This work is a tribute to the Dreamworks cartoon TrollHunters. Referenced works include, but are not limited to, the movie Labyrinth directed by Jim Henson, the book TrollHunters by Guillermo del Toro and Daniel Kraus, the book The Adventure Begins by Richard Ashley Hamilton, and the Witcher series by Andrzej Kapowski.
Tunafishprincess has been a phenomenal beta reader, and a huge motivator for this story getting published.
This story takes place in the same AU and timeline as the AU Labyrinth but can be read independently.
Claire Nuñez.
Her thoughts of the play were interrupted at the sound of her name in a voice she didn't recognize. It was a male's voice that boomed deeply in her mind.
She looked at the driver. Her father commented occasionally as her mother in the passenger seat reviewed her plans for work and their finances. Claire looked at her brother in his rear facing car seat. He babbled at the toys that dangled from the handle.
Claire Nuñez!
She watched her father by now. He definitely didn't open his mouth. None of the passengers gave any reaction to the voice. She looked out the window past the empty sidewalk into the canal. She couldn't have heard a voice that clearly through the car doors. It was like it was in her head, but at the same time it seemed to be coming from that direction.
•••
"The Peloponnesian War was actually three wars fought between Athens and Sparta." The professor prodded at the map projected on the board with the end of his fountain pen. "The first war is known as the Archimidian War. Type that into your search engines…"
He spelled out the name and a clatter of keys kept pace with his syllables. After the teacher walked down a row, Claire opened another tab on her laptop and typed in the word "ghost". She toggled pages before he walked within view of her screen. She kept thinking of the voice that called her name that morning. She didn't recognize it, and it didn't seem like anyone heard it besides herself. She hoped so often there was more to her life than just performing well in school and wished it were more than her imagination. After all, it may have been a daydream to begin with, right? She tried to shift her attention back to Herodotus's tactics Mr. Strickler narrated. A classmate was reprimanded for daydreaming. She needed to stay focused or she would be caught, too.
•••
"What would it take for a ghost to want to haunt their descendent?" Claire, dressed in her uniform of baggy t-shirt and shorts, shuffled through the books in her backpack that hung from it's hook in her locker.
Darci sent a last text before she stowed away her phone until after gym class. "Girl, I have no idea. What would be so important for a ghost to not want to go to the afterlife?" Their speculations were punctuated with the clamour of slamming lockers and groans in anticipation of gym.
Claire Nuñez!
Darci stared at her. "What was that?"
"You heard it too!" Claire wasn't sure if she was relieved.
"Is that a guy's voice in the girls locker room?" They waited. "I might be imagining, but I think it came from your locker."
"But I just shut it!"
"Maybe you shut a ghost in there," Darci jested.
Clair opened the locker and squealed. "THAT was not in there a second ago!" A metal disk that glowed blue seemed to be ticking at her.
"What is it?"
"A watch?" Clair picked it up and it seemed to deactivate, the glow ceased, the ticking silenced. "Did the battery just die?"
"Girl, we're going to be late," Darci reasoned.
"I'm sure it'll be here after class," Claire consented, and left it in her bag before she closed the locker again.
•••
"I'm at a loss, AAARRRGGHH!" A blue troll with a head as tall as his torso to fit his six eyes held out the various volumes with four arms and scanned through the pages rapidly. "I can find no other instances in a Brief Recapitulation of Troll Lore or Axle's Forbidden Almanac in which the amulet isn't immediately picked up by the next chosen warrior. However, there is no confirmation that it is necessary that said warrior must make immediate physical contact with the amulet in order to become attuned to it." Simultaneously four books thumped shut to announce the initiation of a brainstorming session. "Claire Nuñez."
"Not in Trollmarket," a gray stone creature the size of a van supplied.
"Indeed. And if my knowledge on human languages doesn't betray my, the ñ belongs to the Spanish language."
"Human?"
"Indeed." His tone communicated wariness and uncertainty. "I wish I were aware of how common that surname is. It seems oddly familiar to me and I can't surmise how that could be the case."
"Surface?"
"It would be the most sensible place to go at this point. Well, after dusk of course."
•••
Students took turns climbing the ropes in gym class. The rope at the end of the row didn't get a lot of traffic. One boy cheered on another, who strained at the task of climbing to the top to ring the bell. He struggled with getting two feet up it at all. Since the three girls had completed the fitness test the previous day, they were permitted to sit at the bleachers and socialize or work on assignments, so Claire brought her homework to get a head start, and the stack of flyers if the opportunity presented itself, which it did.
