Steve is pretty sure his lack of sleep is catching up with him. Maybe with all of them, because it kind of seems like he's not the only one seeing this. Seeing… Krel. Is this some sort of – of trick? Illusion? Joint hallucination? There's no way this is real, that Krel's really standing in front of them, eyes wide and bright and undeniably alive. He wants it to be real. He's desperate for it to be real.
Seamus is the first to break out of his shock.
"Krel!" he yells, launching forward and grabbing Krel in a desperate hug. Krel's bandaged arms flail for a second before resting on his friend's back. Toby joins the hug seconds later, followed by Eli and Douxie. Krel laughs.
"It's good to see you guys, too," he says.
Toby, Douxie, and Eli step back. Seamus holds onto Krel a few moments longer, eyes shut tight, but he also eventually pulls away. Steve still can't believe it's him – how can it be Krel? Steve found his core. Steve cradled his shattered remains in his hands, watched as Aja pieced them back together with trembling fingers. There's no way. Still, he takes a step forward, then another, then hesitates, a breath away from knowing. Krel offers him a small smile, and Steve knows. He pulls Krel into his arms, curling a hand into his hair and holding the little brother he didn't realise he had until it was too late close to him. He closes his eyes as tears trail down his cheeks. Krel's real. He's real and alive and here again, safe again.
"You're alive," he whispers in relief.
"I'm alive," Krel agrees.
"I love you," Steve says, because even if he's bad at emotions he's already lost Krel once without telling him and he can't risk that again. "You're like my little brother, and I love you."
Krel's grip on him tightens. "I love you, too."
"Aw, this is so touching," says Stuart's voice. Part of Steve doesn't want to let go, because at least right now he knows it isn't a hallucination, that Krel's actually here, but he moves away nonetheless and sits because he really does want to be able to get off the crutches sooner rather than later. "Isn't it just the sweetest? I might cry."
"How are you alive?" asks Toby. "Not that I'm not thrilled! But we – we saw your core."
"That was a fake planted by the Knights," Krel says. "Apparently a convincing one. But there's more important things to deal with."
"More important?" says Seamus. "Dude! You just came back from the dead! We've got to tell everyone, Mort, Aja."
Krel visibly falters at this. Stuart probably already filled him in about the funeral. Aja's going to be so happy. And then she'll transition into so mad, because that's the typical way it goes with Aja. Krel shakes his head. "Aja is going to have to wait. I know who the Knight's master is."
"That's fantastic," says Claire. She and Jim are both clearly relieved to see him, even if they don't join in the hug-fest. "Everyone else is still at Toby's, but we can go right now and–"
"No!" Even Steve is surprised by the intensity in Krel's voice. "We need to go back to my house. We can tell the others later. Trust me."
Steve glances at the others. Well, if Krel thinks they shouldn't go to Toby's house, then they shouldn't. Toby nods.
"Alright," he says. "Let's go."
Krel brings them down into the mothership, because it's apparently not safe to talk upstairs what with no window and door and stuff. Jim and Claire, the only ones completely new to this Akiridion stuff, look around in awe at the technology. Steve sticks close to his no-longer-dead friend, focusing so he can watch Krel's aura flare anxiously and hear his friend's breathing, both reassuring him that Krel is still there and still very much alive. The younger boy is sipping on the milkshake Seamus insisted on buying him, something about Krel looking like he needed a pick-me-up. Steve has to agree. Krel looks way worse for the wear, covered in bandages and faintly trembling in the hot summer air.
"So, who is it?" asks Seamus as they make themselves comfortable on the floor of Krel's lab. "Is it Mordred?"
"Dude, you really gotta let that go," says Toby.
"No, it's not Mordred," says Krel. "It's – you have to promise to believe me."
"Of course!" Eli exclaims. The others nod.
Krel pulls his knees to his chest, bandaged arms wrapping around his legs. "It's Merlin."
Jim stiffens. Toby's face morphs into fury. Steve, personally, thinks they all should have seen this coming. He wishes they had. Now they've gone and planned Merlin's defeat with Merlin, which means they're really going to have to throw all their plans out the window.
"I knew it," Toby snarls. "I knew he couldn't be trusted! Even when he was helping us with the Eternal Night all he really cared about was getting his magic back. And now he's been actively trying to kill us for over a month!"
Jim lets out a furious roar, slamming his fists down on his armoured thighs. "I should have known! Ugh, how could I have been so stupid?"
"We all fell for it, Jim," Claire says. "Even Blinky, and you know how much he hates Merlin."
