A few days later, Jim had a hammer and chisel in hand and was chipping away at rocks somewhere underneath the Austrian Alps. A group of about six Trolls toiled away around the area, breaking rocks and toting boulders away. They had found a few decent specimens they could likely sell, but nothing useful. That is, until Toby's very excited voice came from the walkie-talkie clipped to his back pocket.
"Warhammer to Trollhunter! Warhammer to Trollhunter!" Jim wiped his forehead and took a step back from his work site, then grabbed the walkie-talkie.
"Trollhunter here," he said into it. "What's up, Warhammer?"
"I found something." Toby sounded downright giddy. "It's different from the other pieces we've found. Come take a look!"
"Okay, I'm coming." He clipped the walkie-talkie to his pocket and jumped down from his worksite, nodding to a troll on their team who was currently eating one of the more useless stones they had unearthed. Jim headed further into the mine where he found Toby waiting in front of a pocket he had dug out, and he looked about to burst from excitement as he bounced up and down and clenched his fists with a huge grin on his face. Jim couldn't help but smile as well.
"Well? I'm here! What's so cool that you found?" He asked as he started into the pocket, and Toby ran ahead to where he had a portable lamp set up a pace away from the rocks he had been working with. He didn't say anything, but simply gestured valiantly to the deposit he had uncovered. Jim let out a soft "whoa" as he approached it.
He didn't have to do much to identify the pocket as a moonstone deposit, the way even the unrefined stones glistened fluorescent white in the light of the lamp. Toby was biting back a squeal as Jim ran his fingers over the stones sticking out of the dirt and rock. He retrieved his amulet and shone its blue light across the stones, and its glow intensified as it neared the deposit. It started as a breath of relief, then grew to Jim laughing almost hysterically as he fell to his knees.
"Toby!" He gasped as he turned to his friend. "This is it! It has to be!"
"You think so?" Toby was practically vibrating. "Then stand back!" He hoisted up a pickax and barely waited for Jim to roll out of the way as he charged for the deposit. "I... want... my... Wingman... BACK!" With that outburst and a mighty swing of his chosen weapon, the deposit broke apart and moonstones came crumbling down. As the dust settled and Jim got back to his feet, he knelt down and sifted through the rubble. He retrieved a specimen about the size of his palm and held it up to the lamp to inspect it, brushing off some of the dirt.
"I don't think we're gonna find anything better than this," he said as he turned to Toby, who had set his pickax aside and resumed bouncing around.
"Well then, what are we waiting for?" He started running through the mine en route to the gyre. "No time like the present! Let's go cut it!" Jim gripped the stone and hurried after him, giving their troll companions the okay for a break as he passed them. He found Toby already on the gyre, starting it up and staring at him with less than no patience.
"C'mon, c'mon!" He urged. Jim had barely gotten his body inside the gyre before Toby launched it toward home, and he lurched back into the seat while barely keeping a grip on the moonstone. Once at Trollmarket's station, the two jumped off and Toby started sprinting for the Heartstone until Jim yanked him back.
"Don't go flying around," he reminded his friend. "You'll cause a panic if you do." Toby grimaced but slowed down, even if only a bit, and the two hurried through Trollmarket to the Heartstone. Inside, Vendel was looking over a few stone specimens of his own, and he looked up at the visitors as they entered.
"Ah, hello boys," he greeted. "How can I be of assistance?" Toby either didn't hear him or chose to ignore him as he single-mindedly approached Aaarrrgghh, bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet. He spun around back to the Trollhunter, intense eyes wide.
"C'mon, c'mon, Jim! Get that stone cut!" he demanded, and Jim couldn't help a smile as he approached Vendel's stone table with the tools he needed. He placed the moonstone on the table, and Vendel examined it curiously.
"Could this finally be the one?" he asked, more or less talking to himself. "This specimen is exquisite. I am quite confident when I say this: If this stone doesn't do the trick, no other one will."
"It HAS to!" Toby said forcefully, turning back to his Wingman. "We've gotta get him back. We've been looking for years! This HAS to be the one!"
"Tobes," Jim beckoned, and Toby barely turned to him. "Look, this is the best idea we've had. It might not work. But if it doesn't, I promise we'll keep trying until we find something that does."
"Don't say that, Jim," his friend all but pleaded. "Give me the speech once we know for sure whether it worked or not. Right now, just get that stone ready!"
"All right, all right!" With that, Jim took up his tools and positioned the moonstone, and Vendel watched over his shoulder curiously as he began splitting it into smaller and smaller pieces until he reached the core he was looking for. He lifted it carefully to inspect it. It gleamed with a brilliant luminescent sheen even in this state, and he took it over to the wheel to refine it. Sparks flew off both stone surfaces as he finished his work, and once it was done, Toby jogged up to take a look at it.
"Okay," Jim breathed as he took out his amulet in his free hand. "Here goes nothing." He held the small stone up to the back of the amulet, which opened and accepted the new addition into one of its free slots. The amulet glowed with a blue light whiter than its usual color, and Jim took it close to his chest and summoned his armor. With a heavy breath, he made his way to Aaarrrgghh and pulled his sword from his back. He glanced back at the others to find Vendel watching with both concern and fascination, and Toby wrung his hands together in anticipation, and perhaps in fear that this may fail. Jim's eyes returned to the stone face of his lost guardian, and he bit his lip.