"Hey, Steve, do you like Shakespeare?" The blond was surprised by the question. "The school play. We're having trouble getting boys to audition." She tactfully managed a flyer into his hands, a skill she learned from when she helped her mother campaign. Before he could argue she pursued her friends and took a seat. He looked over his shoulder at her and let the paper fall to the floor.
Sharon pulled up a video on her phone to show Claire and Darci of her dog Arthur. The trio giggled together over the canine's shenanigans.
"Buenas noches." They looked up to find a classmate posing before them. Shannon put her hands together and smiled since she perceived the boy's intentions. Claire vaguely remembered him from one of her mother's fundraisers at the hospital. Besides that he danced with his mother then, she didn't know very much about him, least of all that he thought he knew Spanish.
"You speak Spanish?" Poorly, but his attempt was as endearing as dancing with his mother.
He stuttered. Apparently he wasn't convinced himself. Shannon coughed pointedly.
Darci had no patience for peacocking. "Come on, Claire."
They rose to depart, and he continued to look agitated, trying to come up with the right Spanish words, she assumed. She let Darci pass her and turned back to her classmate. "Do you like Shakespeare?"
"What?"
"Do you like Shakespeare? The school play. We're having trouble getting boys to audition." She pulled out a flier from her books and handed it to him. Since she perceived his anxiousness she didn't force the social pressure on him to make him say goodbye. Instead she caught up to the girls, brushing back a lock of hair behind her ear.
•••
In the locker rooms once more Claire and Darci spoke in hushed tones. "It's still here," Claire informed her friend.
"It's an inanimate object, it's not like it's going to walk away."
"Then explain how it got here in the first place, because I've never seen it before today, and I did not bring it."
"Someone's playing a prank on you."
"No one knows my locker combination except you, and you never remember it." She picked it up and held it to her ear. Silence. She held it out to examine. "You know my name. What's yours?" Silence.
Darci rolled her eyes. "See what batteries it takes first."
Claire turned it around and examined the details on it. "No way to put batteries in it. And most jewelry made with precious metal will have a number on it. This one doesn't. Maybe it was handmade?"
"Or it's cheaply made. Plated copper or something."
"It's not, you can tell. Maybe it's a tool of some sort. I'll look it up later."
•••
After she changed her baby brother's diaper, Claire attacked him with tickles. Enrique was just old enough now to make cute belly laughs that put her into a laughing fit just to hear. "Hey, chicharron, look what I found today!" She leaned over to her bag she previously deposited on the couch and withdrew the odd device from a side pocket. "It's an astrolabe! You use it to measure stars. Are you going to be a star explorer when you grow up?"
Enrique flapped his arms up and down and kicked both legs in unison repeatedly, excited by the gadget. "Yes you are! You're a little astronaut in the making! Maybe I'll teach you how to use it, someday, when I figure it out."
A clattering beneath them made her freeze. She put the gizmo on the coffee table and scooped up her brother to strap in his bouncer. "Why don't you practice your space walk, and hermana is going to see if we need an exterminator." He gurgled in response. Instinctively he kicked off the floor and bounced softly in his swing.
She took the broom that was left in the kitchen and descended to the basement. She pat her pocket to remind herself of her phone in case the source of the commotion wasn't an animal. She switched a light on and glanced around. The cans continued to roll slowly on the floor, but there was no other movement. When she made it down the stairs the light bulb shattered, which triggered a scream. She reprimanded herself. "Fortune favors the bold, Claire." She continued to hold out the broom as a combat staff and turned slowly to search for trace of vermin. Behind her a large shadow moved. Multiple eyes reflected the little bit of light in the room.
"Master Claire-"
She turned around and screamed. She swat downward at the intruder, which broke off the head of the makeshift weapon. She improvised and jabbed with the splintered wood.
"Oof! Why, I-"
A wall of stone manifested in front of her and obstructed her target. She turned and saw what she thought was a large boulder with a face. She screamed and used the broomstick to stab the face. Her intentions included repeating the motion to overwhelm the invader, but to her dismay she couldn't withdraw the creature's new toothpick from between it's jaws. She tried valiantly, and stopped after exerting a fair amount of effort.
"Just don't touch my brother, please!" If she couldn't protect her home from intruders, perhaps negotiating was all she had left. As long as her brother was safe.
The first creature cleared his throat. "If I may, Master Claire, you are the one who has been chosen." Two sets of arms belonging to the creature waved about in a grandiose manner. She stared at the terrifying creature behind her. Was she going to have to negotiate with human traffickers? She thought her strength returned and yanked again on the broomstick. "Uh, AAARRRGGHH! my good fellow, would you mind? This is a moment of some solemnity."
In his attempt to respond the good fellow released the toothpick, which caused Claire to fall back into the more eloquent speaker.
"Solembily?"
