Chapter Nine: Protecting

Night fell and, as planned, Jamie opened the back door to admit Blinky into the house.

She knew she was terrible at concealing her emotions, but she must have been even worse than she thought, for the moment her mentor's six eyes landed upon her face, he reached out to grasp her hands in his. "Lady Jamie…" he murmured, gazing pityingly down at her sad, blue eyes.

Jamie swallowed, squeezing her trainer's hands tightly. "I don't want to lose him, Blink," she confessed, feeling her eyes start to burn, "even if he is a changeling. I thought he was gonna be my dad someday…"

At the rate her emotions were mounting, threatening her fragile teenage-girl composure, Jamie shouldn't have been so surprised when the troll pulled her into a fierce hug. "I hope he makes the right decision tonight, for your sake," he said against her hair. "Just know that, no matter what happens with your father-figure today, you have friends who care for you always."

Jamie buried her face in the crook of his neck, hoping to hide just how glassy her eyes had become. She felt the troll tense in her grasp but could not bring herself to let go of him as she struggled to regain her composure. Though stress-induced tears burned behind her eyes, gratitude swelled in her heart as Blinky simply held her in his comforting four-armed embrace.

At the sound of a car pulling into the driveway, the two quickly parted and shared a look. Jamie set her jaw and gave the troll a determined nod. Blinky smiled fondly at the girl, brushing away the few tears that had managed to escape her eyes before he rushed out to hide and wait. He made his exit in the nick of time, as the front door opened not a moment after the back door closed.

"Hey, Sweetie!" Barbara called out as she hung her purse upon the coat rack by the entrance. "Walt and I are back!"

Jamie remembered to clear her throat before speaking so as not to betray her earlier tears. "Great!" she called back in a forced-cheerful voice. "How was the date?"

She heard giggling from the stairway just before turning the corner to see Barbara leaning over the railing to plant a kiss on Strickler's prominent nose, both of them grinning like idiots. "Wonderful as always," her mother said without looking away from her boyfriend. "I'm gonna take a shower. Be right back you two!"

And that means Strickler's staying the night, Jamie thought wryly with a shudder, sincerely hoping her mom's boyfriend was anything but a changeling.

"Hurry back, Darling," Strickler drawled coyly to Barbara's departing form. "I was hoping we could finish that bottle of wine tonight."

Barbara smiled back over her shoulder before rounding the corner toward the bathroom.

"Ahem," Jamie said, staring awkwardly at Strickler. "Er… can we talk?"

Strickler did not appear even slightly surprised by Jamie's request. In fact, he seemed somewhat relieved. "Of course, Trollhunter," he said bluntly, eyes flashing yellow. "I was hoping you would deem it wise."

Jamie gasped and leaped backward into the kitchen, reaching into her back pocket to retrieve the gaggletack as Strickler stalked slowly toward her, smirking all the while.

"I was quite surprised when the Amulet of Daylight rolled out of your backpack that day," he drawled, voice a little too strained to be aloof, "I had hoped I was wrong—that it did not mean what I feared…"

Jamie felt her breathing quicken and her grip on the gaggletack tighten. "That we're on opposite sides?" she asked, voice trembling.

"It could never mean that, Little Athena," Strickler murmured with a sad look, "unless Trollkind's prejudice has somehow managed to infect your strong mind."

Just as Jamie removed the horseshoe from her pocket and made to use it, Strickler changed. The girl gasped as his skin darkened to green, his nostrils lengthened into slits, his head sprouted horns and his size grew by several inches. The gaggletack clattered uselessly to the floor.

"You are a changeling!" Jamie gasped, backing away further and withdrawing her amulet from her other pocket. "For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command!"

In an instant, Strickler adopted a defensive stance. "Listen to me, Jamie!" he crowed, his troll voice raspier than his human one. "I will not harm you-!"

The back door flung open to admit a scowling Blinky, carrying large, glowing rocks in each of his four hands. "You shall not lay a hand on her!" he cried, holding one of the stones aloft threateningly.

Strickler's bulbous eyes widened. "What are you doing bringing Dwarkstones into this house?!"