"Well, this is great," says Seamus. "We tried to make a plan but Merlin was there. He knows all the good strategies we could come up with."
Krel shakes his head. "I don't know. I barely escaped the Red Knight by pure luck. I don't know how we're going to defeat two of them!"
"One of them," Steve corrects awkwardly. "Aja killed the Black Knight."
For some reason, Krel looks baffled by this, as if he couldn't imagine his sister killing someone. Steve knows Aja. He wasn't that surprised. "Aja killed him?"
"Uh, yeah, he started boasting about killing you and, well..." Toby makes a cutting motion of his neck, complete with a very much unneeded sound effect. Krel winces and nods.
"How did you escape the Red Knight?" asks Seamus. "Maybe we can use that to our advantage?"
"I – don't really know," Krel admits. "I used Gaylen's powers – my powers – but I don't know how."
He pulls his legs closer, self-consciously. There's more to the story than Krel wants to tell, apparently, but Steve sure isn't going to press him for potentially traumatic details. He gently reaches and traces over the bandages on his face.
"What did he do to you?" he manages to ask. He's not surprised that Krel is injured, even this badly injured – Steve can see bandage disappearing into the collar of his shirt and expects that the white covers a good portion of his body – but it still makes him sad.
"This is all from the fight in the shop," says Krel. "I'm okay."
Steve isn't so sure about that. Maybe physically Krel's on the road to recovery, but emotionally there's something going on and it scares Steve. Krel takes another long sip of his milkshake.
"Okay, at least we have one advantage," says Toby.
"Uh, we do?" says Douxie.
"Merlin doesn't know Krel's alive!" Toby exclaims.
Krel grimaces. "No, he definitely knows I'm alive."
"Merlin doesn't know Krel's back in Arcadia!" Toby amends. "Secret weapon!"
"And Merlin doesn't know that I know where the formstone is," Krel tacks on.
"Wait, since when?" says Douxie in surprise.
"Uh, how long has this conversation been?" Krel asks. "Add maybe ten minutes."
"You missed the part where we decided the formstone is better left unfound," Seamus says amusedly.
"Oh," says Krel. "Oops."
"Can we get the formstone and, like, hide it on Akiridion-5 or something?" Steve suggests. "So that Merlin can't get to it."
Krel shakes his head. "Too risky. For all we know, moving the formstone could result in the same level of catastrophe."
"Yeah, let's maybe avoid the catastrophe part," says Eli awkwardly.
"We can't let Merlin know you know, dude," says Toby. "Otherwise he'll try to make you tell him."
"And that wouldn't be pretty," Steve mutters. He's never leaving Krel undefended until they're done with this mess. Merlin could – torture him, or something, and Steve is not going to let that happen.
"We need to tell Uncle Mort and the others," says Douxie. "Uh, besides Merlin, obviously we'll be leaving him out."
"Hey, so, why don't we just… snipe him?" Toby suggests. Steve's eyebrows shoot up. The others have varying expressions of similar disbelief. "What? No more Merlin, no more problem! Happy ending, yay!"
"How are we supposed to snipe him?" Jim asks dubiously. "He's an ancient, super-powerful evil wizard."
"And we have high-tech space guns!" Toby exclaims. "And the advantage of surprise, because he still thinks that we think that he's a good guy. Hey, we could sic Aja on him."
"Ay-yi-yi," mutters Krel.
"Hey, sounds like a good idea to me," says Stuart, who's been suspiciously quiet this whole time.
"I think I have a way to get him out of the house," says Claire.
"Seriously, please let us just kill him," says Toby.
"Toby, chill with the murder for, like, ten minutes," says Jim.
Toby huffs and crosses his arms. "Fine, fine, we'll use Claire's plan. Still think we should kill him."
"He's been teaching me magic – well, okay, I use teaching lightly – so I should be able to get him away," says Claire. "Then you guys tell the others. I don't know how long I can keep him away. Make sure they act natural when we get back."
"Yeah, we'll try," says Jim. "I think Blinky will be ready to throw a dwarkstone at him."
"I'm okay with this," says Toby.
"I'll hang back with Krel and hide us both with a spell," says Seamus. "We'll come in when Merlin's clear."
"Sounds like a plan!" says Stuart brightly.
"Alright," says Jim. "Come on. The sooner we get everyone on board, the sooner we can figure – well, something out."