She bolted for the stairs, intending to snatch up Enrique and escape. Instead she ran into another wall of stone, which closed in around her. She determined that she imagined she was trapped in a fist as it's wielder absentmindedly deposited her back between the two creatures. He struggled with the pronunciation of the word "dignified". She tried to console herself in her deduction that these things weren't human, and that their desires were probably not the same as human male intruders might be, just like their demeanor clearly wasn't the same.
"Now where was I," the blue one continued. "Ah, yes! The amulet of Merlin challenges you to ascend to the most sacred of offices!"
"Orifices? What orifices?" The large one stumbled again with the elaborate speech. Claire's mind was now on trying to determine which of her classmates were this dedicated to cosplaying. Eli could not execute a costume this elaborate.
"Offices. It means responsibility." The one with many eyes looked back to Claire, whose shoulders sagged with the overwhelming task of deciphering what was going on all around her. "Unbeknownst to your kind, there is a secret world. A vast civilization of trolls lurking beneath your feet, hidden from view."
"Trolls," she repeated. She was not amused by this stunt.
"Yes, trolls. And it is now your charge to protect them. For you, Master Claire… are the Trollhunter."
"Trollhunter," the large one echoed.
"The honor is yours to accept. So, what say you?"
She calculated his face. Those were not machinations that triggered the blinking of his several eyes. She looked back to the green fringed monster. She approached, and rapped her knuckles on his exposed chest. It really was solid stone. She stroked the green fur of his mane. It was real moss. "Trolls," she repeated.
"Indeed." The blue one's many eyes examined her, and his four palms rubbed together expectantly.
She allowed herself to seriously consider the circumstances she found herself from the perspective of a believer. A troll protector? It certainly was better than her earlier fears. It also slowly occurred to her that it had a better ring to it than high school student. She thought back to the fairy tales her family read to her baby brother, to the books she herself grew up with. She was actually a "chosen one"? If she declined, could she hold out until elves showed up instead? No no, the stories never happened that way. And here was proof standing on either sides of her that trolls were indeed a thing. Proof that could probably eat her if she answered incorrectly.
"I don't know that my mom is going to let me."
Her words struck all six of the blue trolls eyes with shock. He cleared his throat. "Perhaps I hadn't implied the proper emphasis. This is a mantle of great secrecy from your kind."
She made a mental note that this was of course going to be like the stories where the main character was the only one honored with the knowledge of the secret world. Where the main character had a life of adventure. And honor. And more exciting things outside of school than a Shakespearean play. She raised her chin proudly. "I accept."
"She said yes!" The eloquent speaker clapped his four hands together with pleasure. "Oh but where are my manners! I am known as Blinky, and this is my good friend, AAARRRGGHH!"
"Three Rs."
"Pardon our late introduction. When the amulet had chosen you, the only indicator for your identity that we had was your name as the amulet called it out. Not witnessing you physically accept the amulet, we deduced that it was probable that it found other means by which to locate you which we ourselves could not utilize. Recalling from the times I had wandered the surface myself, I was reminded of posters promoting the Councilwoman with the surname of Nuñez and speculated that perhaps it was her relative that possessed the first name Claire, and in addressing yourself moments ago it was confirmed that it was indeed an accurate lead we pursued." He beamed proudly at the explanation of his logic.
"Wait, so the astrolabe is a magic amulet? And it talks?"
"Only as is necessary, for instance declaring the next Trollhunter."
"Trollhunter? That sounds like the opposite of what you said earlier. And don't trolls eat people?"
"Both questions are indeed related. It is specifically Gumm Gumms which eat people, and which are the trolls which you would need to protect our kind from."
"Why would your kind depend on a human to protect you from other trolls?"
"About that…."
"You're the first," AAARRRGGHH! answered.
"Indeed. There are no other instances in which a human has been chosen for the honorable mantle."
"Then why would it choose me?"
For once the scholar wasn't ready with a reply. "I don't rightly know. But no matter! We will begin your training immediately!"
"No can do, Blinky. This human has been charged with getting a head start on homework while the parents are away, and they won't be away for much longer. If I'm to protect your secret, I need to get you out of here."
"Ah, such wisdom cannot be ignored indeed. Come, AAARRRGGHH!" Claire watched the grey stoned troll pursue his smaller comrade. He struggled at the doorway. She cringed at the sound of stone on wood, and then at the sound of appliances falling from their places on the countertop in the kitchen. Blinky continued to blabber to his companion about his knowledge on human domiciles like a tourist.
She followed, but paused to check back that her brother was still in his swing. Again she winced at the sound of pressure against the door frame to the back yard.
