Liz Walker POV
Inside Barbara's car, Liz casually rests against the back seat, her eyes closed and arms crossed over her chest, tuning out the blaring sirens to listen to the conversation between Barbara and Strickler from outside in front of the police station.
"I can't thank you enough for coming to the station. They are so lucky she didn't press any charges." Barbara said in gratitude.
"Ms. Nomura is a personal friend. She agrees with me that this was nothing more than a reckless youth run amok." Strickler replied.
Before she could hear more, Liz felt a slight movement beside her. She opens her eyes to see Toby perked up from his seat, leaning forward to peer through the front windows.
"I mean, who else do you think is hiding an evil troll face? Coach Lawrence? Steve?" Toby let out a small gasp. "What if Strickler's one of them?"
"Strickler's been teaching history at Arcadia Oaks High since the dawn of history. If he's one, I'm one." Jim replied in earnest. However, Liz wasn't convinced as she turned her sight onto Jim through the side-view mirror. She saw Jim catch the suspicious eyes of Toby, watching Mr. Strickler with an untrustful look. Jim scoffed, rolled his eyes, and pushed Toby back, grabbing the phone and finding the picture that Toby had taken of the bridge, yet the symbols were barely visible as the image was blurry with flares of light.
"I know where I've seen this bridge. It's the same one that Blinky was talking about." Jim recalls.
"What? The Killa-thingy Bridge? That's, like, ancient history, right?" Toby questions, prompting Liz to speak up. "You mean the Killahead Bridge used during the Battle of Killahead Bridge as a portal to exile Gunmar and his army to the Darklands."
Toby glances at Liz. "Yeah, that one."
"They're trying to break Gunmar out," said Jim in dreadful realization, turning his head to look Toby and Liz in the eyes. "This is bad, guys. Like, "Goodbye, Arcadia" bad. As soon as we get home, we're going to Blinky."
Suddenly, the driver's side car door was pulled open with Barbara's voice startling the boys back into their seats in panic. "You didn't have to go through all this trouble, Mr. Strickler."
Jim quickly handed Toby's phone back, hiding his hands as his face had held many emotions. Strickler appeared in the passenger window, startling Jim as he spoke suddenly. "Please, "Walter." I'm sorry we had to meet under this unfortunate circumstance."
"There must be some way I can repay you. Coffee? Dinner? Appendix removal?" Barbara suggests, making the boys' eyebrows raise in shock as Liz struggles to hide her chuckle.
"I-Coffee would be a delight. And a rain check on the appendectomy." Strickler simply replied.
"Looking forward to it, Walter," Barbara said, making Liz want to cringe at that point. Though she found it amusing at first, she did not want to stick around and listen to it any further, wishing to be somewhere else.
Glancing at Jim, Mr. Strickler warns his student. "Watch yourself, Young Atlas. Next time, the consequences could be more severe."
With that being said, Strickler left as Jim turned to look at his mom. "Did you actually just ask my teacher out on a date?"
As soon as Jim asked that, everyone flinched back at Barbara's raised tone of voice. "Don't you make this about me. You guys broke into a museum!" Then, Barbara picks up a Chubby Tracker, continuing her scoldings. "And for this? You are grounded until you apologize to that woman."
Dropping the tracker, Barbara started the car while Jim let out a large exhale before his mother pointed her finger at him again. "You got me?"
"Yes, Mom."
"Yes, Dr. Lake."
"Yes, ma'am."
All three teenagers mumbled in reply. Turning on the ignition, Barbara turns her head to Liz. "Where do you live, Liz?"
***
Right after getting dropped off at the main entrance of her apartment, Liz waited until Barbara's car turned from the street out of sight before walking to her motorbike parked a few lots away.
Suddenly, her phone vibrated in her pocket. Taking it out, a picture of herself and Claire with poorly attempted Leia buns appeared on the screen, calling her. Instant realization crossed her mind. The rehearsal! I completely forgot!
Tapping the green button, Liz brings the phone to her ear. She faked a cough as she answered. "Hello?"
"Liz! Where are you? You were supposed to be here an hour ago. I got called by Ms. Janeth to practice in your stead as an understudy." Claire said.
Again, Liz faked another cough, trying to make her voice sound hoarse. "Sorry, Claire. I wasn't feeling so good after work that I went straight home and was knocked out. I think I caught my coworker's cold."
