Jim's weekend continued without incident, just doing the usual things: homework, laying around, tv, games and other such mundane things.

Claire's POV:

Arriving back at home, Claire made her way indoors to a house as empty as she had left it, assuming everyone was still out, Claire made her way upstairs to start on some homework. Entering her room and sitting at her desk, Claire grabbed her books and started on the assignment from Mr Strickler, only to be interrupted.

"Lady Claire you have returned."

"arrrgh! Blinky you're back!" screamed in Claire in panic.

"Actually, it's just me, Arrrgh' s not here and technically I never left," Blinky replied with a smug look.

"what do you mean you never left?"

"well the fate of the universe was in the balance with your decision, fair Clair, and you humans have these wonderful things called basements, magical things."

"okay, weird, but you can leave now and relax, I've decided to accept my destiny and become the troll hunter."

"good to hear, I'll take you to troll market in the morning, so you can begin your training," Blinky said bouncing with excitement.

"Now you're gonna go, right?"

"Sorry, Lady Claire but I'm afraid I'll have to wait till dark, wouldn't want to turn to stone."

"wait, you guys turn to stone in the sun?"

"unfortunately," replied Blinky with a faraway look on his face "anyway miss Claire I'll be out of your hair soon."

The next morning, waking up from a peaceful slumber, Claire jumped out of bed with only one thought on her mind; troll market. Rushing around her room and getting changed into her usual attire: a violet top with a skull on and a dark purple jacket.

Having gotten ready Claire said goodbye to her parents, grabbed her bike and started making her way to the bridge where she was told to meet Blinky at. The short pedal seemed to take forever to Claire as her thoughts swirled with possibilities of what troll market could be like and all the fascinating things she could discover. Finally arriving Claire got off her bike and made her way into the tunnel to find Blinky and Arrrgh patiently waiting for her.

"ah, Miss Claire, you arrived I see."

"yes Blinky, of course, I can't turn down this opportunity."

"if I'm not mistaken Miss Claire, a few nights ago, you wanted nothing more than for all of this to have never happened," Blinky replied in an amused tone, with a huge grin on his face.

"well, I was thinking about all the negatives, not the positives; the possibility of sudden death is a bit of a deal breaker."

"very well Miss Claire, let's get going, but be warned no human has ever stepped foot in troll market and not all trolls are friendly, or accepting, of humans."

Blinky then grabbed a crystal looking object with a handle and began to draw an arch into the wall before tapping the middle, causing the wall to crack with glowing blue lines before bursting open; leaving an almost portal-like effect. walking through the newly formed entrance Blinky handed Claire the object he had just used, "that dear Claire is a horngazel, the only way in out of troll market, don't lose it whatever you do."

Moving further into the dark room a sudden burst of light drew Claire's attention as hundreds of crystals shimmered to life, creating a spiralling staircase that descended down into the depths. cautiously making her way down the steps, Claire noticed the crystals were, in fact, not slippery like she first thought and actually grew brighter with each step. Arriving at the bottom of the staircase Claire was faced by a large rock opening that leads out into a large open cavern which could only be described as breath-taking: thousands of crystals of all shapes and sizes; some no bigger than a fist, others spanning massive distances, but all shining brightly with varying colours; from the brightest blues to the deepest reds, all surrounding what could only be described as a small civilization: shops, huts, bars, and restaurants, anything a normal town would have. This was all swarmed by trolls of varying shapes colours and sizes, all going on with their daily activities that could almost be considered normal, if it wasn't for the obvious differences in species. But at the center of this, the thing that drew Claire's sole focus was the heart stone; a ginormous amber crystal that pulsed with energy and light that made hair stand up with raw power, the life force of troll market.

Finally finished staring, Claire makes her way through the arch and followed Blinky into Troll market receiving the odd look of confusion, disdain or anger joined by faint whispers of "what's a flesh bag doing here." and "human's nasty creatures."

"First port of call is to meet Vendel, the leader of troll market," Blinky stated, trying to distract Claire from the not-so-friendly welcome.

Making their way up a small set of steps leading up to the heart stone they entered a large chamber, inside the very heart of the heart stone; the walls shimmering and air humming with energy. Claire noticed a large table and several shelves with books and tins and all manner of colored liquids. Sat in the center was a large off-white troll with white eyes and beard, he was holding a large amber staff that looked like it came from the heart stone.

"Blinkous! why have you bought a flesh bag here; to troll market!" Vendel shouted out in anger.

"Vendel, this is Miss Claire the next Troll hunter, the amulet chose her."

"That's not possible, there has never been a human troll hunter."

"Miss Claire if you would do the honors and show Vendel here."

"Alright, for the glory of merlin, daylight is mine to command." and with the now familiar feeling of a sudden burst of pure energy and armour forming itself around her body, Claire stood there, daring Vendel to question the truth again.

"the Soothscryer will be the judge. to the hero's forge!" Vendel said, holding back his shock and trying to keep a neutral expression.

"but she hasn't even started her training yet, that's completely unfair."

"I don't care Blinky, if she is worthy it will judge her so."

"Very well Vendel, come along miss Claire"

Leaving the heart stone, Blinky, Arrrgh, Claire and Vendel made their way to the hero's forge, a large arena surrounded by the stone remains of all the deceased troll hunters. It had large balcony seating area for people to view fights and came equipped with automatic weapons and varying obstacles to test agility, strength, and skill.

