Trollhunters: welcome to the darklands

Chapter 15:A HOLE MESS OF TROUBLE

"If Toby and Claire had ever questioned why Draal was called "the Deadly," he answered that in less than thirty seconds. That's how long it took him to take out every single Volcanic Troll surrounding them.
First, Draal tucked his body into a ball and rolled smack into the front line of Volcanic Trolls, toppling them like tenpins. In one swift motion, the son of Kanjigar then flipped into the air and caught two of the many weapons those Volcanic Trolls had just lost. When he landed, Draal held a double ax in his mechanical hand and a short sword in his other.
"These'll do," Draal smirked before launching back into the fray.
Swinging his blades with the skill that comes from a lifetime of training in the Hero's Forge, Draal shred his way through the Volcanic Trolls. He struck blow after blow against them, denting their metal helmets, snapping"

"their weapons in two, and slamming their bodies to the ground. And Draal did all this with a smile, laughing maniacally the whole time.
"Ha-HA!" Draal boomed as he punched out the last Volcanic Troll. "How'd I do?"
"Great Gronka Morka," said Blinky, Toby, Claire, and NotEnrique in unison.
They all stared at Draal—sorta impressed and sorta freaked out—before gazing down at the beaten Volcanic Trolls littering the gullet in his wake. Blinky then shook the stunned look from his face and answered, "Twenty-eight-point-five seconds, Draal. A new personal best!"
But a subtle movement in the periphery caught Claire's attention. The groggy Volcanic Troll with her stolen Shadow Staff got up and stumbled down a passageway.
"Hey!" Claire called out to her teammates, getting their attention. "There goes our only way outta here!"
To make matters worse, a second wave of Volcanic Trolls started filing into the chamber.
"Draal cleared us a path," Toby said as he hefted his Warhammer. "Now let's use it!"

"Toby swung his enchanted mallet into the onslaught of Volcanic Trolls, sending them flying in all directions. With his arms full of Glamour Masks, Blinky kicked at a few more of their enemy. And Claire bolted in the direction of the one holding her Shadow Staff.
But a large brute of a Volcanic Troll intercepted her midway, grabbing Claire by the wrists and lifting her off the ground.
"Well," Claire said. "This's the last mistake you'll ever make."
The brute looked down as Claire's Graven Garb unzipped down the middle, and NotEnrique's yellow eyes peeked out at him.
"Surprise!" yelled NotEnrique before he jumped out of Claire's suit and onto the Volcanic Troll's face. The brute immediately released Claire and tried to pull NotEnrique away.
"Go, Nuñez!" the little Changeling shouted at Claire while clawing at the Volcanic Troll.
"Gracias, NotEnrique!" Claire called over her shoulder as she took off again.
Claire dove past Draal as he took on another squad of Volcanic Trolls, then clambered into the Kelpestrum's next chamber. To"

"cover Claire's escape, Toby stood in front of the passage and twirled the Warhammer in front of him like a propeller.
"Back off, you lame-o lava losers!" Toby said heroically to the Volcanic Trolls. "Unless you want to taste the sweet smack of justice from my Warham—"
Toby's spinning Warhammer got wedged between the passageway's two rocky walls. He pulled on it with all his might, but the weapon remained stuck in place. The Volcanic Trolls cocked their heads in confusion.
"Um, hold on a sec," Toby grunted as he yanked on the Warhammer. "You know what would be cool? If this thing would shrink down like Claire's Shadow Staff!"
"I'll get right on that!" Blinky yelled as he kicked away more Volcanic Trolls. "Provided we survive this experience!"
Inside the passage, the narrow walls throbbed with the Kelpestrum's heartbeat as Claire slid between them. Spotting the Volcanic Troll with her Shadow Staff dead ahead, she poured on the speed. Claire pushed her legs as fast as they could go, jumped, and tackled the Volcanic Troll. They both tumbled"

"into a new section of the Kelpestrum, where slimy mucus dripped from the stalactites above them. As Claire got to her feet, NotEnrique, Blinky, Toby, and Draal rushed up behind her.
"Uh, more enemy reinforcements right behind us!" Toby said in a panic. "It's like the Kelpestrum filled up at an all-you-can-eat Volcanic-Troll buffet!"
Claire held out an open hand toward the Volcanic Troll who was holding her staff. There was no other way out of this segment of the Kelpestrum other than the passageway behind her and her friends. The sounds of the third, fourth, and possibly fifth waves of Volcanic Trolls grew closer.
"Hand it over," Claire demanded. "Now."
Trapped, the Volcanic Troll started to return the Shadow Staff, when the soft, marshy floor below all of them suddenly trembled. A loud gurgling noise soon followed, reverberating off the snot-plastered walls. Warm water sloshed around their ankles.
"Uhhh." Toby grimaced. "That sounds a lot like the sounds we heard inside Gatto. Before"

