Shocked how early I got this out, though originally the next chapter and this chapter were combined, but I thought dividing them would be best. I'm going to try and get another chapter out before Christmas break so I can take the week to relax and take time to make my family's gifts. But if I don't, Happy Holidays from me and Happy New Year! I'd also love to hear and reviews you guys have on this story.

"Hurry," Claire grunted, struggling to keep the portal open. She hadn't fully healed from Cassidy, before having Estelle, so using her shadow magic to its extent wasn't the best idea, but it was the only one they had. The plan was supposed to be a quick search and rescue, but both feared it would last longer. Without a weapon, Blinky had lent her a sword that had been recovered from a war zone centuries earlier. She was also supplied with basic needs since they were unaware of what they were walking into. Blinky wanted them that they had a delay and paralyzing venom with them, figuring out so after observing Yvonna closely. He'd tracked she'd been injected with a deadly amount of venom, which was the cause of their death, adding more fear onto the teenager's weak shoulders. Gripping his warm hammer, unsure what they were going to jump into, Toby quickly rushed through the black portal, keeping his eyes shut until making it onto the other side.

"Ahh! Huh?" he questioned at first, finding himself in a black cave cell. It was nothing like the ones they had in the market. This was desolate, with little to no light. He could feel something wet on his feet, seeping through his hand me down sneakers. Letting his Warhammer fall to his side, Toby stepped forward, only turning when he saw Claire come through. The mother of two, gasped making her way through, eyes rolling back and doubling over like she was going to puke."Woah there Shadow dancer," Toby asked, catching the girl before she fainted."You okay?" he asked, concerned.

Regaining consciousness after blacking out for a moment, Claire nodded, keeping her hand on her head as a headache whirred. Sleep has been a dream lately, with Cassidy still refusing to do so, and Estelle being a newborn. Luckily, they'd developed a system of letting Cassidy sit and play with her magnets and toys while they fixed Estelle up, then beginning the battle of getting their one-year-old to sleep."Ya, I should've practiced." she said, though that was near impossible with the girls.

"Don't worry, Madame Lake, I'll protect you," he said, bowing forward, pushing his heel back like he was bowing to a princess. This quick action, and the movement of his heel back, caused him to slip on the liquid the ground was dampened with. In a short second he fell back onto his butt, moving his hand down instinctively to rub it."Great, just gre... what is this?" he asked, raising his hand up.

"One sec," she said, fumbling through her bag to grab her flashlight. Shining it down, she gasped seeing a red liquid cover the ground and Toby's fingers.

"Weren't you trying to use Jim as an emotional anchor?" Toby asked, turning white as soon as he said it. His eyes trailed down to his hand, both realizing what that was.

"Jim," she gasped, ignoring tears as she saw the blood trailed across the floor, belonging to her husband. A fury burned within her ad she shook her head,d ignoring the pounding headache." Come on," she said sternly, helping Toby up, the chubby teen nearly slipping on the liquid.

"Claire," Toby attempted to calm her, but he knew too well how terrifying it could be to be unsure if someone was alive. Hell, Jim had done it to him multiple times in the past two years!"We'll find him," he stated with a shocking amount of certainty in his voice." and after this, I'm giving Jim a lesson on not getting himself fucken locked up."

From that, he managed to get a weak laugh out of her. Lifting a weak hand to his shoulder, she rubbed it gently."Thanks, TP, I needed that,"

"It's what I'm here for," he said, wiping the blood, they suspected belonged to their friend, on his cargo pants.

Claire frowned, wishing Toby knew how much he'd helped them in the past two years, and how he was just as important to the team as the rest of them." You're much more than just our advice Guru and comedic relief." she informed him, the brown-eyed boy smiling at her.

"Thanks, Claire," he said genuinely, not used to getting such recognition."Now, let's kick some Changeling ass," he called out, in a quiet tone as not to catch any unwanted attention.

Claire chuckled, nodding agreeably."Let's."

The halls were all carved stone and ran narrow than the ones back in Troll Market. There was a strange damp order to the facility, but at the same time, it felt burnt, like somewhere, a fire was lit. The flooring concerned both quite a bit as blood trailed down the corridors. But the blood was not Jim's. It wasn't obvious, but the blood was a tinge darker, intervening with a lighter, more orange color of Jim's. The floor was also scraped like someone had been clawing at it. Some of the blood seeped through the cracks as if many poor souls had traveled down the halls. They were dimly lit, glowing crystals every few yards. From off the hall were multiple empty corridors, similar to the one they'd appeared in. The ones they passed were cleaner though, with no blood pooling the floor and also no light.

