Barverra's blades were dancing swiftly in the air, forcing Bular to go on full defense. Lately, their sparring sessions had finally turned into something on equal grounds, instead of a one-sided beating, and it gave the daughter of Gunmar way more confidence in her own capability to protect Jim.
Nevertheless, it wasn't like she returned to her old level overnight. No, it had been five years of regular night training and mock battles, five years of hiding bruises and cuts from her son and co-workers.
Well, it could have been worse, like all of that not helping at all. Barverra was lucky to be a true battle prodigy. She had to be one in the environment where she had grown. Weak whelps never lived too long in the Gumm-Gumm tribe.
The daughter of Gunmar signaled Bular to stop, and her brother obeyed without any complaints.
"Surprisingly silent today, eh?" the female teased. Usually, he would throw some snide remarks after the fight, but today there were none. Besides, the son of Gunmar looked quite grumpy and annoyed for some reason. It wasn't that different from his regular demeanor, but spars often helped to lighten his mood.
Not this time, apparently.
Barverra wondered if something had happened at the museum. After all, this night, she hadn't visited the base as they had met at sparring spot. Her brother confirmed the suspicions right away as if reading her thoughts.
"Stricklander," he spat with sheer disgust. "He keeps stalling for no reason! And that other impure - whatever-her-name - too!"
"Nomura?" the female troll hummed. That one remained quite a mystery to her. Barverra often thought of the purplish changeling as a small fry. Nomura apparently tried to keep a low profile and mostly avoided the daughter of Gunmar. That alone would make her quite shady, but unlike Stricklander, the female impure didn't seem to have an agenda of her own.
On the other hand, the loyalties of that one remained unpredictable, like for the vast majority of her kind. Though, most likely, Nomura would rather take the winged impure's side if she had a choice.
"It never ceases to surprise me that you keep remembering all that meaningless crap! As if impures deserve any names," Bular growled angrily. "In any case, they should have finished the Killahead bridge a long time ago instead of finding some excuses! Father has been imprisoned for too long! And you could make them hurry up!"
Barverra could see where that ire came from - his nine hundred years after the Killahead battle hadn't been the nicest, so now, with the end goal being that close, he finally had lost even the semblance of patience. Her brother had always been impulsive and rash, and it perhaps, that would never change.
Maybe she could actually at least try to speed up things a bit. The Herald of Doom knew how to find the right motivation, and impures always cared about their hides and would most likely find a way to finish faster. Yet... Yes, there was also a part of her that would prefer delaying the liberation of Gunmar. The female troll just hoped for Bular never learning about that kind of thinking. There was no way he would ever understand or accept it.
All those doubts appeared because of Jim - he may have been fifteen already, but the mother still wanted to keep trolls as far from his life as possible. With his grandfather leading the Gumm-Gumm hordes to take over the world, the probability of that was nil.
Her mind trailed back to the morning some days ago when she actually tried to tell her son everything and couldn't find any right words. That talk had to happen before the Skullcrusher's return, otherwise, Jim would never be able to forgive her.
Sometimes Barverra wished she were more like Bular as she could just blurt everything out without overthinking about the consequences.
'Jim, I'm a troll. Oh, and your grandpa plans to take over the world.'
Yes, something along those lines.
As if! It was so cringeworthy that the daughter of Gunmar tried to banish that craziness into the deepest corner of her mind.
Thinking about the important talk could wait - right now, there was another thing that needed to be addressed.
So she gladly switched to that one.
"Haven't you forgotten a vital detail?" Barverra looked up at her brother. "Even if we rebuild the Killahead Bridge, the gate won't open without the key. It's your job to recover the Amulet, as far as I know".
Bular twitched uncomfortably - she had definitely hit a sore spot. He had killed a good share of Trollhunters, yet still wasn't able to get his hands on the artifact.
The memories of those attempts were too unpleasant.
"The accursed thing keeps escaping me," he grumbled in the end. "Every time I was close to getting it, something unpredictable had happened and it landed in another troll's hands! I've told you, it's like there is some magical protection on the amulet".
"That would make a lot of sense," Barverra muttered, reflecting on possibilities. "Say whatever you want about that damned Merlin, but he wasn't that brainless to leave something so important without any precaution measures..."
