Page 40 of Alien Viking's Passion

The first drop was only half his height, and from then on, the tunnel continued downwards. It was partly firm rock and partly a dry, clay-like dirt. He thought the tunnel was going towards the center of the island, and at any moment he expected it to start climbing up to another hole.

But it kept going downwards until he was sure they were no longer under the island, but under the lake.

The air was cool and had no smell. A couple of times he spotted Sonic in front of them, sitting still as if waiting for them to catchup.

Craxon glanced behind him every third pace, just to see that Aretha was still there. She looked determined and excited, clutching her sword and her little basket of fruits.

“Do you feel lucky yet?” she asked with a little smile.

“Since this morning,” he said sincerely. “When I woke up next to you.”

Their footsteps echoed through the tunnel.

“His skin of frost, a prince of ice,”Aretha’s voice came quietly from behind him,

“Heart locked away, no love’s soft dice

Had ever rolled to melt his core.

Until the troll made his head sore.”

“That settles it,” he grunted. “You’re not my new skald after all. You’re far too ruthless.”

“The alien, her life saved twice,”she went on unperturbed,

Thought, that’s aman. I’ll be his prize.”

His step faltered for a moment. “That’sthe kind of kvad I like.”

The tunnel widened out on both sides, becoming all bedrock. But there was only a narrow part where they could walk upright. While Sonic could scurry straight ahead between the floor and ceiling, Craxon had to carefully make his winding way through only the tallest parts.

“Feels like we’re on the way to the center of Gardr,” he fretted as the tunnel kept going steadily down. “If the way is suddenlyblocked, we’ll spend half a day just getting back up where we came from.”

“Sonic wouldn’t lead us down here for no reason,” Aretha said with confidence. “He knows what he’s doing.”

The tunnel kept widening, and finally it leveled out.

Aretha grabbed hold of his hip. “Stop. Listen.”

He held is breath and listened intently. “A faint hammering,” he whispered. “Far away, steel against rock…”

The light from the torch played along the walls, and his gaze followed it.

“Forged by fire, wielded by frost

When Krakhogg awakes, the enemy has lost!”

He drew the sword, the hilt cold in his hand but making him feel safer. “Men of the mountains! We mean only to pass through.”

The dfergir stood motionless, shiny axes and mattocks glinting dully in the torchlight. There had to be almost a dozen of them. Their deeply set eyes glinted beneath iron helmets.

Craxon fumbled behind him and found Aretha’s hand. He dragged her to the side that was away from the dfergir. Slowly walking on, he kept his eyes on the short, wide creatures, not fully human but also not animals or worse. He had never seen any before, but he knew immediately what they were. The sight of them chilled him to the bone. If they decided to attack him, he would be hard pressed to both defend Aretha and defeat the enemy.

He moved slowly and deliberately past them, holding the torch up. The critical moment would come when he passed the lastone-

The last dfergir took a slow, determined step to the side, blocking the way.

Craxon stopped. Holy Zhor, this could turn out disastrous. “Honored chief, I mean no harm to you or your kin. I simply mean to pass through these halls, with this woman.”

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