Secrets
Chapter 20
The Drunken Lion
Never thought that they would expect it, but Jim and Tally somehow both ended up in the Darklands Nursery. Jim dangled from the edge of the bassinet and his Eclipse-armored fingers slipped against the chains. But Tally grabbed ahold of his hand with her armored hand as well holding onto to him tight with all of her might, but could feel the familiar weakening pain run through her veins.
She put her back into it and pule Jim up on the bassinet. Jim tried to catch his breath from after having that moment of excitement. Delirous, Jim's vision swam in and out of focus, when something bright flickered at him.
"Hey Tally what's that say," he pointed at the golden tag drawn by it's glow.
Talia's vison was about as hazey as Jim's as well, they leaned in close to see it clearly and read what it says. But then a sudden snap came from the chain holding them, they both fell plunged into the infinite darkness.
:)
They both landed with a start. Then found themselves on a patch of damp, leafy earth. They could see clearly. What's more, they discovered that they could shout again.
"Aaah!" they cried. Jim scrambled to his feet. In additiong to the change of scenery, the Trollhunter also noticed that he was back in his Daylight Armor, not the Eclipse version. Talia found herself back in her Astral Dress and bare feet once more, and not in her Lion's Armor from her very own pendant. Talia took big inhales and exhales leaning with her hands on her knees. Jim mopped the sweat off his brow, although Jim couldn't tell if it came from fright or from the increased humidity in the new place - whereever it was Jim saw a dense canopy of trees over head, which blocked out the last of the setting sun.
"Both had yourselves a nightmare, did you?" Unkar's spirit, which now stood beside them. "Waking dreams are sometimes a side effect of these Void Visitations."
Talia looked up now finally calm from that horrifying vision. This was the second time this had happened to her, but only this time. . .Jim was apart of it. She walked up to Jim and said, "Jim. . .did you see the same thing that I did?"
Jim looked at her and said, "Yeah. . .how did. . .why is this happening to us all of a sudden?"
They then heard rustling in the treetops and the faraway caws of tropical birds before asking, "Where did you take us?"
"Not where, human Trollhunter, but when!" corrected Unkar, who then paused, appearing momentarily confused. "Actually, I gues it's where and when. Because we traveled through time and space and- look, kid, we're in the Yucatan Peninsula around 200 C.E. okay?"
"Wait. Wait. Wait." Talia stopped him for a moment. "Are you saying that we're in Mexico?
"Oh, for Kilfred's sake! Always with the questions, of course we are!" groused Unkar.
The ghostly Trollhunter grabbed their arms deeper into the rain forest. They climbed over downed logs and sidestepped snares of roots until they reached a clearing. There, they saw a towering stone temple situated in the middle of the jungle. Vines snaked along its steps, and perched golden statues of Mayan gods caught the last of the sinking sun's red light.
Jim and Tally then felst a rumble beneath their feet before a gyre burst out of the ground at the base of the temple. The Troll vehicle's circular metal bands slowed to a stop, and they both saw it's pilot none other than Unkar.
"That's why," said the ghostly Unkar at Jim's side.
The spying pair moved closer to the Mayan temple, while the living, breathing Unkar exited the gyre. He raised his armored fists into the air and announced, "Behold! Your champion has arrived! Make way for Unkar the Ultimate!"
Unkar the Ultimate took one step forward, tripped, and fell flat on his face.
"Stop laughing!" Unkar's spirit shouted at the two young teens, who couldn't help it.
"Sorry. . ." Talia smirked trying to hide her smile.
Stifling a few more giggles, Jim then noticed how the rain forest's birds squaked and flew away in a great hurry. Seconds later, a bevy of vine-covered Jungle Trolls descended upon Unkar's prone body. But in one graceful maneuver, the tiny Trollhunter rolled off the ground, formed the Sword of Daylight in his hand, and cleaved through the first wave of enemies.
"Whoa," Jim and Talia awed.
"Not bad for my first day on the job," agreed Unkar's spirit as he polished his armor.
"Tast the cold, metal sting of my unbrage, you dundering clods!" said the living Unkar to the Jungle Trolls. "You witless louts! You pathetic jackanapes!"
"That's, uh, that's a lot of name-calling there, Unkar," said Jim to his ghost guide.
"And kind of bit too over confident," Talia said.
