(( Disclaimer: This story is completely original. All characters, settings, and events are spawned from my own mixed up little mind and may not be used, copied, or adapted without my express written permission. Do not steal my story!!!

Sorry this chapter took so long to get out. I made a move cross-country, started a new job, then had a loss in the family to deal with. Here's hoping things settle down a bit more. :) ))

21.

By the time Gaj'ja had slowed her furious pace through the twists and turns of the underground tunnels, Toby was gasping for breath. She sagged against the nearest wall and stayed there even as Gaj'ja considered the sounds and sights of the battle that had spilled out into the large main tunnel, gulping air in gratefully as she tried to get her breath back.

The troll turned. "Princess no die!" she warned, then drew her long sword and charged into battle.

"Gaj'ja, wait--!" Toby yelled, but the troll was gone. She exhaled, letting her head fall back against the tunnel wall behind, frustrated. She was so tired of no one telling her anything. Everyone thought this was so easy, so straight-forward, but meanwhile Toby had no idea what was going on. She sank to the ground, gripping Kjavaeos in her hands. The sword felt like it was a bag of bricks, her arms burning with the effort it'd taken to carry it on their mad flight.

"I'm just going to stay right here. Just... not going to move." That sounded like a great idea. That was what one was supposed to do, right? She'd just sit right down and wait for someone to come find her.

Well, until someone stepped in front of her. She raised her eyes slowly, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in her stomach, and found herself staring into the face of one very large troll. "Uh.. hi?" she said, with a faint smile. He wouldn't attack her. They hero-worshipped her or whatever. He was just raising his sword because he was exercising. Yeah. That was it. Just exercising. Right.

The troll swung for her head. She shrieked and flung herself to the side just in time to avoid losing the rather important top foot of her body. Scrambling away, she thrust Kjavaeos out just in time to block the troll's next swing. The chime of the troll's sword on the broken sword's hilt was like a bell tolling, clear and loud. For a moment it gave them both pause, but not for long. Toby recovered first, gripped the hilt with both hands, and slammed it down on the troll's head.

She didn't even wait for the troll to recover or not recover, just dashed down the hall. Fighting meant that there was someone there who was on her side. She just had to make it to them and let them do all the fighting and the scary stuff.

A hand grabbed her and pulled her to one side, and she immediately shrieked and swung at her captor with Kjavaeos.

Theo blocked the swinging sword with one hand, blinking at her. "Hey..." he said, but Toby just flung herself to him, wrapping her arms around him. She'd never been so happy to see someone in her entire life. Theo froze slightly, but then hugged her back, just holding her close. For a moment, all the insanity of the past couple of days, all the mix-ups and the frustration, didn't seem quite so bad.

"Princess!" Toby looked up into the noble face of Georgette, a frown creasing her forehead. The Knight glanced at the dragon, then held her hand out to Toby. "Come. It doth be time to leave."

Toby gazed at Georgette's hand for a moment, then reached out and took it. Georgette immediately pulled Toby closer to her, impossibly long sword held in one hand. It just made a mockery of all physics, really. It made Toby's head hurt. There was no time to worry about impossibly long swords or the way the Knight had looked at Theo or saying goodbye to Gaj'ja or anything like that. They were running through the tunnels again, and Toby thought annoyedly that she didn't recall Princesses having to run quite so much.

Thankfully, they only seemed to be running to Verum, because as soon as the over-dressed silver-haired fairy godmother-in-training came into view, Georgette gave Toby a slight push towards her. "Go," she ordered. Toby didn't hesitate. She was too tired to try and figure out what was going on. She just wanted to get out of these crazy tunnels and away from the trolls who revered her but still tried to kill her.

Verum was whipping her little twig of a wand through the air, sending charms and spells hurtling throughout the dark tunnels. Toby glanced, but noted that the fairy godmother-in-training's spells were hitting both troll and non-troll alike, mostly seperating them, as if managing the battle. Just whose side was the over-poofed airhead on?

Toby didn't have time to wonder, though, because Verum beamed and held out a hand for Toby to take. "Princess! Wonderful. Shall we be going?"

Toby glanced over her shoulder in time to see flames leap out against a troll's shield, but then pulled her eyes back to Verum. Still gripping the shattered sword in her other hand, she reached out and took Verum's hand in her own. "Let's get out of here." She didn't bother asking how the others would get back; she was sure they knew what they were doing, and Toby herself was completely out of her bounds here. At this point, she was more of a liability than anything else. Not something she really liked to admit.