Reaching the middle of the arena, Vendel triggered a switch and a large platform raised from the ground; adorned by the head of dark evil looking troll glowing deep red.

"Behold the Soothscryer, please insert your right hand, troll-hunter, and be judged,"

"I'm going to get it back right?" Claire says, looking at the spinning teeth in its mouth during the time between it snapping open and closed; with enough force to break bone.

"that depends" Vendel replied, with a sadistic smirk plastered on his face.

Resigning herself to her fate, Claire marches up to the Soothscryer and tries to get up high enough to put her arm in, only to repeatedly fail, earning a small chuckle from Vendel. Noticing Claire's struggles, Arrrgh grabs her gently in his hand and lifts her up, thrusting her hand forward into the awaiting mouth of stone, Claire braces for agony only for it to slam shut enclosing her arm but with no pain.

Several agonizing seconds later the Soothscryer lets her go, leaving her arm intact. Dropping to the floor in relief, Claire clutches her arm just to reassure herself it's still there.

"so, what are the results," asked Blinky, praying for good news.

"inconclusive I'm afraid," Vendel said, whilst leaving the hero's forge.

Getting up from off the ground Claire prepared for what was next, wondering what other difficult challenges were to come.

"now Claire, let's begin your training and start getting you up to date on troll law."

"okay Blinky, what's first?"

"first, dear Claire, we read up on the history of your amulet, so you can have a better understanding of the powers and responsibility you possess."

"right. reading, yay," Claire replied sarcastically

Claire, Blinky and Arrrgh made their way to Blinky's hut which turned out to be a giant library with books sprawled everywhere, leaving barely any room to walk.

"excuse the mess, my friends just start looking for a book that has a red cover and says History of Merlin's Amulets on it."

Several hours of searching the untidy room, going through hundreds of books, Blinky finally managed to find it sat on top of a pile books in the far corner.

"aha, Miss Claire, I have found it," Blink said, jumping down from the pile of books he had just climbed and handing Claire the book,

Opening the book Claire began flicking through the pages, giving a quick skim: seeing several drawings of her amulet, the armour, and its weapons, she then came across another amulet that was depicted as having a shiny green metal casing with a toxic green glow; known as the life amulet which was destroyed long ago. Continuing on, Claire then came to a section of the book that had been completely torn out.

"Blinky where's the rest of this book, it's been torn out, what was meant to be here?"

"Oh, nothing Miss Claire, just a long lost relic." Blinky stuttered out, trying to keep his composure.

"Blinky what is it? tell me."

"no Miss Claire, I cannot."

"Blinky I need to know, isn't this part of being a troll hunter?"

After several minutes of arguing Blinky final relented with a huff.

"what was ripped out of this book was the Eclipse amulet, which, despite being designed to defend against evil and fight against the troll hunter, has a bad name and people are afraid of it."

"why's that?" Claire questioned, completely engrossed in this new information.

"well, the Eclipse amulet only chooses people pure of heart with the will and fortitude to wield it, but unfortunately it only chooses one of these people when it is necessary, only in times of great need and darkness, that's why it's got bad names such as: battle amulet, war amulet, omen, and doom bringer. Because if it chooses, well, Let's just say dark times are ahead of us.

"wow, what did it look like?"

"just like the amulet you wield, fair Claire, only made of black, metallic metal with a deep red glow, almost like blood."

Gasping in shock, Claire struggles to breathe at the implications of what she's just heard, her mind whirling back to the red glow in her classmate's bag.

"Miss Claire are you okay you look like you've seen a ghost."

"Blinky I think I may have seen that amulet."

"what do you mean its locked away in troll markets deepest volts and unlike the Daylight amulet it can't teleport, it can't possibly have gotten out or chosen anyone, it's impossible, well improbable. Okay maybe it could have gotten out, wait no, nope it didn't." Blinky rattled out, his nerves shattered.

"do you think maybe we should check?" Claire replied, trying to regulate her breathing and get Blinky focused.

"yes, Miss Claire, we will get Vendel and go to the vaults at once."

Hurrying out of Blinky's hut, they began a quick panicked sprint back to the heart stone where Vendel usually resides. Rushing past the guards, they confronted Vendel.

"Vendel, I come with grave news, the amulet of Eclipse may have escaped and chosen someone to wield it." Blinky cried desperately, hoping he would believe him.

"impossible Blinkous, who has filled your brain with these conspiracies!" Vendel replied, outraged at the very thought.

"I'm afraid that it could be true, master Vendel, Blinky described the amulet to me and I believe I may have seen it."

"well, troll hunter, that is a bold claim, but if it allows you to rest at night, flesh bag, we may go check."

Once again leaving the heart stone, Claire and her troll companions made their slow descent into the deeper parts of troll market. Reaching a solid steel door, Claire stepped aside as Vendel pushed his hand to the door, muttering a few words under his breath and with a sudden jolt the mechanism in the door sprung to life: cogs grinding and squealing as they moved the 8 inches thick steel door out of its resting place.

Moving through the doorway into a cage that functioned as a crude elevator, Vendel slammed the switch and with a sharp jolt the cage fell violently down the shaft before stopping inches from the ground at the bottom, the violent halt throwing everyone off their feet.

Regaining their footing, they clambered out of the cage and stumbled towards a lone vault buried deep into the rock with a tiny solid titanium door, but, upon closer inspection, there was an amulet shaped puncture straight through the door.

The amulet had escaped its prison.