•••
The silvery secret in her purse and memories of the interaction from the night before distracted her from the unraveling of the Archimidian War.
"So," Darci whispered as Strickler paced along the side of the class, "did that clock say your name again?"
"Mr. Lake, I don't believe that's proper school attire, do you?" Her attention was involuntarily caught by the teacher's voice. She watched their classmate nervously shake out his hair after he removed his blue baseball cap. She wondered if he had anxiety. She thought back to prep school, when she would hide behind her hair wishing to disappear. Hats and hoodies weren't allowed there either. She trained herself against the habit by clipping it back, but what did her classmate have to help him with his anxiety? Hopefully, if he decided to try out for the play, it would help him the way reading and acting had helped her. A nudge on her arm helped her turn away.
"Are you crushing on him?"
"What? No. Just trying to remember things that help with anxiety."
"You're weird. Anyway, the clock?"
"It's an astrolabe. Just an outdated tool to measure stars before they developed the sextant."
"Uh huh. A star compass that knows your name." They hushed their voices as the teacher strolled near.
•••
Darci prodded further in the locker rooms. "C'mon, Claire. You've been zoning out all day. What's going on? You didn't even remember to turn in your worksheet."
"Nothing, I'm- I what?!"
"I was waiting for you to notice, but your head is in the stars."
Claire slapped herself on the forehead. "Auditions haven't even started and already I'm bombing my grades!"
"Chill out! It's one assignment, I'm sure you can turn it in to Mr. Strickler after school. No one's taking your place as Juliet." Darci placed a reassuring hand on Claire's shoulder.
She sighed. Darci had helped her through finding comfort in her own skin. She was there for her when she first cut and dyed her hair, and supported her through her mom's reaction. She trusted Darci. "Alright, I'll tell you, but let's wait a bit." They pretended to continue to prepare for PE and waited for the locker room to empty out. After Shannon left with the expectation she'd be followed out, Darci turned to her friend.
Claire took a deep breathe. Then another."Okay. You know how in fantasy books, there's a chosen one who doesn't fit the criteria to be the guardian of a mythological race?"
"You're more of a book worm than me, but yeah, I know some movies like that. There's the Spanish one with the princess and the faun. And in the one where the secret world was in the closet, there were actually four chosen ones, and then everyone knows about the one with the wizards. What about it?"
"I'm one."
"Okay, what species?"
"Troll."
"You couldn't come up with something cooler?"
"What? I'm not making this up!"
Darci folded her arms. "I never said that."
"What, you think I dreamed it?"
"And that you want to treat the dream as a prophecy? Yeah."
Claire shook her head. "That's fine, I guess. They told me to keep it secret anyway." She headed out to the gym.
"You can still tell me, maybe it'll come true, we don't know." She followed after her, careful to be gentler with her tone.
"I'm telling you. I didn't dream it. And it's a secret, we can't talk about it around anyone. I'm trusting you."
•••
Darci reminded Claire about turning in the assignment via text immediately after school. While she headed for Mr. Strickler's office, simultaneously she flipped through her binder for the paper. She knocked politely on the door. "Mr. Strickler?"
"One moment," she heard him call. He opened the door and behind him she saw her anxious classmate in the dark blue jacket.
"I'm sorry, is this a bad time?" She recalled that he was called out in class for violating dress code.
"Not at all." Their teacher turned back to address the boy. "Don't forget to have your mother call me so that we can meet up to discuss your bright future."
The boy nodded and smiled in greeting as he walked past Claire. She gave him as reassuring a smile as she could muster, hoping to ease his nervousness.
"Come in," Mr. Strickler offered. "Did you need something?"
"I'm sorry that I got distracted in class, I wasn't paying attention when we were supposed to turn in our assignments. Can I turn it in to you right now?"
"Of course! I appreciate your honesty, I won't be deducting for turning it in late."
"Thank you, Mr. Strickler." She gladly handed him the sheet and he tilted his head slightly.
"Is everything okay, Ms. Nuñez? I know it can be hard when your parent holds a seat in office. The pressure that comes from meeting expectations."
"I'm okay, thank you for asking. I just didn't sleep well last night."
He smiled warmly. "Well I hope you get enough rest. Auditions are this Friday, aren't they?"
"Yes, sir." She sorted her binder into her back pack. "Um, you know what an astrolabe is, right?"
"I do, though I'd say it's been quite a while since I used one, I'm a bit rusty. How come?"
She considered showing the amulet to him to see if he could show her how to operate it, but thought better about it. "Oh. I was just curious. Have a good day!"
When she turned, a blue circle glowed from the polyester pocket. His eyes grew large as his neurons fired, connecting the dots between the reference to the outdated tool and the ever evasive glow of blue magic.
