Chapter 7: The Hunters

Hilda, Frida, David, Twig, Alfur, and Adeline were sailing in the Sea Sparrow to Cauldron Island and enjoying all that they saw along the way. For obvious reasons, it didn't take as long to get there as before.

"Oh I can't wait to meet the Lindworm from your report, Alfur." Adeline eagerly said.

"Just remember that lindworms are not social creatures." Alfur warned.

The Sea Sparrow hit land and the anchor was dropped. After closing the sail, the group stepped onto the island. They climbed over the hills and entered the garden that rested in the middle.

"So this is the garden you told me about." David said. "I never saw it last time. It's beautiful."

"You can wait in the boat if you want." Frida offered.

"No thank you. I'll be okay this time." David assured.

"Excuse me! Lindworm!" Hilda called. "Please don't get too mad! We have no contracts this time! We promise!"

A moment later, the lindworm came forth and slithered to the group.

"This had better be good." the lindworm said with flaming nostrils.

"Our friend just wanted to meet you." Hilda said.

"Hello. I'm Adeline." the excited elf said from atop Twig's head and next to Alfur. "What's your name?"

"I...uh...well...we don't normally have names." the lindworm said. "On account that we're not very social."

"Oh, sorry. We didn't know that."

"We could give you a name if you'd like." Hilda offered.

"Go ahead. I don't really care."

"Any ideas?" Hilda asked her friends.

"Well she looks like an Amelia." Frida suggested.

"I once heard the name Cynthia." Alfur said.

"Ooh, how about Sif?" Adeline asked.

"I can't think of any." David said. "What about you?"

"I was thinking... Flora." Hilda said. "For obvious reasons."

"That name!" the lindworm said, surprising the whole group. "It's as beautiful to my ears as my garden is to my eyes. I would be honored to be called that."

"Flora it is then." Adeline happily wrote down the name in her report book.

"Is your garden the reason you haven't left this so-called island?" Frida asked.

*Sigh* "Sadly, yes." Flora said. "I made this garden myself and called it my home. How can I just leave it? And then there's the beast it rests on top of. It could reawaken at any moment. I don't know what to do."

"Actually, we heard that the kraken will be sleeping for at least one hundred and seventy-five more years." Hilda said. That gives you plenty of time to find a new place to move your garden to."

"Really!?"

Hilda nodded.

"Well in that case, I should get started." Flora slithered all the way onto the water. "After I've found my new home, you're all welcome to visit if you wish. And thank you for this and my name."

And off she went flowing atop the ocean.

"That was the nicest she's ever been." Frida said.

"So what now?" David asked.

"We still have the garden to admire." Hilda said.

So they did. While they were each looking at different natural treasures, Hilda felt something on her head.

"Are you okay, Hilda?" Twig asked.

"I'm fine Twig." Hilda said. "I just thought there was something on my head. I guess I was feeling things."

The eyes of the others widened from hearing that.

"Uh, Hilda? Doesn't that mean you're about to..." David was interrupted by the sight of horns sprouting from the top of Hilda's head. "Do that."

"Woah!" Hilda touched her new horns. "How does giving a name earn me this?"

"I think it was making Flora happy that did it." Frida guessed.

Then Hilda's legs merged into a tail.

"Wah!" she fell forward with a faceplant.

Frida and David ran over and helped their friend up.

"Are you alright?" Frida asked.

"I'm not hurt, but it is weird not having legs." Hilda said while looking at her new tail.

After finding her balance, she tried moving across the ground. She fell a few more times, but then got the hang of it. Then she noticed that her hands had changed too.

"I wonder if I can breathe fire yet." Hilda slithered to shore and tested it out.

First she just plain blew, but nothing happened. Then she blew a little harder and out shot some blue flames.

"Cool!"

That was when the rest of her changed into the body of a lindworm. She looked at her reflection in the water and liked what she saw. She also noticed that her snout was shorter than Flora's, but that was most likely because she's still a child.

"I look incredible!" she said. "I'm going to try floating on the water!"

She quickly gave it a try and floated with ease.

"We better get back in the Sea Sparrow before Hilda takes off without us." Frida half-joked.

Into the Sea Sparrow the rest of the group went and off they all went across the water. Hilda glided along the side of the boat like she was skating on ice. Sometimes she leaped over the boat to the other side too. She and her friends were having the time of their lives. They eventually reached an empty beach and Hilda changed back.

"Now that we've done all that, let's go to my house." Frida suggested. "My parents are going to be out for a while, so we can try some new magic
together."

"I don't know, Frida." Hilda said. "The way you learn is very... boring."

"It's okay, Hilda. It won't be like the invisibility spell this time. I promise." Frida assured.

"Alright, let's go."

The others agreed to the idea as well.


Hilda and her friends were more than half way there when they spotted three people they had never seen before. One of them was a blonde man with some rifles and a large backpack. Another was a red haired woman with a pair of pistols. The third one was a brown haired and bearded man who had a big knife and looked the most intimidating out of them.

"Bjorn, Signe, is everything ready?" the bearded man asked.

"Yes, sir." Bjorn the blonde man replied.

