The crystalline ceiling of Trollmarket cast prismatic light across the stone pathways, bathing the underground city in an ethereal glow. Massive formations jutted from the cavern's crown like frozen lightning, their luminescence eqivelant to a street lights.
In the midst of the marketplace it thrummed with life. trolls of every size and shape bartered over crates of items I didn't quite know yet bartering over trash and supplies, their gravelly voices echoing through the hardy community.
I was walking beside Toby, my eyes trying to absorb everything at once. While Blinky enthusiastically gestured explaining Trollmarket's history to a Toby who looked slightly overwhelmed , I was looking over the oddities lining the merchant tables. Most of it was junk, broken items that might've been medieval or simply trash, twisted metal that served no purpose I could fathom. But scattered among were treasures: glass vials filled with swirling, glowing liquids, crystals that seemed to have different properties; leather-bound books with symbols I'd never encountered in any earthly language.
My eyes really stuck on a particularly intriguing amber colored potion when I caught the site of attention settle on my shoulders like a physical thing. Conversations around us died in waves, spreading outward from where we stood. Trolls turned, their expressions ranging from curiosity to outright hostility.
"A human? In our market?" A burgundy colored troll with tusks like scimitars stepped forward, his voice a low rumble of disapproval.
"Blinky, what madness is this?" Another voice joined in, this one belonging to a moss-covered troll who clutched a sack of glowing stones. "The sacred marketplace, sullied by fleshbag presence!"
The crowd pressed closer, a wall of stone muscle.
Blinky raised all four of his hands in a placating gesture, his mouth opening, ready to defend our presence, when the ground beneath my feet trembled.
It was almost like Aaarrrggh's but his were more gentle, lumbering steps. This was heavier, moving with some hostile intent like Bulars had. The crowd parted like water, and through the gap rolled a.
He unfurled from his wheel form in one fluid motion, rising to his full height mere inches from where I stood. Blue-gray skin stretched over muscles that looked carved from granite. Moss and small crystals grew along his shoulders and arms. Two curved horns swept back from his head, and his eyes pale and piercing, locked onto mine with an intensity.
His gaze swung to Blinky, "Why have you brought humans into Trollmarket?" he said his voice hard as stone.
"I can explain, Draal," Blinky began, wringing his hands together—all four of them. "One of these humans is the Trollhunter, chosen by—"
"The Trollhunter?" Draal took a step forward, and I had to tilt my head back to maintain proper eye contact. "Impossible. Humans have no place here, no right to walk our streets, breathe our air. And you would have me believe one of these..." he gestured dismissively toward us, "these children is worthy to bear the title my father once held?"
"The amulet chooses," Blinky said, his voice strained but steady. "It is not for us to—"
"Show me." Draal's words were not a request.
Toby had been trying to make himself smaller, clutching the amulet against his chest like a shield. Now, as Draal's attention fixed on him, he looked ready to bolt. I put myself closer to Toby in case the amulet decided to malfunction again, not that I could do much regardless.
Draal's hand shot out, faster than anything that large should be able to move, reaching for the amulet. Toby's instincts seemed to take as he threw his arms up to protect his face, the amulet caught in his defensive gesture.
The moment Draal's stone fingers made contact with the artifact, blue light exploded from the point of contact. The massive troll flew backward as if struck by a cannonball, his body carving a trench in the rocky ground before he tumbled to a stop fifteen feet away.
Everyone around us was silent
Draal pushed himself up slowly, shaking his head as if to clear it. For a moment, his expression was pure shock, eyes wide, mouth slightly agape.
Then something else flickered across his face. Humiliation.
His gaze swept the gathered crowd, witnessing his defeat, before settling back on us.
"This matter," he said, rising to his full height and brushing dust from his shoulders, "will be taken to the Troll Leader" He emphasized. Without another word, he turned and strode away, the crowd parting before him once more.
Blinky released a breath I hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Pay him no mind, Master Tobias,"
"Draal has always been... passionate about the honor of Trollhunting. Come! Let us continue our tour, yes? There is much more to see."
I glanced at Toby, who still looked pale, "Yeah," I said, exuding some confidence into the air. "Let's see what's next."
We followed Blinky for a moment, rounding a corner and emerged into a space that made me stop in my tracks.
The Hero's Forge.
