Some bloody stuff towards the end of chapter, but eh... you see worse things in movies nowadays...

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In his head, the plan sounded as simple as Krel had made it to. Just go back and talk to the two human teens, preferably from the shadows to avoid unnecessary scares or misunderstanding just because of looking different.

Yet Jim was liking it less and less the more he approached them, trailing morosely after his friend and fighting that feeling of restlessness and wrongness with each step he took.

"Krel," he whispered once he just couldn't take it anymore. "Maybe I should… I don't know… wait back there…"

He hated it.

Hated how his stupid troll instinct was conflicting so violently with what his human mind knew was the most sane and sensible thing to do. It was utterly disorienting and distracted him from everything else going around him to the point he had even tripped on his own feet.

At one point Jim just let out a heavy sigh and crouched down. His hands instantly went to his horns and pulling at them seemed to ground him a little bit. "I don't know what's happening…" he murmured. Of all the times for the amulet to stop working... He was sorely missing the feeling of the armor against his skin. "It's…"

Whatever he was going to say was interrupted by a distant cacophony of sounds. Of footsteps and scraping and voices.

"We gotta move," he whispered to Krel. "More snakes..."

He knew he shouldn't be glad about more enemies appearing from behind the next bend in the tunnel, but Jim found himself liking the idea of fighting more than having to deal with whatever was wrong with his instinct. It gave him an immediate purpose, one he knew about and could actively understand and fight, rather than the vague something-is-wrong that had been lingering since the moment he saw the two humans.

"I think the snakes have taken them hostages," Krel was peering into the darkness, hoping to see more than just flickering shadows and hear incomprehensible words. "We should help them."

Jim stilled at the idea. By right, it should be the smartest move. Go there, save the two kids from the evil snakes and show that not all 'monsters' were evil. But… there was always that inward feeling of not-wanting-to-get-close-to-them that he just couldn't…

The Trollhunter groaned loudly and put even more pressure onto his horns. Any more and they felt like they would snap. "I… uh… I can deal with the stupid snakes if you can get those two away…" that the two humans were the source of his conflict was clear by now. Remove them and he would be more effective in dealing with the real threat. "And… I don't know… try to talk to them or something…"

It was as a solid plan of action as he could come up with what he had on his hands. It wasn't much, after all he had no weapons, but it was better than nothing and he knew Krel was right. The snakes had to be taken care of, the kids had to be saved, there was talk to be done, and no amount of circling around it was going to solve any of those things.

"Just… go…" Jim waved a hand towards the oncoming group, helpless to come up with anything more complicated than that. Krel was smart and he would think of something. "I'll follow. I promise."

There was a single moment in which the Akiridion boy seemed to think things over, as if trying to judge if his friend was in the right state of mind to do things. In the end, though, he must have found him good enough because he nodded and disappeared into the darkness as much as a bioluminescent alien could do.

Jim listened then, following Krel's footsteps while he crawled along the edges of the cavern. Every step he took was a fight against that inner feeling he couldn't describe. Every inch he gained was an inch more towards something unknown that made his stone skin crawl. Every breath he took was a struggle to keep down the frustrated growl that threatened to rise.

And then Krel was speaking, and Jim focused on his voice with a fervor he never knew he possessed. It helped ground him, helped him focus on reality rather than the abstractness of his inner struggle.

"Jim..?"

The Trollhunter tensed, hiding into the shadows cast by a protruding formation. He could feel his muscles quivering with the effort of being prepared while moving silently to not give his position away.

Again, he reminded himself of who was his enemy and who was in need of saving.

"I want that blaster!"

Jim couldn't hold it in any longer, he launched himself past his cover and let his frustration and anger out in a roar so loud that shook the cavern's walls. He saw himself rush past Krel's slim form, past the two confused and shocked human teens, and felt himself jump and dig his tusks into the shoulder of one of the snakes.

It screeched back, that hissing and high pitched quality reverberating through the cavity of his lungs. One of its hands clawed at the back of his head, gripping at a horn and tugging violently, only to screech more when the tusks sunk in deeper and latched onto the bone in the shoulder, shattering it.

It was madness.

Jim vaguely realized it only because he was still present enough to wrench the blaster from the beast's hands and launch it towards Krel.

Yet he couldn't stop. That same instinct that he had been fighting until that moment had switched from 'run away' to 'fight till there is nothing left to fight'.

And then… he wasn't sure. His mind was in turmoil. His senses sharp but not entirely registering in his consciousness. It was like his body was on autopilot while his mind was left with only bits and scraps, moving in such an animalistic way that it surprised even him when he caught enough glimpses to realize what he was doing.

There were more claws onto his back, and the pain was enough to snap him out of that trance long enough to shift his attention from one target to the other. He grabbed a wrist covered in green scales, and didn't stop at all in squeezing and shattering the bone. There was a mechanical whine of energy, a flash of unnatural bluish light, and the second snake dropped to the ground, unmoving and with the stench of burnt flesh filling the stale air.

His confused mind registered the death and his body responded with focusing back onto the first snake. It was still clawing at his head and arms, hissing and screeching, tail trashing. Jim growled, unlatched his mouth from the shoulder and went for the throat.

The screeching halted, morphed into a gurgle. There was the overwhelming stench and taste of blood, the sensation of falling as the snake lost the fight and toppled to the ground alongside the other one, quickly dying of blood loss.

And just like it had started, it ended. The haze lifted from his mind and it left Jim tired and spent, and as much as horrified and confused as Krel and the two humans felt.