The Adventure Begins

by Richard Ashley Hamilton

  “I forgot my phone,” said Barbara. “Are you okay in there?”

  “Um, fine,” Jim lied, his mind grasping for excuses. “I mean, my stomach’s a little, uh . . .”

  Toby jammed the toilet brush in and out of the commode, making all kinds of disgusting sloshing sounds. Mortified, Jim shot his best friend a dirty look. Dude? Seriously?! Toby gave Jim an enthusiastic thumbs-up. Problem solved.

  “Uh, you know, I might have a food poisoning situation . . . ,” Jim groaned.

  Taken aback by the wet gurgling noises still coming from the bathroom, Barbara said, “Honey, I’ll get you some medicine, okay?”

  Barbara went downstairs, and Jim gritted his teeth. This was the last thing he wanted. There was no way he was going to open the door, even a crack, and risk his mom seeing the armor. Or the Trolls. The Amulet began flashing erratically.

  Jim pointed at the device in alarm and whispered to Blinky, “Okay, what’s going on here?”

  “The Amulet reacts to your emotional state,” said Blinky. “You appear to be in some distress.”

  “You think?” Jim asked sarcastically.

  Toby finally eased up on the toilet brush, in deep concentration, his brow furrowed. “If Jim’s the first human Trollhunter, like you said, then who or what was the Trollhunter before him?” he asked the Trolls.

  “The glorious mantle has been passed from Troll to Troll for hundreds of years,” said Blinky.

  “So, the previous Trollhunter, what, retired?” Jim asked.

  “Was felled,” AAARRRGGHH!!! said, lowering his head in sadness.

  “Turned to stone and smashed,” Blinky clarified. “Kanjigar the Courageous was his name. Brutally slain by a ruthless Troll named Bular.”

  Jim suddenly felt dizzy. He leaned against the door, longing for the days when a beating from Steve seemed like the worst that could happen to him. Toby caught his friend freaking out and patted him on his armor.

  “Don’t worry, dude,” Toby said. “This Bular guy probably just got lucky.”

  “The evidence does not suggest that,” said Blinky. “Bular is a formidable opponent.”

  The Amulet flashed faster, mirroring Jim’s distress.

  “Then the other guy . . . ,” Jim said. “He was just off his game or something . . . right?”

  “Doubtful. Kanjigar was perhaps the most alert and able of all the Trollhunters,” Blinky said.

  “But not the best, I’m betting,” said Jim, a bit of hope still left in his voice.

  “Oh, the very best,” Blinky replied, unaware of the color draining from Jim’s face. “Many songs and sagas have been written about him.”

  Toby stepped in and said, “Uh, I think what my friend here is a little worried about is, if Bular could defeat Kanjigar, then what’s going to happen to Jim?”

  “A most appropriate, if troubling, query, Tobias,” said Blinky. “Of course, we would never expect Master Jim to engage in battle without the proper training.”

  “See? Nothing to worry about,” Toby smiled, trying to cheer Jim up. “How long does the training normally take?”

  Blinky started counting the fingers on his four hands. Behind him, AAARRRGGHH!!! enjoyed all the features a human bathroom has to offer. He turned the lights on and off, stuck the toilet brush in his ear, and chewed on hand soaps.

  “Oh . . . decades,” Blinky estimated.

  “And how long do I have?” Jim asked, not really wanting to hear the answer.

  “A day or two,” Blinky said with an apologetic grimace.

  Jim felt as if the floor had dropped out from under him . . . until Barbara knocked once again at the bathroom door.

  “Jim, I have medicine and ginger ale,” she said. “Come on out.”

  Jim held the doorknob in place so that it wouldn’t turn. Toby and the Trolls scrambled backward, away from the door. The Amulet flashed like crazy, nearly blinding Jim.

  “I’m fine!” he said. “Really! I just need a little privacy.”

  “You’re worrying me,” said Barbara. “I’m coming in.”

  Thinking fast, Jim flushed the toilet and turned the Amulet just as Barbara turned the doorknob. She opened the door, and Jim walked out in his normal clothes.

  “See? All good,” Jim said with an innocent look on his face.