"Psychological warfare," Unkar's spirit explained. "Softens 'em up before the final blow. Now let's follow him -I- me- myself- whatever into the temple!"
As the corporeal Unkar hacked his way into the Mayan temple, Jim's mind raced. He had barely been able to wrap his head around the events Boraz the Bold showed him at the Roman Colosseum. And now he was wading throught Jungle Trolls in the middel of Central America?
How long have we've been gone? thought Jim. We've got to get back to the Forge. To our friends. I hope Blinky's okay. That' I'm not too loate. That he's not already d-
Jim couldn't bear to finish the idea. His attention returned to the temple, Where Unkar the Ultimate had successfully fought his way through an army of Jungle Trolls. Bruised and out of breath, the scrappy Trollhunter reached the the interior. Torches lit up the enclosed space, which was devoid of any furniture - save for a lone pedestal situated in the middle of the floor. Jim and Talia's eyes widened when they saw The Book of Ga-huel resting ontop of it.
"But. . . but I don't understand!" Jim stammered. "Why's it here? I though Gunmar's soldiers took The Book of Ga-huel after they killed Bodus!"
"Yeah, we all saw it happen at the Colosseum," Talia agreed.
"Gadzooks! Didn't Boraz teach you two anything in the Colosseum?" griped Unkar's ghost.
"No!" yelled Jim. "I clearly learned nothing!"
"Beside him being egotistical," Talia shrugged.
Then a sudden thought - a niggling little notion - had been clinging on the tip of his brain. Jim closed his eyes to better concentrate and connect the dots between what he had seen so far.
"Oh please, human Trollhunter! Do go on!" said Unkar's ghost in mock interest. Talia looked at her friend confused on what he was thinking and wondered if he was onto something.
"I think I've got it," Jim resumed. "Gunmar first wanted The Book of Ga-Huel because it might relveal to Orlagk that Gunmar would one day betray him. Spar the Spiteful got in the way-that's why he died. And Bodus must have escaped with the book and come up with the Triumbric Stones- the only way to defeat Gunmar-as a way to protect himself. But Gunmar's soldier still managed to kill Bodus at the Colosseum and take the book."
"Getting warmer," said Unkar's ghost, while his younger self approached the pedestal.
Talia looked at Jim now knowing that he was definately onto something. Jim opened his eyes and said a little less certainly, "And now The Book of Ga-Huel is in this temple. . .because . . .because-" Then a thought came to Talia's mind and answered, "Because he put here for protection! The Gumm-Gumm's must've intrusted it to the Jungle Trolls to hide it in this temple, because they were working for Gunmar too!"
Unkar clapped his hands congratulating the young girl's progress, "Well played young lioness. I must say that I'm very impressed. But before you ask 'Oh, Unkar, why didn't Gunmar just destroy the book?' do us all a favor and think about it. If you had a book that revealed a few bad things about you - but also told the future - would you destroy it?"
Jim and Talia stopped and exchanged looks considering the question, because it was important.
What would they do with a book that told the future? Talia thought, Probably see. . .and hopefully that there are more Silver Lion's out there some where, and. . .that I'm not the last one of my kind. Then Jim thought, I'd probably just use it to check on Mom and my friends and make sure they're all gonna be okay. But. . .but if it showed me something terrible was going to happen - like with poor Blinky-what would that mean for the rest of our time together? How could we ever go to the movies or, I don't know, just laugh together, knowing what was waiting for us?
Jim looked back at his guide with a conflicted frown. Talia just looked away crossing her arms feeling the same conflict like him. Unkar's ghost merely nodded in understanding and once again said, "That's why."
They watched the battling Unkar take The Book of Ga-Huel and head for the exit.
"So, you got it back? Nice one, Unkar!" said Jim.
"Yeah, the thing about that is. . .," began Unkar's spirit before loud roars filled the temple.
Jim and Tally saw another wave of Jungle Trolls dogpile on top of the real Unkar and drag him to their master - Bular. The sight of Gunmar's vile son made Jim's blood run cold, but Talia's boiling red hot with rage on the one whom murdered her parents. Even though Bular could not see them - could not hurt them or the other way around in this Void Visitation - Talia could wish she could strike him down. Make him suffer by breaking every bone in his body or. . .smash him til he was nothing but dust.