The chamber was massive, easily the size of a warehouse, with a ceiling that disappeared into shadows above. But what caught my attention were the mechanisms lining the walls. Gears the size of dinner plates interlocked with others small as coins. Chains hung from invisible moorings above. Blades, maces, hammers, and other weapons lined every groove the walls offered their metal surfaces gleaming despite obvious age.
'All this' I could build something incredible here, With troll materials, actual magic, and those potions I saw... Chemtech or something of the sort was feasible. I needed something temporary quick in order not to die from a flick.
My contemplation shattered as the room suddenly erupted in motion. Mechanisms roared to life with a screech of metal on metal. Blades began to swing from the ceiling in complex patterns. The floor beneath us shifted, sections rising and falling like a puzzle box rearranging itself.
Toby's head whipped toward me, his mouth hanging open in disbelief.
"I'm supposed to do that??"
I could only shrug, with a small grin tugging at my lips. "Well," I said, raising my voice over the mechanics, "at least it'll be interesting."
"Indeed! The Hero's Forge is quite the marvel of Trollish engineering!" Blinky's boomed near the entrance. "Built to test the mettle and skill of—"
The sound of slow footsteps, each one striking the stone with authority, cut through even the mechanical noise. Blinky's voice stuttered to a halt. "V-Vendel!"
The troll who entered the Forge was him I see. He was taller than Blinky but not as massive as Draal, his body covered in what looked like a lions mane. A staff double my high accompanied his steps.
His gaze swept the room, pausing briefly on me before settling on Toby with the weight of judgment. "Who," he said, his voice like wind through a canyon, "is the Trollhunter?"
Toby's hand rose barely to chest height, his fingers trembling. "That... that would be me, sir. Tobis Domzalski. But everyone calls me Toby. Or Tobes. Or Jim calls me Tobs sometimes, and—"
"Silence." he spoke cutting through Toby's nervous babbling like a knife.
Vendel turned of the mechanisms and moved to the center of the Forge, "If you claim this title, you must prove yourself worthy of it."
"With respect, Vendel," Blinky interjected, scurrying forward, "perhaps we should allow Master Tobias some time to train before we subject him to—"
"No." Vendel's eyes never left Toby. "We have given the amulet time to reconsider. It has not. If it insists on choosing a human, then that human must demonstrate he possesses some quality worthy of notice." He struck his staff against the ground twice, and a section of the floor began to descend, revealing a pedestal rising to take its place.
On it sat familiar to me.
The device was that of a trolls head carved of stone, made of some kind of dark metal that seemed to drink in light rather than reflect it. Blades lined its interior, visible through a circular opening that looked disturbingly like a mouth or more grinder. They were arranged in concentric rings, each one capable of rotating independently, creating a maze of cutting edges that would shred anything placed inside.
"The Soothscryer," Vendel announced. "An ancient tool used to measure the worth of would be heroes. It reads what lies within courage, honor, strength of spirit." His gaze pinned Toby like a butterfly to a board. "Place your arm inside."
"I'm sorry, what?" Toby took an involuntary step backward. "You want me to stick my arm in the murder tunnel?"
"Master Tobias," Blinky said gently, moving to his side, "I should mention that the Soothscryer has been known to be... occasionally... fatal. There was Unkar the Unfortunate, who—"
"Occasionally fatal?" Toby's voice climbed a hole octave.
I moved to Toby's other side, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Hey," I said quietly, catching his eye. "You've got this. The amulet already chose you, remember? That has to mean something."
Toby looked at me, then at the Soothscryer, then back at me. He swallowed hard. "If I die, you're explaining this to Nana."
"Deal."
Together, we approached the pedestal. The device seemed to watch us, its blade filled maw waiting. I helped guide Toby's trembling hand toward the opening, my own heart hammering having to place my hand in, despite knowing or at least believing, that I'd survive this.
The moment his hand crossed the threshold, the Soothscryer came alive. The blades began to spin, creating a sound like a thousand knives being sharpened simultaneously. Light blue, then green, then more colors began to pulse from within. Toby's face went white, his jaw clenched so tight I could see the muscles jumping in his neck.
Then, just as suddenly as it began, everything stopped. The light faded. The blades stilled.
Toby let out a grateful sigh.
"Inconclusive," Vendel said, his tone unreadable.