"Protecting my Trollhunter from the likes of you!" the blue troll cried enraged. "Now, start talking—!"

"Blink!" Jamie interrupted, placing a gentle armored hand on the arm that waved the 'Dwarkstone' most threateningly. "Let's hear him out."

"Your Trollhunter needs no protection from me, Conundrum!" the changeling growled. "It is I who will protect her from Gunmar and his horde!"

Blinky and Jamie shared a look. "Wait," Jamie said. "So we are on opposite sides?"

Strickler sighed, broad shoulders slumping as though he were Atlas carrying the weight of the world upon his shoulders. "Changelings have no side," he said. "Outcast by our own families and forced to hide our true nature from the humans among whom we live, we are our own side. Gunmar has promised a new life for changelings—one in which we have respect! It is for my brothers and sisters that I serve the Skullcrusher."

Jamie's jaw dropped and sadness welled in her heart, "So, your relationship with my mom… is just a cover?"

"No," Strickler said quickly, firmly. "Never—I have always cared for her, though I tried to deny it, tried to make excuses… I fell in love with her. As long as I remain in Gunmar's favor, when the Janus Order inevitably frees him, he will spare your mother, and spare you, at my behest."

"You cannot honestly believe that Gunmar would spare the Trollhunter!" Blinky cried, eyes wide with disbelief. "You are condemning her to death by seeking to release him!"

"And if I do not, I condemn my own kind to eternal exile!" Strickler said with equal vehemence, flinging his arm emphatically. "My family's only chance lies with my success!"

"Or mine," Jamie said, glowering at the monster she had wished to one day call her step-father. "You don't have to serve the Gumm-Gumms to gain equal rights for changelings, Strickler. You can work with us and we'll vouch for you!"

The changeling scoffed, "One human's voice cannot be enough to make up for centuries of prejudice," Strickler said bitterly, "even if that voice belongs to the Trollhunter."

Jamie felt her face flush and her fists tremble with rage. "So, you're just going to give up? You're not even going to try?!"

"I've been trying, Jamie!" Strickler insisted. "I've been working for centuries! If I give up now, all that work, all the sacrifices, will have been in vain!"

"No," Jamie said, voice quivering. "If you let everyone else die, everything will have been in vain. Mom will never forgive you."

The girl watched with anticipation as the changeling lowered his eyes and curled his hands into fists. "If her love is the price I have to pay for her life," he whispered, "then so be it."

Jamie was too furious to maintain her armor and, knowing Strickler would not harm her, dismissed Daylight in a flash of blue. "I'm staying at Toby's for the night," she said coldly, turning toward the door. "Enjoy the rest of your date. That Bridge looked like it was close to being finished…"

With that, she left Strickler alone, stomping out the back door with Blinky hot on her heels. She managed to make it into the woods before completely losing her composure all over her poor trainer.

The clang of sword upon stone echoed across the Forge as Jamie took out her every surrogate-father-induced frustration upon her standard sparring partner. Draal, for his part, was taking the furious beating like the champion he was and calmly blocking her every attack.

"You must maintain a level head whilst in the throes of battle," he stated plainly, parrying another blow with his magnificent horns, "or your rage will blind you to your enemies' advantage. My father always said that there is no room for emotion in the pursuit of justice."

Jamie paused only to heave an angry sigh before pressing forward, slashing mercilessly until Draal was backed against the wall of the Forge. "How can I keep my cool," he blocked another swing, "when the only father I've ever known turns out to be my enemy?"

"Trust me, Trollhunter," Draal stopped the fight abruptly, pinning the tiny human to the floor at just the right angle that her sword could do no further damage. "I understand completely how you are feeling…"

Sighing in frustration at the ease with which her friend had defeated her yet again, Jamie tapped his massive three-fingered hand in surrender before allowing him to help her up to standing. "How would you know what this feels like?" she snarked defensively, crossing her arms. "You didn't even know changelings were around until I told you tonight!"

Draal's reddish-yellow eyes met hers, the corners crinkling with indecision as he regarded her carefully. Finally, the troll averted his gaze and turned away shame-faced. "I once had feelings for an impure…" he admitted with embarrassed disgust.