•••
Again unsure if she felt dismay or relief, Claire acknowledged that Mary had caught up to them before she had the opportunity to reveal to Darci about her new responsibility. Darci bulged out her eyes, nodded her head, and shrugged in the direction of their mutual friend, clearly eager to hear about Claire's "dream" but respecting that it was a topic they likely couldn't discuss right then. Claire couldn't pay attention to Mary's newest gossip and eyed the phone that Darci took from her pocket to type a text.
"What are you hiding." Mary glared between them accusingly.
"What? We aren't hiding-"
Mary pointed a finger at Darci. "You were going to text her behind my back. I smell a story, you can't hide it from me. It smells of secrecy."
Claire's jaw dropped. She had witnessed her friend's extrasensory perception when it came to good gossip and never understood how it always seemed to work. Darci looked to Claire for permission.
"Fine. But you can't tell anyone. And I don't care if you don't believe me, but I'm not crazy." Mary waited expectantly. "I'm a chosen one, like in the movies." For a second Mary frowned, and then nodded in understanding. "She thinks I dreamed it up, but yesterday there were two trolls that broke into my house to tell me I'm what they call a Trollhunter." She waited for Mary's response.
"I'm sorry, but this story lacks a certain element. Isn't there like a magical artifact or family heirloom? A significant birthday? Maybe a tragic backstory or huge event? I know it's not the last one, your life is pretty boring, seeing as you have a nuclear family and are a popular girl."
In response Claire swung her backpack in front of herself and unzipped the outermost pocket, and held it open for her to examine.
"No way! You're a frickin' chosen one!"
"Sh!" Claire glared around for eavesdroppers as she stowed away the evidence. Her family's car pulled up then. "Not a word! You know these things are secret!"
•••
Mr. Strickler locked the door to his office. The blinds were already shut from before. He took a book off the shelf against the wall behind his chair and meticulously set it on the desk. He took the lid off his pen and inserted the warped metal prong into a keyhole installed in the wall. The bookshelf rattled and withdrew into the ceiling and floor. A secret chamber was revealed. On a table at the far side was a rotary phone, which he went to. He picked up the receiver and was immediately connected. Half heartedly he passed through verbal security protocol before diving into his objective.
"I'll be taking on a stray. I need a one bedroom, one bath, full kitchen, accessible through the main line. I'll need a key fitted for a teenage boy. Something school related, or maybe whatever movie the kids are into these days. Gun Robot? Sounds appropriate enough." He hung up the phone and exhaled through his nose as he pondered. One student a changeling. The other, the Trollhunter. And in the same class, no less. Fate would have been kinder if they didn't know each other, but fate seemed to be playing games with him. The available options for addressing either of them did not exclude death, but even as an assassin it would be detrimental to their plan for any secrets to get out, which meant it was vital to prevent any chance of poking and prodding, especially by the media. Assassination would be a last resort. He closed his eyes as the thought crossed his mind. How would the other members react? He braced himself for the slander that would come, but considered it was worth the risks. He continued to silently scheme even as he shut his skeletons behind the bookshelf again and let the light back in through the blinds.
•••
Once she was home, Claire set up her homework in the living room while her parents prepared to leave once more. "Your papa is taking me to pick up some papers. We'll get some dinner on the way home. Does burgers sound good?"
"Yeah, that's fine. Can I get root beer?"
"Hija, we already have soda at home."
"It's fine then. See you soon." She waited for the car to disappear from view. She smiled at her brother, and then nearly ran to the basement. To her disappointment there were no intruders today. They never mentioned if they would come back or when. She retrieved the amulet and went out back, staring out in the direction they went the night before. There was movement in the trees, but only as a result of the wind picking up. The gadget in her hand clicked. She examined it curiously. The arms rotated, and the illuminated symbols along the outer ring changed. They switched to Chinese characters, then to Roman symbols, then English, the arms spun each time. "For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command," she read aloud as she turned it between her fingers. The wind picked up wildly. A blue will o the wisp manifested from the center of the device and drifted slowly to her core. She compelled herself to not flee from it, and permitted it to permeate her chest.
Displacing nothing, the orb of light filled her with something empowering. She began to float, arms spread like she was buoyed in water, it's surface intangible. The light then manifested from several points across her body, and metallic plates materialized before they clinked together and encased her. She descended back to earth.