Claire gasps. "That's terrible, Liz! Don't worry. I'll let Ms. Janeth know and practice in your stead until you get better."
"Thank you, Claire. I owe you one." Liz replied in gratitude.
"No problem. Get some rest and call me if you need anything." Claire replied. After exchanging goodnights with one another, Liz hangs up and pockets her phone away.
Hopping onto her motorbike, she speeds out into the night, the engine roaring behind her like a pack of demons giving chase as it echoes her turbulent thoughts of her now chaotic mind.
How did these troll shapeshifters and goblins escape from the Darklands? Could there be a loophole somewhere? How long have they been walking amongst humans without anyone's knowledge? Who else could be a troll shapeshifter in disguise - besides the museum curator - in this small human town? And what is her connection between herself and the legendary Killahead Bridge?
***
Liz's thoughts continued to consume her mind by the time she reached Trollmarket alongside Jim and Toby, only to calm when she entered the pub gradually. Inside, Blinky and AAAARRGGHH sat at their usual table, drinking and chatting until they took notice of their human friends.
"Aha! There you three are! We've been waiting for hours," Blinky calls them out, waving the trio over to the table. The three teenagers each took a seat, their unsettled expressions drawing Blinky's full attention. "Hmm. Judging by your faces, something has happened."
Liz nods. "Jim and Toby found the goblin's den at the museum, but there's more. Last night, while all of you were investigating the goblin in the neighborhood, I went to the museum--"
"Whoa! Hold up. Are you telling me that you broke into a museum? Not just once, but twice?" Toby interrupts, flabbergasted. Liz groans, not entirely understanding why everyone is making a big deal of breaking and entering - despite her history of doing so more times than she could count - when there are worse things to worry about. "Yes, I did though I wouldn't call it breaking in. It's more like sneaking in, and I don't see how that matters now since we all did it. May I continue, please?"
"Uh...yeah," Toby said as Liz sighed. "Thank you. As I was saying, I went to the museum that night because, during our school field trip there, I felt traces of magic."
All of Blinky's widened, but thankfully he did not interrupt, listening intently.
"Come to find out, it was the Killahead Bridge that was emanating magic. It felt like I was led to it like I was meant to find it." Liz continued, unaware of the glances exchanged between Blinky and AAARRRGGHH. "Then, Nomura - the museum curator - appeared. I assumed that she was some unlucky human threatened to help Bular in rebuilding the bridge, but I was wrong after witnessing her transformation into a troll."
Blinky's and AAARRRGGHH's mouths drop open at her words.
"So you knew?" Jim interrupted this time, Liz's gaze turning towards him. "You knew about the bridge and that troll. Why didn't you say anything to us before we went into the museum?"
"Because no one would believe me unless I had proof, but I was on the verge of getting caught by that shapeshifter, so I escaped before I could gather any, and besides, I didn't think you and Toby would trace the goblin's den to the museum. If I had known, I would have stopped you both from going in, but I was too late."
"Hey, at least we made it out alive. And speaking of proof, you're in luck, my friend, because I do happen to have it in my very hands," Toby said as he pulled out his phone from his pocket, waving it in the air. "Behold! The evidence that proves the existence of the magic bridge!"
Toby brings up the image into full screen and hands it to Blinky. "Are you certain? Are you unquestionably, unequivocally..."
"I'm certain," Jim said affirmatively.
"Could be anything," AAARRRGGHH said before Blinky spoke up again, his eyes squinting at the blurry image of a glowing, half-completed bridge. "I concur."
"Tobias' photographic skills are less than exemplary," Blinky commented, making Toby's eyes roll. "Okay, it's a little blurry! You try taking a picture while hauling butt, mister!"
"Okay, well, what about the curator? How could a person just change like that?" Jim quietly asked as Blinky waved over a waiter, grabbing a drink off the tray as AAARRRGGHH communicated in troll language. "Could it be a Changeling they are referring to?"
Liz perks up at the familiar term as Blinky responds in troll language. "I fear as much, but perhaps, they may be wrong."
"It is a Changeling! I know what I saw. It may be my first time seeing one, but there's no mistaking it." Liz argued in troll language, making the trolls blink in surprise, forgetting for a moment that she can also understand and speak their native language.
"What? What is it?" Jim asked curiously, his eyes switching between the three, lingering on Liz the most.
