Author stuff: Last chapter of the day!

Rereading this chapter made me so upset that we didn't get NotEnrique in Wizards.

Drawn from Stone

Chapter Ten

She should have made a map or taken better note of the area before they separated themselves from the group. It would have helped significantly.

Merlin seemed to have a vague recollection of where the camp was but even he was a little lost. His footing occasionally changed direction, though he'd start back in the original direction they'd come from every now and again.

Her back was starting to ache from the added weight of the things she'd picked up and from the new boots she'd invested in. Not a good sign.

And it didn't help that she kept looking over her shoulder, the piercing gaze of someone's eyes making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

Her only hope was that a sentry was nearby. It wasn't like she could sense them or anything.

She stopped in her tracks. She almost wanted to hit herself in the head. She could kind of do that. She hadn't really gotten the hang of it at the motel, but she'd been practicing. A little.

She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. The fresh scent of green and damp dirt greeted her. The air sent her head spinning. Or maybe that was the altitude. It was most likely the altitude.

She breathed in again, steadying herself against a tree. There was a pull from between her shoulder blades. The world sort of… simmered around her. That was really the only way to describe it.

But it didn't do much more than that.

"Are you just going to stand there all evening?" Merlin said from ahead of her. "We do have to rejoin the others so we can continue on."

"I'm coming," she said, her words sounding a little more winded than she thought they'd be. She frowned at that but followed after Merlin. He was much more sure now.

Five minutes later, they found a sentry — Gorump or Slubomp or something that ended in -ump, she couldn't remember — who lead them back to the camp. Almost everyone was packed up and ready to go, there were just a few stragglers gathering the last of their personal belongings.

"Hey, there you are, sis," NotEnrique said, coming over and climbing up onto her shoulders. "We were starting to get worried about you. Afraid that the old geezer had, uh."

He made a slashing motion over his throat, letting his head go limp and fall to one side.

"Pretty sure it would be the other way around," she said, taking him in her arms and giving him a little squeeze.

"'Old geezer'?" Merlin said, blinking between them.

"Eh, don't worry about it," NotEnrique said. "So, you two ready to go?"

"Yeah," Claire said, standing on her toes and looking around. It didn't really help her see who she wanted.

NotEnrique snorted and tapped her hand to get her attention. He pointed off to the right, already knowing where she wanted to go.

She followed his direction, leaving Merlin to talk to a few Trolls hanging in the area. The tension in her shoulders loosened a little.

Something about being surrounded by the tall, rocky bodies of the Trolls was something she'd grown comfortable with. Just like a warm bath with a good bath bomb. It was familiar and nice.

Kind of like home.

She smiled and waved to those who greeted her, some moving out of her way to direct her to the one person she wanted to see.

She and NotEnrique found Jim talking to Blinky and a few sentries. By the creases of their brows, it was something she didn't want to really interrupt. So, she opted to stand back and listen to their discussion.

"...through the mountain pass," said one of the sentries.

"Do we know how safe it really is?" Jim said, folding his arms in front of his chest. "Are we able to get everyone through with no difficulty?"

The sentries shifted uneasily on their feet.

"This is most likely the best way to get everyone through," said another sentry.

"Yes," said Merlin, creeping up behind Claire, "it will be the best and fastest way to get everyone through."

"But are we sure that it's safe?" Jim pressed.

"They have been through worse."

"That's not what I asked."

Claire saw Jim clench his fists and the fur on the top of his head bristle. Blinky saw it as well and stepped in.

"This is why we have sentries," Blinky said, placing a complacent hand on Jim's shoulder. "They are here to help aid us in getting everyone to safety. They can scout ahead of us to make sure we don't run in to anything dangerous."

"But can they guarantee everyone's safety?"

"Jim," Claire said, slowly taking three steps toward him, "I'm sure they will do the best they can."

"We promise you, Trollhunter," said the first sentry, "we will go beyond our due diligence to make sure everyone gets through the mountain safe and sound."

Jim looked him up and down, sighing as his shoulders drooped. After a moment, he nodded.

"Alright," he said, "we'll take this mountain pass."

The sentries dismissed themselves and started to round up everyone else. Everyone, begrudgingly, started to pack their things.

Blinky muttered something to Jim, offering him a small smile. Jim returned it with a tight smile of his own. Blinky turned and headed in her direction. He paused by her side for just a moment.

"Please talk to him," Blinky said. "I… I am not sure how much help I can be with what's bothering him."

"His mom?"

Blinky nodded.

"You can count on me."

She reached his side and placed a hand on his arm.

"Hey," she said, leaning against him. He slipped his hand around her waist and pulled her close, giving her a squeeze. "Your mom's going to be released soon. And she'll be with Strickler, so that's a good thing."

"Yeah," Jim said. His brow was still furrowed.

"You're worried about her and Darren having seizures."

"Something tells me that it's all connected."

"Something tells me that too. But they're both safe right now. They're being looked after by people who love and care for them."

Jim ran a hand through his hair, giving a little growl.

"I can't help but worry," he said. "She's my mom, you know?"

"Yeah, I know."

"We were all each other had growing up. I'm just… I can't help but worry about her."

"I'm sure she's pretty worried about you, too."

"And it doesn't help that my dad's there," Jim said, moving away from her. He gestured widely and sharply with his hands. "He just… I can't even begin to get into everything about him, you know? He… he really hurt us. And I hate that I'm not there with her right now."

Claire looked around. Most of the Trolls were casting a glance at them, but they were far enough away that they wouldn't hear anything.

She wrapped her arms around his middle and squeezed, keeping her grasp firm.

"This all really sucks," she said. "I'm sorry."

"I," he said. "I know. I'm sorry too. You probably don't want to hear all of this again."

"If it's bothering you, it bothers me too."

"Can you take my mind off it?"

"Do you want to hear about the spell I'm trying to learn?"

He didn't respond to Darci right away. He actually had to wait until they'd picked up Dictatious and brought him to Trollmarket before he could. And, even then, they had to find what he was looking for first.

And James didn't seem too happy about it.

"And why, pray tell, is he here?" the man said, eyes narrowing and a frown growing deeper by the minute as he looked Dictatious over.

"We need his help," Toby said, shrugging.

Dictatious blinked his milky white eyes at James.

"By Deya," Dictatious said, "I haven't seen you in, well, years."

"And I was hoping to keep it that way," James said, drawing his sword from who-knows-where-because-magic.

"Nope!" Toby said, pulling out his warhammer as Aja got out her serrator and summoned up a shield. "We're not doing this here and now. We've got some work to do and then get to the hospital."

"He's a servant to Gunmar."

"Hardly," Dictatious said, crossing his arms and scoffing. "Besides, the oaf is dead. He tried to kill me, you know?"

"Dead?"

"There's a lot you don't know and, right now, I don't have the time to explain everything. We need to find a book. A particular book. And Dictatious is the only one who knows what it looks like."

All eyes turned to him. Dictatious frowned, his brow creasing.

"I do?" he said, wringing his hands together.

"Yeah, you do."

"How do you know that?" Eli said. "There's… There's a lot of books here."

"Because," Toby said, "he wrote it."

Author stuff cont'd.: More chapters will be out on Sunday.