Bular barked orders at the Jungle Trolls, saying. "Toss the Trollhunter into the spike pit so that our Stalkling flock might gorge on his entrails and slurp the marrow from his cracked -"
A sudden loudly sound of a belch rudely interuppted Bular's command making everybody stopped and turned toward the rustling leaves coming from the jungle. Talia and Jim exchanged looks in complete and utter confusion on what was coming. Unkar slapped himself in the face and sighed, "Ugh. . .that drunken fool. . .I forgot."
A human hand brushed the big leaves aside, a shirtless man in looking like he was in his thirties with a muscular tone body, only but wearing ragged pants, carrying a jug made out from a coconut, his skin was dark, his drowsy eyes appeared to be blue, but what really caught Talia's eye once he stepped out of the shadows was his hair being revealed underneath the moon light; silver.
"What's with all the ruckus out here?" he drunkenly said, before taking another sip from his coconut. Bular looked at him unamused thinking that he was nothing more but a drunken human meatbag and brushed it off as a minor annoyance.
"Kill. . .fleshing," he said to one of the other Jungle Trolls. A couple of them went over towards the the wobbly spinning human. They watched chuckling by the man's pitiful drunken dance as the try to grab him. The Drunk man walked backwards as he drinks the last ounce of his rum and hiccups. . . he throws the coconut right at one of their faces as it shatters against their hard stone skin, the troll looks down at the remains of the coconut's shell before he looks up. . .his face was bashed across the side of his cheek by a small bare foot with a massive force knocking him straight towards his partner.
The two Jungle Trolls looked up and saw the Drunken man glowing white while still dizzly dancing. Jim and Talia jaws dropped wide open whether to find that this man is actually another Silver Lion or. . .that two Jungle Trolls are now getting their butts kicked by a drunk. Bular turned back looking back at the conflict seeing that his own minions are in a struggle trying to catch the human. While the Lion appeared to be drunk he seems to be handling his enemies like they were nothing.
Jim and Talia completely dumbstruck watch him continously with their jaws still hanging.
"Who. . . the. . .heck. . .is that?" Jim asked with wide eyes.
"That. . .my human Trollhunter. . .is Hugo the Wonderer." Unkar said pinching his ghostly stone eyebrows. "He sails across the seas traveling and learning more of the world. .while drinking, and partying at the same time."
Talia watch Hugo as Bular then decided to come into the fight swinging his double blades trying to slice the nuisance down to size, but Hugo jumps and lands ontop of the second blade, bouncing right off the sword, somersaults to a flip pushing right of of Bular's head, and surprisingly makes a perfect landing. " Why would one of my ancestor's send him to travel around the world?" Talia asks the ghost of Unkar.
Unkar point's out his index finger at Hugo to explain, "Well for instance. Hugo is known as a Seeker. And Seeker's are known to gather knowledge for their people. For instance that fighting style you two can see here is known as Drunk Kung Fu. Hugo maybe one of the best fighter's but a Seeker. . .not so much. This fool on the other hand would rather enjoy spending time on his travels than do his job."
"Uh, huh." Talia said completely understanding.
Hugo then rushes over towards the other trolls that were holding Unkar and the Book. And without thinking Hugo snatches the book from their hands like butter, and continously dances like a baffoon dodeging each and every one of them he didn't even lift another finger to make another strike.
After from all of the chasing and catching all of the trolls became exhausted and nonetheless dizzy as Hugo was. Everyone dropped on the floor panting, Hugo spun around and hiccup again, "You guys sure do know how to party . . . now if you excuse me." Hugo faced the grounded trolls with his back turned from Jim, Tally, and Unkar's view, and then loosened his knotted belt holding his pants. Unkar eyes bulged wide open remembering this scene.
"What is he. . .?" Talia was about to ask before Unkar began drowning out and blurring the vision.
"Uh, nothing to see here!" he hollered. "Nothing at all! And it's, er, probably past your kid's bedtime!"
"No, wait!" cried Jim.
He saw that The Book of Ga-Huel Hugo dropped and fallen onto the floor. Another dazzling array of light burned from its bindings as a new blank page miraculously started filling with ink.
But Unkar's ghost was in a hurry to leave. He pressed his fingers to both his and Jim's Amulet's, which began ticking like two timers. Jim had just enough time to see a blue-print or schematic appear on the labent page - it looked like an arm, but more cylindrical and segmented - before he, Tally, and Unkar's spirit returned to the Void.