She was practically swimming in a metallic casket. "Well. That was anticlimactic," her voice echoed in the metal hollow. Insulted, the armor reduced itself. Each individual piece gently hugged her limbs and torso. She examined the asymmetrical suit, and compared her new shiny gloves and shoulder plates. "I take that back. This is so cool." She tested it's flexibility, shifted her position in it, twisted around and flexed her fingers. She stared in awe at its gentle radiance. The amulet itself was embedded into her chest, favoring her left side where her heart was. More will o the wisp escaped the confines of the gears, danced around her right arm, and met together in her palm. They elongated and more metal manifested in her hand. The increased weight caused her to bring both hands together. A sword came into existence, though it weighed more than she did. However, just as the armor had, it reduced its size to be proportionate to her. She gave it a swing. It felt too perfect. She swung again, and made up what she imagined to be elegant moves, and added an occasional spin to test its momentum. Her senses were heightened. She could taste the scent of the forest and the crisp night, electrified by the residual magic of the blade with which she sliced the air.
She breathed heavily with excitement and exertion, and held the weapon out in both hands to examine. Her face was bright in the softly illuminated blade, surrounded by the stars reflected from above. She certainly didn't feel underqualified to protect a species of friendly trolls when she had this much power tangible in her hands.
She had to show someone. "Enrique! Check this out! It's better than a space suit!" She ran back inside.
•••
The rumble of passing cars overhead droned underneath the bridge. The air cooled with the sun now below the horizon. Once he'd shuffled down the slope in his polished leather shoes, the AP history teacher strolled to the mound of k-spar in the middle of the canal. A shadow shifted behind him. He addressed it. "You failed. You let it go. Your father will be displeased." He directed his statement at the looming form that huffed at the back of his neck.
Bular snarled angrily. "Whoever holds the Amulet of Merlin, I shall destroy him, just as I've done with every single one of them."
The teacher's eyes glowed at the gratification of having more success than the monster. "Worry not, you brute. I know where to find it. I believe the amulet has found its champion."
•••
She couldn't sleep. The chevron sleep spread was a dizzying array of zig zags from her tossing and turning. She stared at the item that lay beside her pillow and spun the gears. It's slow blue pulse illuminated her face. How was she going to be able to focus on class when there was this? She gave sleep a genuine effort, but rest wouldn't find her. Around midnight, when the house was still, she snuck out her bedroom window and climbed down the post of the porch. She went back to the woods.
Surrounded by trees, she daydreamed momentarily of the forests of England in the lore surrounding King Arthur. She took a deep breath and recited the incantation. Glowing metal plates encased her body and she giggled with glee.
"It comes quite naturally to you," a disembodied voice commented. She drew the sword in the direction of the voice.
"Um, I'm not one of the trolls you should be hunting." Six eyes blinked in the dark.
"Oh, Blinky! I'm sorry." She swung the blade back where it fastened itself magnetically to her armor.
"I was hoping to see you again, though I'm grateful it wasn't in my basement. Is AAARRRGGHH!-"
"Right here." The large shadow behind her moved. "Good at hiding."
"Admiringly," she agreed.
Blinky clapped his hands together. "We should get going, while the night is still young!" She couldn't see his eyes dart around cautiously in the darkness.
Claire felt empowered being escorted by these two large creatures, donned in magical armor. Blinky explained the general importance of bridges to trolls, and every new fact prompted more questions. How many trolls were there? Did they all look different the way that Blinky and AAARRRGGHH! looked different? Were they actually made of stone or was that their hide? What did they eat? Blinky was proud to have a careful answer for everything. Claire was overjoyed to hear that they had their own language and alphabet. "I want to learn how to speak Trollish! And read and write-"
"There will be plenty opportunity to learn, even within my own personal library-"
"You have your own library?!"
"Why yes, I'm proud of the volumes I've preserved, written by my own brother, among several other popular reads. For your studies, it will be a must to read A Brief Recapitulation of Troll Lore, volumes one through 47."
"I get to study troll lore! Do you guys write fiction, too? Or is it all nonfiction? Well, nonfiction to you, I guess."
"She's a flower," AAARRRGGHH! observed.
They approached the edge of the dry canal. Claire longed to cling on to the majesty of the forest rather than take a step closer toward her school.
"Down this way," Blinky instructed. Both trolls curled into balls and rolled down the slope. When she'd joined them at the bottom, Blinky reached into a pouch hanging from his belt, and took out what appeared to be a dagger with a bulky glowing orange crystal. "This is a horngazel-"
"Horngazel," she repeated.
"- which acts as a key. The enchantment keeps Gumm Gumms from intruding. Draw a semicircle large enough for AAARRRGGHH! that touches the bottom on both sides-" As the words left his mouth the task was complete, and eagerly she pressed at the center. She expected the key to laser through stone. To her surprise a portal bursted forth and shattered the cement wall into a mosaic, each piece suspended in the pool of swirling light.
"Woah."