  Barbara held her nose, looked into the bathroom, and found it empty. Shrugging, she followed Jim downstairs. A few seconds later Toby, Blinky, and AAARRRGGHH!!! peered out from their cramped hiding place behind the shower curtain. AAARRRGGHH!!! took another deep whiff of Toby’s hair.

  “Stop sniffing me, giant Troll dude!” Toby whispered.

  “Smell like cat,” AAARRRGGHH!!! sighed back.

  • • •

  As soon as Barbara found her phone, hugged Jim good-bye, and drove away, Toby and the Trolls crept downstairs. They joined Jim in the living room, where he appeared lost in thought. He only snapped out of it when AAARRRGGHH!!!’s large body crashed into the ceiling light and knocked a bunch of books and old VHS tapes from the shelf.

  “Your cave too small,” AAARRRGGHH!!! decided.

  “So, Master Jim, are you ready?” asked Blinky. “We should begin your training immediately.”

  “Uh, it’s a school night,” said Jim, still on edge. “I can’t be out, y’know, Trollhunting. Besides, the whole ‘getting killed by a vicious Troll named Bular’ thing might be a deal breaker!”

  “ ‘Deal breaker’?” said Blinky, having never heard this human term before.

  Jim looked around the living room for something normal, something to remind him of how his life used to be just two days ago. Instead, he saw Toby feeding AAARRRGGHH!!!.

  “Dude, he eats VHS tapes!” Toby exclaimed.

  AAARRRGGHH!!! belched in satisfaction, and Jim snapped.

  “I don’t want to die!” Jim yelled.

  He didn’t care so much about his own fate. It was his mom’s. Who would take care of her if Jim wasn’t around? He removed the Amulet from his back pocket and offered it to Blinky.

  “Maybe you should take this back,” said Jim.

  Blinky closed his four hands around the Amulet and pushed it back toward Jim.

  “The Amulet called to you, Master Jim,” Blinky said. “It chose you. It is your—”

  “Please don’t say ‘destiny,’ ” interrupted Jim.

  “—sacred obligation,” continued Blinky, even though he was totally going to say “destiny.”

  Jim put the Amulet back in his pocket and shook his head in dismay.

  “You cannot refuse it,” said Blinky. “You cannot give it back. It is yours until you die.”

  “And I would like to get a little further past puberty before that happens,” Jim said.

  “Master Jim, you are now responsible for the protection of two worlds, human and Troll alike,” Blinky began anew. “If you do not keep the balance, evil Trolls like Bular will come into yours and wreak havoc.”

  Jim was about to argue again with Blinky, but his next words caught in his throat. Instead, he actually considered what the Troll had just said. Blinky smiled, confident that he was starting to make some progress in convincing his new Trollhunter.

  “You’re saying this Bular could . . . hurt people?” asked Jim.

  “Like you,” said AAARRRGGHH!!! between bites of VHS.

  And just like that, Jim went pale again. Blinky shot AAARRRGGHH!!! a dirty look with all six of his eyes.

  “Not! Helping!” Blinky said. He faced Jim once more and explained, “With the Amulet in your possession, Bular will seek you out, and you will face him, one way or another.”

  Toby knew that panicked look on Jim’s face all too well. He stood at his friend’s side and started negotiating with Blinky.

  “Maybe what Jim needs is a little time to process all of this,” said Toby. “You laid a lot of heavy stuff on him tonight.”

  Blinky considered it, feeling a twinge of sympathy for Jim. Becoming the Trollhunter was an overwhelming responsibility
for even the toughest of Trolls. He could only imagine how the responsibility might affect a far more inferior creature such as a human.

  “Fine, fine,” said Blinky. “We shall return tomorrow, then, to begin your training.”

  “Awesomesauce,” said Toby, sealing the deal.

  He held open the back door for the Trolls to leave Jim’s house discreetly. As AAARRRGGHH!!! downed a few videos for the road, Blinky looked back and saw Jim standing by himself. He appeared lost, frightened, and so very young.

  “Master Jim, if I may,” said Blinky in a soft voice. “Destiny is a gift.”

  Jim faced the Troll, his eyes wide and searching.

  “Some go their entire lives living existences of quiet desperation, never learning the truth,” Blinky continued. “That what feels as though a burden pushing down upon our shoulders is actually a sense of purpose that lifts us to greater heights.”

  Jim pulled out the Amulet again and considered it. So many emotions—fear, excitement, joy, anger, confusion—swirled in his head.

