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“Fine, fine. I guess it’s a necessary evil.”

They continued down the tree-lined path until they reached a fork in the road.

Paige stared up at the wooden sign. Three posts, fashioned into arrows, were nailed to the stake.

“Acadia Palace,” Paige read from the sign pointing back the way they’d come. She glanced over her shoulder. “That must be Prince Whatever’s palace where the tree is.”

Dewey jabbed a finger toward the path on the right. “This way. Troll Bridge.”

“Right. What’s in the other direction?” Paige asked, leaning around the sign to read the third arrow. “Mount Dread? Ugh.” She winced and stepped onto the other path. “Sounds awful.”

“I’m not sure Troll Bridge is much better,” Dewey said with a wrinkled nose.

“It sounds way better than Mount Dread. That sounds really horrible.”

Dewey shot her a sideways glance as they trudged along. “We’ll look it up when we get back. I bet you it’s way better than the stupid Troll Bridge.”

“Oh, come on,” Paige said, letting the sword’s tip drag on the ground as she walked. “How bad can this be? We’ll walk up to it, give them a few gold coins, and be done.”

Paige’s footsteps ground to a halt, and she winced. “Wait, do you have gold coins?”

“No! Why would I have gold coins? Anyway, I doubt they’d help.”

“Why? Isn’t that what trolls want?”

“No, Paige,” Dewey said, his head lolling in annoyance. “Trolls do not just want gold. What is it with you and gold? Dragons hoard gold. Trolls want gold. Is that all you think supernatural creatures do?”

“No, of course not,” Paige said with a shrug. “Vampires don’t want gold. They want victims.”

Dewey rolled his eyes at her. “You’re really prejudiced, aren’t you?”

“I am not. Look, I’m sorry I don’t know what trolls want in life, okay? Until two weeks ago, I thought trolls were nasty people on the internet.”

“I guess,” Dewey said before he lifted his head, peering around at their surroundings. “Is it getting darker?”

“Yeah,” Paige replied, waving the heavy sword at the sky before letting it drop back to the ground. “Looks like they colored the sky a darker shade of blue. They must have had the sixty-four packs of crayons.”

“Switched from sky blue to straight blue?” Dewey inquired, staring up at the darker sky.

“Or denim,” Paige answered.

Dewey crinkled his brows and shot her a glance.

“What?” she said with a shrug. “Coloring is a stress reliever.”

“I didn’t say anything. I, too, am a colorer. I have the 120 pack of crayons, though. And colored pencils. Ronnie bought them for my birthday.”

“Wow, look at you with the fancy coloring utensils. I have a plastic tub with crayons in a baggie.”

“Oh, Paige,” Dewey groaned. “Grow up! Buy a pack of crayons.”

“Until recently, I didn’t have any money to buy crayons. Though I may invest in some after I get my first paycheck.”

“You could even splurge and get the metallic colors. They’re really nice.”

Paige narrowed her eyes as the sky switched shades again. “Metallic colors? Do you have them?”

“I do. Remind me to show you. They have a really nice hue. Especially the–“