"All ready, Ulf." Signe the woman said.

"Good. The hunt begins tonight."

Then the three of them walked past Hilda and the others, giving some of them the creeps. A couple minutes after the visitors were out of sight, the kids started talking again.

"I have a bad feeling about them." David said.

"They're most likely just hunting for meat." Frida said.

"Meat. Yuck." Hilda groaned.

Before they could start walking again, David glanced at his blue-haired friend and saw that something was off.

"Hilda, why are your elf ears out?" he asked.

"What?" Hilda felt her ears which did indeed change. "I don't know."

She changed them back, but then her boots vanished and her feet became deerfox hooves.

"Oh no, I think I'm having another side effect."

"Another?" Frida asked.

"The book said that sometimes things like this would happen." Alfur explained. "The first time it happened, Hilda was an elf and she couldn't fully change back."

Then Hilda's left hand turned to stone.

"Quick, into the alley." Frida said.

They all ducked into an alleyway where nobody could see them just before a lindworm tail sprouted from Hilda's butt.

"How long does this last?" David asked.

"Last time, it was several hours." Hilda said as she changed her body parts back.

"It's okay. I'll just turn you invisible until we get to my house." Frida pulled out her wand only for Hilda to shrink down to six inches tall. "Or I can just carry you."

She picked her up by the back and hid her in her pocket.


It took them a while, but they reached Frida's house and got inside. They immediately headed upstairs and into Frida's room. When Frida pulled Hilda back out, the latter looked funny. She had deerfox antlers, a saltlion tail, a long nose, and her arms were wings. While Frida and David laughed a little at her, Hilda returned to her true form.

"Well at least we're safe now." Hilda said.

"Frida, is that you and your friends!?"

"What? How can my parents be home already?" Frida panicked. "If they catch you changing, Hilda, we're doomed."

"Why don't you just call Hilda's mum?" Adeline suggested.

"Good thinking." Hilda said right before her deerfox tail popped out.

"Frida?"

"Oh no! My Mum's coming." Frida pulled Hilda by her tail to the closet and hid her inside.

Then came a knock.

"Come in." Frida said.

The door opened and in came Frida's mum.

"Frida, why didn't you respond?" she asked.

"Sorry, Mum. I was just confused. I could've sworn you and Dad were busy today." Frida said.

"We had to reschedule. Hello, David. Wait, doesn't Hilda usually come too?"

"She had to use the bathroom." Frida then had an interesting question come to her mind. "Oh, I've been wondering something. Why do you and Dad hate witches so much?"

"Well to be honest, I'm just afraid of them because of a scary movie I watched as a child. Your father on the other hand..."

"Honey, have you seen my book?" Frida's dad called.

"No, but I'll help you look for it." her mum left the room and went back downstairs.

Once the coast was clear, Hilda came out with a right webbed hand and lindworm horns.

"Thanks, Frida. You better hurry." Hilda said as she changed back again.

"Not before I make you invisible." Frida said.

"Maybe I left it in Frida's room."

"Now my Dad's coming!" Frida said.

Hilda went back into the closet just before Frida's dad knocked and came in.

"Frida, did I leave my book in..." he spotted some clothing sticking out at the bottom of the closet door. "What are you hiding in there?"

"Nothing." Frida lied.

"Yup. Nothing." David added.

Frida's Dad wasn't buying it. He marched over and opened the closet door. Luckily, Hilda hadn't changed at all.

"We were just playing hide and seek." Hilda said.

"Oh. Well why didn't you say so?" Frida's dad said. "Now about my... Ah! There it is."

He found the book on one of Frida's bookshelves.

"Sorry, Dad." Frida said. "I guess I forgot to return it."

"That's alright."

Suddenly, Hilda's nose itched.

"Ah...ah...AH...AHHH..."

"Hilda, are you..." was all Frida's dad could say.

"ACHOOOOO!" Hilda accidentally sneezed out blue fire.

"What was that?" Frida's dad asked with a hint of anger. "I demand an explanation!"

The kids froze. Hilda knew Frida's secret couldn't be revealed without any trust. She could only think of one thing to say that could save her friend.

"It's magic." Hilda said. "Because I'm a witch in training."

All of her friends were surprised by her choice of lie. However...

"A witch!?" Frida's father pointed to the door. "Get out of our house! You are no longer welcome here!"

Hilda and Twig with the elves left the room and walked down the stairs, passing Frida's mum.

"What's going on?" the mum asked.

"That girl is a witch!" Frida's father said.

"She is?"

"I saw her make fire just by sneezing!"

Hilda and Twig stepped out of the house while Frida tried to stop what was happening.

"Dad, wait! Hilda isn't..."

"She can't be trusted, Frida!" her father said. "This family must never tolerate witches!"

He slammed the door hard and locked it.

"Maybe you were too quick to judge." Frida's mum said. "She may be odd, but she's never done anything bad before."

"We've been through this." her father said. "The answer is no!"

"You may not trust witches, but I do. Goodbye. I've got a friend to comfort." David unlocked the door and left.

Little did he know that he went to comfort the wrong girl. As Frida's parents went into the next room, she just stood there. The horrified look on her face was as if she just saw somebody die.


