The road to Yggdrasil was far less glamorous than it looked from the village.
For three days Kai walked.
Up winding mountain paths.
Across narrow ridges.
Through rocky trails that seemed determined to break his ankles.
The massive fortress-city visible from the village never appeared to get any closer.
At one point he was convinced the mountain itself was moving away from him.
On the fourth day, he hated mountains.
On the fifth day, he hated whoever decided to build a city on one.
On the sixth day, he finally reached the entrance.
Or what he thought was the entrance.
A massive cave carved into the mountainside stretched before him.
The tunnel disappeared deep into darkness.
Cold air drifted outward.
Kai stared at it.
"Well."
He adjusted his bag.
"This doesn't look suspicious at all."
Then he stepped inside.
---
The cave was enormous.
Natural stone walls towered above him.
Water dripped from somewhere in the darkness.
The deeper he ventured, the quieter everything became.
The silence reminded him of the Forest of Summoning.
That immediately put him on edge.
Kai continued walking.
One hand resting near the knuckleduster attached to his belt.
The tunnel gradually widened.
Then—
A voice echoed through the cave.
"Another one of you bitches?!"
Kai blinked.
"What?"
A figure exploded from the darkness.
A fist came with it.
Instinct screamed.
Kai jumped backward.
The punch barely missed his nose.
The impact shattered part of the cave wall behind him.
Stone fragments flew everywhere.
Kai stared.
The man staring back was tall.
Muscular.
Covered in dust.
A black tank top stretched across his broad frame.
Cargo pants.
Military boots.
Tattoos wrapped around both arms.
Most importantly—