The others start to leave. Toby helps Steve to his feet – man, Steve is so, so sick of this cast – and Steve, in turn, offers Krel a hand getting up. Krel gives him a small smile. Steve's very glad to have that smile back.
"Never scare us like that again," he tells Krel firmly. "Or I'll – I dunno, I'll bring you back to kill you myself!"
"Wouldn't that be counter-intuitive?" Krel points out cheekily.
Steve can't help but let out a small laugh. It comes out a lot more like a sob than he meant, and he swings an arm over Krel's shoulders to draw him closer. "I'm so glad you're back."
Krel laughs too, eyes sparkling and so wonderfully alive. "Glad to be back."
Steve still actually hasn't seen Seamus do a ton of magic, so it's still mildly surprising to see him trace a teal rune in the air and cover himself and Krel in an invisibility spell. Seriously, he can't believe Seamus has been a wizard this whole time and Steve only found out like two weeks ago.
Mort nods to them as they walk in; he does a quick double-take, clearly surprised to see Stuart with them, but he smiles welcomingly anyway. He and Blinky are both sitting on the couch – oh, no, they're bonding. Steve doesn't know Blinky that well, but what he does know is that Mort and Blinky being friends might be a very scary thing. Merlin wonders back in from the kitchen. Steve suppresses a wave of anger. This is the man who's been trying to kill them – who hurt Krel. He likes Toby's plan. Murder sounds nice right now.
"No milkshake for me?" asks Nimue, teasingly punching Douxie's shoulder as she walks by. "And here I thought we were friends."
"Sorry, Nim," he says. "Next time."
"Hey, Merlin," says Claire. Steve is impressed by her acting skills, and also her willingness to even talk to the crazy evil wizard trying to destroy the world. "I was wondering if you could show me some more magic stuff? I found a good place to practice and if the end of the world's coming, I have to be prepared."
Merlin raises an eyebrow. "Well, I suppose that is true. Very well. And what of you two? Wizards as well, aren't you?"
Steve and Douxie exchange alarmed looks as Merlin's eyes land on them.
"Uh, I think I'm good," says Steve. "Got too big of a milkshake. Stomach's a bit queasy."
"Er," manages Douxie. He glances to Mort, which is probably smart because Mort can surely come up with an excuse.
"It's alright," says Mort. "Perhaps you'd do a better job teaching Claire, anyway."
Merlin harrumphs. "I think not."
"Thanks, Uncle Mort, you're a real help," Douxie mumbles under his breath. Toby gives him a sympathetic pat on the back.
"Great, let's go!" says Claire, only a bit too brightly. "We're burning daylight."
Douxie shoves his hands angrily in his pocket as he follows the two of them out. Mort sighs and grumbles something that sounds like, "Teenagers." They wait a few minutes, until they're sure Merlin is far enough away, then Toby peeks his head through the window curtains and gives a thumbs-up in Seamus and Krel's general direction.
"Well, that was incredibly odd," mutters Ikram.
"No, Douxie trusts Merlin almost as little as I do," says Mort. "But even I can admit he's a powerful wizard – and I don't like the idea of Claire alone with him."
"Agreed," says Blinky with a scowl.
The door opens, as if by a ghost, but Steve knows that Seamus just hasn't lifted the invisibility spell yet. Better safe than sorry. Mort's eyebrows furrow. Ikram's hand goes to her sword, sheathed at her waist. Seamus first lifts the spell on himself, hands up in a show of innocence.
"Just me!" he says.
"What on Earth are you doing sneaking around like that?" Mort asks in exasperation, before muttering something else about teenagers that Steve thinks he should take offence to.
"Don't freak out," cautions Seamus.
"That's not a good way to start anything," says Nimue flatly.
Seamus lifts the spell on Krel. The bandaged boy waves awkwardly. Blinky's jaw drops and he rubs his eyes. Aaarrrgghh!!! makes a delighted sound and charges forward, lifting Krel off his feet in a somehow still gentle hug. Blinky is quick to join.
"Impossible," whispers Ikram, hand going to cover her mouth in her shock.
"Krel?" Mort says faintly. Aaarrrgghh!!! releases Krel, and Mort surges forward to pull him into his own hug, eyes closed even as tears slip free anyway. After a long moment – enough time to reassure himself that it's really Krel and he's really alive – Mort pulls away, hands resting on Krel's shoulders. His eyes linger on every visible bandage and his lips twist downward. "How did you survive? We found your core, I – I tried every spell I could think of just in case but I couldn't find you–"
Krel shakes his head. "It's a long story. We can talk about it later. Right now, there are more important things."