Hilda was lucky she managed to avoid getting caught again before making it home. David had already done his best before doing the same as her. That night, Hilda was in her room and on her bed after telling Johanna what happened and getting some more comfort from her. Once in a while, at least one of her parts would still change. Then shortly after her hands became black claws on white fur, the still injured Raven came in.

"Hey, Hilda." he calmly said. "I overheard what happened. How're ya doing?"

"I wish I could say that I'm feeling better." Hilda replied. "I'm not even sure if I really helped Frida or not."

"Maybe you did." Raven suggested. "I'm no expert on families, but I wouldn't want a dad who hates what I am. If that guy can't accept the truth, then who needs him?"

"I'd rather he does accept it, but maybe you're right." Hilda said as she changed her hands back.

She looked out the window to think about possibly telling Frida's family the truth. But that thought stopped when she spotted a little troll on the road.

"Is that Baba?" Hilda opened the window and went down the fire escape.

She ran onto the road and confirmed who the troll was.

"Ba-bah-bah-ba."

"It is you." Hilda hugged Baba like she was a little sister. "Wait, where's your mum?"

She looked around and listened for an adult troll voice, but there was only Baba.

"Is that a baby troll?" came a voice Hilda recognized.

She got up, turned around, and there stood Amanda.

"Hello, Amanda. Are you going out to scare someone again?"

"Naturally." Amanda said. "So who's your little friend?"

"This is Baba. I met her and her mum in a cave once. I've been friends with both of them since then."

"Baba? Why would you call a troll that?"

"Ba ba ba bah bah ba bah ba ba." Baba said.

"Nevermind."

"I think it went this way." a voice said.

*Gasp* "Quick. Let's hide." Hilda pulled Baba to some trash cans and they hid behind them.

For some reason, Amanda joined them. Hilda covered Baba's mouth and peaked over their hiding place. She immediately recognized who came around the corner.

"I've seen those three earlier." Hilda whispered. "They're hunters."

"Hunting in the city?" Amanda whispered back.

"How could you lose a baby troll, Bjorg!?" Ulf said. "They aren't that fast!"

"I tripped, alright!?" Bjorg replied.

"I think it went this way." Signe pointed down the road.

The hunters all left, but the girls remained quiet a little longer just in case.

"Oh great. First poachers, now these guys." Amanda said.

"They must from out of town and not know about the new law." Hilda said as she got up. "We have to warn them."

"What do you mean we-wait, where are your legs?"

"My legs?" Hilda looked down and saw that she had elf legs. "Oh, my powers are temporarily out of control."

She then changed them back. Suddenly a car drove by and stopped in front of the apartment building. For some reason, it was Frida's mum who came out of the car and went into the building.

"Something's wrong." Hilda said. "Amanda, help me carry Baba into my room. I need to know why Frida's mum is here and I can't risk anyone seeing her."

"Oh no. You just want me to play babysitter." Amanda refused with her arms crossed. "I'll keep those guys from killing any trolls, but I will not do that."

"Please?" Hilda gave her the puppy eyes.

"Nice try, but that's not gonna work on me."

Hilda grabbed Baba and hugged her like a teddy bear while still using the puppy eyes.

"No, no. I'm not giving in." Amanda showed signs of weakness. "You... can't-make-me-do it."

Then Hilda added her half deerfox form.

"RRRRRRRRRR... FINE!"

Hilda changed back and sprouted wings which surprised Amanda. Due to Baba being heavy, they both carried her up to the window and went into Hilda's room.

"Hilda, who are they?" Raven asked.

"A talking bird?" Amanda said.

"Why are they in here?" Alfur asked.

"Bababah." Baba said.

Adeline had no idea what to say and Twig just sat and watched. Hilda was in a hurry, so she quickly introduced everyone with a pointing finger.

"Raven. Amanda. Baba. Alfur and Adeline who you can't see without paperwork. Now everyone please keep an eye on Baba."

Hilda then left the room as her face became that of a saltlion. Baba then started running around the room and making a mess.

"Woah, hold still!" Amanda tried to stop her. "Put that down! Hey! Let go of my hair!"

Hilda walked to the living room and shook her face back to normal just before Johanna let Frida's mum in.

"Have either of you seen Frida? She's missing!"

"What!?" Hilda couldn't believe what she just heard.

"She's not here." Johanna said. "What happened?"

"Hilda most likely told you about the incident." Frida's mum said to which Johanna nodded. "Well after that, Frida seemed too quiet even during dinner. Eventually I went to her room to ask her what was wrong, but she was gone!"

She started crying and added "I'm starting to think this is our fault."

"You're not too far off." Hilda said. "You didn't really do anything wrong, but your husband kicked me out. Frida probably couldn't stand living with someone like that. He probably wouldn't believe anything I say or even listen if he was here."

"Why do you think I came here instead." Frida's mum replied. "I had to convince him to check David's house."

Hilda was just as worried about Frida, so she made an instant decision.

"I know I'm not trustworthy right now, but I promise I'll find Frida." she then went back to her room.

