Page 4 of A Spark So Bright
Every year, the trolls picked warriors to fight with them. He had been training with his friends for nearly ten years. Ever since he was a child, all Gunnar wanted was to fight. Like his family. Like the only person who mattered.
They were surrounded by at least a hundred warriors, all of them shouting and whooping because he had finally done it. But even as his left eye started to swell shut, Gunnar was looking for one person and one person only.
And then he saw her. Tindra.
His best friend stood a head taller than most of the other people in the crowd. Her green skin glistened, so smooth and unmarred it was almost a shock to realize she was a better warrior than nearly every single person in that crowd. No one had ever given her a scar. Not on the countless raids she'd been in.
She was a legend, and she’d taught him everything he knew.
Tindra pushed through the crowd once the shouts started to die down. He headed for her as well. The other warriors knew that mentors always celebrated with the warrior who was welcomed into the war band. As he approached her, many hands slapped down on his back, telling him that they were proud of him. That he'd done well.
He had never felt so full of love or pride in his people. In his own hard work, too.
"Good job, leafling," Tindra said, nudging a fist to the bottom of his jaw. "The green warrior officially becomes just a warrior. Your father would be proud."
Gunnar knew he would. Though his parents had been killed in a raid by the humans only a few years ago, the sting stillmade his chest hurt. He rubbed at the spot just over his heart, reminding himself that he still had Ragnar, at least.
"What are we doing to celebrate?" he asked.
"Well, I know you're a fan of adventure, and that you've been trying to get me out of the mountain for a while." She winked and then pointed through the crowd to two packs that were leaning against a fence. They were not stuffed full, so their journey wouldn’t take more than a day, but he could see the bottoms were heavy with water and food. "I thought you'd maybe like to see how tall Trollveggen really is."
He'd been dying to get outside for a while, but it had been far too dangerous. Their king had warned them all to stay within the mountain because the humans were crawling all over it. But they must’ve been safe enough if Tindra was suggesting this.
He wiped sweat away from his swollen eye with a grin and headed over to the packs. He was tired, sure. But never too tired to explore.
There were more congratulations as they headed out. Somehow it seemed like the entire mountain already knew that he was joining the ranks of warriors, and that was part of why he loved it here. So many people cared for him. So many people wanted to show their pride in what he had done.
Tindra led him out a secret exit. It took them a while to get there, and he was certain this was part of the warrior secrets that he would soon share. The cliff edge she clambered over was hidden behind a spray of a waterfall that glowed bright blue. The stones were icy against his palms as he climbed up over them and toward what he assumed was a swift and safe exit.
The walls of the mountain were tight where she led him. This exit was clearly not meant for many people to walk through at the same time. He even had to take his pack off a few times and shove it ahead of himself so he could fit. Not that he minded.
Gunnar had always enjoyed this. He was the one people came to when someone got wedged in a cave or they were stuck in a hole somewhere deep. A fear of tight spaces had never plagued him, or really many people in his bloodline.
His family loved to mine. His mother had been a miner before tragedy had struck. She’d never wanted to go above with their father, said the desire to see the sun was far more human than she was. Gunnar and Ragnar had grown up in the depths of the earth, their births guided by the groan of the mountain itself.
"Nearly there!" Tindra said over her shoulder, and then a spear of sunlight hit him in the face.
He grunted, turning away from it for a moment before he couldn't stop himself from looking back. Gunnar was one of the few trolls who loved the sun. He had grown up underground, so it was like a forbidden tease every time he got a chance to look at it.
It made his skin smell sweeter. The warmth of it was a decadent beauty that surely he should be able to indulge in more often.
"Where are we?" he asked as he left the mountain. His body slipped free from its embrace and suddenly he was surrounded by green.
Not much of the interior of the mountain was green. Sure, some of their crops were the color. And he had seen a few other places in Trollveggen where there were green flying insects. But nothing like this.
The bed of emerald moss spread out around them like a blanket. His bare feet sunk into the plush carpet, and he swore the claws on his feet could even feel how soft it was. The sun sparkled through emerald leaves on the trees, dappling the ground with shadows that gave the illusion of texture. And he could smell it. All the surrounding greenery made the entireworld have this scent that he wanted to drag into his lungs and bottle for later.
Tindra shook her head and adjusted her pack. "Ridiculous. This isn't even the best part. Come on, Gunnar."
He rolled his eyes but followed her. Tindra always knew the best places. She'd been scouting for years, and she knew the secret areas of this mountain like no one else. So many of their people had tried to get her to give up her secrets, but she never did.
Maybe now he could get her to show him those secrets.
Tindra turned to the mountain itself. Her claws dug into the stones so easily that it almost looked like she was floating as she climbed a sheer ledge that stretched all the way into the clouds. Up she went, farther and farther away from him.
"Shit," he muttered before shaking out his arms. They were still sore from wrestling with one of their better warriors of the warband. Why did she think he could climb like this? She was going to get him killed!
Tindra leaned back, dangling from one arm as she glanced down at where he still was. "Come on, leafling. Or are you scared of a little climb?"