Despite her surprise at this revelation, affront flooded the Trollhunter as her own feelings of betrayal warred with her indignant opposition toward injustice of any sort. She felt her eyes tighten into slits and her fists clench. "Impure?" she hissed at her sparring partner. "How could you say that about one of your own kind?"

The blue brute seemed shocked by her response for a moment before his eyes narrowed into equally-offended slits of fury. "She betrayed me—used me to get to my father and his amulet!" he roared, getting up in Jamie's face. "She is not my kind. Changelings have no honor! They are nothing like trolls!"

Jamie, now used to trollkind's lack-of-awareness of personal boundaries, held her ground as Draal threateningly shortened the distance between their furious faces. "She is a troll!" she cried indignantly. "Kidnapped as a child—a victim of war! How could you disown her over the hand she was dealt?!"

"How could I? How could she!" Draal combated. "She is the dirty lying manipulator of us—and so is this Strickler for whom you care so much! Open your eyes, Trollhunter: he is not capable of being a true father to you! No changeling is! They are monsters who serve monsters and that's all they will ever be!"

Rage filled the Trollhunter as she realized the extent of the pain her surrogate father faced. She felt called to fight in his stead—to defend his honor and that of the other changelings—and yet, the pain of his deception still weighed upon her shoulders, like a burden she did not yet have the strength to bear. Before she had the chance to retaliate, however, a familiar booming voice broke through the tension drowning the arena. "What in Deya's name is going on in here?!"

Jamie cringed as Blinky entered the Forge, face contorted with concern and frustration. The angry flush that had been spreading across her chest suddenly turn to one of embarrassment as she was caught in the throes of yet another childish argument with Draal by one of the few individuals whose opinion actually mattered to her.

"I'm sorry, Blinky," Draal's growl interrupted Jamie's musings, "but I cannot hope to help the Trollhunter emulate my father if she will not even respect his culture!"

With that, the enormous warrior exited the forge, huffing angrily. Jamie rolled her eyes and grumbled under her breath, "Drama queen…" Of course, she had respect for troll culture! Who did that jerk think he was? If anything, he was the one with no respect, rejecting changelings for—

Blinky turned his six irritated eyes upon his fuming charge and crossed all four of his arms. "Lady Jamie," he ground out. "What could have possibly been so important that it would cause you to drive Draal away after finally converting him to an ally?"

"He called the changelings 'impure'!" Jamie cried defensively. "Who does that? It's not like they had any choice about being taken and turned!"

At her explanation, Blinky visibly softened and approached his pupil to lay a placating hand upon her shoulder. "I'm afraid he knows no other way," he argued. "Were the choice to become changelings their own, the rest of trollkind would not have merely rejected their existence—we would have raged against it! Alas, as the changelings are, in fact, our own children, it is preferable to forget the fact that they even exist; thus, we can forget the pain of their kidnapping and torturous reformation."

"If you pretend your pain doesn't exist," Jamie hissed, fighting the urge to shrug his hand from her shoulder, "you pretend their pain doesn't exist. How can you expect me to just go along with it? Isn't doing nothing just as bad as doing the wrong thing?"

For a long moment, Blinky merely stared at her. Jamie knew there was no tension, no anxiety in the space between them, but something had shifted. There was a heaviness that had not been there before. With a profound sigh, Blinky brushed the flyaway hairs out of her face, gazing fondly into her eyes. "You remind me so much of my brother," he murmured. "He said the exact same thing just before the Battle of Killahead."

Jamie felt her eyes widen at this revelation. "I didn't know you have a brother," she said.

"Had a brother," Blinky said despondently, eyes hazy with distant memories. "Dictatious Maximus Galadrigal. His books fill my library. Caring for them makes me feel like a part of him is still with me."

In that moment, Jamie felt profoundly aware of how little she knew of her mentor, how much life he'd lived before their meeting, how vast his view of the world was compared to her own. She suddenly wondered if Blinky had always been studious or if losing his scholarly brother had driven him to follow in his loved one's footsteps. Instead of asking, however, the girl simply waited while her mentor reminisced. "You have his spirit," he continued finally. "Kind, helpful, easygoing, always striving to do the right thing…"

Jamie smiled at the troll and gave him an affectionate hug. "So do you," she said into his stone chest.