"Changeling," AAARRRGGHH said simply, and perhaps a little too loud for comfort, making Blinky's eyes widen with shock, spitting out all the liquid that he hadn't swallowed as gasps filled the pub. With a quick movement, Blinky tried his best to cover AAARRRGGHH's mouth with only one of his hands. Every troll that had been relaxing in the bar turned to the table that had spoken that name. In response, Blinky let out a nervous chuckle and patted the smooth stone of AAARRRGGHH'S face, gesturing that his friend must have been drunk as the trolls turned around and conversed like usual.
"Not helping," Blinky scolded. AAARRRGGHH apologized. "Sorry."
Liz, Jim, and Toby leaned in closer, Blinky's voice dropping as he cupped his mouth with his hand, hiding the conversation from others. "Changelings haven't been talked about in quite some time."
While listening, Liz notices a troll, recognizing him as he stops behind them, eavesdropping. "Do you mind, Schmidt?"
"Whatever," said the eavesdropping troll, rolling his eyes as he moved away. Blinky started again. "In the Old World, Gumm-Gumms..."
The same troll stopped on the other side, peeking behind AAARRRGGHH, yet no one had missed his hulking figure. This time, Blinky threw him a threatening glare. Again, Schmidt rolled his eyes. "Fine."
Finally, after Schmidt leaves them to their little secret, Blinky continues. "...Stole our young and did something unnatural to change them. Their sole purpose...."
"To spy on the world above," Liz concluded.
Toby was intrigued. "What did they do to them?"
"Nasty business. Very messy." AAARRRGGHH replied, shaking his head, disturbed at thought.
Blinky waved Liz and Jim over, knocking a cup off in the process but caught it with his other hand and set it back on the table before leading the two protectors away. The three passed by as trolls played darts, using gnomes.
"These are the very reasons I doubt your certainty. I don't question you saw a bridge, but Killahead? It would take years to collect all of the stones. Decades, even. You would need an army of changelings." Blinky said in concern.
"I know what I saw," Jim said with certainty. "But if you can't take my word for it, then at least take Liz's. She knows about this kind of stuff more than I ever will."
Liz nods as they climb a set of stairs. "I understand that you are careful, Blink. But I swear that what we saw is real. I don't know why I was drawn to the bridge or made it glow, but I know for certain that it's Killahead."
Surprise flickered over Blinky's face. "You made it glow?"
Liz raised an eyebrow, wondering what Blinky knew. "Yes, when I made contact with it. And not only that, while I was fighting off the changeling, she admitted that she was not working alone. They're out there walking amongst us for who knows how long, and there is no doubt in my mind that they are close to finishing what they started."
Pausing at the landing, Blinky glances between Liz and Jim. "These are serious accusations, Master Jim, Lady Liza. Without proof, absolute bedlam will ensue."
Blinky continues ahead of the two protectors as Toby pops around the corner behind them. "Well, we have to tell someone. This is our city, too."
"Who? Our court-appointed psychiatrist? They're never going to believe us." Jim added, looking a bit defeated. Before Liz could say anything, a giant blue troll blocked their path. It was Draal, smiling with excitement as he stared down at his opponent. "Well, if it isn't the piece of flesh I'll pound into pancakes tomorrow. I look forward to your pain, and I'll drink to your death."
Jim's face turns pale, turning around to look at Blinky and Liz. "Death? What is he talking about? I thought this was only a rematch."
The cat is out of the bag. Liz thought to herself as she sighed. "To challenge a troll's honor can only end in ruin."
"It's all right there in chapter three of A Brief Recap – " Blinky stated before a disappointing realization crossed his mind. "You still haven't read the book."
"Now, hold on. This fight, I don't know, maybe we can, um, postpone it?" Jim said, even though he hadn't much hope that he'd get a positive answer.
"Postpone, you say? What a trainer! Does everyone in your company forget how to fight?" Draal chuckled in mockery. As AAARRRGGHH growls in response, Liz steps forward, glaring at the troll. "It seems your memory is getting dull, Draal. Perhaps I need to sharpen it for you."
"I'd like to see you try, princess," Draal scoffed. A steely glint flashed in Liz's turquoise eyes upon hearing that nickname. She recalls the past when Draal used to call her that. Whether endearing or not, he knew that she dislikes it and would sometimes use it to either annoy or distract her during their duels. Throughout her training, she learned not to react and simply ignore it, keeping her head straight in a fight. However, that does not mean she would let her opponent go unscathed.