"Hilda, wait!" Johanna followed her only to freeze in her room after seeing Amanda and Baba.

Surprisingly Amanda was actually playing with Baba and Raven, but now she was caught, nervous, and embarrassed.

"Hilda, who is this?" Johanna asked. "And what's Baba doing here?"

"Mum, this is Amanda." Hilda said. "She's a friend. And Baba is being hunted."

"Hunted!?"

Hilda explained what had happened in the last ten minutes, changing a couple parts for Amanda's sake.

"This is bad. We can't let them do that." Johanna said. "I'll keep an eye on Baba. You find her mother as well as Frida. Oh, and Amanda. Please don't surprise me like that again. I thought you were a criminal for a moment."

"Got it." Amanda said.

"If we could borrow Twig, we'd ask the Braga clan for help." Alfur said.

"Good thinking, Alfur." Hilda said. "Twig, I need you to go with Alfur and Adeline."

Twig nodded and let the elves onto his head. As Hilda, Amanda, and Twig left the apartment building, the latter carried his little passengers to their destination.

"I take it your bird friend is where you got those cool wings?" Amanda asked.

"Yup. Thanks." Hilda said. "I hope you don't mind helping us find Baba's mum and Frida."

"I'm only doing this for the trolls." Amanda said. "But no, I don't mind. So where are we going to search first?"

"A nearby friend."


A short while later, they arrived at Tildy's and knocked on the door. Soon enough, Tildy came and answered it.

"Why hello, Hilda." she said. "What brings you here tonight? And who do we have here?"

"This is Amanda." Hilda said. "And we're here because Frida ran away from home. Is she here?"

"Oh dear. I wish I could say yes, but she isn't. Why would she do a thing like that?"

"I had to protect her secret by telling her father that I was a witch. Then I got kicked out."

"I see. Then I better help you." Tildy came out and closed the door. "And it looks like we'll have one more helping too."

Hilda and Amanda turned and saw David approach them.

"When I heard about Frida, I made a fake me for my bed and snuck out." David explained. "Wait. What is she doing here?"

"Whatever I feel like." Amanda said with a smirk. "Maybe I'll find a little chicken to scare."

"You mean like a mirror?" David asked.

That joke took Amanda by surprise. Hilda chuckled at David's comment as her deerfox tail popped out. Amanda didn't like being laughed at, so she yanked Hilda's tail.

"AH! Amanda!" Hilda glared at the mischievous marra. "Why does everybody keep grabbing my tail?"

"Perhaps we should focus on what's important." Tildy said.

"Right. We need to find Frida and a troll."

"A troll?" David asked.

"Those hunters we saw before are after the two my Mum and I befriended. But how do we find anyone?"

"Maybe you can sniff for Frida." David suggested.

"Good idea, David." Hilda changed her nose and started sniffing around.

Hilda smelled around the place, but there was no scent that came from Frida.

"It's not working." Hilda said as she changed her parts back. "I can't pick up her scent."

"Perhaps to find Frida, you need to think like her." Tildy suggested.

"That'll be easy." Hilda said. "If there's anything Frida loves, it's badge collecting. So maybe she's hiding at Sparrow Scout Hall."

"Could you describe where that is?"

"Sure. It's right between the woods and the city itself that way."

"I know a near enough place to get us there faster." Tildy began to float and glow.

The group was briefly surrounded by magic and like that, they were in a new area.

"I knew it. Another witch." Amanda said.

Tildy smiled and made the shush gesture.

"I recognize this part of the city." Hilda said. "Come on. This way."

The others followed her and a few minutes later, they reached Sparrow Scout Hall. Thus they began their search.

"Frida! Friiidaaa!" Hilda and David called.

Amanda looked around and Tildy used the locating spell. After at least fifteen minutes of searching inside and out, they all regrouped without any sign of Frida or the troll.

"I thought for sure she'd be here." Hilda said.

"It's okay, Hilda." Tildy patted Hilda. "We can still find her."

"Maybe she's at the library." David guessed.

"Let's go then." Hilda said.

However, before they could go, a car caught their attention and stopped. This time, it was Frida's father who came out and he was mad. He stormed over to them and started yelling.

"Alright, where's my daughter!? I know you did something with her! I wouldn't be surprised if all of you were witches too!"

"I didn't take Frida!" Hilda shouted. "She ran away because of you and your problem with witches!"

"Don't give me that! Witches are the problem!"

"No they aren't! Magic doesn't even make anyone evil! It's more like how they use it! So quit this unfair hatred!"

"Unfair hatred!? I oughta..." Frida's father paused and actually thought about what Hilda said. "Okay, maybe you have a point. But I still don't trust you. I will find my daughter."

He then walked off to the lodge.

"Do you think he might change his mind?" Hilda asked the others.

"I don't know, but I think he has the same idea as you." Amanda said.

"Then we should hurry." Tildy said before relocating the group again.

Now they were in the library and a few yards from Kaisa.

"What is going on here?" Kaisa asked.

"Frida ran away." Hilda answered. "Is she here?"

"I'm sorry, but nobody has come here tonight. However, I can now check to make sure." Kaisa pulled out her wand and successfully used the locating spell.

