Unbecoming: Chapter 9
Amulet or Not
The sight before him had his heart sinking in worry. Hundreds of Gum-Gum soldiers stood ready to fight, their black armour and the shaded hallway protecting them from the sunlight outside. They had successfully surrounded Aarrgh and Angor Rot and what looked like dozens of wounded Changelings behind them. Jim wondered briefly why they were helping the Changelings in the first place but his worries were directed more on Aarrgh. The Troll was a pacifist so it sent Jim's nerves sky-rocketing when they were in battle together. Maybe before he had the armour to protect him but now he didn't. All he had was a military grade sword, and although it could cut through stone with a great deal of effort, it had not provided the same intoxicating power the Sword of Daylight had given him.
Usurna spoke in Trollish but Jim didn't need to understand her words to figure out its meaning. She was telling her soldiers to back down. She was going to fight Aarrgh herself in one on one. Jim braced himself to jump up from behind his perch and attack in Aarrgh's place but he was once again reminded of Strickler's warning. Don't attack Gunmar or his commanders. You may have been the Trollhunter before but without the amulet you cannot charge in without a plan. Jim bit his lip. If he jumped out what could he do? He was barely able to take out one Troll before and that was with a great deal of luck too. Bular and Usurna (he was shocked to see her) were both here and they were both Gunmar's commanders. Trolls didn't gain that standing without being strong in some way or another. He didn't have the power anymore.
He couldn't help
"I will bring you to your knees Aarrgh. I will bring you back to my side!" Usurna screamed as she jumped and slammed her staff on the ground. Aarrgh barely rolled away in time, the attack breaking the concrete ground into large chunks. Usurna used her magic to propel the pieces at the Troll. Aarrgh dodged one but was hit down by another. In his moment of weakness the Chieftain jumped on him and slammed him down. Aarrgh let out a roar of pain before he grabbed Usurna's staff and threw her away.
"You have grown weak! Fight me!"
"Usurna stop toying with him. We have to take care of the assassin too," Bular growled.
"As you wish," she bit out forcefully.
She moved for her killing strike when Aarrgh lost his patience. He forgot his vow of peace, his markings glowed bright, eyes hazing into an ebony black as rage took his very being. He punched Usurna in the face after making his way into her blind spot. The Chieftan let out a low groan as she fell to the ground. Aarrgh moved to jump on her but before he could land the final blow something hard and pulsing with magic stabbed through the side of his chest. Usurna had stabbed her staff through his side, using his momentum against him. The ex-commander let out a low growl of pain, pushing the staff out of his side and stumbling back, only to find himself falling through a portal behind Angor Rot. The assassin did not think that he could save all of them at this rate.
"We need a plan. They are too strong and I have no energy left," Angor Rot whispered lowly as he braced himself.
Jim flinched as Aarrgh was stabbed only to be saved by Angor Rot. He jerked up but was once again overridden by doubt. It weighed his shoulders like an innumerable force. A Trollhunter fought to the end right… so why couldn't he? Why was he standing frozen in fear and doubt while his friends were being killed?
"It's because you haven't learnt your lesson yet."
The familiar, ancient voice sent chills down Jim's spine. The world had stopped, the image of the army, preparing themselves to fight the barely standing force against them, looked now like a still image from a photograph. Jim turned around and kneeled, his eyes downcast and body shivering with fear, for himself, for Aarrgh, and even for Angor Rot… but beyond the fear was a sense of overwhelming shame.
"Merlin," he acknowledged with a weak nod.
"What are you doing here instead of there in the battlefield?"
"I shouldn't be frozen with fear. I'm the Trollhunter… we- we fight to the end," he said weakly.
"Are you the Trollhunter though?"
Jim jerked his head up in confusion. He struggled to find the words to express himself. He was the Trollhunter at one stage of his life, now he had been the Trollhunter, and he still tried to stay true to the Trollhunter values… but was he? Without the Amulet what was he? He was just a kid with no magic abilities and some sword fighting skills.
"I tried to be," he sighed, "but I failed again. This is all my fault and I can't even fix it."
"With that attitude you are definitely not," Merlin chuckled.
How the age old wizard could find humour in this situation was beyond him. Jim didn't find it humorous at all. Aarrgh was gravely wounded and he had done nothing…
"Why did you change back time if you knew this was going to happen!" Jim growled in sudden anger as he stood up. "You should have just let me die with the Tribunal. At least then there could have been another Trollhunter to take my place!"