"Krel found out who the Knights' master is," says Jim.
"You did?" Ikram steps forward, eyes wide. "How?"
"I came across him in the woods when the Red Knight was reporting in – it's a long story." Krel glances towards the front door, then meets Mort's eyes. "It's Merlin. Merlin is the evil wizard."
There's a brief silence. For a moment, Steve is worried the adults won't believe them, that they'll need more evidence than Krel's word, even though Steve knows Krel wouldn't be mistaken. Then Aaarrrgghh!!! lets out a low growl and Mort closes his eyes in clear horror. Ikram groans and punches the wall.
"That vile vermin! That degenerate double-crosser! That malignant malefactor!" Blinky cries, all six eyes narrowed and four hands curled into fists. "Why, I'll rip him apart with my own hands!"
"That's what I'm saying, man," agrees Toby.
"I'll help!" Stuart jumps in. "I will gladly help. That man deserves an extremely painful death for what he did to Krel."
"Well, I could have seen that coming from a mile away." Mort sighs and rubs his forehead. "And yet somehow I just thought he was a repulsive human being not particularly associated with good or bad. Figures."
"Douxie and Claire," rumbles Aaarrrgghh!!! worriedly.
"So long as Merlin isn't aware that we know he's our enemy, I don't think he'll hurt them," says Ikram.
Steve hopes so. The last thing they need right now is more people getting – more hurt. Douxie's shoulder isn't healed yet, Steve is technically supposed to be on the crutches for another few days, and Krel – Krel is in bad shape. Steve can tell by the way he's started to slump, by the faint trembling in his limbs.
The door opens. All of them turn. Steve's stomach drops. Merlin stands in the doorway, hands surrounded by toxic green focusers, Claire and Douxie floating a few inches off the ground in front of him, struggling in the grasp of the same awful green. So much for Merlin not knowing they know. He shoves his hands forward and Douxie and Claire fly into the room, the magic releasing them as they tumble to the floor. Jim immediately launches himself angrily towards Merlin, only for the wizard to send a blast of unformed magic at him. He stumbles back and kneels by Claire instead, protective as Toby helps her sit up. Mort and Krel both crouch to help Douxie. Steve swallows and adjusts his crutches to free his hands for spells if needed; he activates his armour – still so cool by the way, take that Jim, Steve has magic armour too now. He does still hate how it feels around his cast, but there's nothing to be done for that. After a second, Toby and Seamus do the same. Ikram draws her sword and Nimue summons her duel daggers. Seamus, too, summons a weapon – what looks to be some sort of long, teal spear.
"Congratulations," says Merlin. He doesn't seem bothered that he's outnumbered. "You've figured it out. And to think, all this time you actually thought it was Mordred. Pah. Mordred is too weak to even think of pursuing the formstone."
Mort stands. With a flex of his hands he's suddenly holding two long, thin swords.
"Kids," he says evenly, "get somewhere safe. Everyone else, go with them. I'll hold him off as long as I can."
"Mort, listen, I know you're a great wizard and all, but Merlin is centuries older than you," Toby exclaims. "And also super powerful! The only one who might stand a chance is Morgana!"
Mort smiles grimly. "The pupil must always surpass the teacher, they say, and I like to think I've quite managed. Aunt Morgana isn't the only one who stands a chance."
"Aunt Morgana!?" Seamus repeats in shocked disbelief. "What – but–"
"We'll see who you think is weak now, Merlin." Mort – or rather, Mordred – vanishes one sword in order to activate his own armour. He looks exactly like his picture in Seamus's book, almost terrifying in a way Steve never thought he could be, magic arcing in his hands and face pulled into a dark frown. He glances back at them again. "Go."
"You heard the wizard!" cries Blinky. "Come along!"
They charge out the backdoor – the clouds have finally shifted into a proper rainstorm, which Steve has been dreading all day but couldn't be more relieved for now. They would have been totally screwed if it was sunny out. There's not an umbrella in the world quite big enough for Aaarrrgghh!!!. He leaves his crutches behind, deciding that he may screw up his leg but he can't run on crutches and they really do need to run. He knows Mort – Mordred – whatever is strong, but does he stand a chance against Merlin? The Merlin?
Aaarrrgghh!!! glances at Krel, stumbling and shivering in the rain, and scoops him up and throws him onto his back. Steve approves. Douxie keeps glancing back, until Nimue glares at him at hard enough that his face pulls into resigned distress and he focuses on where he's going.
