16.

Easy peasy, Lemon squeezy everything is fine.

Jim turned off his alarm and lay still in bed. He took a deep breath. He was doing this.

He dressed slowly, carefully mapping out his plan in his head. It was a bad idea but it would be wasteful to let this opportunity slip by. Anyway, as Toby said, what were time loops for if not doing stupid things without having to worry about the consequences?

With that thought in mind Jim slipped the amulet in his pocket and headed downstairs.

The house was quiet with his mom still at the hospital. She had called him last night to warn him that she would be there overnight. That was fairly normal, convenient even. Despite that he found himself wishing she hadn't. It was stupid. Her being home right now would make this whole thing harder, but, well… he'd been in this loop for over a week now and he missed her.

Jim had a piece of toast and then shot a text off to Toby and Claire telling them that they should continue the search without him as he had something to do.

The canal was peaceful. The sunlight gave a cheery yellow hue to the cement. The wind chased little eddies of dust and trash around as Jim stashed his bike in the bushes and slid down the embankment.

The temperature dropped slightly when he entered the shadows under the bridge. The hairs on the back of Jim's neck stood up. He glanced around and, finding no one watching him, pulled the horngazel out of his pocket. Opening the portal was practically muscle memory now but his movements were slow as he carved an arc. What would he find on the other side?

"For the doom of Gunmar… Eclipse is mine to command."

The armor flashed into place and Jim stepped through the portal. Once on the other side he tensed, glancing around rapidly for an attack, but found none. There was no-one there. He flinched when the stairs lit up. Why did that have to be a feature? Now that Jim thought about it, hadn't Blinky said Trollmarket was warded against Gum-Gums? What had happened to that?

He shook his head and began to make his way slowly down the stairs. Every step of the way he expected to be greeted by war cries and swords but the air remained eerily silent.

He reached the bottom and stilled, listening. The red light of his armor dimmed as he crept toward the exit to the staircase. Behind him the stairwell faded back into darkness. His eyes adjusted and he saw a faint green glow ahead. So there were guards. He needed to figure out where they were so he could get around without being caught.

He could always kill them, but someone might hear or notice their absence and he wasn't quite ready to deal with that. He wasn't picking a fight. This was just a quick in and out to check a few things, nothing more.

He hesitated a moment before releasing his armor and then, holding his breath, he moved forward.

He stopped just out of sight. Keeping low to the ground he peered around the corner. There was one Gum-Gum standing by the side of the wall closest to him and one pacing back and forth. If there was anything he had learned it was that the Gum-Gums created by the Decimaar Blade were not very smart.

He searched the ground surrounding him. There. A large stone a little smaller than his fist sat on the ground near the wall. He picked it up and tested its weight in his hand. When the pacing Gum-Gum was facing away from him Jim chucked the rock as hard as he could. It made a series of loud thumps as it bounced down an incline. As he had hoped, the moving guard left to investigate the noise.

Jim slipped carefully behind the other guard. He made it past and then another twenty yards or so before the Gum-Gum's head shot up. Jim's heart leapt into his throat as the troll began sniffing the air. He stilled and stopped breathing. It was getting closer. The air was burning in his lungs and little stars were starting appear at the edges of his vision. Jim was distantly aware that he stood no chance if he passed out.

He was just getting ready to say the incantation when the guard let out a grunt and returned to their post. Jim gasped in a breath of fresh air and nearly started coughing. After a minute or two of quiet breathing he was on his way.

He rounded the corner and found himself frozen once again; this time for a very different reason.

Before him stood the Heartstone. The very core of Trollmarket once a proud beacon of light and warmth now pulsed with only a weak sickly light. Veins of black ran throughout it. The crystals in the surrounding rocks also were subdued as if in sympathy.

Jim's heart clenched and he felt water well up in his eyes. He had done this. This was all his fault. If he hadn't ran away into the Darklands. If he had been more careful in dealing with Angor Rot. If he had been more observant… A little smarter… A better Trollhunter…

Jim drew in a ragged breath. There would be time to mourn for Trollmarket later. He was on the clock. He wiped his eyes roughly and began forward.

Dodging the wandering Gum-Gums and Goblins took far more time that he had anticipated. By the time he reached the center of the Heartstone he had only an hour and a half left. Aside from the corruption the glowing chamber was exactly as he remembered it. Even Vendal's stone remains lay undisturbed on the floor. Jim swallowed thickly and began searching.

He was hoping to locate the box containing the stones for the amulet. If he knew where they were they might be able to retrieve them later. Unfortunately Jim could not make sense of Vendal's organization system. He grumbled under his breath as he moved a jar of some sort of fur to the side. What did Vendal even need all this for?