  “Never forget that fear is but the precursor to valor,” added Blinky. “That to strive and triumph in the face of fear is what it means to be a hero.”

  Hero. The word made Jim think back to the night before, when he’d unlocked the armor. Swinging that sword in the air, he felt different. Proud. Special.

  “Don’t think, Master Jim,” said Blinky. “Become.”

  With that, Blinky bowed his head and departed with AAARRRGGHH!!!, Toby went home, and Jim was left alone with his thoughts.

  CHAPTER 12

  TWENTY-FOUR HOURS TO LIVE

  Don’t think. Become.

  Blinky’s words haunted Jim even as he pedaled his bike down the block. Jim felt the cool night air against his skin and sweat beading under his helmet. He didn’t really know where he was going. But if this was going to be his last night of freedom—or life—then Jim didn’t want to spend it cooped up in his house. Once Toby went back to his nana’s for dinner, Jim just hopped on his bike and left.

  Jim had so much on his mind, he couldn’t even think of recipes for tomorrow’s meals. It didn’t matter if this Bular was out there somewhere, just waiting to add Jim to his long list of slain Trollhunters. Jim needed to get away, clear his mind, and pretend he was an average fifteen-year-old again.

  He must’ve biked for a solid hour before stopping to take a break on a sidewalk. Jim unfastened his helmet, shook out his hair, and looked around the pleasant neighborhood. All around him, families sat down together for dinner, parents helped kids with homework, and teens texted and gamed with one another.

  But not Jim. That kind of normal life clearly wasn’t meant for him.

  Jim sighed and rolled his eyes. That’s when he noticed the signs staked into the lawn in front of him. They all read VOTE NUñEZ. Jim’s eyes went wide. He looked past the lawn into the house and saw Claire through the living room window.

  Jim’s heart skipped. He was standing in front of Claire Nuñez’s house. Alone. At night. How had he wound up here, of all places? Had his mind, so clouded with Blinky’s warnings, subconsciously led him here?

  He watched Claire reach into a playpen and lift up her baby brother, Enrique. Jim had overheard Claire showing pictures of him on her phone to Mary and Darci.

  They look so happy, Jim thought as Claire raised Enrique higher and buried her nose into his belly. The baby giggled, and Claire laughed too.

  A new thought soon followed. Blinky said Bular might hurt people in our world, Jim remembered. People like Claire. And Enrique. Even Toby and Mom.

  Jim regarded the Amulet in his hand. He felt the weight of it on his palm, but also its power.

  If I have the chance to help them—and others like them—shouldn’t I take it?

  Jim looked back at Claire’s house, as if hoping to find his answer there. Instead, he found Claire standing at the window, holding Enrique in her arms and squinting in Jim’s direction.

  “Gah!” Jim cried, before awkwardly covering his face with his helmet and biking away in a weird, wobbly spectacle.

  Jim left in such a hurry, he failed to notice the two beings that had been spying on him. Walter Strickler stepped out of the shadows across the street, followed by the snarling Bular.

  “I should have devoured him on this very spot,” said Bular, “and excreted the Amulet in the morning.”

  “Charming as ever, Bular,” Strickler said in disgust. “But that would be an extremely foolish move, even for you.”

  Bular reached for his swords, but Strickler turned around and held the dark Troll’s arms in place with surprising strength. Only this wasn’t the normal Walter Strickler.

  In a flash, he transformed into his true form—the tall, gaunt Changeling who had kneeled before Bular in the abandoned factory. The glow from his yellow eyes illuminated Strickler’s scaly green skin and the gray horns protruding from his skull.

  “Stay your hands, Son of Gunmar,” hissed Strickler. The metal blades worn around his neck clinked together as he spoke. “Since most humans don’t know Trolls exist, they’ll never notice if a failure like Kanjigar disappears. But if a human teenager suddenly vanishes without a trace . . .”

  Strickler pointed his talon at a nearby street lamp with a flyer taped to its post. “HAVE YOU SEEN THIS PERSON?” read the headline just above a picture of a missing park ranger from the woods. Bular vaguely remembered how he had tasted.

  “That kind of attention could disrupt our entire plan with Merlin’s Amulet and the bridge,” Strickler said. “And you wouldn’t want to disappoint Daddy, now, would you?”