"I'm a wizard, not a god," Merlin's voice said dryly. "I do not know what is to come, I simply understand the hearts of Trollhunters I choose. I chose you Jim, because you showed the heart of a Trollhunter, but also because of something more—because you are human."
Jim blinked in confusion. Why would Merlin not just fix the amulet and give it to him? Why was he sent back in time if it wasn't meant for a cause? Unless… unless Merlin didn't want him to have the Amulet, unless Merlin wanted him to become a Trollhunter in a way that no other Trollhunter before him was… something only a Human Trollhunter could do.
Merlin's spirit glowed brighter. "I see you've figured it out."
"You've been with me the whole time," Jim whispered in awe as he held his arms out.
Merlin drew closer until he was in Jim's hands. The teen closed his eyes, feeling once more the familiar warmth of energy and power that had once pulsed through his veins. It had always been there, lying dormant in his very spirit but he had never realised it.
The Amulet never chose him, Merlin did.
Angor Rot prepared for the worst. As far as plans went, theirs had failed spectacularly. It would take a stroke of luck and a lot more than good karma to get them out of this situation…
…Thankfully it seemed they had it.
The Gum-Gum soldier's formation was suddenly disrupted with a burst of blue light, petrifying and crumbling their forms before they could even move. Both Angor Rot, Aarrgh and Gumar's commanders turned to see the commotion. A small human figure walked through, twirling a black hilted blade that was shrouded in blue energy. Bular could instantly recognise that magic anywhere, having fought many Trollhunters but he had never felt one this powerful before.
"Trollhunter," he growled lowly. "Shield wall!" he ordered.
Jim braced himself. He pulled his sword back and channelled the magic through his body and into the blade, charging forward in a gust of energy. The magic propelled him faster than he had ever been before and the Gum-Gum soldier's shields were no match for the sheer density of Daylight Magic in his blade. It broke through the shields leaving their formation defenceless. But there were still two hundred Gum-Gum soldiers to fight. He blocked, parried and jumped through the masses growing more and more tired by the minute. The magic was draining his reserves quicker than when he had the Amulet, but it's power was amplified a hundred-fold.
He couldn't take on this many soldier's no matter the magic he wielded now. He was crashing and burning fast as he collapsed to one knee out of exertion. The glint of black and green metal coming down on him had him flinch back in fear. When no pain came he blinked. He looked up to find a familiar pink skinned Changeling. It was Nomura. Her scimitars easily parried the Gum-Gum's long sword which gave her enough time to slash him deeply across the chest.
"Nomura," he exclaimed in relief and shock.
The changeling sent him an odd look, confused at his sudden elation at her presence and knowledge of her name. She did not think she was a well-known figure and she did not recall seeing this child anywhere before. Jim caught the look and flinched back, reminded once again that she did not remember the time they had together… the time where she saved him, where she gave him hope… no, he could not dwell. He had promised himself that much. Drawing his sword, he blocked a blow that would have otherwise taken the female changeling by surprise. She nodded a silent thanks in his direction before focusing once more on the battle. It was chaos.
Jim was surrounded by Trolls left and right all much taller and larger than him. The sight was intimidating but he held his ground, drawing his sword, and syphoning his magic. Exerting himself he used the magic to propel himself into the air before bounding on top of the unsuspecting Gum-Gums heads. Soon enough he spotted a hard pressed and wounded Aarrgh.
"Get everyone to safety! There's a tunnel up ahead to the right. We can't defeat all of them," he yelled.
Aarrgh made a grunt of agreement before calling to the Trolls loudly. Their ears perked up and their attention drew away to the ex-commander. It was both relieving and utterly terrifying to watch them retreat. What had been a dozen bodies to back him up had been reduced to only two. Oddly enough both Nomura and Angor Rot were the ones to stay behind. He wanted to tell them to move, that it would make it easier for him if they were safe, but in the end, he knew he didn't have the strength. A few hundred meters before him was Bular and in a few more was Usurna, both individuals of immense power. He could not defeat them, not in his current state. The assistance was welcome.
"We have to hold them off for another 5 minutes," he screamed out to the two Trolls.
An army of soldiers flanked their sides. Jim found his sword cracking under the immense power of the Magic of Daylight. It pushed the metal beyond its natural bounds, even more so on his natural body. The strain of his muscles was turning from a burden into stinging pain. What felt like a heavy weight on him now felt as if it had turned his muscles into lead. Another Troll crashed into him again, this time the force pushing him back. They were breaking into his defences and his allies weren't doing any better. He roared in agony as he syphoned another stream of magic through his blades. The burst of light cut through dozens of the Trolls in front of him, burning their bodies and turning them into crumbling dust. It mattered not because the next wave followed. Their numbers were vast and not easily thinned.
