“Yes” I say. “But you will never be able to find it. It’s not meant for your kind. So when we do find it, with your map or not, we can split the riches. Or, we can keep it for ourselves.”

The trolls stare blankly for a second, then huddle together and begin speaking in muffled mumbles.

“You think they’ll believe your lie?” Finn whispers besides me.

“As you said. They are awfully dull creatures” I respond.

The trolls turn back towards us, wearing reluctant scowls. Then, they toss the scroll.

“If we don’t see the gold by the next full moon, we will hunt you down, and eat you whole” the oldest trolls says.

I squeeze Finn’s arm and smile.

“Of course”.

The trolls are one of a thousand problem we need to solve later. Now, we need to find Avarinth. There was one thing we didn’t lie about; Only Finn can access the portal out of all of us. And that’s the only way I will ever see Mari again.