Troll Hunters

by Michael Dahl

  Pablo frowned. “I don’t know,” he said.

  The two boys were silent for a few seconds. They shivered in the night air, their wet clothes clinging to them.

  Pablo felt weaker without Thora and Louise by his side. He looked back toward the shore. The crowd was still setting cars on fire and shoving them over the cliff’s edge like flaming missiles. When each burning vehicle went airborne, the people cheered. Or screamed. Pablo couldn’t tell which. But he did notice that none of the vehicles had people in them.

  Pablo’s eyes went wide. Maybe that’s why the two passengers were locked inside that SUV, he thought. They knew we’d stay out here to help them.

  “We have to get back to the shore!” Pablo said. “They were trying to separate us from the rest of our friends!”

  Zak nodded. “You’re probably right,” he said. “That would explain why only my arm changed — we were too far away from the others.”

  Zak lay down at the edge of the disk and started paddling. Just then, a huge bubble began to rise to the water’s surface from the same spot where the SUV had disappeared. Another bubble floated up, expanded, and burst. Then another bubble. And another.

  Pablo squinted as he looked into the water. A flat, dark object was slowly ascending toward the surface.

  “What is that?” whispered Pablo.

  “No idea,” Zak said.

  The dark object floated closer and closer. Soon, Zak recognized it. “It’s the roof of the SUV!” he said.

  The two watched as the broken window came into view. Then the hood and the door handles peaked above the water.

  As the SUV surfaced, the water below the golden disc began to churn and bubble. The bobbing SUV began to rotate. The current caught the disc and dragged it in a large circle around the spinning vehicle.

  Pablo froze. He wanted to jump off the disc and swim toward shore, but he was afraid of what might be lurking underneath the surface.

  After all, something had pushed the SUV up from the bottom of the lake. And that same something was still moving it.

  Something big. Really big.

  Louise lay unconscious on the ground at the base of the quarry cliff. Thora and Mr. Tooker bent over her. “Louise, can you hear me?” Thora asked.

  “We have to get her to a hospital,” said Louise’s father.

  FWOOM! Another flaming car crashed into the ground a few yards from where they all sat. Thankfully, they were all huddled beneath the base of the cliff where the rock wall slanted inward at one spot, forming a small shelter.

  Thora listened to the howls of the townspeople above their heads. “I don’t think we can get her to a hospital,” she said.

  Thora looked around quickly. Mara lay propped up against the cliff near Thora and the Tookers. Zak’s parents were a few feet away along with the others. They were all staring at the fiery destruction raining down near them. She didn’t see Dr. Hoo anywhere among them.

  Thora turned to Mara. “Where did the doctor go?” Thora asked.

  Mara’s eyes didn’t open. With an effort, she parted her lips. “You must all stick together,” she said. Her voice sounded sort of strange, as if she were at the other end of a long tunnel.

  “I know,” said Thora. “But where is Dr. Hoo?”

  Mara didn’t respond. She sat motionless with her back against the cliff. She didn’t seem to hear the crashes and booms from the falling vehicles.

  Mr. Tooker shook his head. “She needs help,” he said. “And my Louise needs help.”

  Thora remembered when she, Louise, Pablo, and Dr. Hoo had joined hands and healed Zak’s injured hand. Maybe we could do the same for Louise now, she thought.

  Thora stooped down and put her hand on Mr. Tooker’s shoulder. “Let me take Louise,” she said.

  Mr. Tooker jerked Louise back. “What are you going to do?” he asked nervously.

  “I’m going to find a doctor,” said Thora. She wasn’t lying. She did want to find Dr. Hoo, as well as Zak and Pablo.

  “Then I’m coming with you,” said Mr. Tooker.

  Thora pointed at Mara. “Someone needs to stay with her,” Thora said. “Don’t worry. I’ll come right back.”

  “But —” Mr. Tooker began.

  Thora looked him in the eyes. “You know your daughter and I have a special connection,” she said. “You’ve seen it.” Mr. Tooker nodded reluctantly. “Then please trust me. I’m only trying to help her.”