"Alright, Aaarrrgghh," he said softly. "Come on back to us." He lifted his sword and touched it to Aaarrrgghh's injury from Angor Rot's dagger, and after a painstakingly long moment, the blade took on a gentle white glow.
"Oh man," Toby nearly squeaked. Jim pressed the sword closer and focused his energy, and both blade and amulet pulsed in response. From Aaarrrgghh's stone wound came an eerie green glow that spread over the sword, drawn from the troll's body and destroyed by Daylight's power. Jim's heart thudded against his ribs as he backed up, pulling that green light further back, and the flow vanished abruptly as the white light of the sword faded.
Toby shoved past Jim and stopped a hair away from Aaarrrgghh, shaking in anticipation for some reaction from the troll. Slowly, a blue line of light appeared from the wound, and the color of life began to return to Aaarrrgghh's body as it spread. As it reached his face, a strange glow filled his eyes, and the runes etched into his skin illuminated green. He snorted, causing Toby's hair to rustle.
"...Wingman?" the young man said gently. "Hey, it's me. You okay?" Aaarrrgghh snorted and growled, shaking, and Jim's eyes widened.
"Toby, get back!" He grabbed his friend's collar and yanked him out of the way just as Aaarrrgghh bellowed and lashed his arm out, knocking a few of Vendel's things off a stand next to him. Jim pulled Toby behind him and summoned his shield, holding it between them and Aaarrrgghh. Toby gripped his free arm with terror-filled eyes.
"Aarghaumont!" Vendel said firmly as he gripped his staff. "Jim, Tobias, be cautious. Our friend may need a moment to regain his senses. He-" The old troll didn't have a chance to finish his statement as all three of them dove out of the way of Aaarrrgghh's charge at them.
"Aaarrrgghh!" Toby pleaded from under Jim's shield. "Come on, man! Snap out of it!"
"Aaarrrgghh, it's us!" Jim said, his free hand stretched toward him. "We're your friends, remember? Wake up!" Aaarrrgghh snorted and bellowed as he lashed about, and his vacant eyes turned toward the humans. He charged at them again, and Jim knocked Toby back against the crystal walls of the Heartstone and the two cowered behind his shield. Aaarrrgghh reared up and slammed his fists into the ground, leaving cracks in his wake as he screeched at them and lifted his fists once more. But as he looked down on them, he hesitated, and his hands fell on his head to grip it as he snorted and huffed. He trembled and shook, panting and growling, and Jim and Toby looked up at him as they huddled together. He shrunk back and squeezed his eyes shut, and the glow of his runes faded as his breathing slowed. Toby stumbled to his feet and stopped before the troll, and Jim took his place behind him, ready to spring to his defense at a moment's notice.
"Hey, Aaarrrgghh, you okay?" Toby asked. "Come on, Wingman. Come back to us." Aaarrrgghh peeked one eye out carefully, still huffing a bit.
"...Wingman?" he said gruffly, and Toby's face split into a huge grin.
"He's back!" he exclaimed and jumped up, wrapping his arms around Aaarrrgghh's neck as well as he could and burying his face in the troll's fur. Aaarrrgghh gently held him close, taking a deep sniff of his hair.
"Smell like rocks," he said and sneezed at the dust he had dislodged. Toby dropped back to his feet and Aaarrrgghh looked up to the Trollhunter, who approached him with a smile and placed his hand on the troll's arm. "Jim get tall," he said with his own grin.
"Yeah, I guess so," Jim laughed and dismissed his armor. "You've been out of it for a while, Aaarrrgghh." Aaarrrgghh stared at him curiously.
"How long?" he asked as Toby came to his side.
"Uh…" Toby rubbed the back of his neck. "Been about five years, buddy."
"Five years," Aaarrrgghh repeated and placed his hands over his face. "How I come back?"
"We've been researching different stones to use in the amulet with Vendel and Blinky," Jim said as he opened the amulet and pulled out the moonstone. "We were able to use this one to counteract Creeper's Sun." Aaarrrgghh sniffed at it.
"Thanks, Jim," he said warmly. Jim grinned and hugged the troll. Toby joined them and laughed as he held on to his friends.
"It's good to have you back, Aarghaumont," Vendel said once they had released from their embrace. "Welcome home, my friend."
"Good to be back," Aaarrrgghh rumbled. "Gunmar?"
"Jim," Vendel beckoned. "Why don't you spread the news? I'll catch Aarghaumont up on everything that has happened. I'm sure Blinkous will be overjoyed."
"Okay," the Trollhunter nodded. "Thank you, Vendel. Tobes, you wanna stay here or go back with me?"
"I'll stay here," Toby said, stretching. "Help my Wingman get settled and all that." Jim nodded and placed his hand on Toby's shoulder, then looked up at Aaarrrgghh.
"I'll be back in a while," he said. "See you soon, Aaarrrgghh."
"See you soon," Aaarrrgghh replied and waved. Jim waved back and left the Heartstone, retrieving his phone to contact Claire as he headed for Blinky's library.