"2 more minutes," he groaned out, beads of exertion glistening down his face.
"We cannot hold on any longer," Nomura growled back, her voice straining through hard breathes.
He pushed out the magic even more until it stood as a wall, large and tangible, holding back the army and burning them at the touch. Both Nomura and Angor were surprised by the sheer amount of magic being conjured but were nonetheless grateful. Without it they would not have been able to hold off the army. The bright wall of blue magic flickered for a brief moment, a flood of Gum-Gums pushing through until it reappeared again, cutting of unfortunate limbs that was in its way.
"Hold it, Trollhunter!" Angor growled demandingly.
"I am holding," he bit back in rising irritation. No one liked a back-seat fighter. His body felt like it was on fire, his face felt like someone decided to dump it in a pot of boiling oil but if these hordes followed they would kill everybody. He had to hold them back with his magic. 1 more minute, just one more and he could stop. He wasn't holding back the tears anymore, they poured down onto his skin, sizzling in contact and evaporating into a mist. His eyes were glowing an unearthly blue and his body exuding wisps of blue flames.
"It hurts," he cried. It hurt. It hurt so bad. He wanted the pain to stop.
"One more minute!" Nomura growled, forcing him back into focus. "Don't let it drop! They cannot be allowed to go through."
"N-No it hurts," he cried, the shield briefly flickering.
He was in hell. This was what hell would feel like. His body was burning. He was burning, and he just wanted it to stop. Why couldn't he stop? He screamed out in rising pain. 30 seconds. Just 30 more seconds and he could be free of this pain, but he wanted it to end now. His voice grew louder, echoing the agony he was going through.
Five
"Hold it, hold it," Nomura insisted hovering behind him.
Four
The Changelings that had fled was disappearing into the distance, the last of them able to make their way into the underground subway system.
Three
"It burns!" he cried.
Two
"Release it!"
One
Jim basted the magic as he let go of his control completely. A surge of blinding blue magic arched across the field in a moment of silence. The scene was incredible. More than half the army were wiped out, whatever remained of them crumbling to dust. Jim's vision blanked, and he fell like a weighted ragdoll. Nomura caught the boy before screeching in pain and dropping him harshly. Her fingers stained a light grey from a simple touch. She hissed in pain, but her attention turned forward. Bular was screaming orders for the remaining Trolls to continue attacking. She scanned the field and leapt to a fallen banner of Gunmar's. She quickly pulled the cloth around the boy's body, wrapping him hastily in it before turning to Angor Rot. She could feel the intense heat even through the cloth and for a moment wondered if the boy would live. She had never before seen such powerful magic and for such a small mortal container to release it must have strained it to breaking point.
"Come quickly, we will leave," he said through rough breathes.
She could see his muscles exerting itself just like the boy's had. He was straining to open another portal after overusing his abilities. Still by force of will, or something else, he had managed to open one. Nomura jumped through into the shadow dimension, expecting to find herself instantly in a different plane but was momentarily surprised to find a bleak grey world. The air felt like velvety water and she held her breath as she grabbed the assassin and with a second bound pushed through the next portal. They fell in an unceremonious heap. Nomura curled around the wrapped figure in her arms and took the burnt of the fall before craning her neck to see the unexpected sight of a stunned Strickler.
"Stricklander?" she acknowledged in confusion.
"Nomura?" he replied just as shocked before he noticed the figure in her arms and the assassin behind her. "What happened to Jim?"
"You have a lot to explain," she said with a frown.
Finally I finished this chapter! It took me ages and a lot of rewrites to just get it right. The nature of Jim's connection to the Magic of Daylight will be better explained in the future. For now it remains purposefully ambiguous. I intended it from the beginning to be explained as it went along so please don't ask or I will be tempted to ruing major plot details. Anyway, thanks to all you dedicated readers who literally comment on every chapter. It makes me so happy to know people are following the story and not dropping it after 1 read through. I spend a lot of time and effort on my stories so it means a lot when I get reviews so thanks to everyone who reviewed.
I'm sorry if I don't pm all of the reviews but I've been super busy recently with uni. I just started my first year and I'm doing animation which takes a lot of time to get the hang of. Hopefully in the future you'll be seeing my tv shows rather than my fanfictions but until then thanks for reading!
