Chapter 3 Draal

As we ride home, I notice that Toby seems to be taking it all well. We walk the last little bit so we can talk easier.

"Are you happy the amulet chose you?" I inquire; this was the moment to see if Toby was happy with the decision I secretly made for him.

"Yeah! Why wouldn't I be? Trolls, cool underground city, indigenous gemforms, Heartstone Trollmarket! It's total awesome-mania, man."

"It's a big role, and very dangerous." I wanted him to realise how much of a responsibility this is and that it was not all fun and games.

"You will see Jimbo, we will be trained by the best and soon there will be nothing we can't face. Together through it all?" With the last statement he looks up at me. I remember him dying and knowing I will follow him to the ends of the earth.

Smiling, I respond, "It's the two of us at the beginning and it will be the two of us till the end." I know my words don't mean as much to him as they do to me, but I need him to know that I will follow him anywhere.

With that statement said, we were home. "Oh, no! Looks like your mum's home." Toby tries to come up with some sort of epic excuse, but I shrug it off.

"Night Tobes."

I sneak into the house, trying not to be noticed so I can go to bed and think about all that has happened. But mum hears and calls me into the kitchen. I walk in to see Strickler. I feel like smacking my head, for I had completely forgot that I had invited him over, I had been so focused on Tobes. "Mr Strickler."

"I didn't know that you had invited him over." Mum said pointedly.

Rubbing the back of my neck, I respond, "Yeah, I just thought…um."

Strickler saves me. "What Jim is trying to say is that I am concerned for him, with getting the part of Romeo and other extra activities. Atlas, too, carried the weight of the world on his shoulders, and I'm concerned that, like him, you are overextending yourself."

Mum looks at me, "You never told me that you are interested in the play?"

"I have been rather busy lately and haven't found the right time to tell you." Tell you about the play, I think, but more importantly about trolls. I didn't want her to be left out like last time, for she was only supportive once I told her. I knew she won't do anything or try to stop me like I had thought before.

"And what of these other activities?" Mum inquires, a suspicious look on her face.

I try to think up something. Do I say Chess club like last time, or something else? "Fencing" I decide. "With my good knife skills, I was wondering if that would help if I took up fencing." I walk around to the kitchen, determining that making my mum happier would get them together ASAP. "I will cook something while you two talk." Mum chuckles, knowing she is no good in the kitchen, and surrenders it to me, going to sit next to Mr Strickler. As I cook, I think about all that has been and all that could be, happy in this moment with the sound of my mother's laughter in the background.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

I missed most of Toby's first training practices, with play rehearsals and the growing number of dinners between my mum and Strickler, which I am required to cook for, given mum's sorry excuse for chef skills. But the ones I did go to I tried to encourage and help Toby as much as I could. I needed an excuse for knowing my trollish, so I asked Blinky for his books to "learn" from, and pretended to read them, so I had an excuse for knowing more then I should. Some of the books I read for real were books I had not had time to read during my time as the Trollhunter or were books that Blinky had burned in his blind rage at finding his brother to be a traitor. I sometimes got into debates with Blinky over something or another; I treasured those moments when I could forget about the weight on my shoulders, the burden of making things right, and having lost most of the connection I had once built.

Sometimes when the play rehearsals were finished and I knew they would be doing a reading lesson instead of a hands-on lesson, I snuck down to Trollmarket with a horngazle. I spent those precious moments training, since no one was around. I trained as hard as I could, until I collapsed. I wanted to be as fit as ever, but also didn't want to arouse suspicions around my skill. I practised with all sorts of weapons, trying to find something that I could use as well as the sword of daylight.

Draal caught me one day practicing by myself. He was still waiting for Toby to die so he could become the Trollhunter. I was pushing myself as hard as I could, having the mechanisms on the hardest level. I had started off easy, the first time I trained by myself, not wanting to get hurt without anyone watching, and not sure how much knowledge I had retained after traveling back in time, but each time I made it harder and now it was at the hardest. I ducked and rolled, and now I was trying out throwing stars. I was completely lost in the moment, just working to make it thrice around the arena. Before stopping for a break, when I finally went to press the button to turn it off out of breath, I heard it turn off before I got there; looking up, I see Draal standing there.

"Impressive for a fleshbag."

"Thanks." We had hardly spoken since my first confrontation with him. I knew that he had fought Toby at one point when I wasn't there, but except for that he hadn't had much to do with any of us.

"Do you want a sparring partner?"

"Um …," I think, slightly confused by the question, for it felt out of nowhere. It would be good to have an actual training partner, but I didn't want anyone knowing how well I knew how to fight for that would bring up questions. Questions that, for now, I didn't want to answer. "Only if you agree to 3 rules."

"I'm not sure what gives you the right to order me around, fleshbag, but I will hear you out."

"Ok, first, no one sees our sparring sessions. Second, you are not allowed to tell anyone about them. Third, no asking any questions, or at least don't expect answers to any of them." Draal nodded in agreement.

"Ok, fleshbag, let's go." He presses the button to start it up, then jumped onto the arena. I picked up the sword, small by troll size and still a bit big for me, but I had gotten used to the bigger size, through practice. We fought, he ended up winning, but I put up a good fight; without any armour, I was much more vulnerable.

"Good spar! I didn't expect a fleshbag to fight so well. Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"Rule number 3." I reminded.

"Ok, ok, no asking questions. But I am still curious. Maybe if we go again, I could figure it out?"

"Not today, I need to be going home."

"How about another day?"

"Only if you remember the second rule."

"You have caught my interest fleshbag, so I will agree to your rules and spar privately."

"Thank you." I left. I knew Toby would be finishing up soon and I want to be gone before he did.

From then on I trained with Draal. We did it when no one was watching, he never asked anymore questions and he never told anyone about them (to my knowledge). I got better using a heavier sword and getting hit with no armour to protect me.