  Mara moaned. Mr. Tooker glanced at her. “All right,” he said quietly.

  “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” said Thora. She hoisted Louise up into her arms. Then she turned and ran from the cover of the cliff’s edge.

  Thora sprinted as fast as she could with the extra burden of Louise’s weight. But just by holding the girl, Thora felt stronger and lighter on her feet.

  Her path took her through a maze of burning cars and trucks. Her plan was to find the doctor, Pablo, and Zak. She knew that together they could restore Louise to health. At least, she hoped they could.

  Thora wanted to put the burning cars between her and Mr. Tooker. She didn’t want him to see her moving back toward the shore. He would be too frightened and confused.

  Thora scanned the area as she ran, looking for the doctor. Where is he? she thought.

  Thora kept glancing up from the smashed, fallen vehicles toward the top of the cliff, keeping an eye out for more falling cars.

  Thora …

  Is that Bryce? Thora wondered. She had completely forgotten about Bryce. He was missing too.

  Thora … I’m here …

  Thora turned, holding Louise tight.

  FWOOM! A flaming car crashed behind her, sending a wave of hot air against her back. Thora screamed and ran forward.

  “Bryce!” Thora cried. “Where are you!”

  Thora saw his head appear over the top of the wrecked car. His face was pale, but covered in soot. His eyes were wild and an eerie smile was frozen on his lips.

  Bryce beckoned to her from the broken window. Flames danced along the edges of the car. “Here, Thora,” he said. “Hide here!”

  “You have to get away from there!” shouted Thora. “It’s dangerous.”

  “They’re coming,” Bryce said. His voice sounded like a snarling animal. “They’re coming to get us.”

  “Bryce, you have to come with me,” Thora said. “We need to find Pablo and Zak and Dr. Hoo.”

  Bryce saw Louise in Thora’s arms. His expression clouded over. “Give me the girl!” he growled.

  “What? No!” Thora said, turning Louise away from him. “We have to get her help. We have to find the others!”

  Bryce pointed a finger at Louise. “Who cares about her!” he spat out. He jumped down from the car and pressed his hands to his head. He let out a terrible scream. “They’re in my head! Just give her to me and they’ll let me go!”

  Thora shook her head. “Bryce, don’t let the gathool control you!” she said. “You’re stronger than this!”

  Bryce ran toward her. He reached out and grabbed Louise’s clothes, trying to yank her from Thora’s grasp. Thora screamed at him, but Bryce ignored her and kept yanking. His face looked twisted and scared.

  Thora pulled at Louise with all her strength. The two siblings each tugged for control of the little girl. But Thora knew that if she pulled any harder, she might harm Louise. So she raised her leg and kicked Bryce square in the chest.

  Bryce fell to the grown with a thud. Immediately, sprang back to his feet. “I have to give her to them!” Bryce howled, pointing at Louise. “Then they’ll leave me alone!”

  “No!” Thora cried.

  “She must join the other one,” said Bryce. He stepped closer to Thora.

  Thora tightened her grip on Louise. Bryce’s words made her legs feel weak. Despite the heat of the burning cars around them, an icy chill ran up her neck. “What other one, Bryce?” she asked, taking another step back. “Who are you talking about?”

  Bryce grinned. Red light glittered i
n his eyes. “Who?” he said, cackling like a madman. “Who!”

  Over here … another voice whispered.

  Thora glanced around frantically. She knew that voice. As she scurried to the other side of the burning car, she saw him. Thora gasped and almost dropped Louise. Dr. Hoo was lying on the ground next to the car. His face was gripped with pain.

  As Thora knelt over him, she saw that Dr. Hoo’s third arm was pinned underneath the wrecked car. He was pale. Short, shallow breaths rattled out from his throat.

  “Help,” he whispered.

  Out in the deepest part of the lake, the SUV’s tires were now visible above the surface. It continued to slowly rise from the water like a small submarine.

  Zak and Pablo braced themselves, kneeling on the golden disc. The unconscious boys lay next to them.

  The SUV was completely out of the water now. Under the SUV’s tires was something that looked like a small island. Black rocks and grasses sprouted from its surface.

