merendinoemiliano-Thank you! Hopefully action scenes in future chapters will be more to your liking!

T3ddyBearL0ve-Haha thank you! As an fyi, berserker trolls are not half trolls! They just look a bit more human. Yes, 'interesting' is the nicest way to describe Helgar. She's a real piece of work. I hope you like what comes next!

crocodilesmile55-Oh my gosh that would be fantastic! Bagdwella is such an icon lol. I'll definitely try to do something similar to what you suggested in future chapters!

"Whoa," Jim breathed, eyes wide. "This is…amazing."

Okay, he should probably elaborate. 'Dwoza' itself wasn't amazing. It was much, much smaller than Trollmarket, and wasn't nearly as warm and colorful as it either. Several shops built from wood and cardboard dotted the lone street. The only source of light came from the crystals embedded in the walls and ceiling, with no neon lights from the surface to lend a hand. About a dozen trolls, all in similar build to Carbak, wandered the street. It was actually kind of depressing.

But despite the emptiness of the cavern, Jim had never felt so-so warm. It was like drinking a cup of cocoa on a cold winter's day, when the warmth rushed through your body. He also felt energized, like he could climb a mountain. Even the throbbing in his head seemed to lessen.

Carbak chortled as he and Jim walked down the street. "I assume you're talking about our Heartstone, and not this pitiful excuse of a Trollmarket."

"Yeah," Jim hummed, still in a daze from the Heartstone. Then he blinked and quickly spluttered, "N-no, I mean this-Dwoza-it's nice! Really. It's just, I've never been around an active Heartstone before-"

"I think you mean you forgot," Carbak interjected, snatching a piece of meat from what Jim assumed to be a butcher's shop. "No troll can be born without being in the presence of a Heartstone."

"Yeah! That's-that's exactly what I meant," he laughed nervously. He looked around for the crystal, but the only thing in the cavern was this street and caves like the one he and Carbak had just left. No giant hunk of rock in sight. "Where, uh, where is the Heartstone anyway?"

"Oh, it's in Jurah's cave," Carbak replied. "She's feeling unwell, so we put it there so she can recover more quickly."

Jim whirled to face the orange troll. "Hold on-you guys can fit your Heartstone into a cave?" He grimaced when Carbak gave him a weird look. "I mean-it just seems like a Heartstone should be big. That's all."

Carbak sighed. "You're right. They should be. But there's so few of us, we don't need an enormous Heartstone like the one in-oh, what's the place called-New Jersey. That big boy can supply hundreds and hundreds of trolls. But it wasn't necessary for us, so we kept searching until we found a small one here, in Colorado-"

"WHAT?!" Jim yelped, startling Carbak and several other trolls. "I'm in-I'm in Colorado?!"

Carbak winced and placed a hand on Jim's back. "Let's go somewhere quiet," he said, steering him to a cave with trollish runes carved on the front. "He's fine, guys!" he called to the trolls staring inquisitively after them.

Jim barely noticed the stacks of books that littered the floor, or when he was gently pushed to sit down in a niche. The only thing that buzzed through his mind that he was in Colorado. Colorado! The last he checked, they had just crossed into Utah a few days ago! He couldn't have-

He swallowed hard, his eyes darting from one book to the next. Was it really just a few days? Or was it more than that? For all he knew, he could've been on gravesand for a week-maybe longer. He frantically patted his armor's pockets for his phone and cursed. It must've fallen out a while ago, but he had been too crazed to notice.

"Kid," Carbak said softly, sitting down on a stack of books next to him, "you alright?"

"No," Jim whispered, running his hands through his hair. "I'm not alright. I just remembered something-I shouldn't be in Colorado. I should be in Utah!"

He whistled. "That's quite a ways…gravesand makes you do incredible stuff sometimes." He looked away. "And horrible things too. Us berserker trolls should know."

Jim raised his head, his own problems momentarily forgotten. "Carbak…why are there so few trolls in Dwoza? And why do they all look like…you?"

Carbak abruptly stood, making Jim start. "We'll talk about this tomorrow," he said shortly, not meeting Jim's gaze. "Even with the Heartstone, you need to take it easy. Get some rest. These books," he gestured at a pile, "were taken from the surface, when we still went up there. Some have the history of our kind. Maybe reading about us will help you remember."

"Carbak, I-"

He turned around to face Jim, a forced smile on his face. "Hey, I'll explain everything tomorrow, alright? Promise. I just need to-yeah. Tomorrow." With that, the orange troll departed, leaving Jim alone in a room full of books he could barely read.

.

.

.

For the thousandth time, Claire wished she had her shadow staff. With just one swipe, she could portal her, Nomura, Blinky and every other troll safely away. And Merlin too, I guess, she grumpily added.

But she didn't. All she had was her own bare hands, and what good were those in a cell? There wasn't even a lock she could attempt to pick with one of her hair clips. And Nomura had already broken two claws scratching the glass. Their days were spend plotting on ways to escape, sleeping, and eating bland food served by a surly guard.

As if on cue, steps shuffled their way. Claire sighed, picked herself up from the floor, and walked to the food slot. She had considered not eating as a form of protest, but after Blinky told her she would need her strength should they escape, she had abandoned the idea.

Only the guard was different this time. He wasn't even surly. In fact, he looked the exact opposite of it.

"I, um, have your food," a young man squeaked, holding up a tray with three plates on it. He couldn't have been too much older than Claire. He blew his messy brown hair from his eyes. "If you want it…"

"Hey, I know you," Nomura said slowly, rising to her feet. "You're that kid…Vardan, right?"

The young man beamed. "You remember me?"

"It'd be pretty sad if I didn't remember the kid who brought me coffee for five years."

"Ms. Helgar doesn't remember sometimes, and I still get her her coffee," he mumbled. He started and looked up, as if remembering himself. "Bu-but I can't talk to you! You're a prisoner, a traitor of the Janus Order!"

"Trust me, Vardan, leaving the Janus Order was the best decision of my life," Nomura said. She studied him. "But at least I was treated well. Why don't you leave? Unless things have drastically changed, the other changelings treated you like a slave."

"I-I-that's not important!" he spluttered. He pressed a button, pushed the tray through the slot, and darted away. "G-goodbye! Wait, I can't say that to prisoners! Stupid Vardan!" He continued to berate himself as he ran down the hallway.

"That boy," Blinky remarked, "is not your average changeling."

"Exactly," Nomura said, showing off her fangs in a wide smile. "And I think we can use that to our advantage."

A/N: Yes! I actually updated sooner than a month lol. Get ready for a crap ton of exposition in the next chapter!

Vardan is such a soft boy, he's so fun to write. He sort of reminds me of Varian. (Wait. Vardan…Varian. Oh crap don't notice that hehe)

I hope you guys liked that chapter, and I'll see you in the next update! Please leave a review!