"S-STOP!" someone screamed a ways away. The voice was shrill and full of pain, high pitched, and choked. Another scream followed but was cut short as someone covered the holder's mouth with something. Still, the person continued to sob through the gag, calling out for anyone's help.

Both teenagers froze midstep, scanning the halls to make sure no one was there. To their relief, there was no sign of a single soul, silence before more screams were heard from far off."Is that...?" Toby asked, shutting his eyes, praying it wasn't his best friend.

"No," Claire assured him, eyes dilated as she tried to ignore the voice.

"Claire...?" Toby asked, questioning her strange composure to the noise. He too was shocked and fearful, but she seemed terrified like she knew something."Is everything okay?"

"It's a child," she managed to say, fighting tears."A young one."

"What?" Toby asked in pure shock."H-how do you know that?"

"I'm a mother, I know when a child is screaming for their own." it wasn't the child that brought fear to her entire body, it was the fear of her own daughters. They had no clue why the Changelings had stolen Jim let alone some helpless child. Jim of course, was the Trollhunter so that could be the answer for him, but she couldn't track a single reason to a child.

"Why would they need a kid?" he asked, tight grip on his War hammer loosen as they heard another series of mumbled screams sourcing form far off.

Claire shuddered at the noise, not wanting to imagine what the poor thing was going through." I don't know. Come on, let's find Jim them we'll save it," she swore, pulling the sword from the strap holster Blinky had lent her. The handle was of oak wood and the screws holding in place rusted from years of use. On the side, the name: Everdeen, was written and Blinky suspected that had been the weapon's original holder. The blade was sharpened but had marks and scrapes against it, relieving Claire that it would survive a fight.

"Glad to see you back in action Shadow Dancer," he grinned, excited to fight - though both hoped that wouldn't be needed - with his old sparring partner.

"Come on," she repeated, the slightest bit of excitement bubbling after over a year out of battle. The idea excited and scared her at the same time.


"HELP ME!"

"... shut up,"

"PLEASE HELP ME!"

"... will you," Jim silenced himself, finally able to open his tired eyes. In the corner of his mind, he was surprised to find no one in the cell across from him, but the noise coming from somewhere down the hall. It brought some concern to him but the notice of almost no pain stole more of his attention. He felt fine. There was no numbing pain, though he did having a horrid headache, and he could feel every inch of him. More shock overwhelmed him as he easily sat up, wincing, and bring a hand down to the side of his abdomen. Peering down, he saw his shirt had been removed and was left wearing his jeans that were scuffed and torn, blood seeping through. A bandage was wrapped around his torso, blood spotting the most on the left side of his chest.

Turning up, he was in a cell with similar ones beside him. In particular, there was one directly across from him that had rope and chains inside of it. Trying to stand so he could get a better look, he found his foot was chained to the ground. Beside him was another chain and blood that wasn't his own.

"PLEASE HElp m..." the words perished, causing Jim's blood to run cold. He hurried back to the ground, hearing the door to the dungeon opening. Pretending to sleep, he kept one eye slightly open so he could watch.

"This one was a hell of a time to deal with," one of the two male guards said. Both appeared to be in human form, surprising Jim. The one speaking had a tanned complexion and was on the outside, fairly attractive, but the white cloaks both wore, stained with blood took away from the charm.

"Ya, Impure wouldn't shut the hell up," the other grumbled, fire-red hair, and reckless crossing his face, reminding Jim of Percy Weasley."Glad to see this one's still asleep, give me time to freshen up before listening to that bitch."

"Don't let Ymir hear ya, or you'll be getting the kid again," the black-haired man warned, opening the door to his cell. Jim heard them toss something beside him, one of the two guys entering after. He heard chains scraping against the ground, unlatching then relatching."That should hold her."

"Eh, I wouldn't worry. By the way, we've handled the Impure, there's no chance of it being able to stand." the red-haired said, spitting on the ground."That one alive?"

"Should be, though heard Ymir fucked him up," he cackled, kicking Jim in the back."Wake up scum!" he yelled rhetorically, the redhead complimenting with a laugh. Jim felt pain at first but it tingled before disappearing altogether, almost like some form of magic was at work.