Verum pulled the brunette close and whipped her wand around them. A translucent bubble formed in the air around them, the world outside going strange and squiggly. Ah, so this was what Verum saw every time she bubble-popped places.

Toby watched as the world seemed to shrink around the bubble, down into a pin prick. Then a moment later, it seemed to widen again, but this time to an entirely different scene. And when the bubble pop!ed, they weren't standing in the caverns anymore. In fact, they weren't standing anywhere that Toby recognized. They were above ground again in an open clearing, the long grass waving underneath Toby's feet. There, in front of them, was a stump. Not just any stump. It was the largest, biggest, roundest stump Toby had ever seen, easily large enough that Toby could have walked right through it.

"Verum, where..." Toby began, but when she turned, the fairy godmother-in-training was hard at work. More bubbles appeared, each one popping to reveal a different member of Toby's little rescue party. Fairies of every color, including Fizzybink, stood in a loose group around the towering Georgette and Theo. There was even several taller humanoids that Toby didn't recognize. One she almost mistook for a birch tree, his skin the color and pattern of the bark of one, even his hair short and jagged. Another looked like she was made out of stone. A third Toby hadn't noticed as quickly was much shorter, furred, and with a face more like a badger's than a human's. All three had long, pointed ears.

Then, finally, there was a figure standing there in shining silver armor much like Georgette's, that made Toby stare. "... Dom?"

He turned his brilliant blue eyes to her, looking for a moment like he wasn't sure how to react. But then he offered her a small smile, glancing over her. "You okay, Tobeydobey?"

"Yeah. I'm fine... Nice of you to notice," Toby replied, still angry over the last time they'd spoken. At least Dominic looked abashed at the tone of her voice, though Toby felt a little guilty for her anger as soon as he did. Darn him and her inability to stay mad at her. She shifted her grip on Kjavaeos, rubbing her thumb over the hilt of the sword.

All eyes, for the second time that night, turned to the over-sized toothpick Toby was holding.

Theo hissed in fury. "Betrayer."

Toby blinked, looking from Georgette to Theo to Dom, who was the only other one in the clearing who looked as confused as Toby felt right at that instant. At the very least, no one besides Theo seemed .. unhappy to see the sword. And he seemed livid. Great.

"The Jade Lady gave it to me," she said, feeling as if they were expecting some sort of explanation. "I had no choice. She wants me to mend it."

Verum inhaled slowly. "Oh. Oh dear. That is a very big honor Toby, and a very big responsibility. That sword is the troll's most valued possession. That she would even let it out of the Everdark..." She glanced at Georgette. "She must known something. I can't imagine she would take a gamble this big."

Toby was looking at Theo, though. He was staring at the sword as if it was the most disgusting, most vile thing he'd ever seen. It only made sense, she thought. He was a dragon, and this sword had been used to kill the Dragonmother. But... the Dragonmother had been evil. Theo wasn't. That he was so angry about it... It made her nervous, because it lent truth to what Verum had been saying. Could he really resist his true nature...? Did she dare hope he could?

Without saying anything more, Theo turned and strode away angrily. Toby didn't bother trying to stop him, but instead turned to look at the others.

"Come now. You must be tired," Verum said, her voice exceptionally happy as she swept forward to put her hand on Toby's shoulder.

Toby glanced around them, sighing. "How far do we have to walk?" She wondered where Valiance the Pookah was and if he would just carry her. She was so very, very tired.

"About five feet," Fiz said, his eyes sparkling as he spun a slow circle around Toby, then zipped towards the stump before she could ask him what he meant. He went to the tree, reaching out and touching it in several places rapidly. Then he spoke something in a language Toby didn't quite catch -- the same language she'd heard Verum use before. There was a soft cracking noise, and a doorway appeared in the stump.

Two more fairies flew up, pulling the door open and revealing a set of stairs that wound into the trunk and down into the ground. Ugh, underground again, Toby thought.

"Welcome to the fairy mound," Fiz said, with no small measure of pride. "Welcome to Avalon, Princess." And then he bowed deeply. Toby stared at the doorway for a moment, but then, when it was obvious everyone was waiting for her to go first, stepped forward and walked into the darkness of the trunk stairway. She glanced over her shoulder as she began walking, just in time to see the three strange beings turn and disappear into the forest again. Not fairies, then?

She craned her head to see, and as she did so her foot missed the step. She pitched forward, but Dom grabbed her arm, steadying her. "Careful, Tobes," he said with a smile. She couldn't help but smile back at him, but then mentally sighed. Now he was being nice to her again? Boys. She'd never figure them out.