The Soothscryer released Toby's arm, which he immediately clutched to his chest, checking for injuries he wouldn't find. Vendel studied him for a long moment, and I could see he didn't have disappointment, not quite hope either.
"There has never been a human Trollhunter," Vendel said finally. "Perhaps there is a reason for that." He turned, his staff striking the ground with each step. At the entrance, he paused, glancing back over his shoulder. "I will pray to the Heartstone that the amulet has not chosen in error."
Then he was gone, leaving only silence.
Hours later, my legs burned and my lungs felt like they were on fire, at least by the grace of gods Toby had managed to summon his armor again. The silver metal covering him from head to toe, fitting his round frame perfectly, and the sword, when he'd finally worked up the courage to call it, was beautiful in its deadly simplicity. I could already somewhat remember wielding it.
None of which stopped me from nearly getting my head taken off by a spinning blade the size of a truck tire.
I dropped flat to the ground, the weapon passing by, the wind of its passage ruffling my hair. "Blinky!" I shouted, pushing myself back to my feet. "Maybe we could start with something that doesn't actively try to kill us?"
I'd decided to join in on the training to help out a bit but holy. With no powers or tech I might actually die at any second at this point.
"Nonsense! The best training comes from genuine peril!" Blinky pulled another lever, and a series of spiked spheres began to swing across the chamber like the world's most dangerous pendulums. "Besides, this will teach Master Tobias and you, Master Jim, to maintain awareness of your surroundings!"
Toby's scream echoed through the Forge as he swung his sword wildly at an approaching mechanical arm tipped with what looked like a morning star. "Awareness? I'm aware! I'm extremely aware! I'm aware I'm going to die!"
I ran forward, ducking under one of the swinging spheres and rolling past another, coming up beside Toby just in time to help him dodge to the left. "Remember what Blinky said!" I called over the mechanical din. "The armor enhances your natural—"
A blade shot out from the floor directly between us, forcing us to leap in opposite directions. When I landed, another weapon was already swinging toward my midsection, this one a curved blade that would've made me significantly shorter if it connected.
I threw myself backward, my feet leaving the ground, and felt the metal pass close enough to scrape against my shirt. I hit the ground hard, rolled, and came up cursing.
"Excellent reflexes, Master Jim!" Blinky called out cheerfully.
"I liked you better when you were just giving us tours." I shouted back.
Then, as suddenly as they'd started, all the mechanisms froze mid-swing. In the abrupt silence, I could hear both Toby and myself gasping for breath, our hearts pounding loud enough to echo off the walls.
"Finally," Toby wheezed, deactivating his armor and bending over with his hands on his knees. "I thought he'd never—"
"Blinky."
The voice came from the entrance, deep and rough and obviously familiar. I turned to see Draal standing in the doorway, his massive frame blocking most of the light from the passage beyond. His expression was carefully neutral, but something in his eyes suggested he was enjoying something far more than he should.
"I was wondering," he said, his pronunciation the words, "if Toe Bee would accept my offer to serve as his sparring partner. As part of his training, of course." The smile that spread across his face was all teeth and no warmth. "I would be honored to help test the... mettle... of our new Trollhunter."
I'd forgotten all about the duel with Draal, toby stood no chance currently and everyone knew it.
Blinky moved forward quickly, all four hands raised. "That's very generous, Draal, but I'm not sure Master Tobias is quite ready for—"
"I believe that's an excellent idea."
We all looked slightly up to see Vendel standing just behind Draal, having appeared as silently as smoke. His ancient eyes studied Toby with that same unreadable expression. "If Tobias Domzalski is to be the Trollhunter, he must prove he can face challenges worthy of the title. What better way than to test himself against the son of the previous Trollhunter?"
Blinky opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again. No words came out.
Draal's smile widened, and the look he gave Toby was the look of a cat that had just cornered a particularly slow mouse. "What do you say, Toe Bee? Will you accept my challenge?"
I watched Toby's face cycle through about seventeen different expressions in the span of three seconds, finally landing on the determined grimace of someone who knows they're about to make a terrible decision but is going to do it anyway.
"Yeah," Toby said, his voice only shaking a little. "Yeah, I accept."
Draal's laugh echoed through the Hero's Forge like thunder, and I couldn't help but chime in.
"It'll be tomorrow afternoon."