The only question was what kind of protection it was. It could be the one that simply didn't allow any Gumm-Gumm to touch it. No, that one would be quite a miscalculation - after all, in addition to natural-born Gumm-Gumms, some trolls had simply assumed that name after joining the Gunmar's side. Would the magic be able to tell those apart from other trolls? Not to mention changelings and trolls with dubious motives... That would have left too many holes in defense - Barverra seriously doubted that Merlin, one of the greatest thinkers of his time, would have neglected that.
There could be a possibility of magic preventing a killer from snatching the amulet. That one would make a lot of sense - someone who murdered any Trollhunter, most likely, wouldn't be on the good side. Yes, there could be some exceptions, like the supposed champion of justice being the nasty person or even villain that needed to be put down or something. However, this variation would be the most desirable one for Barverra - after all, there could be a way to trick that one.
The worst-case scenario would be some intricate spell that would only allow the chosen one to touch the amulet. That one would certainly bring the most problems as it would mean that Gunmar's children should have looked for a way of forcing the Trollhunter to give the amulet to them. Not that the Herald of Doom had no ideas for that one, but she still preferred to abstain.
Barverra shared her thoughts with Bular at once, hoping for some feedback. He might have been rather simple-minded, but her brother could possibly have noticed some important details. After all, he had more than just hypotheses - his experience may have held the answer.
"Then what should we do?" the son of Gunmar asked, looking at his sister with some expectation.
"Have you ever fought any Trollhunter with some aid?" to be honest, it was a surprisingly pointless question. Barverra knew perfectly that her brother was a loner by nature, too proud to ask for any assistance. Well, he could fight side-by-side with her or with Gunmar, but anyone else should have never even suggested something like that. Still, she had to check just in case. An irritated huff was the response she got:
"Do I look like someone who cannot fight without help? And who should I take with me? Stricklander?"
Barverra ignored his angry rant completely.
"I have an idea," she stated firmly. "We should hunt Kanjigar together. One of us will slaughter him, while the other get a hold of the amulet. Don't involve any impure, we cannot trust them".
"And if it doesn't work?" Bular scowled. "What if it is actually enchanted against Gumm-Gumms? Or even worse, only a Trollhunter can get it?"
"We'll think about that later," the female shrugged. "Let's check one thing at a time".
"We need to get in contact with the Trollhunter," Douxie stated firmly, as he was paŃing through the room.
"What's the point of repeating that, Casperan? And seriously, just sit down - it's annoying," Zoe sent him an irritated look. The fact that she used his last name rather than Douxie had already been a sign of the witch losing her patience.
The wizard-in-training decided not to test his luck more and found himself some space on the sofa. His girlfriend was busy examining the city map.
Since they learned about Bular's presence in Arcadia, their small team had been quite busy with setting different magic traps and barriers, as well as keeping curious people away from the supernatural. The results had been mixed so far - most likely, they had saved many lives, yet it wasn't like they could prevent all deaths.
Moreover, at some point, Douxie had decided to make traps weaker as apparently, there were also some good trolls living locally, according to the information Zoe had gotten from some of her associates. For Merlin's student harming a benevolent magical being wasn't that different from harming a human. Perhaps, his master would rather ignore that fact altogether, putting Bular's defeat as a priority, but the young man simply couldn't do something that nasty.
However, the good trolls' presence was the factor with the ability to change the situation entirely. Douxie, Zoe, and Archie couldn't take down the son of Gunmar, but perhaps it would be possible with the Trollhunter's help.
The only problem was no contact, but the wizard-in-training hoped to meet some friendly troll soon during one of the night outings.
All hopes had turned out to be vain. It was like all the stony creatures tried their best to hide from them. Zoe had even stated more than once that it wasn't that surprising knowing the history of the relationship between the two kinds.
No, actually, Douxie had seen a glimpse of trolls running away the second they had caught his scent. Zoe was slightly luckier as she somehow had managed to greet a one. Not that the end result was that different from their regular failures.
"It'd be more proficient if the certain someone stopped being a jerk and helped," the witch commented loud enough, glancing at Archie. The cat-dragon huffed:
"No, thanks".
It had been quite weird, to be honest. Douxie remembered that his familiar was pretty eager to help at first, but stopped altogether. As far as he knew, Archie was the only one of their trio who actually had met a troll. Nevertheless, that encounter had killed all of his enthusiasm altogether.
"Remind me, why do we need to join forces with those barbarians?" the cat inquired with irritation.
"Arch, that's not nice," Douxie looked at his oldest friend with slight reproach. "Good trolls have abandoned violent ways a long time ago. They don't eat humans anymore".