"we, uh, evacuated his Keep, if you catch my drift."
"I'm afraid you're only half right, Tobias," Blinky said over another gurgle. "In our foot chase through the Kelpestrum, we've inadvertently arrived next to a far different part of its anatomy!"
As three of his arms clutched tightly to the Glamour Masks, a fourth pointed straight up at the high ceiling. Between the dripping stalactites, a ring of muscle relaxed and opened.
"A blowhole!" Blinky shouted before the loudest gurgle yet drowned out his voice.
NotEnrique had just enough time to leap back into Claire's Graven Garb and zip it shut. With a sudden jolt, the chamber around them contracted, and a forceful rush of air jettisoned them, Blinky, Toby, Draal, and the Volcanic Troll out of the Kelpestrum's blowhole.
Their bodies plunged into the ocean's cold, murky depths. The tide yanked the Glamour Masks from Blinky's arms, while water started pouring into everyone's suits once again.
"We don't have much time!" said Blinky as he fumbled for the sinking masks. "In a few"

"seconds, we won't be any better off than that Volcanic Troll!"
Without a Graven Garb of his own, the Volcanic Troll immediately went limp outside of the relative safety of the Kelpestrum. His body sank away from the others—just as the Shadow Staff fell out of his fingers.
"No!" Claire shouted before diving after her staff.
Blinky, Draal, and Toby tried to swim after her, but their crystal helmets started to splinter under the pressure.
"Perhaps I shall join you soon enough, Father," Draal said as another long fracture formed across his helmet's visor. "I only wish we had not failed our current Trollhunter."
"We haven't yet!" Claire responded as she kicked after her Shadow Staff. Ignoring the cobweb of cracks spreading across her own helmet, she reached for the staff, but it was just out of her grasp.
"Can't reach!" she strained. "The water in the suit—it's slowing me down!"
"No kiddin'!" NotEnrique said, trying to keep his head above the water pooling into her boot. "C'mon, Nuñez! Think of some"

"something! We can't go out like this! I can't go out like this!"
"I don't know what to do!" Claire yelled, thinking of Jim locking her out of the vault, wondering if that would truly be the last time she saw him. "My arm's just not long enough!"
NotEnrique spit out saltwater and said, "On it!"
The soaked Changeling squirmed up Claire's leg, past her ribs, and along her outstretched arm. Standing on her palm, NotEnrique extended his body, and the baggy Graven Garb sleeve elongated. His little green hands filled two of the four finger slots of Claire's glove—and snagged the Shadow Staff.
"Yes!" Claire cheered. "You did it, NotEnrique! And here I thought you were afraid of the water."
"What?! Don't be ridiculous, I ain't afraid of no water," NotEnrique groused before he lowered his voice so Claire couldn't hear. "Just of swimmin' in it. . . ."
Now in command of her Shadow Staff once again, Claire opened a black hole in the middle of the ocean and swam through it. A new"

"portal opened up under Blinky, Draal, and Toby, whose suits were collapsing around them.
Back inside the undersea volcano, a third, much larger shadow portal opened, dumping Claire, NotEnrique, Toby, Blinky, and Draal next to the gyre—along with hundreds of gallons of seawater. The deluge hit the magma, creating tremendous billows of steam.
Everyone removed their stressed helmets and watched them shatter in their hands.
"I believe the appropriate human expression for a moment such as this would be: 'Does anyone have a change of pants?' " said Blinky, still visibly shaken from the ordeal.
"Good thing I came prepared," NotEnrique said as he wiggled out of Claire's Graven Garb and pointed at his diaper.
"Nice save!" said Toby as he helped Claire into the gyre, her body too exhausted to move on its own. "You okay?"
"No," Claire admitted, her voice weak. "But if this helps Jim, it was worth it."
"Alas, all the Glamour Masks slipped from my hands as we passed through the"

"Kelpestrum's blowhole," Blinky said, his head turned down in dismay.
Everyone stared at him in shock, until he looked up with a smile. Blinky held up his four hands, which clutched a single Glamour Mask.
"Except for this one," Blinky added with a wink.
"Awesomesauce!" said Toby. "Can I hold it?"
"NO!" everyone else shouted at once."