He chuckled and rested his arms around her in a relaxed embrace. "Come, Trollhunter," he said as she pulled out of their hug. "We must make amends with our friend, lest we lose his support to petty squabbling."

Jamie rolled her eyes petulantly at the reminder of her argument with Draal over something so stupid. "He started it…"

As the trainer and Trollhunter wandered the streets of Trollmarket in search of their ally, Jamie realized how determined Blinky's stride was compared to her own listless one. "You know where he went," she observed.

"I assume," Blinky said without breaking his purposeful pursuit, "he went where he always does when he becomes emotional…"

"You mean it's not the Forge?" Jamie asked in surprise. As aggressive as Draal was, she'd assumed his frustrations were best relieved in the ring.

"Since Kanjigar's death and the amulet's denial," her mentor stated, sadness in his tone. "Draal has turned to drink more frequently than he has in years."

Though Jamie's jaw didn't drop, she did feel a decent amount of shock that not only did trolls get drunk but they could become alcoholics just like any human. Who would have thought that the son of Kanjigar, the guy who'd been training his entire life to wield the Amulet of Daylight, would be just as susceptible to vice as anyone else?

As predicted, Jamie and Blinky found Draal tucked in a corner of the pub, nursing a stone mug of who-knows-what with a grumpy look on his face. His only acknowledgment of their approach was a little huff.

Blinky gave his pupil a little shove forward, startling her into stumbling. Her still-armored hip collided clumsily with the table. Draal growled low in his throat at the disturbance but did not send her away. "I'm sorry," the girl started uncertainly, "about the changeling who broke your heart…"

Resolutely, the deadly troll refused to meet her gaze and instead occupied himself by taking a large swig of his strong-smelling drink. Jamie, unwilling to let the subject drop, took a seat across the table from her friend. "And I'm sorry for disrespecting your culture. But I'm not sorry for standing up for the changelings." She wanted desperately to look over her shoulder to gauge Blinky's opinion of her words but forced herself to remain focused on her sparring partner. "No matter what anyone else thinks, they are trolls and I have to protect the good ones. If that means giving the ones who want it a safe place to be themselves, then it has to start with us, with our choices, with our acceptance."

Draal's eyes met Jamie's and remained locked for a long moment. The girl resisted the incredibly strong urge to squirm under his piercing gaze. Just as the silence became unbearable, the blue troll across from her finally deigned to speak. "And what do you expect me to do about it, Trollhunter?" he growled out. "What could one troll possibly do to change an entire world's opinion?"

"You're not just any troll," Jamie gave her sparring partner a sincere smile. "You're Draal the Deadly—Trollmarket's most fearsome warrior and the son of Kanjigar! More people will listen to you than you think."

"And you won't be alone," Blinky finally spoke up from behind Jamie, resting a supportive hand upon her shoulder. "We will stand together in pursuit of peace with the changelings who wish to join our side."

If the creases in his brow were any indication, the mere thought of standing by Blinky in any endeavor was cause for Draal to feel pain. After a contemplative moment, the troll sighed and said, "If you are to embark on such a foolhardy mission, then I would be remiss in my duties to you if I were to let you go alone."

Jamie and Blinky exchanged a quick victory grin before turning their attention back to their friend. "So, you'll do it?" the Trollhunter asked.

"I believe my time will be best spent guarding your home for now," Draal said thoughtfully. "As long as the im—er, the changeling remains close with your family, I will be able to observe his interactions and either vouch for his goodness or protect you should the need arise."

"A sound plan, Draal!" Blinky heartily agreed. "We are grateful for your support."

Jamie placed a hand over Draal's, hoping to convey her gratitude. "Thanks for this," she said.

The brutish troll huffed and finished his drink, setting the empty mug down noisily upon the stone table. "I'll accompany you home this evening, Trollhunter," he said. "But make no mistake, this is not permanent. As soon as Bular falls, I will be returning to Trollmarket."