"Don't eat humans anymore? Unbelievable, Douxie! I've always thought you were keener!" the familiar seemed rather offended for some reason, and suddenly both humans realized the reason for his foul mood.
"Trolls eat cats now," Zoe whispered to her boyfriend. "How could we forget about it?"
"Do you think that the troll Archie met had tried to eat him?" Douxie asked in the same hushed tone. It was rhetorical as the answer was rather obvious.
In any case, it only meant one thing - the cat-dragon wasn't going to help in their search as his traumatic experience was still too fresh.
Nothing was going as planned - no, it was more like everything he had built through the years was falling apart right before his eyes.
Stricklander was irritated, letting his feeling out as he stayed alone. He rarely allowed himself to act on anger, but some venting was vital at the moment. The changeling's mind trailed back to the source of his annoyance.
Barverra, that damned daughter of Gunmar. Proficient, deadly, and intelligent. The one without any visible weaknesses. In theory, she could be the best ally in their case. In reality, it had been anything but that.
The last few years turned out to wreck most if not all of Stricklander's expectations, ambitions, and plans. With the appearance of that accursed female, everything had just gone downhill.
Bular had never been easy to deal with from the very start. However now, as if feeling great support, he stopped listening to Walter altogether. If before there was a least some control over the brute's actions, now he did whatever he wanted.
The head of Janus Order could probably tolerate even that, but the biggest problem wasn't Bular. No, the messages from the Skullcrusher were way more alarming and didn't leave much hope. There were too many hints that Stricklander was close to moving into the 'disposable' category.
Why not? After all, Gunmar had his precious daughter right now. It had always been blatantly obvious that the dark lord was biased when it came to his family member. Well, Walter had to admit begrudgingly that, unlike Bular, Barverra was a good fit for the leading position. It didn't help his irritation though
After all, Stricklander had expected at least some gratitude from the Gumm-Gumm king. He was the one to put the most effort into the restoration of the Killahead Bridge. The Janus Order had made the biggest progress in finding and recovering fragments. Wasn't that enough for the fitting reward?
Apparently, the Skullcrusher believed that impures didn't deserve any honorable approach.
No, that had been a too treacherous way of thinking. Stricklander corrected himself mentally at once before it had derailed into dangerous territory. He'd better thought about possibilities for turning the tables.
His brothers and sisters from the Janus Order had already noticed his shaking position and latched into the opportunity to overthrow him. Walter had caught many of them scheming and trying to score some points with Barverra. Well, that could be expected in the community where honor meant nothing. There wasn't anyone truly loyal to the current head of the Janus Order - the moment he showed the weakness, his subordinates would rip him apart themselves. There were too many who dreamed about his position.
Narrow-minded fools.
As if any of them would work for the changelings' well-being. No, they only would care about granting their own survival and rising over others. Trusting any of them? Stricklander had never been that gullible.
His mind shifted to Nomura, his current direct helper, supervisor of goblins, and de facto protector of the museum. Surprisingly, she was mostly safe to his mind as she had never demonstrated any ambitions for leadership or authority. Not to mention that her own position in the Order was disputable - as far as Strickler knew, some members accused her of having some doubts regarding the end goal and loving human stuff too much. The purplish changeling had gotten off-hook only because Stricklander had requested her as an aide. Maybe he could expect some loyalty from her, though most likely, she would rather ditch him if the situation got dire.
The thinking led nowhere. In the end, the root of his problem was Barverra. If only he could turn the tables on the daughter of Gunmar, putting her into the weak and vulnerable position instead. That seemed simply impossible - the changeling had nothing he could use against her.
Well, actually, there was one lead, but using that one would be quite a feat. Barverra had a son, even though it sounded bizarre and highly improbable. How the hell there could be any troll with enough guts (or more likely that dumb) to mate with someone like her? Stricklander still remembered how much he had been surprised when Bular, being not that careful with words, had managed to spill the beans. And judging from his sister's terrifying reaction, it had to be true. Stricklander still remembered that one with a shiver - of course, he had always been aware that the daughter of Gunmar was one of the most dangerous trolls, but that time he had gotten a glimpse of a genuine demon.
That fact alone had explained all the oddities surrounding her behavior - her random and not that frequent visits, her brief stays, her reluctance to take over entire planning, delegating that to the winged changeling instead.
