Looking around, I could just hear the faintest sound of something moving through one of the many other tunnels that dumped into this room. We were in a kind of chamber intersection.

  I stood and planted my staff loudly.

  The troll jerked to a stop, looking first at my staff and then at me.

  I was counting on something like that. I had plunged my hand into my robe pocket and found a couple of rings right away. I slid one on, and luck was with me. It was another levitate SUS ring.

  As the troll recovered and crouched for a leap, I levitated it just above where its hands or legs would touch the ceiling or floor. But the chamber was not overly large. He occasionally grasped dirt, but it crumpled in his hand and was useless. After spinning for a minute, it let loose a different kind of trumpeting sound. I heard a reply from the other tunnel, and the scrambling sound got a lot closer.

  I searched through the rings and found two more levitate rings. I put one on and held the other.

  I started shooting the twirling troll with mage blasts, as many as I could get off before the creature appeared.

  Unfortunately, it was not enough.

  The new troll leapt at me and bumped the other troll to the side. I could not help that for now, but I did levitate the new one and felt a tug. It was big and heavy. I also knew I could not possibly pull the same trick on it. It was large enough that it would always touch the floor or ceiling. But at least I controlled its movement.

  Speaking of movement, the other troll made its way to the wall and, with a trumpet sound, began to regenerate.

  While it would get back to full health, at least it would take a bit, and it would be immobile.

  I pointed my elemental ring at the big troll and commanded an air elemental to spring out and spin the troll as fast as it could until it was banished.

  It did, and the troll spun fast.

  I summoned another elemental, earth this time, and commanded it to dig a hole twice as deep and a little wider than the troll could stretch out. I wanted it deep, smooth, and fast.

  The elemental jumped to it and used a kind of excavating spell that I saw conjurers use as they were working on defenses for the city.

  I then summoned a water elemental and told it to fill the hole up after I sent the troll spinning down into the hole with the air elemental.

  That was about when the other troll burst out of its granite eggshell, looking a little leaner and angrier than it had been before.

  I released another SUS ring called Forked Lightning. I shot one end at the smaller troll and the other into the water, hoping that the troll would get zapped indirectly if not directly.

  The spell taught me a couple of things. First, rock explodes when it is hit by lightning bolts and sends shrapnel everywhere. I was able to mostly shield the miner, but I got hit with a few of the sharp ends.

  Second, apparently, trolls don’t swim and are even more afraid of water than dwarves because the water got very still, and nothing moved from below.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  The smaller troll took two swipes at me, connecting both times. My armor was pretty good, but I could not trade blows with this guy. He hit like a pair of sledgehammers when he connected. Wham! Wham!

  I decided to try Staffcraft with him. I took a swing and connected with a solid hit. I also sent my wizard spell, Wizard Blast, at him and dumped twenty points into it.

  It was a bit excessive, given the powdery explosion that filled the room.

  The miner and I were both coughing troll dust for a few minutes.

  We both looked at the pit, expecting a troll to leap up and attack us instantly. But all the time we were coughing, nothing happened.

  A few minutes later, I got up, walked slowly over to the edge, much to the miner’s advice to the contrary, and peered into the water. It was hard to see even with my magical light, but it appeared that the troll had put itself into its regeneration mode at the bottom of the water and then just froze in that position.

  I was trying to decide whether to fireball the larger troll or just leave it behind when we heard dwarf voices along our original tunnel. The miner ran over to it and began calling to them while I carefully watched for ambushes from the many other tunnel openings in the chamber. I didn’t want him to be snatched again and do this whole thing over again.

  But fortune was with us. The room filled up with soldiers who had come in search of my deep dive, and after a quick explanation about what transpired by the miner, they set a guard on the water pit.

  The oldest guard present looked around and asked, “I wonder where the troll hoard would be located?”

  The chamber got very quiet as all eyes first turned to him, then me, then to the many other tunnels.

  A troll hoard could be sizable. Dangerous in the extreme as they are rarely unguarded, but a thought struck me, and I shared it with him.

  “The big troll came from that tunnel, to the right of where you entered, and I have a feeling that, given its size, it was the alpha and was probably in its hoard while the others went foraging.”