He turned around, ready to start searching the shelves on the other side of the room, and found himself face to face with three large Gum-Gums. They stared at each other for a couple seconds before Jim grabbed his amulet.

"ForTheDoomOfGunmarEcilpseIsMineToCommand!"

There was a flash of red and Jim flung his sword into the chest of one of the guards. They hadn't even finished turning into stone before he had his glaives out and slicing through the air toward the second. Unfortunately they had gotten over their surprise and blocked it. Jim resummoned his sword and charged forward.

They exchanged a quick series of blows but the mind controlled troll was no match for him. Jim sunk his sword into their stomach and jumped back as they crumpled to the ground. He took a moment to steady his breathing.

Wait… There had been a third.

Jim looked around rapidly. A loud moaning sound rang out and he flinched. He charged outside just in time to see the last of the three guards lowering a horn. Jim swore and threw his sword into them. It was too late. Shouts rose from the surrounding area and he ran.

Gum-Gums seemed to be coming out of every building. They were converging on Jim from all around. Most of them had dark armor covering their whole bodies and vacant eyes, tell tale of the trolls turned by the Decimaar Blade, but a few wore only the helmets. Those were the ones he had to look out for. They were the Krubera who were willingly following Gunmar. He dodged under a large gray arm embedded with glowing blue crystals.

Two of them were now in pursuit of Jim. They were barking orders in Troll Speak to the brainwashed solders. Jim regretted more than ever that he hadn't managed to get much studying in on the language. He could understand a few words, but he couldn't put them together quickly enough for it to be helpful. Slowly he was surrounded and his escape cut off. To his surprise most of the trolls kept their distance. The two Krubera kept rushing him, but they didn't stay close for long.

He jumped backward and repelled another rolling attack from the one on the right. Vaguely he registered there was a large open area behind him void of any Gum-Gums. He didn't have time to see why as something came thundering down from above him.

Jim threw himself back narrowly avoiding being crushed. He had a moment to feel relieved by the barrier between him and his opponents before he registered where he was. He was in Hero's Forge. Or, more specifically, he was trapped in Hero's Forge.

A dark thunderous laugh echoed around the arena causing a shudder to run down the length of his body. Jim raised Eclipse and looked around frantically. There. Gunmar stood staring down at him, teeth bared in a malicious smile. Jim pointed his sword at him.

"I cannot believe you were foolish enough to come sneaking in here," The Underlord said. "But perhaps I should not be surprised, as you came to me in the Darklands as well."

Jim's breath was coming in rapid gasps. He had messed up. He had really messed up.

"Well if death is what you seek, perhaps I can find a better use for your pathetic life."

With that statement Gunmar sat down.

Jim didn't have long to wonder what he meant as something blue shot out of the shadows of the Forge. Jim threw himself out of the way, rolled, and came up facing it. He nearly dropped his blade. It was Draal.

"No. No. No!" Jim felt like he was on the verge of passing out. He couldn't do this again. "Snap out of it, Draal!"

They circled around each other. Draal slammed his fists into the ground, roared, and charged Jim. He threw himself out of the way, parrying Draal's blows as the troll relentlessly attacked.

"Please, Draal." There were tears on Jim's cheeks. Distantly he could hear Gunmar's taunts.

"Please."

He took another step back but there was nothing there. Eclipse vanished from Jim's hand as he desperately flailed for balance. A huge fist closed around his chest and, for one heart stopping moment, he was suspended above the lava. Draal stared at him as Jim whimpered and clung to the fist around his waist. Something stirred in the back of Jim's mind but before the thought could fully form Gunmar called out from beyond them. Draal grunted, pulled Jim back from the cliff and hurled him into the ground. The force of the impact drove all the air from his lungs. Pain exploded across his body and everything went black.

Jim's awareness came back with something poking his chest. He opened his eyes. Sharp pains shot through his head as his vision slowly cleared. He wished it hadn't. Gunmar was standing over him with the Decimaar Blade pressed against Jim's unarmored chest. He tried to crawl away but something was holding him in place. He looked up and his eyes met Draal's empty glowing ones.

Jim's head was forced forward and his gaze met Gunmar's. He was saying something but Jim couldn't hear him over the ringing in his ears. He didn't really need to; the tyrant's expression said everything. Jim struggled weakly as the tip of the Decimaar Blade came to rest against his forehead.

There was a flash of blue.

Author Note:

So I was going to wait to post this chapter until next weekend (as to establish an every other week schedule), but it's written. So here it is. Who wants schedules anyway? I'd rather just pop out of nowhere, throw down a chapter and then vanish for an indeterminate amount of time.

I had fun writing this chapter. I'm so sorry Jim.

As always tell me what you think!

Next time... Fallout.