It had been a few weeks since the initial attack and Jim was doing quite well. He was confined to Trollmarket, Blinky said that the combination of being injured and not having his amulet was reason enough to stay in the safe boundaries of the trolls' home.
Jim had tried to escape a few times, but of course, never got far due to AAARRRGGHH always catching him. He had even tried using the Gyre to escape, but Blinky had stomped on that idea like it was a rogue gnome.
"I understand you are restless, Master Jim, but you should not be straining yourself this way," said Blinky for what seemed to Jim like the umpteenth time.
"I need to see the sun, Blink. Trollmarket's dull light is starting to make me feel sick."
"It could be the light or the fact that you are continuously running off when your body is not prepared for that physical activity!" Blinky was starting to get angry.
"Vitamin D deficiency, Blinky!" tried Jim.
"Your mother has already provided me with the supplements necessary."
"Damn it," Jim muttered under his breath.
"This has gone too far, Master Jim. I'm afraid I have to put a Griphlok on you."
"Woooaah, no way, Blink. The last time you gave me some of your weird troll magic, some crazy clones of mine tried to kill me!"
Blinky pulled out a bronze bracelet with jade highlights from his pocket and before Jim could protest it was snapped on his wrist.
Jim tried to pull it off but it was attached tightly to his hand.
"What the- what the hell is this, Blinky? Get it off of me!" Jim was yelling at his mentor.
"It will not harm you, Master Jim. Now, off you go."
Jim glared at Blinky before sulking back to the infirmary, still fidgeting with his new accessory.
Jim had waited until morning which was when almost everybody in Trollmarket was asleep. Even Blinky and AAARRRGGHH (Jim had popped his head in the library). Believing he was finally in the all clear, he snagged a Horngazle from the nearby table and made his way up the crystal steps.
Unfortunately, that was where his luck ran out.
Every part of his body except his left arm went past the last crystal step. He tried pulling it through again. It wouldn't budge. He pulled harder. Nothing. It was as if a force was stopping a part of his body- oh. The bracelet. The damn bracelet. He started tugging on it, desperate to be free, the confinement making him woozy.
"Shit!" Jim swore. He was so close to freedom, only for it to be tugged out of his grasp yet again.
"Going somewhere, Master Jim?"
Jim whirled around to find Blinky behind him with an amused expression on his face.
Jim gave an exasperated sigh. "Why are you torturing me like this?"
"Because it is necessary. Come along."
Jim hung his head low as he followed Blinky back into the market. The bracelet, of course, had no problem going back into Trollmarket. He knew it was just an inanimate object, but Jim swore he could feel a strong sense of triumph from the little piece of jewellery.
"Woah, this place is really cool!" Said the human as he roamed the giant underground building.
The halls were huge! It was like the whole population lived there! If only Bar- no, she wouldn't join him, he left her and their son for a girl he lasted a week with.
But the human didn't want to think about that. He wanted to know what this place was. He was going to a travel agency to flee the country- he had gotten in trouble with someone when they were dealing drugs- when the floor started descending and a crisp female voice said, "Welcome to the Janice Order" (whatever that was).
He walked into one of the rooms, hearing voices, and he wondered if they could help him get out.
"The Trollhunter must be separated from his amulet before you can attack, my Lord. He will be-" the voice cut off as he saw the human.
The human, distracted by the giant sculpture of some sort of monster, didn't notice the two trolls until he looked ahead.
The human started shrieking (to be fair, that is a very human reaction).
The larger of the two snatched up the human before he could run away.
"I told you impures, that you are not to interrupt..." the monster sniffed. "You aren't an impure. You're a human." The big monster looked at the little one. "How is an impure in here?!" he yelled.
"Please don't hurt me..." whimpered the human.
"Your scent is familiar. I won't eat you until I find out why." The monster sniffed once more. "What is your name?" The monster asked, threatening him with a giant sword that just appeared out of nowhere oh my God-
"J-Jam-es L-Lake."
The monster's eyes widened before looking at his associate, an air of understanding between the two.
The monster turned back to James.
"You will do something for me."