"Come on, let's get this kid's filth off us before we do him," he said, slamming the cell door as they began out the door. Jim waited to hear the dungeon door close then lock before sitting up. His eyes immediately traveled to the person he'd heard them dragging. His blood ran cold seeing a child beside him, lying with a rag over her mouth and eyes, both of which were bloodied. Her jet black hair was a mess, dirtied, falling over her pale face like the girl from The Ring. She was dressed in bloody and mud ridden Mickey Mouse pajamas, that were torn at the cuffs, shoulders, and ankles. Around her neck was a cheap, firefly necklace that hung around her skinny neck. She was scarred all over but the most noticeable was one running from her eyebrow, down to under her chin, like she'd been slashed. Her breathing seemed heavy and a difficult action for her to replicate. The chains clung to her small ankles with force, and he could see scarring, bringing more worry to him, seeing she'd been there much longer than he had.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked, trying to move as close as he could to the girl. She didn't move, handheld out as if she was reaching for something. On the plan of her hand, he saw a branding in the shape of an I, similar to the one Briar had had on her forehead. Lifting her bleeding palm to press it against his pants in the hope to stop the bleeding, he noticed a slight pain in his own. Turning down to his right hand, he saw a similar I, marking him as Impure. He frowned, ignoring his own bleeding hand, pressing her's against his already bloodied pants. He lifted his clean hand to her cheek, wiping her long hair away.

"... stop," she spoke through the cover, twitching slightly at the contact.

Jim was startled at first, but bit his lip, reminding himself to not scare her." It's okay, you're safe," he lied, bring his hand around her neck, untie the cloth. It fell to the ground, her lips pale from lack of water. His throat grew dry and he suddenly felt quite parched, wishing he had a glass of cold water.

"Momma," she called out, a whimper following, along with a heavy inhale and exhale.

His heart swelled, unaware of his and the child's fate, and if he'd be able to save them having had his amulet confiscated, being beaten up and injected with venom that was to his surprise, no longer affecting him."You're okay. I'll get you back to your momma,"

The child leaned into his hand, comfortable with him."Did they hurt you?" she asked, Jim, noticing blood falling from beneath the cloth covering her eyes.

"Yes," he said, wondering if this child was a Seer. They'd spoken of Lindsay(the dearly departed Lindsay), himself, and Cassidy, who were all Seers. Were they targeting more? If so, how long had they had the child there? She looked malnourished, and he could see many bruises and old scars starting to heal over, scattered across her eight-year-old body. It worried him, making him wonder just how many they had and were hunting. How many Seer's or people of Seer blood would they try and kill? And what was this Order they worked for, and what was their end goal? Ymir had said they would use their combined blood to peer into the future to learn just how they'd win, but what would their endgame entail? It was obvious they wanted Seers dead, not just their blood, but they were also killing humans which wasn't a surprise. But trolls? Why would they want to kill the trolls? They were their brethren, wouldn't their plan end with trolls reclaiming the world?

"W-why are they hurting us?" she asked in a serious and hurt voice, bringing more pain to the teenager's heart."Why did they take us from our families?"

"I don't know," he lied, not wanting to worry the girl anymore. But he began to wonder just how long she'd been away? And did her parents even know she was gone? He hadn't heard of any missing child reports in the area and he didn't expect they'd travel far just for a Seer(then again, Ymir had pretended to be a doctor and his sister just to fool him, so it was very likely they'd travel far for the girl).

"They're going to, they're going kill us. I heard them talking. They're going to kill us soon."

"I won't let that happen," he swore, hoping he'd be able to keep his promise. He watched as the child tried to sit up, an action that seemed difficult but not as hard as it should've been."Why don't you-"

"C-c-can you take off the clothe," she asked him sweetly while cradling her scarred hand. Blood oozed from the sides of the mark, making the letter look like some curse when it had just been dealt out with a sharpened blade. She kept her head tilted towards the ground as if she were afraid of him. It brought a frown to his face, seeing she'd been through some shit, much worse than he'd gone through so far.

"Of course," he said, bring his hands around to unite the double-knotted clothe. He observed how she grabbed onto the firefly necklace as if it gave her some comfort. He smiled, the necklace giving him the opportunity to diverge their conversation to a happier topic."Your necklace is pretty, did your mommy give it to you?"

"N-no," she stuttered, holding the necklace close to her heart. Through the mask, she glanced down at it, making Jim lose his hold on the knot. A smile crossed her face, rubbing the cheap jewels that made up the firefly."My best friend gave it to me."

"That's nice of her," he said, easily managing to get the clothing undone, having had experience with knots, dealing with Cassidy's tank which she got knotted up constantly.

The girl giggled shaking her head." Rowan's not a girl," she laughed, a smile initially forming to hear her laugh, but soon disappearing at the sound of the name.

"Rowan?" he questioned, remembering the name vividly from upsetting memories. The bloodied cloth fell from her torn and bleeding face, hitting the ground silently. She blinky once, when opening revealing two piercing blue eyes.

"Cassidy?"

"Daddy?"

Reviews and Critiques are Welcome.