The whelp was small, most likely naive, and not that good at self-defense if his mother tried to hide the fact of his existence from the Janus Order. Walter was more than sure that otherwise, he would have gotten another headache right away. No, it was the biggest weakness Barverra had. She would have succeeded in concealing it if there hadn't been her not-that-bright brother around.
A part of Strickler couldn't help awing that even such cruel and sadistic troll wasn't a stranger to that kind of feelings - ones of genuine motherly love and care. On the other hand, he already hated the runt - that one would turn out to be the embodiment of viciousness, for sure, maybe even worse than all his family members combined. The grandson of Gunmar would never be kind to changelings - his mother would make sure to teach him that.
If only Barverra brought her son with her, Stricklander would try his best to earn some trust from the young one, maybe even become a mentor figure to him. Even the Herald of Doom wouldn't touch the changeling if he succeeded. She loved her whelp too much, so would never harm anyone dear to him.
As if that devious female could make such a dumb mistake and give the head of Janus Order an opportunity!
No, he had to act himself. Maybe the changeling could try to find her lair instead and risk visiting it to befriend the grandson of Gunmar while his mother was away. That would be a true gambit though. If Stricklander ever failed or got caught, Barverra would rip him apart for sure.
In any case, it wasn't like he could pinpoint the location of her hiding place. It should have been somewhere in Arcadia, yet there was no place the daughter of Gunmar could use freely without being noticed. It simply made no sense - a changeling living a human life could pull that using their civilian cover, but a full troll?
Without any doubt, Bular would rather attack the Trollhunter spontaneously, but his sister knew well enough that they needed thorough planning if they hoped to get the amulet. It certainly reminded her of the old times when she was responsible for crushing any inner opposition.
Contrary to the common belief, Barverra the Atrocious never targeted trolls randomly. Her kind mostly leaned to the crowd way of thinking, but there were some representatives with enough charisma and ideals to influence others. Those often ended as all kinds of chiefs or leaders.
If someone had dared to voice the displeasure about the Gunmar's rule, that would only have mattered if it had been one of those charismatic trolls. Influential figures could start a revolt effortlessly. Barverra had perfected the method to suppress riots - killing everyone would be pointless and too excessive. Instead, totally destroying the one in charge or responsible for spreading rebellious ideas had always been the perfect way to shut up everyone else. A regular troll would have started to panic and fear for their own life after the Herald of Doom had dealt with their leader. After all, she had never been kind or merciful when it came to her methods.
Ruling with fear - that was her father's dogma, the one she had never questioned. It had kept things in order, so why would anyone have complained?
Funny thing, Kanjigar actually used to be in her list of the potential targets. If the Killahead bridge battle had never happened, he would have been dead for centuries by now. It also meant that Barverra had more than enough information about his personality and connections.
The current trollhunter was probably one of the warriors with the most honorable values. Noble, brave and with a strong sense of justice, he was well-known among his kind even before Gunmar's banishment. Kanjigar also possessed enough strength and battle prowess, making him a dangerous foe. Barverra could confirm that easily as she had seen all of that during their encounter some years ago.
In the past, when the Skullcrusher only had come to power, he had been recruiting tribes and strong warriors using negotiations. Kanjigar had gotten a proposal to become one of the generals back then but had turned it down at once. Still, there had been no open confrontation until some centuries later when he had led some warriors from his tribe to protect a minor troll settlement from the Gumm-Gumm hordes. The Gunmar's forces had lost too many fine soldiers during that clash. It had landed Kanjigar in the list of the Skullcrusher's mortal enemies at once.
That fact held a lot of meaning to Barverra. Without any doubt, the current Trollhunter was a protector by nature, and that could be his downfall. Anyone smart enough would try to stay in the Trollmarket all the time. The amulet's safety had to be the main priority. However, in Kanjigar's case, there was a way to lure him out. Causing some chaos in some lesser troll community, like the river trolls one, for example, would do. There was no way that such a noble hero could ignore the plea for help.
A part of Barverra felt some gnawing hesitation. Was that the right thing to do? Somehow, her resolve had diminished after all those decades. However, there was no place for last moment pity or doubts - it was either her family or Kanjigar. The female may have felt some respect for him now, but the most she could allow him would be a fair battle.
The daughter of Gunmar planned to examine the surroundings in an attempt to find the best spot for the ambush. She had already checked the woods the night before and now wanted to get a look at the bridge over the canals, where the entrance to the Trollmarket lay. After considering all the options, the female went after sunset, but in human form. Yes, Barbara was well aware that a random woman roaming at night would look quite suspicious, but it still was less risky than going as her true self. The last thing she wanted would be alarming the enemy side.