Blinky gestured to the opening. "Proceed, it's quite harmless." She closed her eyes the way she would if she were dipping into a hot tub and stepped through.
On the other side she stood at the ledge of a dark, deep cavern. She was joined by her bodyguards. The pit was suddenly illuminated by crystals the size of school buses, which glowed blue like the waters of Hawaii, and projected from the sides in a descending spiral. "Woah, a crystal staircase! This is more than I ever would have-" she leapt and bounded down several steps.
"Some caution is required! Human footsteps have never graced the steps of Trollmarket before."
She had paused for the knowledgeable tour guide to catch up when she was enchanted with the view of the bustling city and its primary light source, a massive growth of crystals glowing with life like a shard of the sun. "It's- it's beautiful."
"Welcome to Heartstone Trollmarket. It is home and hearth and sanctuary for all good trolls."
"Home," AAARRRGGHH! beamed.
"I want to live down here. Can I live here?" Blinky laughed aloud at her enthusiasm. And then she ran off again. "A moment, Master Claire!" Her pace slowed only when she found herself immersed in the local culture. She turned in slow circles to memorize the twisted characters in neon above the storefronts. Carts displayed sorted salvage. TVs broadcasted static for the trolls pleasure. Smells were not favorable to the human senses, but they were exotic and earthy and sharp. She ignored the confused grumbling of the word "human" spoken by each of the locals that beheld her.
She repeated her exclamation of wonder. "Wow."
Blinky resumed his role as tour guide. "Trolls travel from afar to find comfort and remedies. You'll find most anything you need and sometimes you'll find what you never knew you needed."
She stared up at the signs when a chatter caused her to look down. A living garden gnome was at her feet, regarding her inquisitively. "Awe, gnomes are real, too? And they don't look creepy like-" It bared its teeth at her in a hiss. "Ah! I take that back, they're worse!"
"Get away! Get out of here! Be gone!" Blinky boldly stomped at the scurrying creatures like one chased away rodents. "Gnomes are pick pockets. Vermin. Scum of the earth! We only tolerate them for their grooming services."
"Grooming?"
"They eat the parasites of the larger trolls." In demonstration, he waved to his comrade, who momentarily permitted a gnome to sift through his mossy mane before it tickled his ear. His response was to flick it away as one would swat a fly.
"What about the giant rock over there?"
"Heartstone," AAARRRGGHH! explained.
Blinky supplemented. "The life force of trollkind. The means that keeps us from crumbling to stone and the source of life and sustenance."
"Okay, that's totally the bomb."
The murmuring around the group grew beyond what they could ignore, hissing and spitting the word "human" and "fleshbag".
"Friends, there is no reason to be afraid-"
"What is this?" A large blue form with shards of quarts protruding from his back muscled his way through the gathering crowd, carrying himself as a form of authority. His next words were growled, rumbling like an earthquake leading up to a volcanic eruption. "How is it possible that a human is wearing the mantle of my father?!"
Claire deflated. She turned to face Blinky. "This is his dad's armor?!"
"Was…" Blinky mouthed the word warily. What a difficult position to be in when breaking the news to one that their father was felled, and to a city that their new guardian was from another race. He cleared his throat to begin. "This fleshbag is… well… our new Trollhunter."
The descendent roared in disbelief. The crowd churned anxiously at the announcement. "Bushigal! She can't be the Trollhunter! She's not a troll!" Claire whispered to herself the insult, adding it to her mental dictionary. She stepped forward and bowed slightly at the hips in a gesture she hoped would be respectful.
"I'm sure that your father is an honorable warrior, and I will do everything within my power to live up to his legacy." Blinky coughed softly the word "was" for her education.
The descendent beat at his puffed chest. "I am Draal, son of Kanjigar, the rightful heir! When my father fell, the amulet should have passed to me!"
"Amulet chose." AAARRRGGHH! stepped in protectively. He positioned himself so that each of his large arms were a brace on either side of the rookie warrior.
"We'll see what Vendel has to say about this," he threatened.
"Feel free to fetch him! In the meanwhile, lots of Trollhunter business to be done." Blinky ushered his companions along. Claire was careful to remain close to the two trolls after that incident. She was distracted again by the various stores, the pub and its attendants, and what she determined to be the equivalent to a tattoo parlor. A tall hallway was carved through the wall, it's dull colored stone polished to a shine. She admired her reflection as she walked. Her appearance seemed more powerful than she could have ever imagined herself, and the armor dissolved. Instinctively she caught the medallion.
"What just happened?"
"The amulet responded to your unconscious demand, Master Claire. You are at ease, are you not?"
"I am," she smiled. She'd never enjoyed being in her own skin so much.
"It senses that. You are beginning to master it."