She checked every nook and cranny including the first few secret rooms, but found nobody.

"She's not here."

"Thank you anyway, Kaisa." Tildy said. "And I see you've been reteaching yourself."

All of them including Kaisa stepped outside.

"This isn't working." David said. "No matter where we look, Frida isn't there."

"You're right, David." Hilda said. "Maybe we should split up."

"Oh this is getting stupid!" Amanda said, surprising and confusing everyone.

"What do you mean stupid?" Hilda asked.

"Think about it! I may not know Frida like you do, but I do know that she's too smart to go where someone would look! Heck if I had her problem, I'd want to get as far away from it as possible!"

"That's it!" Hilda said. "She's planning to leave Trolberg. She must've gone to the train tracks."

"Then that's where we'll go." Tildy said.

"Hold on!" David said. "It's the hunters."

The others looked and he was right. The hunters were trying to be stealthier than before which could mean that they're getting closer. Therefore, Hilda and the others were possibly running out of time.

"I think we need a new plan." Hilda said. "Amanda, keep an eye on them and make sure they don't find any trolls."

"That'll be fun to do." Amanda said.

"Wait. It'd be safer if I went instead." Kaisa offered.

"That won't be necessary." Tildy said. "After all, she is a marra."

Kaisa was surprised to learn this, but the younger party members were even more shocked.

"Wha-how'd you know?" Amanda asked.

"I've seen your mood among teenagers many times." Tildy happily explained. "It's very common for marra to act the way you do. And knowing Hilda's friendliness toward creatures and spirits, it only made sense. But don't worry. I won't tell anyone."

"Uh... thanks." Amanda went off in a flash of green aura.

"Are you sure we can trust her to do that?" David asked.

"She's helped us before." Hilda said.

"Either way, we should get going." Tildy said. "Kaisa, are you coming?"

"Yes I am." Kaisa agreed.

"Then let's go." Tildy teleported the group to the train tracks near the wall.

Once there, both witches used the locating spell to see if Frida was nearby. She was not.

"Did we beat her here?" David asked.

"Either that..." Hilda looked out the hole in the wall. "Or she's already out there."

"You three go ahead and search the outside." Tildy said. "I'll wait here in case she comes. I have more than enough spells to avoid missing her."

Hilda, David, and Kaisa obeyed and were almost immediately outside of Trolberg.

"I'll search from above." Hilda sprouted her wings, but then stopped.

"What's wrong?" David asked.

"I just realized something." Hilda said. "I can control my forms again."

She then flew up high above the walls of Trolberg and looked carefully while David and Kaisa did their best below. She scoured as much of the nearby wilderness as she could from the open fields to the crowded trees. The only living things she could spot were trolls and woffs. Then she recognized one of the trolls, but it was not one of the nice ones. The troll had two heads and a really bad attitude. Hilda almost ignored the stone bully, but one detail wouldn't let her. The troll was holding someone in their hand.

"FRIDA!" Hilda flew down at the troll.

When she landed, it was clear that the two-headed troll remembered her.

"You!" both heads said.

"Put... her... down." Hilda ordered.

"Make us."

Hilda turned into a lindworm and blew fire at both faces. The troll roared and dropped Frida. Hilda quickly slithered in time to catch her.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yes. Thank you, Hilda." Frida replied.

"You're dead!" the troll shouted.

"Frida, run." Hilda said.

Frida headed back to the wall and Hilda switched to her troll form. The big troll lunged at her, but she ducked and punched them in the leg. After roaring in pain, the big troll turned and tried to grab Hilda. She jumped and punched the right head. The big troll grabbed a nearby log and swung it at her like a club. Hilda dodge-rolled and leapt again to punch the left head. She then snatched the log as it was being dropped and knocked them several feet away with it. The big troll crashed through some trees and flew into a boulder bigger than them. By the time they got up on their knees, Hilda was already standing before them.

"What... are you?" the heads asked.

"I am a familiar." Hilda swung both fists up at both jaws, knocking the big troll out.

She completely turned into a deerfox and ran back to Trolberg. There Frida was with the others, getting questions about her condition.

"As I told Hilda, I'm fine." she said. "But I should've stayed invisible instead of assuming I wouldn't get hurt. How did you even find me anyway?"

"Believe it or not, Amanda helped us." Hilda said. "But that's not what's most important, Frida. I know you don't want to go back, but this isn't the answer."

"Hilda, what my father did to you is exactly what he would've done to me."

"You don't know that for sure." Tildy said. "He might surprise you. I was once surprised in a similar way by someone I met a long time ago."

"And if he does do what you expect, you'll still have people who care about you." Kaisa said.

"Maybe you can live with one of us if things get worse." David suggested.

Frida thought about it. Then she said "Well I'm not really safer out there anyway. Thanks, guys."

And so she hugged each of them.

"Wait. If Amanda helped, then where is she?" Frida asked.

"Following the hunters we saw before." Hilda said. "There's another problem you need to know about."


Elsewhere in Trolberg, Amanda was still following the the hunters by traveling across the roof tops. She knew they wouldn't look up to find a troll, so she was able to use her marra powers as she pleased. She watched them turn a corner and continue straight. So far there was still no sign of any troll.

