Here it is! You've been waiting 364 days for this. And The epilogue will be out exactly one year from the post date.

Disclaimer, Enjoy, and...

Let The Chaos Ensue...

Chapter 40: The Battle For Corbin

Claire had been working all day with Daunelle to fill random parts of the goblin caves with gasoline with her portals.

Maggie and the other three were preparing the battlefield for what was soon to come. Setting traps and placing things to help fight the goblin's in strategic places.

Jim's chosen were gathering the troops.

They met underneath the bridge, stepping out of the purple and gold portal like the warriors they were.

"Alright guys, we're going to head out, as soon as we're close, we're going to set off a chain reaction and all the goblin's are going to head our way. None get passed, if they do, count it. I'll need to know later," Jim said.

"If you stay focused and are quick on your feet, you should be able to come out of this with no more than a few scratches," Claire added.

Maggie continued. "If you're feeling overwhelmed, call for help and me, or any of us up here. The three stooges…"

"Hey!"

"...and Jim's student's will come help you out."

"Jim and Claire will be at the front doing their thing and thinning the majority of the goblins," Amanda said.

"Any questions?" Jim finished and paused. When no one spoke up he continued. "Good, let's move out."

Once they were about half a mile out they came to a stop and Jim grinned, pulling a box of matches out of his pocket. Claire conjured a portal, a small one, and they stood back.

With the box gripped in his hand, he lit the first one, then lit the rest of the box on fire, quickly throwing it in the portal. As soon as the flaming cardboard passed the portal's threshold, Claire snapped it shut.

In the near distance, an explosion rocked the city and the teenagers around it. Then a fiery mushroom cloud escaped the cave entrance.

Claire grinned and looked back at their troop of teenage warriors and yelled. "Let's run! We've got a front set up just ahead. Get ready, 'cus all hell's going to break loose."

With that, they charged.

Meeting the goblin's just as the slimy creatures reached the traps and they began the Battle For Corbin.

As planned, Jim and Claire were up front, thinning the attacks. Amanda had shields set up around several small groups who were using long distance weapons, or simply throwing stones hard enough to make the goblin's go splat.

Maggie, with her black escrima was sending blades like waves eradicating 10-20 goblins at a time. Dancing through the dangers like a well choreographed performance, there was no doubt that this was where she belonged.

The kids that were in sports that involve throwing things, were behind the shields. With the blunt weapon users behind them to guard their backs.

Alex and Kyle made quick work of their large section of ground. Kyle getting anything close to Alex, and Alex throwing blades out faster than NotEnrique eating sweaty argile gym socks.

"You know," Claire said. Smiling and panting. "I don't think trollhunting was your true calling."

Jim's face crinkled in a confused way. "What do you mean?" He asked as he slashed and fought the seemingly endless attack of goblins.

"Look at them," she smiled. "Maggie looks like she was born on a battlefield. Amanda is a natural support out here, and a fantastic strategist. Alex and Kyle make a literal killer team. And the other six, they've been learning for barely four days, and they look like pros."

Jim glanced over the new addition to the trollhunters, and then at his newest six students.

Daunelle, though looking like he was chilling, was moving through the goblin's like it was nothing.

Max and Paige were also a fantastic team, moving as one and killing just as many together as Maggie was alone.

Kassie, nothing but brute strength with a smaller than Toby's hammar, with a longer handle, was demolishing goblin's with such vulgarity they stopped nearing her.

Liv was a natural with a long sword. And Ashley… Jim wasn't sure where she found it. It was a staff, that broke into escrima. She was fantastic with both. And switching in a seconds notice for what the situation called for.

Jim smiled, He truly believed that trollhunting was his true calling. Though he knew his destiny, as merlin called it, couldn't simply end with Gunmar and Morganna. It didn't end with taking the trolls to Trollmarket. It didn't end with him and Claire alone and bored for the rest of their lives.

He was a natural on the battlefield, but he was also a natural at teaching how to fight and survive. He blamed Draal, and Blinkey, Vendal's wise words to him, Strickler and his classroom and unorthodox methods. He blamed the darklands, and all the people and experiences he'd had since picking up the amulet.

He smiled at Claire and continued fighting.

As soon as the oncoming goblin's started slowing, The two joined the rest of the crew.

Long after dark, when the last goblin there was killed everyone slumped down, panting for breath. The soft green glow of Amanda's shields, the dark, intense blue of Maggie's escrima, Claire's staff, Jim's armor, all being used as the guiding light for the group.

The collective stench of several hundred thousand goblin's lingered in the air with their dissolving gooey corpses. And the veterans making sure everyone was alright.

After collecting the approximate number of escaped goblin's Jim took off, following his nose.

He found a few at Werber's house, the police station, (he was going to hurt Skinner when he got back). Scattered around town scavenging. Over the next several hours he killed every goblin he could find, and didn't stop till he couldn't smell any more. Running a perimeter around the city a few times just to be safe before heading back to where he'd left the group.

They were gone, and he followed the scent back under the bridge. Everyone was sitting down, resting, glow crystals scattered around so lighting wasn't a problem. Maggie through Max, all ten of them, minus Ashley, were sitting and talking together, discussing the fight. Their behavior was almost troll like in this manor.

A portal opened and Claire and Ashley stepped out, Ashley holding a large stack of pizzas.

"PIZZA DELIVERY!" Ashley yelled with a smile. Everyone flocked around her thanking her. Once everyone had pizza, they were already recounting their stories. Everyone was laughing and talking with each other. The cliques didn't seem to exist.

Jim walked over to Claire and smiled. "You ready to head out? I've got our backpacks with our clothes in them in the cave, we can grab them and go."

She shook her head. "Later, this…" she looked over the group. "This isn't something you see everyday. Band kids with Jocks, theater with nerds, I mean look right there." He grinned wide and pointed to a group surrounding Ashley.

With her staff/escrima, she was near as graceful as Maggie, though she had far more wounds than anyone.

"She's talking, making friends! This can be our home too Jim."

The troll took a deep breath and wrapped his arm around Claire, hugging her tight. "Alright, we'll leave later."

He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead and flicked her cheek. They then joined the others and contributed their own stories.

After a while, one by one, kids came up to Claire. Requesting a portal home.

Soon it was just the 12 of them. And Maggie called a sleepover at her house, and they were all ditching school the next day.

Jim and Claire took them home and told Maggie to explain where they were when Skinner got back and to punch him for going awol, also to call them. They returned to the cave, told Blinkey where they were going. With their bags on their backs, they laced their fingers and walked through the portal.