"To–"
"The canal, we know!" Steve completes. Toby laughs sheepishly, launching into the air with his war-hammer in order to travel faster. The rain makes the ground slippery, but they manage to make it alright, even if the rain really can't be good for Steve's cast. Oh well. He's getting it off soon, anyway. They skid to a stop under the bridge – where everything ends, somehow, and Steve doesn't like to think that they're back here now. Toby lets Blinky draw the portal, and they hurry through. Blinky marks a large X over the wall; it lights up red.
"He won't be getting in here anytime soon," he says firmly.
"It's not that hard," says Ikram dryly. "Lots of back entrances and exits, you know."
Blinky scowls. Krel climbs off Aaarrrgghh!!!'s back and pats the big troll appreciatively. Aaarrrgghh!!! smiles fondly and offers him a fist bump, then afterwards pats Krel's head.
"Come," says Blinky. "Deeper into Trollmarket."
As they walk down the faintly glowing stairs and into Trollmarket proper, Jim's face morphs into sadness. Both the other trolls' faces also shift, as well as Toby and Claire's. Steve never knew the real Trollmarket, the way it was before the Eternal Night, but he can understand their pain. Stuart and Eli look around in awe. Steve wishes he could have visiting before all the destruction. According to Toby, Trollmarket was a beautiful place. He hopes Arcadia doesn't end up as a similar tragedy.
"We're safe for now," says Jim. "As long as Mort – uh, Mordred? As long as he holds off Merlin."
"I can't believe it," mutters Douxie.
"No offence to Mort – Mordred – whoever he is, but he couldn't even hold off Ikram with Nimue's help," Toby points out.
"He had to have been going easy on me," says Ikram. "I think he suspected my situation and reacted accordingly. I never would have been able to knock out the Mordred."
"This is crazy," Douxie says, laughing like someone on the verge of a mental breakdown. Steve gets it. He's been there all summer. "I think I would know if my uncle was some – some centuries-old evil sorcerer!"
"Clearly not evil," Krel points out.
"Yeah, I'm thinking the history books kind of got him wrong, dude," says Steve. "I don't think Mort could be evil to save his life."
Seamus just leans his head back and groans. "Now I feel like a complete idiot. No wonder he was so convinced the Knight's master wasn't Mordred."
Krel snickers. "Good job, Seamus. You've been telling Mort he's the bad guy for two weeks."
"Shut up," Seamus grumbles, but he smiles and claps a hand on Krel's shoulder so Steve knows he's missed Krel's snark too.
"Okay, okay," says Jim. "We need a plan. What's the plan? Krel? Now would be a great time for details on how you escaped the Red Knight."
Krel winces and shakes his head. "I don't know. I told you I don't know. I used my powers but I don't know how to – do that."
Blinky puts a hand to his chin and crosses his other arms across his torso. "Powers, you say. Fascinating. Were they triggered by intense emotion? Anger? Fear? Sorrow?"
"I – guess," says Krel.
"Well, I'm sure you'll be plenty afraid if Merlin comes after us," says Toby helpfully.
"Okay, we need a plan that doesn't depend on Krel's Gaylen powers," Steve cuts in. Krel shoots him a relieved look, which means he was definitely reading into his friend's unease correctly. "Okay, Trollhunters, you have experience fighting ancient evil wizards. Go."
"Go?" Toby repeats.
Steve gestures at them. "Make a plan! You're the veterans here!"
"Fighting Morgana was really a lot less planning and a lot more trying not to die," admits Jim. "We only beat her because of Angor Rot's help, really, and Claire's staff. And we don't have… either of those."
"Okay, what did this angry rot do?" prompts Krel.
Jim and Toby exchange frowns. Claire sighs. "Angor Rot sacrificed himself so we could weaken Morgana and banish her to the Shadow Realm."
Krel grimaces. "Never mind."
"Yeah, nobody is sacrificing themselves here," says Seamus.
"Plan, plan, plan," mutters Douxie. "Gah! This is impossible!"
"Calm down," says Nimue. "We'll figure something out. Every enemy has a weakness."
"Merlin has had his magic taken from him before," Toby points out. "Maybe we could figure out how to do that? You think Mort would know?"
"I didn't know you could take someone's magic!" Douxie wails.
Nimue pats his shoulder. "There, there."
"Okay, okay, I got it, I got it," says Stuart. Steve is ninety percent sure he hasn't actually got it, but they don't have any good plans so there's no harm hearing Stuart's bad one. "We call Aja. We get a bunch of fighters from Akiridion-5 and also the Foo-foos again. Then, we attack Merlin with everything we've got! He can't stop all of us!"