The hallway opened up into a massive cavern, the footpath a narrow strait that dropped off into oblivion on either side. It led up to a plateau, and bordering its walls were pedestals with statues. "Woah! What is this?"
"This is The Hero's Forge!" The title boomed and echoed throughout the cavern ominously.
"And what are these?" She ran ahead again and pointed to the statues.
"Your predecessors, Master Claire. A line of heroism that reaches back to the age of Merlin."
"The wizard Merlin, right? He made the amulet?"
"Indeed!" Blinky's eyes were bright with the reference to the magic caster. Claire looked up to the lifeless statues.
"So my most recent predecessor, Kanjigar, was felled?"
Blinky rested a hand on her shoulder and another on her upper back. "Yes. Over there will be the final repose of Kanjigar the Courageous." Her eyes followed the direction he pointed out. "One day there will be a statue of you here. One day very far off, of course."
"I should have been more considerate to Draal. I didn't quite understand at the time."
Blinky turned her to face him. "Compassion, as well as cunning, are attributed most commonly to females and as valuable characteristics for noble warriors. You will make a fine Trollhunter."
"Thanks, Blinky." She'd only known them a day and they were so supportive of her.
"But not without training, of course. I sense ill times are upon us. And so, without further ado!" Blinky went to the far wall and poised a hand over a spherical shape that projected out. "Step back, please," he waved with a hand. Claire and AAARRRGGHH! obeyed. He waved with three hands. "A little further back." They obeyed. "Oh very well." He hammered in the button and the forge came alive with the sounds of grinding and the flashes of reflective metal blades. Weapons the size of buildings reached for Claire who ducked and rolled, screaming all the while. She pressed up against a wall.
"Excellent reflexes, Master Claire!"
"Thanks, it comes with the innate desire to live. Can we start with a tutorial or something less deadly?"
"BLINKOUS GALADRIGAL." Blinky jumped at the use of his full name and hammered at the button again. The blades withdrew slower than they'd appeared, drawing back to reveal a large troll of cream color like natural agate, with the widest set of horns Claire had seen since descending into Trollmarket. "Blinkous Galadrigal!"
"Is that your real name?"
Blinky rubbed his hands together. "Horrible, I know."
"I wish to meet the fleshbag supposedly chosen by the amulet. I am Vendel, son of Rundle, son of Kilfred."
She approached him with large doll eyes, hands held together delicately, her entire stance that of a fan before an idol. "I am so humbled that you've accepted me, the first human in Trollmarket. I am Clair Nuñez, daughter of Councilwoman Nuñez." She bowed slightly at the hips in courteous greeting.
"... And Trollmarket is honored to have you as well. Oh, Blinkous! The amulet has chosen such a delightful fleshbag." She beamed at her success at winning his favor. "Don't lose this one the way you lost Unkar. It would be such a shame!" Her radiance faded, and she looked back at the familiar trolls.
"... what does he mean?"
"Blinky trained Trollhunter before. Unkar the Unfortunate," AAARRRGGHH! explained.
"Why was he unfortunate?"
"First night out, torn."
"As in conflicted?"
"No. Torn limb from limb." AAARRRGGHH! demonstrated with a twist of his hands.
"As endearing as this fleshbag is, Draal is right in his scepticism. If the amulet chose true, the Soothescryer will confirm it." The old troll meandered to the very center of the arena.
Blinky's voice rang with concern. "Please! Claire hasn't even had an hour's training!"
"Mh. Hm!" The sage troll pointed very deliberately to the place in front of himself. He reminded her briefly of the way her mother summoned her for a lecture. She obeyed, intending to remain in his good graces as life insurance. The amulet became excited as the crevices of the floor illuminated. She was surprised to discover that the floor in itself was a device, which opened up to reveal a contraption that elevated until it towered over her. It resembled a totem pole with its blocky face.
"Insert your hand," Vendel instructed.
"I'm going to keep it, right?"
"That's part of the test," the troll smirked. She wondered if trolls believed in sarcasm.
She looked up at the oddity. She grabbed on to the ledge and struggled to get her feet high enough and settled with using her knees to press up from the stone surface and kneel on the ledge. In front of her face were swirling gears and gadgets that grated the air. Reluctantly she held her arm out, further and further, until it was snared in the mouth of the machine.
She screamed. The majority of her body fell off the ledge, and she dangled by her arm and flailed before it released her. She crumpled to the floor.
The cream colored troll leaned toward the device and hummed. "Inconclusive."
"All that, and it's inconclusive? That is the worst test I've ever had to take."
He shrugged. "There's never been a human Trollhunter. It needs time to render it's judgement. Let's hope you live long enough to see it."