"Amanda?"

She turned and saw Kelly on the roof with her.

"What are you doing up here?" Kelly asked.

"I'm... looking for the right target." Amanda lied.

"Oh, another one of your challenging scares? I like it. Ever since that bike nightmare, you've been giving us better stories. I wonder if your next one will compete with what Nadine has to show us tonight."

"That's right. She said she found some quadruplets to scare. We'll be getting four stories for the price of one! Hahahaha!"

"I'll see you there." Kelly left in her green aura form.

Amanda was looking forward to tonight's nightmare stories. But then she remembered what she was really doing on that roof. She looked back and forth, unsure of what to do. She took so long to think that the hunters were getting too far away to see.


Hilda had just finished explaining everything that had happened during the search for Frida.

"This is bad." Frida said. "We have to find her and warn those hunters not to do that."

"Exactly, but we don't know where to look." Hilda said. "I was hoping we'd find her by luck during our search for you."

"Well you were a troll before you got your shape-shifting powers. Where would you go?"

"To the nearest place that isn't too close to any of the... bell... towers... That's it! Tildy, can you take us to the abandoned bell tower?"

"But of course." Tildy said before doing just that.

They were now in front of the abandoned bell tower and didn't need to look any further for the troll who was only yards from them.

"There she is!" Hilda said.

"Hilda?" the troll said. "It's good to see you again. Have you seen Baba? I've been trying to find her, but the bell towers could go off at any moment."

"She's with my Mum. We'll take you to her."

"Get away from them, you beast!"

The group turned and there at the edge of the yard stood the three hunters, all holding weapons that could take down a brick wall. Ulf had a hammer, Bjorn replaced his rifles with a bazooka, and Signe was holding an axe.

"Tildy, get her out of here." Hilda said. "We'll handle this."

Tildy obliged and she and the troll were gone.

"What just happened!?" Signe said.

"We saved an innocent troll from your mistake." Hilda answered.

"What mistake?" Bjorn asked.

"Trolberg has declared killing trolls illegal." Frida said. "We're trying to make peace with them. Besides, Amma the mother and grandmother of all trolls lies underneath Trolberg. If you kill her children, she'll retaliate and destroy the entire city."

"One moment if you don't mind." Ulf said before all three of them huddled.

Hilda and the others waited while the hunters whispered to each other. All of them hoped this would end the best way possible, but some of them also expected the worst case scenario. Finally the hunters separated and Ulf announced their decision.

"Nice try, but there is no troll that big. You just want the bounty for yourselves."

"Bounty?" Hilda and her friends did not expect to hear that.

"You were going to kill trolls for money?" David asked.

"Of course we are. Ridding the world of any monster is just an extra." Signe said.

That horrible reply forced Hilda to remember the moment she herself was once called a monster. Those three were as bad as Erik Ahlberg if not worse. To hear such cruelty again made her mad.

"If that's how you feel... then you'll have to kill me too!" she said as she turned into a troll, not caring who saw her.

Her friends couldn't believe she just did that and the hunters were completely shocked.

"It's a changeling!" Bjorn fired a missile at Hilda who dodged it.

Kaisa pulled out her wand to stop it, but she wasn't quick enough and had to dodge as well. The missile hit the house, causing random sized pieces of it to fall off, one of which stunned Kaisa. Frida and David tried to avoid it all, but they tripped over one of the smaller pieces. Now a really big piece was just seconds away from hitting them.

"NOOOOO!" Hilda ran to try saving her friends, but knew deep down that none of her forms were fast enough.

Suddenly, Frida and David were snatched away at the last second by a green flash. Once safe, they were surprised by their savior as was everyone else who saw it.

"Amanda?" they both said.

"I would've been here sooner, but someone wanted to chat." Amanda said.

As of that moment, all doubts the two kids had about Amanda were gone. Hilda was relieved that her best friends were safe, but now she needed to focus on the hunters. Kaisa managed to recover and she and Amanda joined Hilda.

"I suggest you leave now." Kaisa warned.

"We don't answer to monsters." Ulf said. "Kill them."

Bjorn tried to fire again, but Kaisa sent his weapon away with a wave of her wand. Then she blasted him with said wand, knocking him out. Signe switched to her pistols and shot at Amanda. The marra vanished into a green mist and reappeared behind her. Signe dropped her guns and went back to her axe. She turned and swung at Amanda who vanished again and was now right above her. Amanda then swung a kick down at her head and knocked her out. Ulf swung his hammer at Hilda who ducked and head butted him in the gut. Hilda then swapped to her lindworm form and wrestled him. Ulf pulled out his knife and tried to stab her, but she bit his arm, forcing him to drop it. Hilda wrapped his arms with her tail, forced his back to the ground, and sat on top of him, ready to breathe fire.

"You might as well kill us now." Ulf said. "Because nothing else will stop us from ending those trolls and collecting our reward!"

"Are you sure about that?" came a familiar voice.

Everyone looked to the side and saw a few Safety Patrol members, one of them being a surprise.

"Angus?" Hilda said.