The canals were probably the most trivial location around. Every morning a huge amount of cars were crossing the bridge, not to mention many teens using those as a shortcut. Jim, much for his mother's dismay, crossed the canal on his way to school quite often, especially when he tried not to be late. Well, at least, he did that after sunrise when no troll would go outside. Otherwise, Barbara would have outright forbidden her boy to use that shortcut.
To tell the truth, if Bular had never told her, the woman wouldn't even have suspected the entrance being at such a spot. Local trolls were really good at hiding tracks. Who could possibly tell that there was a giant heartstone underground, right below her feet?
Barbara wondered if the reason why she liked Arcadia so much was that source of energy. Maybe the Heartstone had also helped with Jim's conception and birth as that one held powerful magic. Otherwise, why would she had gotten pregnant soon after moving here? That was simply too specific to be just a coincidence.
The woman suddenly noticed some movement out of the corner of her eye and turned around at once, startling the newcomer. No, that one wasn't a troll, however, she wasn't too happy to see that person.
Skinny, bespectacled, and definitely too young to be out at this ungodly hour - that was Pepperjacks' boy, probably on another monster hunt. Seriously, his luck was immense. How was it even possible not to end as someone's snack when his every single action begged for that?
"Good evening, Elijah," Barbara greeted the boy with a look full of concern. Yes, that kid wasn't Toby, whom she genuinely liked, but he also was Jim's friend or more like a good acquaintance. Not to mention that the boy was the same age as her son, so the woman couldn't help feeling some sympathy for him and his parents.
If Jim had been trying to find some monsters, Barbara would have been worried sick (and probably ripped apart half of supernatural life in close vicinity).
She wondered why Eli was so focused on monsters. It brought her memories back to James. Her late husband had also believed in those - and where had it landed him? Probably, it would be best for everyone if the teen dropped his search altogether.
The woman looked at Eli once again and asked seriously:
"What are you doing here?"
Well, in hindsight, that wasn't a great question - any adult would probably ask her back about her own reasons for being under the bridge past midnight. The kid probably refrained from that only because she was older and knew his parents. But he also didn't respond, looking guilty and unsure.
The sudden realization hit Barbara at once - Eli most likely had sneaked out and wasn't happy to be caught by someone who knew him good enough.
"I'm going to call your mother," she stated seriously. Mrs. Pepperjack specifically asked the entire neighborhood to contact her if something like that happened. Not to mention that the daughter of Gunmar didn't want the bespectacled teen anywhere near canals, especially with it possibly becoming the place for troll battle in the future.
Eli's mom would ground him for sure. That could prevent him from becoming unneeded collateral damage.
"Please, no!" the boy finally opened his mouth to protest, his eyes full of panic.
"Sorry, young man, but that's for your own good, I hope you'll understand one day," Barbara sighed, taking out her phone.
Eli's mother reacted surprisingly fast - she didn't demand any explanations and drove to the bridge as fast as she could. Apparently, she was an overprotective parent, though probably also quite strict and overbearing one as well.
"Thanks, Barbara," Mrs. Pepperjack smiled tiredly after getting sure that her son got inside the car. "Sometimes, I'm seriously lost about this boy's actions. It is past the point of obsession... I'm scared that he'll get in trouble - who knows what kind of thugs are outside at this hour?"
"It's natural for a parent to worry," Barbara nodded with understanding. "I'm a mother myself, and I really hope that if Jim ever tries to get into trouble, there will be some responsible adult to stop him as well".
They wished each other good night and parted ways. The car had disappeared a long time ago, yet the daughter of Gunmar wasn't in a hurry to return to her examination of the entrance to the Trollmarket.
There was a time when she could swear that it was impossible to understand a fleshbag's emotions. How was it possible to relate to someone squishy, fragile, and short-lived? Spending so many decades among them made the female rethink that statement. Humans and trolls definitely had different lifestyles and cultures, but when it came to emotions and feelings, was there actually any difference?
She shouldn't have thought about that. Similar or not, the truth was that two kinds would never rise above the conflict. Trolls weren't the only offending side, after all - fleshbags had a long story of destroying the supernatural as well.
The war couldn't be stopped unless one side wiped out the other. And Barverra the Atrocious was going to make sure that the one winning would be her side. For the sake of her family. For the sake of her son's future.