  He nodded. “That could be.” He looked at me sideways. “Are you interested in taking a second dive, this time for a different treasure?”

  I smiled. “While I am not overly fond of swimming, no self-respecting dwarf is,” I added, “I think that a little exploration, to stretch my legs as it were, would be good for me. I’m not as stout as my cousins and could use the exercise.”

  He laughed. “But a bit dafter and crazier than most.” He said. Then, thinking about what he had just said to the King’s brother, honored guest, and a mage, he added. “No offense to honor intended.”

  I laughed back. “It is hard to take offense to honor when a direct fact is shared,” I replied.

  He slapped my back good-naturedly, and I immediately thought of Bif,f and bruising flashed through my mind. And shoulder.

  We made our way through the desired troll tunnel and eventually emerged into a large and natural cavern, and while not full of treasure, there was a lot. There were coins of every time strewn across the floor and into a few piles, but not sorted by type. There were a lot of raw gems and also a number of cut gems here and there, although not as many as might have been expected given that the troll cavern was up against the largest emerald deposit in the history of the hold.

  Quite a few suits of armor and weapons could be seen. The pieces made of dwarven copper still shone while other metals and leathers had corroded and become rotten, respectively.

  I activated my Reveal All Magic and Enchantments spell found in my master’s former bracer. All of the dwarven copper items were mildly magical, and a few pieces were stronger. I began to direct the movement of items to a central pile. I found an alchemist’s case with a few potions and some magical components still intact. There were also some magical swords, battle axes, shields, and sets of armor that shone more brightly than the others. All were enchanted as expected: weapons for attack and armor for defense.

  There was one anomaly, however. I found a silver mask that glowed with illusionist magic. When I picked it up, I learned that it was the Mask of Many Faces and could be used to disguise its wearer to look like any humanoid that was known or could be imagined. The mask worked to change all six senses so that the creature looked right, sounded right, smelled right, etc. It was a fairly powerful item. It was not artifact-level, but still strongly enchanted.

  After we had worked out how the room would be organized, everyone set to cleaning and stacking, sorting and classifying to see what we discovered. The entire process would take several hours, and I knew I needed to get back up topside.

  I walked up to the sergeant. “So, how does all this get divided?”

  He looked at me keenly. “As leader, you get one share and first choice. As the first warrior, you also get an extra share for the claim of battle victory, along with the second choice of object behind the leader, before all is accounted for. So you will get two shares and first and second choices, each of the rest of the warriors and miners will get a share.”

  “It will take a while to sort through this and move it to the surface,” I observed.

  “That is true.” He admitted.

  “Do you think we should add others topside to help in the removal of the treasure?” I asked.

  He thought about it. “More dwarves mean more divisions, but it also means quicker recovery. As leader, you make that call.”

  I looked around the room at the amount of treasure and smiling faces.

  “We spread out the treasure to anyone topside who wishes to take the risk to return. The pit must be guarded, and a plan worked out to eliminate the resting troll. I entrust you with that task, Sergeant. I must return to the surface and see to the king’s business.”

  He nodded. “Very fair. Many dwarves have suffered to create this hoard. Dividing it up as you suggested shows wisdom, as does getting out of this festering cavern as soon as possible.” He laughed and slapped my shoulder again. I tried not to wince.

  “What are your choices?”

  “I will choose the mask and the alchemist kit.”

  “I could tell from the look on your face that the mask would be your choice, and since no others would care for the magical box, that will not be missed. Your choices are fair.” He stated loudly for those nearby to hear.

  He pointed to two guards, “You two will accompany me and the Patron to the surface. The rest of you continue your work. I shall be back with more hands, bags, and chests shortly.”

  He paused and added. “There may be more trolls. Work only in groups of three. Understood?”

  The soldiers replied as one, and before they went back to their sorting, I removed a half dozen of the levitate rings and distributed them among the groups. I also put another one on my own finger, just to be careful.

  I put the mask in my backpack and examined the alchemist box to make sure there was no issue with the enchantment and that it would secure itself soundly. Alexander told me they were safe to travel in the magical backpack as long as they were not damaged and remained closed.

  I used a levitate ring to help me ascend. The dwarven sergeant was not far behind me. He climbed quickly, and his endurance was significant.