"It's… not the worst idea," concedes Ikram. "There may be strength in numbers. It would be wise to gather our allies."
"We'll need to do that from somewhere else." They all spin around at Mort's voice. Steve swallows at the sight of him, blood seeping from a wound near his temple, but he doesn't look badly injured from what Steve can see.
"Uncle Mort!" Douxie cries in relief, running forward and grabbing Mort in a hug. The older wizard winces but wraps his arms around his nephew, curling a hand in Douxie's hair. "You got away!"
"Yes, but not for long," says Mort. Seriously, should Steve be calling him Mordred now? He's not sure. "Earth isn't safe. We need to take refuge on Akiridion-5."
"If Aja will let us," Steve points out. He tries not to let the bitterness seep into his voice, but by Krel's alarmed glance it does anyway. "She kicked us out, remember?"
"She'll let us," says Eli. "Aja may be angry at you for letting Krel die, but she wouldn't just abandon us like that."
"Also, I'm not dead," Krel adds. "So she can stop being mad. And even if I was dead, no one let me die."
Steve and Toby grimace at each other. They kinda did. Letting Krel face the Knights without them, even with Ikram, was a mistake. Steve didn't even know it was happening until it was too late. He hates that he was too late.
Douxie finally releases Mort. The older wizard turns around and lets his eyes trail over all of them, as if they might have gotten injured on the way to Trollmarket. He walks over to Krel and runs a hand over the bandages, before gently manoeuvring him to sit on a nearby stone.
"I know a few potion-less healing spells," he says. "Let's see if we can't make this a little more bearable, shall we?"
"Thanks," says Krel. He turns off the transduction. Even more bandages are revealed when his lower arms finally are, as well as the ones wrapping his torso. Mort gently unravels the bandages, careful not to hurt Krel. Steve's heart sinks as the burns are revealed, gruesome and stark against his skin and jumpsuit. Mort's expression gives away his own horror.
"These will scar," Mort warns. "Or, well, they would on a human. I'm not sure if Akiridions can scar."
"They can," Krel says quietly. The burns on his face make Steve flinch back. The injuries are worse than he'd previously expected. Mort kneels and his hands light up bronze and he murmurs words Steve can't understand, fingers tracing the burns from a centimetre away. Krel's expression smooths out from the faint pain Steve hadn't originally realised was there are the burns start to heal over, now well on their way to scars. Steve adds that spell to his to-learn list.
"There," says Mort as he finishes. "Ideally I'd use more bandages and gauze to be safe but I think you'll be okay. We'll get them to look at you on Akiridion-5."
"Aja won't be very happy to see this."
"I think at the point, Aja will just be thrilled you're alive," Mort says. He stands back up. "Is anyone else injured?"
"Are you injured?" Ikram demands.
"Not badly," says Mort.
"How did you get into Trollmarket?" Blinky demands.
Mort raises an eyebrow. "I'm a wizard. I have no need for your horngazel. And neither will Merlin. No place on this planet is safe from Merlin, but he shouldn't be able to get to Akiridion-5."
"Like I said," says Ikram. "Trollmarket isn't as safe as you think it is. At least not anymore."
"Shouldn't?" Toby repeats.
"Never let your guard down," warns Mort. "Still, we'll be safer there than here."
"Yeah, I don't really want to stay here long enough for more zombie Gumm-Gumms to show up," adds Toby.
"What?" says Claire in disbelief.
"Undead Gumm-Gumms," rumbles Aaarrrgghh!!!. "Bad news."
"Well, that's the last thing we need to deal with right now," mutters Seamus. "Zombies! Just when I think I've seen everything."
Jim looks around the ruins sadly. Blinky puts a hand on his shoulder. Steve hates to think how he would feel to lose his home like this, like Blinky and Aaarrrgghh!!! have. If they can't beat Merlin, he guesses he'll find out. If he isn't dead. Because they might all be dead by the end of this. Some morbid part of Steve hopes he dies first, if they're all going to die. Even though Krel's alive the trauma of finding his core still lingers, and Steve never wants to experience that again.
Mort glances back towards the stairs to Trollmarket, then back to them. His expression is sombre, furrowed brows with blood slowly dripping down the side of his face. Steve's starting to realise that the end of the world is upon them, and they don't have the slightest idea how to stop it.
"We'll leave at night-fall," Mort says.