"We'll take it from here." Angus said.

Hilda released Ulf and the Safety Patrol cuffed all three hunters.

"You're under arrest for the attempted murder of trollkind." Angus said. "You guys take them away. I'll talk to the witnesses."

The other members did as he said. Once they were out of sight, Hilda changed back and asked "What's going on?"

"Remember that job offer I mentioned?" Angus replied. "Well this is it. Gerda added a new team that can arrest people like them. We are the C.S.P.D. The Creature and Spirit Protection Division."

"That's great!" Hilda said. "It's pretty lucky that you came here."

"Half lucky, actually." Angus explained. "Your mum called me and told me what was happening. It's good to see that you found your friend. How's the troll?"

"We found her too. We only have one thing left to do."

"Actually, there's possibly a new problem." Frida said. "Who hired those bounty hunters to go after trolls?"

All of a sudden, a loud destructive sound came from inside the abandoned bell tower. The whole group turned to face the direction of the sound just in time to see half of the roof explode with a bright glow.


Somewhere else, Frida's parents were now in the same car talking about their problems.

"I still think we might've been wrong about witches the whole time." Frida's mum said.

"I must admit, Hilda did say something that made me think." Frida's father said. "But I'm still not sure about it."

Then they heard it. A loud explosion from a far distance behind them. They turned around and barely saw some of it in the distance.

"That was somewhere around the old bell tower." Frida's mum said.

"We better see what happened." Frida's father turned the car and drove to the source.


Back with Hilda and the others, they witnessed someone float up out of the destroyed roof. It was a witch with long magenta hair, a longer cape than what Kaisa wore, and a hawk on her forearm.

"I finally have you back, Clarice." she said.

"Oh no. It's her." Kaisa said with much dread.

"Who is she?" Hilda asked.

"The most wicked and infamous witch of our time. Her name is Gondul."

"I heard that!" Gondul said. "Clearly not everything went as I planned."

"So you're the one who hired the hunters!" Frida shouted.

"You're correct, child." Gondul admitted. "I even chased those trolls into this city to make it easier for them. I was hoping Amma would destroy Trolberg for me, but at least I freed my familiar. We'll be leaving for now, but when we return, this entire city will be devoured by my wrath."

Kaisa fired a wand shot at Gondul, only for it to be repelled by a counter spell.

"I don't have time for you." Gondul said. "But she does."

Then she and Clarice vanished the same way the group had been getting around lately. Shortly afterwards, another witch came out of the front door.

"It's Gladys!" Hilda and Amanda said.

"Well this deal got much better than I thought." Gladys said. "How do you like my new wand?"

She then cast a spell and caught all of them except for Hilda who became a lindworm again and avoided capture and Amanda who just had to vanish and reappear to escape the spell rings. The two of them stood side by side, facing the enemy.

"A familiar and a marra?" the evil witch said. "I never would've guessed. But I'm still going to ki-OW!"

She looked down and found a deerfox biting her leg.

"Twig!" Hilda happily said.

Then several pebbles fell on Gladys from up above. The Bragas had arrived on their warbirds with Alfur and Adeline on one of them as well.

"Nobody harms the friends of a Braga!" Bartel shouted with several following hurrahs.

"You stupid birds will pay for that!" Gladys aimed her wand at the warbirds.

However, she was too distracted to notice Hilda and Amanda coming at her. Hilda wrapped herself around the witch like a rope while Amanda snatched her wand right out of her hand. During the fight, Frida's parents drove up and saw almost the whole thing. Gladys then managed to make a couple pieces of debris fly at Hilda's head and Amanda's hand which was holding her wand. She was then loose enough to get out of Hilda's grip and grabbed the fallen wand.

"Now I have you!" Gladys said.

Then out of nowhere, she was caught by someone else's rings of magic. Hilda and Amanda were confused by this until somebody cleared her throat. They looked behind them and saw that it was Tildy.

"Sorry I took so long to return." she said. "Your mother is a friendly and trustworthy woman, so I told her about myself."

She then freed the others from Gladys's spell. Frida's parents came out of the car and rushed over to her.

"Frida, are you alright?" her father asked.

"You stay away from me." Frida said, baffling her parents.

"Were we both that bad?" her mum asked.

Frida hesitated to answer out of fear. At the same time, Kaisa walked up to Tildy and asked her "What do we do with Gladys?"

Before an answer could be said, Frida's father turned around at the mention of that name. When he got a better look at the evil witch, his anger and hatred came forth allover again.

"YOU!" he got up and marched over to her.

He stopped when he felt something under his foot. It was one of Signe's guns. He picked it up and checked for ammunition which there still was. Then he came up to Gladys and pointed the gun at her, scaring her half to death.

"What are you doing!" Angus shouted with his own gun out.

"This woman killed my mother." Frida's father said.

Half the people there gasped in horror. Frida looked at her mother who nodded to confirm that this was what she was going to tell her. Kaisa held up her wand only for Tildy to block her and shake her head. Hilda returned to her human form and tried to run over and stop him, but Frida put a hand on her shoulder and shook her head as well. Everyone else just stayed where they were.