"You got it, Roomie," Jamie said with a mock salute.

"And I shall inform Aaarrrgh of this fortuitous development," Blinky declared with a smile. "His assistance protecting Master Toby's home would be invaluable until we can discern the changeling's true intentions."

"Good call," Jamie complimented the Conundrum, "as usual."

With a final smile back at her mentor, who was settling down where Draal had once been, presumably to order a drink of his own, Jamie turned and followed her new protector back toward main entrance to Trollmarket.

Jamie and Draal trudged through the forest outside Arcadia Oaks in silence for a long time, the crunching of twigs beneath their feet their only soundtrack. Finally, just where the trees grew thin enough that the stars became visible, the blue troll turned to his tiny human counterpart. "You know," he began uncertainly. "My father would have never given the changelings an opportunity to prove themselves."

The girl rolled her eyes, already painfully aware of where this conversation was going. Before she could retort, however, Draal barreled on, "I'm not so sure he would have been the ideal Trollhunter for the task ahead."

The words made Jamie stop in her tracks and stare in disbelief at the spiky troll beside her. Had she just heard that correctly? Did Draal just question the efficacy of his father—the one being in all the worlds he cared about more than anyone? "Who are you and what have you done with Draal?"

To her surprise, the blue brute broke out into laughter. "I am not saying my father was not the greatest Trollhunter who ever lived—his tales of victory are rivaled only by those of Deya the Deliverer," Draal clarified as they continued their trek to Jamie's house. "I am only saying that beneath the armor, he was still just a troll…" he paused and heaved a heavy sigh. "We would never have known about the changelings in our midst were it not for you, Trollhunter."

Before Jamie was ready to reply, the two arrived at her fenced-in backyard, prompting Jamie to linger momentarily. "I take back what I said when we first met," she said sincerely, locking eyes with her protector, "about you being nothing but a bully…"

Draal snorted mirthlessly, sending his bullring swinging, and looked away. He's ashamed, she realized, recognizing the signs from when she'd discovered Blinky's past failure as a Trollhunter trainer. Jamie continued before he could interrupt. "You are so much more than a big spiky troll, Draal. And I believe you would have made an amazing Trollhunter," she said seriously. "It's like you said, the only reason it picked me over you—or anyone else—is because I'm a human and I can walk among the changelings in human form."

She cast him a small smile before opening the gate and leading him to the basement in silence. He trudged along behind her, obviously lost in thought, until they arrived at the basement. "Do you need anything?" Jamie asked. "Blankets? A mattress? Pillows?"

The troll barked a short laugh, "It appears our nests are quite different from yours, Trollhunter." He then proceeded to reach into the furnace and retrieve a few burning hot coals before settling down upon them, circling before settling like a dog upon a pillow.

Jamie smiled at her new housemate and wondered if all trolls slept on hot coals. She decided as she turned to leave that she would ask Blinky tomorrow. Before she could exit, however, Draal's voice stopped her in her tracks once more, "Trollhunter!"

Her gaze found the troll's. "I don't think the fact that you're capable of walking amongst the changelings is why the amulet chose you," he turned away, almost bashfully, "at least, not the only reason."

For a moment, all Jamie could do was stare before the tingling in her heart space finally became enough to break her from her stunned reverie. He'd accepted her! Someone other than Blinky and Aaarrrgh had finally accepted her! She cast Draal a final brilliant smile before bidding him goodnight and heading to bed, feeling more confident in herself as a Trollhunter than ever before.

Dearest Readers,

Strickler's secret is out (and he's obviously conflicted), Draal and Jamie solidify their sibling bond, and there's some major significant foreshadowing. ;)

To 17: I knooooow! It gets better after a few more fights. Their father/daughter relationship makes me so happy. Lots of fluff to come. AND I hope you enjoyed all the Blue-Guy-bonding. Their relationship gets so much cuter. 3

To merendinoemiliano: Thanks! And yeah, self-sacrifice is always a point-grabber on the coolness level—especially because it was so necessary. I just wish they'd done more with him while he was alive.

Yours,

Elora Story