  Bular eyed Strickler with pure hatred. He released his swords back into their scabbards and spat black phlegm onto the sidewalk.

  “So be it, Impure,” growled Bular. “We’ll play your Changeling games . . . for now.”

  CHAPTER 13

  OPEN MIC KNIGHT

  “So, what did you decide?” Toby asked Jim as they parked their bikes and entered their school’s breezeway. Toby had been dying to ask, but Jim spent most of the ride to Arcadia Oaks High School in distracted silence.

  “That if anyone finds out what happened in my kitchen last night, we’ll both be committed,” Jim said half-jokingly.

  “I meant about kicking Steve’s butt!” said Toby, karate chopping the air in front of him.

  “Give up the dream, Tobes,” Jim sighed, just before the Amulet chimed in his book bag.

  Tick.

  Toby peeked into Jim’s bag, which was lit up from within by the glowing Amulet, and asked, “Does this thing run on batteries? What’s it doing?”

  “How should I know?” said Jim, shooing Toby away from his bag. “It didn’t come with a manual!”

  “Does it feel like you’re gonna, y’know, change?” said Toby.

  “Oh no . . . ,” muttered Jim, getting a mental picture of the entire student body laughing at him in his suit of armor.

  “We gotta get you someplace that’s not out here!” Toby said.

  He hurried Jim out of the breezeway and through the door to the locker room, drawing only a few stares—including one from Strickler, who had watched their entire exchange from afar in his human form.

  Strickler opened the locker room door and followed the boys. He heard a loud metal clanging sound, followed by their hushed voices.

  “Jim?” Strickler called out. “Jim, are you in here?”

  The Changeling in disguise turned the corner and found Toby blocking his path.

  “Oh!” Toby said with a nervous smile. “Hey, Mr. Strickler!”

  “Ah, Toby,” said Strickler, playing dumb. “Have you seen Jim? I believe he came in here.”

  “Yeah, he, um . . . he’s having some issues, y’know? Taco Tuesday. Vicious!” said Toby.

  On the other side of the lockers, Jim, now clad in his armor, rolled his eyes.

  Again with the upset stomach? Jim thought. Why does Tobes keep using that excuse?! And what’s up with this armor? I didn’t even say the incan
tation! It just assembled around me like it was trying to . . . I don’t know, protect me from something. But what?

  Strickler sidestepped Toby and discovered Jim standing in the armor of the Trollhunter. The Changeling commanded every muscle in his face to not betray his surprise—or how he recognized that suit from when Kanjigar had worn it.

  “Jim,” Strickler said, forcing his voice to be calm, “I don’t believe that’s appropriate school attire. Do you?”

  “Oh, yeah, this,” Jim started rambling. “Funny story about this. It’s, uh . . .”

  Jim’s eyes scanned the locker room for something—anything—that might help, just as he had done in Strickler’s office the other day. One of Claire’s Romeo and Juliet posters hung on the bulletin board behind Strickler.

  “For Romeo and Juliet!” Jim said.

  “Yeah, it’s for the tryouts!” Toby added.

  “Yes! The tryouts for Romeo and Juliet,” said Jim.

  “Jim’s gonna totally smoke those auditions,” Toby said as he tapped on Jim’s armor. “I mean, look at his costume. It’s so realistic!”

  Strickler’s eyes narrowed. He knew the boys were lying to him, but he suspected there might be an advantage to keeping this charade going. For a little longer, at least.

  “What about chess club?” he asked.

  “Oh, uh . . . I’m doing that, too, apparently,” stammered Jim.

  “Well, you’d better hurry, then,” Strickler said with a sly grin. “I believe auditions end in five minutes.”

  Jim bit his lip, realizing the mental picture he’d just had about the entire student body laughing at him in his suit of armor was about to come true. . . .

  • • •

  Mr. Strickler personally escorted Jim and Toby to the school auditorium’s backstage area. None of them said a word as they went, but Jim couldn’t shake the feeling that his teacher was . . . grading him until the very moment he left them.

  Jim’s concerns melted, though, when he watched Claire read her lines onstage. She was so natural up there, just like when she’d jammed out to Papa Skull at her mother’s fund-raiser. Every line Claire recited sounded so honest, so true.