"You know the penalty for killing, even for revenge." Angus said.

"I don't care." Frida's father said as he pulled the safety.

He aimed the gun at Gladys's forehead and stepped closer. The evil witch knew she couldn't convince him to spare her or anyone else to save her. He moved his finger closer to the trigger with pure hatred. But then he stopped. The golden oppurtunity to get rid of the murderer of his mother was right there on a silver platter and yet he hesitated. Angus noticed and stood down. Frida's father tried to fight it, but what he wanted to do started to feel wrong. Finally, he threw away the gun and screamed in frustration.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

His wife came over and hugged him tight.

"Why can't I do it?" he asked.

"Maybe it's because you're a better person than her." Hilda who apparently came over said.

Frida's father looked at her and said "How do I even know I can trust you?"

"BECAUSE SHE'S NOT A WITCH!" Frida couldn't take it anymore as her voice started to crack. "I am."

"What?" her father said.

Her mum was equally surprised by the truth. Frida demonstrated by lifting a piece of rubble with magic before explaining with several tears.

"I was told that I had the brains and potential to become one, so I said yes. The only reason Hilda can shapeshift is because she's my familiar. She was only covering for me so you wouldn't hate me. But after what you did, I-I-I..."

It was then that her father got a necessary wake up call. Losing one family member may have started his personal grudge, but said grudge almost cost him another one. He walked over to his daughter who saw him and stepped away. With a broken heart, he caught up, grabbed her, and pulled her into a hug.

"I'm so sorry, Frida." he said.

As her mum walked up and comforted them both, Frida started crying and hugged her dad back.


Later that night, Hilda, Twig, Alfur, Adeline, Amanda, and both trolls were just outside the apartment building while Johanna and Tildy talked again.

"I'm so glad to hear Frida's family is okay with magic now." Johanna said. "Feel free to visit again anytime, Tildy."

"Thank you, Johanna. And now to help these two home." Tildy said.

Both women then faced Hilda who was playing with Baba and Amanda who was admiring the motherly troll. The girls stopped once they saw them watching.

"Tildy, when you said to think like Frida, you weren't talking to me, were you?" Hilda asked. "You were really talking to Amanda."

"Me?" Amanda said.

"I was talking to all of you, but I knew she could do it." Tildy said. "Are they ready?"

Hilda looked at the two trolls.

"Thank you for everything, Hilda." the mother said as she picked up Baba.

"They're ready." Hilda confirmed.

Tildy floated and sent herself and the trolls out of Trolberg.

"Could I have a little talk with Amanda before I come in, Mum?" Hilda asked.

"Of course, Hilda. But not too long." Johanna said before going back in herself, confident in Hilda's self defense.

"Now what?" Amanda asked.

"Thank you for saving Frida and David, Amanda." Hilda said. "I know you were just doing it for the trolls, but I still appreciate it."

"Yeah, well...*sigh* You're welcome. But please don't use that lie about me being your friend again."

"I didn't lie." Hilda said.

"Huh? You mean to tell me that you see me as an actual friend after all I've done?" Amanda was beyond confused.

"Yup." Hilda proved her friendship by giving Amanda a heartfelt hug.

Amanda finally figured out what that feeling she had from that time they were rescuing saltlions was. Guilt. When Hilda let go, Amanda walked a few feet away and smiled at her.

"I guess I could give that a try." she said before vanishing in her usual manner.

"We better hurry back in, Hilda." Alfur said from atop Twig's head alongside Adeline.

Hilda agreed and they all returned inside.


After seeing the trolls return home, Tildy transported herself to the library where Kaisa waited for her.

"Are you sure it was Gondul?" she asked.

"It's impossible to forget her." Kaisa said.

"Then we need to alert every witch in Trolberg and find out how she knew about Amma. The witch gossip should not have reached her what-so-ever."

And off they went to the witches tower.


Author's Note: Well this was the hardest chapter yet. I hope you like that I went with a lindworm form this time. Compared to the remaining forms I still plan to give her, this one seemed like the right fit for this chapter. In case you were wondering why I added the occasional side effects, I just wanted to keep things interesting. But you probably want to hear about Frida's part of this chapter. Well I thought it would be a good idea if Hilda who was formerly jealous in the first chapter actually lied about being a witch to protect her friend. Knowing how pure hearted she is, it's actually possible. A lot what happened after that just made sense to me. And yes I know how some other fics execute the secret reveal part which makes me glad I did something a little different. As for the marra, this was one of the harder parts for me, but I knew I wanted a moment that screamed redemption for her, and what better way than a tough choice moment. I think the reason this chapter was so hard is because of how many characters I was juggling (At least 23 total including those I made up). I wish I could've done this better. I couldn't even give the chapter's namesake nor Hilda's newest form as much spotlight as I'd like. Hopefully though, I did manage to introduce an interesting enough villain for this story. I also did something I should've thought of sooner. I used some actual Nordic names just like some of the actual characters have (A detail that I should've known). Finally, some time ago one of you guessed that this fanfic would have thirteen chapters just like each season of the show. And you're right. I figured what better time to admit that than the middle chapter. I hope you enjoy this and everything after.