With a menacing grin, Liz takes another step forward and speaks in troll language. "That can be arranged, old-timer."
Draal's eyes widened at first, almost forgetting that Liz could speak his native language, but then his expression turned into a sneer. Noticing the tension and a potential storm brewing, Jim intervenes, stepping in between the two and placing a hand on Liz's shoulder as he looks up to Draal. "There are things that have been brought to our attention. Things that have serious implications."
Blinky panics. "No, no, no, Master Jim! Shh!"
"By Kanjigar's honor, I would have made your death swift and painless, but, for that act of cowardice, I will show you no mercy when I take back what's rightfully mine." Draal growls at Jim. "Bid farewell to your loved ones, Jim "the Dead Meat.""
With that, Draal grunts and walks away, leaving Jim to process the information as Liz and Toby give a comforting hand.
"I'm going to die tomorrow," Jim said as he and his best friend sighed in defeat. Liz nudges her arm against Jim, gaining his attention.
"You won't die tomorrow, Jim. You will live to see another sunrise. I'll make sure of it. Now come on, Trollhunter. You still have training left, and there are a few more things I need to teach you before the night is over."
***
At the Hero's Forge, the Trollhunter stood in the center of the arena, his armor donned and sword in hand. A few feet away from him, Liz walks around him in a circle, her hands clasped behind her back. Toby and AAARRRGGHH sat down on the sidelines as Toby rambled on how he fought with the goblin and got his Chubby Tracker back. Blinky was not with them at the moment, perhaps in his study, contemplating the disturbing news they brought.
Stopping in front of Jim, Liz glances down at her watch before looking up and setting her hands on her hips. "Alright, since we got less than 12 hours before your fight, I'm going to teach you a few things I've learned that will help you defeat someone like Draal."
"You fought Draal?" Jim asked with wide eyes. Liz nods. "Multiple times though never to the death. Only for training purposes." She shrugs. "And for fun."
"I don't see how any of this is fun," Jim grimaced. Liz smiles. "You'll enjoy it once you get the hang of things."
"Now, what did you notice about Draal during your spar with him," Liz asked as she paced around Jim in a circle.
"He's an arrogant jerk." Jim bluntly stated, making Liz crack with laughter. "That I agree, but I'm talking about strengths and weaknesses, Trollhunter."
"Oh, umm..." Jim thought to himself for a moment. "..he has brute strength and – can curl himself into a ball and roll around with his spikes on his back to defend himself against enemies."
"Good! So, what about his weaknesses?" Liz questioned.
"Hmm. I – can't think of one other than his arrogance." Jim answered. Liz nodded as she continued to walk around him. "Okay. You're right about his arrogance. It can cloud one's judgment during a fight and ultimately lead to defeat if not controlled. Again, as I mentioned before from your first training session, arrogance gets you killed. Besides that, Draal has another weakness. A common blind spot that most trolls have. Can you guess where it is?"
Jim's eyebrows scrunch together as he thinks carefully to himself. His gaze wanders around the arena, settling on his friends, chatting on the sidelines. Watching AAARRRGGHH nodding his head to Toby's words, Jim realized something he had never noticed before. "His back. He cannot look over his shoulders."
"Bingo," Liz said, startling Jim at the sound of her voice, seemingly closer to him than usual. He snaps his head to see Liz standing next to him with a beaming smile as she continues. "If things get out of hand, just kick him in the gronk-nuks and get behind him."
Jim blinks, feeling his face warming at her closeness. "R-Right. G-Good idea."
"Great!" Liz clapped her hands. "Now that we know Draal's strengths and weaknesses, it's time that you learn how to use them and your surroundings to your advantage. After all, this training ground is where you'll be fighting tomorrow."
Leaving Jim standing at the center, Liz walks to the edge of the arena and whistles loudly to Toby and AAARRRGGHH across from her, gaining their attention. "For your safety, I suggest you both step back a bit."
After complying with her warning, Liz taps her foot on the floor, activating the mechanical obstacles. Feeling the ground tremble beneath their feet, Jim's eyes widen, his hands clenching the handle of his sword in front of him nervously as Liz casually stands with a smile.
"Let's begin."
Fanfic Question: Now that the plot is escalating, what are you looking forward to in this fanfic?
Please don't forget to vote or comment if you liked this chapter. I would love to hear what you all think. Happy reading!
- Miss_Nightingale