hecc i forgot to do an A/N last time, whoops. anyways sorry for rewriting this but once again I will say I want this work to be worthy of its popularity. I don't really wanna be "known" for something that's not my best work. and trust me, that story... was definitely not my best.
Anyways, welcome newcomers, too! I'm glad to see new and old reading this.
"You can't have my armor!" Jim yelled at the creature between blows, as though telling it such would suddenly compel it to say, "yes Jim, you're right, I'm sorry. Please take this back."
Instead, it just gave a shrug and snapped its gleaming teeth before diving at Jim once more.
The human was weakening quicky, no match for this snarling thing.
He was no longer sure that this beast was a troll or demon of the Deep— he had caught a glimpse of soft pink flesh amongst the jagged black.
And… between sparks of traded blows… there lay something familiar in those eyes, in the human parts of the abomination's face.
Jim decided to ignore all this, as when he got caught up in thinking too hard the thing had nearly chopped his head off. Jim cursed himself for his own sloppy timing and decided denial was the best route to avoid deadly distraction.
Many blows were traded, and Jim could tell that while he was flagging, the creature was not. Despite the clear gap in skill and speed, evident when the creature flickered around him, he still remained intact. It was a while into the battle when Jim indignantly noticed such.
"You're toying with me!" he barked indignantly, armor flaring and underlining the fear of his statement. He raised his sword, and continued, "you'll pay for that."
The thing only laughed, looking at him as a cougar looked upon a yappy chihuahua who believes it's bigger than it truly is. The beast furthered this metaphor by showing its fangs and licking its chops with a pale blue tongue, leaving the boy shuddering.
Jim braced himself for an attack, only for the beast to wink its blue eye and blend into a the shadows around it. Jim could hear a faint clopling of its hooves as it dashed away.
The feeling of being watched eased, leaving him alone in the cavern once more, with thoughts whirling around his mind.
It felt like days that Jim had been wandering through the Deep, swallowed by darkness and claustrophobic in his own fear-summoned armor. In truth, without the sun, he had no clue, not to mention that Blinky had told him the Deep messed with the mind.
In the dark, alone, he often found his mind trapped between the Darklands and the present, worrying about another wyrm or Gunmar's gladiatorial arena before snapping back to the present.
Each time, he'd catch a flicker of a shadow with bright, cruel eyes darting off, and each time he'd rub his own eyes, feeling the way the bags under his eyes gave way to the silver armor.
On one such time, he gave a hopeless sigh and dropped to the floor. Oddly, he was not hungry nor thirsty, yet as he continued on he grew more and more tired.
This time, he was near the brink of exhaustion.
"Lay down," the darkness crooned, watching him with mismatched eyes.
"Mmph," Jim grunted in response.
"Just for a little while," it said smally, creeping closer.
The Trollhunter was too tired to argue, giving only a slow blink. He rested his head on his hands and slowly drifted…
"Surrender your will," the creature ground out, virtually on top of the boy now. Eclipse was drawn, red flames intermingling with a pale and familiar magic—
Jim bolted awake.
Nothing was there.
More days passed, and with each Jim grew more and more delirious. Sleep offered no reprieve. Typically it was interrupted by the conniving shadow, and when it wasn't it simply offered him no energy at all.
His steps grew more stumbly, grip more tenuous. The beast plagued him constantly, forcing him to take in the creature's too-similar visage. The flesh was slowly being overtaken by stone, and he noticed a tail and glowing horns growing with passing time. Its blue eye began to cloud over with the white glow of the other.
Jim ignored it, and stumbled forward, desperately pushing for any exit.
Days continued to pass, leaving the boy bleary and barely-there, with the shadow ever present to cackle and jeer.
"Your will is becoming weak," it informed him one day, smooth stone claws running against a small soft piece of flesh on the back of its hand. "Soon, I will be finished, and you will be next, puppet."
Jim stared at the beast with sleepy confusion.
"You want to ask why? Well—" the creature snorted, overcome for a moment, "maybe you are an idiot. I'm glad he used his sword to break me off from you."
The beast took Jim's silence as shock.
"I'm the piece of your will Gunmar broke off in the Darklands, shaped into this," he said reverently, stretching claws and tail. "I may only live inside you, but soon…" it trailed off, and motioned to the boy's hand.
Jim placed his left hand over his right, and found a small hard chunk of black stone there.
"I will be the only one," the thing smiled, lost in thoughts of serving the master controlling it so artfully, as Jim sat there, stunned.