  Zak pointed a shaky finger at the island beneath the SUV. “What is that?!” he cried.

  Pablo watched water steam around the island’s edges. “Dunno,” he said. “But it looks really hot.”

  Hroom … hroom …

  “Oh, no,” Zak said, recognizing that deep, hollow booming. It was a sound they had heard in the troll’s underground kingdom. The heartbeat of the giant gathool general, Ooloom.

  “It can’t be him,” Pablo said. “We turned him and his entire army to stone!”

  Hroom … hroom …

  Pablo remembered the doctor’s words. “Ooloom was merely one of the generals,” Dr. Hoo had said. “Their ruler, the Great One, lies beyond.”

  The Great One, Pablo thought. Lord of the gathool. He shuddered. It was hard to imagine something worse than Ooloom.

  The island rose higher and higher in the middle of the lake. It surged up like a black mountain of clay and stone and fungus. The SUV slid along the slick, wet surface. It slowly rolled down the slope of the rising island until it fell once more into the water, disappearing beneath the surface.

  The island reminded Pablo of a monster’s head. The rocks and grasses looked like scabs and greasy hair. The island was jet black and had disgusting spots of purplish green. It glistened with thick grease.

  Then the island came to a stop. Its center was changing shape. The bumps and knobs began to spread like a fungus.

  The knobs stretched in size, absorbing one another. An enormous growth was emerging in the center of the dome-shaped island.

  Hroom … hroom …

  The pulse throbbed louder. It shuddered through the golden disc and rattled Pablo’s bones. He covered his ears with his hands, but it did no good. The sound was all around them. It was inside their heads.

  Steve began to moan. His eyelids fluttered. He stared up at Zak. “Fisher?” he said. “What are you doing here?”

  “Take it easy, Steve,” said Zak. “We’re just trying to —”

  “What’s that noise?” cried Steve. He turned his head. His eyes went wide with fear as he saw the pulsing island.

  Pablo could not look away from the fungus-like mass. It moved as if something living was squirming under the greasy surface.

  The thick growth heaved upward. Lumps jutted out from the mass. Other shapes emerged, shapes that resembled arms and legs. The mass became a fully formed creature growing out of the living island. It towered dozens of feet into the air. Four muscular arms thrust from its sides. The nightmarish creature turned its burning red eyes toward the humans.

  Steve screamed. Then he passed out.

  “Uzhk?” cried Pablo. The thing looked sort of like the creature who had saved them down in the gathool kingdom. The troll lifted his mighty arms into the air and roared angrily at Zak and Pablo.

  Zak put his arm out to Pablo. “I … I don’t think that’s him,” he said.

  The monster howled again. His cry was answered by a howl from the surrounding walls of the craterlike quarry.

  “And that’s not an echo,” said Pablo.

  Pablo looked toward the rocky cliffs. Their rough sides were thick with long, twisting shadows. But the shadows looked too regular, too evenly spaced. Then Pablo saw the shadows move away from the cliffs.

  Not shadows. Tentacles. The arms of a gigantic, squid-like monster. Pablo realized that the dark island in the middle of the lake was merely the top of its head. The underwater beast was huge. Ooloom had seemed like a doll compared to this vast, shapeless monster.

  Thool … ooom …

  The creature that had sprouted at the top of the misshapen head stared at the boys. Its jaws opened and shut. Raspy sounds sputtered from its tusks. “Prak tara,” it bellowed. “How will that meddlesome doctor save you now?”

  Zak stood up on the golden disc. “We don’t need him,” he said. “We’ll get rid of your ugly face all by ourselves.”

  The monster roared. Zak met his roar with one of his own. The boy pumped his arms and screamed into the sky like a wolf howling at the moon.

  Pablo stood up and moved right next to his friend. A glow began to spread up Zak and Pablo’s feet and legs. It climbed up their chests and traveled across the rest of their bodies.

  The silver glow now covered Zak’s body. His muscles thickened and his torso expanded. Even though he still looked human, his ferocious growl sounded just like a bear’s.

  Pablo looked down at his feet. They were fit with shining silver sandals. His hands felt heavy. He clasped them together and saw a single gleaming sword spring into existence from the light in his palms.

