Trollhunters: welcome to the darklands

Chapter 2:Good mourning trollmarket

"Piles of ancient scrolls and books of Troll lore sat open and unread on the large reading table in Blinky's library. The sounds of construction rang from outside as Trolls repaired the damage caused by Angor Rot's recent attack on Heartstone Trollmarket. But, otherwise, the library remained still and empty . . . until a tiny black dot appeared in the corner.
The dot quickly grew from a pinprick into a wide tear through time and space, causing the scrolls and books to flutter with a rush of wind. A voice was heard from the floating circle of shadow and said, "One! Two! Three! PUSH!"
A moment later AAARRRGGHH!!!'s stone body slid out of the black hole and into the library. Toby, Claire, and Blinky followed, shoving their petrified friend into the corner."

"NotEnrique, however, reclined lazily on top of AAARRRGGHH!!!'s head, snacking on a sock.
"That's the spirit," NotEnrique went on. "Ya two fleshbags ain't so weak when yer put your backs into it!"
Toby and Claire shot the little Changeling a dirty look before they collapsed with exhaustion. Toby's round belly heaved as he caught his breath, while Claire wiped the sweat from her brow and tucked a blue lock of hair behind her ear.
"And . . . I used to think . . . ," Toby said between gulps of air. "That my wingman . . . was heavy . . . before!"
"At least moving AAARRRGGHH!!! gave us something to do," said Claire. "I don't think I could've handled staring at Killahead Bridge for another second . . . just hoping for Jim to come back through it."
She raised her Shadow Staff and made the black hole shrink and disappear altogether. It had taken Claire some practice, but she had gotten the hang of her new weapon. By opening these shadow portals and jumping through them, Claire could teleport to almost"

"anywhere she wanted in the blink of an eye—anywhere except the Darklands.
Blinky shut his six eyes and nodded in agreement with Claire, but said nothing. Normally, he could speak at length on any subject. In fact, his brother, Dictatious, used to tease Blinky about never shutting up when they were younger. But that was a long time ago, before Dictatious mysteriously disappeared at the Battle of Killahead Bridge. Losing AAARRRGGHH!!!—and now maybe Jim—had left Blinky unusually speechless.
NotEnrique finished eating his sock and used AAARRRGGHH!!!'s smooth back as a slide. He landed on his tiny cloven feet and hiked up his diaper.
"Well, I'm bushed," said NotEnrique with a yawn. "Time to grab a pint at the Glug Pub. Adios, suckers!"
NotEnrique tossed them a wave over his shoulder as he strutted toward the library's exit. But Claire extended her Shadow Staff and hooked him by his diaper. She lifted the feisty little Changeling into the air so that they were now at eye level."

"Oi! What's the big idea, sponge-face?" NotEnrique said. "This's cruel and unusual, is what it is!"
"No," said Claire, leaning in closer to NotEnrique. "The 'big idea' is that you aren't going anywhere until we all figure out a way to help Jim."
NotEnrique pawed at the Shadow Staff and said, "What's that gotta do with me? I hardly even knew Jim. I mean—Jim who? Never heard of 'im!"
"Let's see if I can refresh your memory," said Toby as he got to his feet.
Toby reached into the back of his sweater vest and pulled out his Warhammer. Thanks to a Troll gravity curse, the massive mallet hit like a ton of bricks, yet weighed less than a feather. Everything about the Warhammer seemed beyond cool to Toby—from its long metal handle to its spiked crystal hammerhead. In fact the only thing not cool about the Warhammer was how Toby couldn't find a better holder for it than his sweater vest.
"Jimbo went into the Darklands to find Enrique—the real Enrique," Toby explained impatiently. "And since you were the shape"

"shifter sent here to impersonate Claire's baby bro, it's only fair that you play a part in Jim's rescue mission!"
NotEnrique gulped when Toby held the Warhammer up to his pug nose and added, "Unless you want to play a game of Changeling piñata?"
"I . . . suppose the pub can wait," mumbled NotEnrique.
"Super," said Claire. "Now, how can we open Killahead Bridge and go after Jim?"
She looked around at the many books stuffing the library shelves. Blinky had inherited thousands of volumes of Troll history from Dictatious and had only added to the collection in the ensuing centuries.
"The answer has to be in here somewhere," Claire continued. "Toby, you start checking Gringold's Grimoire while I review Axle's Forbidden Almanac and . . . and . . ."
Claire trailed off. Her shoulders sagged, as if she had suddenly run out of steam.
". . . and who am I kidding?" Claire finished so quietly, the others could barely hear her."

"Claire," Blinky finally said in a soft voice. "We both know that only the Trollhunter may open the portal to the Darklands. There is, regrettably, no way for us to follow him."
"Then maybe there's still something we can do to help him from here," Toby said, a determined look glinting in his eyes. "I still have that Fetch and—"
A buzzing ringtone interrupted Toby. He, Claire, and Blinky all looked at NotEnrique, who pulled a cell phone out of his diaper and started texting back.
"Wait a minute," Claire said. "Is that my cell?"
"Mmmaybe," NotEnrique winked.
"I'm gonna kill you, you green piece of—" Claire threatened before Blinky held her back with all four of his arms.
"Really, NotEnrique," said Blinky. "Must you be sending text messages now, of all times? Have you no respect for the sacrifices made by the Trollhunter or his compatriots?"
"All right, all right, don't get yer suspenders in a twist," said NotEnrique while he stuffed Claire's cell back into his diaper. "I'll just catch up with Draal later."

"Claire tried to attack him again, but Blinky held her in place.
"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Slow your roll," Toby said to NotEnrique. "Draal was texting you?"
"If ya can call it that," NotEnrique answered. "He can barely type with that mechanical arm of his."
"But what did he say?" Blinky asked. "For that matter, where in Gizmodius's name is Draal?"
"Camped outside that surface hospital, keeping an eye on the Trollhunter's mum," said NotEnrique as he casually inspected his own fingernails. "Only now he says she's left the hospital and is headin' back to her house. Well . . . what's left of it, anyways . . ."
"Great Gronka Morka!" Blinky exclaimed. "Barbara was supposed to remain in the hospital for another day, at least! The lingering effects of the memory charm have likely left her quite confused. If she returns to her home and finds that it's been destroyed by Angor Rot—and that Jim has gone missing—"
"That's not gonna happen," Toby interrupted, hefting his Warhammer over his shoulder.

"If we can't help Jim, then we'll help his mom," said Claire. "It's what he would want us to do."
Now motivated into action, Blinky hurried over to the reading table. He examined two scrolls at the same time with his many eyes and said, "Very well. You three convene with Draal and intercept Barbara before she sees too much and reverts into a state of severe shock!"
"Oh yeah?" said NotEnrique. "And what're ya gonna do—stay here and stare at statue-boy over there?"
Blinky sighed heavily and turned from NotEnrique to AAARRRGGHH!!! Toby poked NotEnrique in the ribs with his Warhammer. The little Changeling rubbed his side and averted his eyes, regretting what he had just said.
"I've already wasted enough time feeling sorry for myself," Blinky replied. "Now I must honor my friends' sacrifices in the only way I know how: hours upon hours of intensive library research!"
His six eyes welled with emotion as he looked up at AAARRRGGHH!!!'s stone face."

"Blinky smiled and said, "It's what he would want me to do."
"Eh, still sounds boring to me," NotEnrique said under his breath before Claire grabbed the tuft of fur on his back and yanked him out of the library.
"Hey!" hollered NotEnrique. "Watch me scruff!"