  Pablo gripped the hilt in his right hand and swung it back and forth in front of him. He grinned and tightened his fingers around its hilt. It felt good to hold the Sword of Orion in his hand once again.

  But something was wrong. Pablo touched his chest with his other hand. He wasn’t covered with silver armor like last time. He looked over the rest of his body and saw no armor. No helmet. His transformation wasn’t complete.

  Pablo saw that Zak had grown taller and his muscles looked more powerful, but he had not transformed into the bear of his former battles, either.

  This was all the might that the two of them could muster alone. We need Thora and Louise to complete our transformations, Pablo realized. He looked at Zak and could immediately tell by the look on his face that Zak knew it too.

  “Doesn’t matter,” said Zak. “We can take this thing on just like we are now.”

  The troll snickered. It pulled its thick feet off the island’s sticky surface. They came away with a ripping sound. It extended its arm toward the sky. A gnarled bone grew out from the limb. The bone solidified into a smooth, sword-like weapon.

  From behind him, Pablo heard the giant tentacles thrashing through the waves. It looked like a single blow from one of them could wipe out an entire building. He tightened his grip on his sword. It looked puny and frail next to the monster’s weapon. But it was, after all, the Sword of Orion. And it was all he had to defend himself — and his friend.

  Zak let out a fierce battle roar. The monster lowered its weapon to its waist and lunged at them with frightening speed.

  At the same time, the troll’s huge sword arced through the air. Before Pablo could react, its razorsharp tip sliced into his chest, opening a wide gash in his flesh. Pablo cried out in pain and dropped to his knees. His sword fell from his hands, clanged off the disc, and disappeared into the water.

  Pablo’s world went dark.

  Thora dropped to her knees next to Dr. Hoo. She ignored the burning cars, the shrieks of the townspeople, and Bryce lingering behind her. All she cared about now was the man lying on the ground before her, wracked with pain, trapped beneath a two-ton flaming wreck.

  “Doctor, can you hear me?” she asked.

  Dr. Hoo’s eyes met hers. “You … you must help me,” he said quietly, glancing at the limb pinned under the vehicle. “I can’t move. My … my arm.”

  Thora trembled. The once-powerful doctor needed her
help? She had hoped that he would save her and Louise! Thora looked at the motionless girl in her arms. Thora felt like crying. She felt like giving up.

  “Thora, come and hide with me,” whined her brother.

  “Shut up, Bryce!” Thora snapped.

  The doctor reached out to her with one of his free arms. “You must help me,” he said again. “I know you can do it.”

  “I can’t,” said Thora. She buried her face in Louise’s side. “I can’t.” Her world was falling apart. Her brother was flipping out. Her little friend was dying in her arms. Her other friends were gone and her teacher needed her help.

  “I can’t do it,” Thora said.

  The doctor forced a smile through his pain. “The stars can,” he said. He gently touched her forehead. “The ones living inside you.”

  A sequence of images flashed into Thora’s mind as fast as she could understand them. She saw The Book of Stars from the doctor’s library. It opened. Its pages displayed a woman wearing a crown and holding a large jar. The next moment, she saw water and stars spill from the jar’s mouth in a shining, silvery flood. Thora remembered the woman was Aquarius, the Water Bearer. The Mover of Floods. The constellation.

  Thora remembered how it felt to hold that miraculous jar in her hands. She had poured out water and stars upon her enemies as if they came from her very body.

  But how can I make that jar reappear? she thought.

  “The starlight,” said the doctor, as if he were reading her thoughts. “Starlight is in your blood.”

  The doctor released his grip. He moaned with pain. He grabbed his shoulder, where the car pinned his third arm beneath a ton of glass and steel.

  Thora blinked away her tears. Dr. Hoo had saved her in the woods from the first troll she had ever seen. Now it was her turn. She had to help him somehow. She had to think fast.

  Thora looked down at Louise. Mr. Tooker had wrapped an old bandana around the girl’s forehead to stop the bleeding. But the gash was deep. There was blood on Louise’s face.