Chapter Text
Arcadia had shifted; quietly and strangely.
Peculiar happenings and eerie changes were nothing new to this town but whatever had come to haunt its streets, nobody could quite place. It had begun with lurking shadows, subtle shifts in the air, something blotting out the stars at night. So ghostly was this new creature that its presence only showed through soft growls in the dark.
The Trollhunters had been spending days scouring the town for this crypted, to no avail. It was untraceable, as if it blended into the night itself.
Arcadia's latest mystery had first surfaced in the form reports from trolls of something peculiar in the forest. The residents of Trollmarket hardly left to venture to the surface, but with Bular slain the forest had become somewhat of a hotspot for troll gatherings and snack hunting - well, snack as in cats and rubbish. During patrols, Arcadia's Guardians had too noticed an unusuality on the wind. The feeling of being watched had begun to accompany them often.
Thus the hunt for the formless creature began, which had everyone on edge.
Without a plan they were mostly flying blind on this mission; it was hard to strategize against a creature you knew almost nothing about. Blinky couldn't begin to pinpoint what sort of beast they were trying - and failing - to locate. He had theories, of course, yet none quite fit what they were up against. A rogue stalkling had been their first assumption but the idea didn't hold up long. Stalklings could fly, yes, but not nearly as fast as their beast and had no reason nor sense to shy away from daylight. This creature only dared show itself under the cover of night and it packed a stealth level that put any other supernatural beast to shame.
Every creature-hunting mission ended with frustration and bruised egos. Afterall, the only thing they ever caught were fleeting glimpses of the beast through their peripheral vision. Whatever it was, it was running circles around them. Even Claire with her network of shadow portals couldn't keep up with it. Each time their prize seemed in arms reach it would seemingly melt into nothing, using evening shadows as its cover. The most they'd gathered was its large size - as deduced from the few clawed tracks it had left behind - and that it could fly and it could fly quickly.
So far it hadn't caused any particular problems but it had still become a disturbance throughout the town which warranted its intervention. Tracking it down and deciding what to do with it had quickly reached the top of everyone's priorities, partly as there weren't many interesting Trollhunting duties to be dealt with and also to itch the curiosity that had grown within each member of their party. There was also the usual matter of keeping the supernatural world beneath Arcadia's feet a secret. They couldn't allow Trollmarket - a place alive with the thrum of magic and the heartbeat of stones - to be smothered by human destruction.
Nobody in the town had officially seen the creature but talk of it had begun to spread; a shadow zipping across the moon, a figure in the streets after dark, whatever gossip people could find to exchange. The circling stories had served, at first, as a useful source of information for Jim and his human companions, though they soon had to stop relying so much on overheard conversations for guidance. Some of it had turned into fear mongering which only served as an annoyance when true accounts of the creature could no longer be distinguished from tall tales. A 'ghost' in Arcadia, as everyone seemed to think it was, was exactly the excitement that got people talking.
Jim found it odd, really, that trolls had managed to keep themselves a secret for so long and in only a matter of days this new arrival, whatever it was, had sparked more attention than Trollmarket had in years. The trolls beneath everyone's feet weren't entirely undetected, Eli had already encountered a goblin turned into roadkill and had been raving a while ago about 'stone monsters' in the canal. Luckily nobody paid much heed to his ramblings and wrote him off as having a bored teen with a wild imagination. It was almost funny how Eli was seen as nothing more than a crazy conspiracy theorist when in reality he knew more about Arcadia than some of its residents ever would. Strangeness and absurdities were usual in their town. People chose to ignore what they couldn't make sense of and accept that some secrets would never breach the surface, with the exception of Eli and a few others. The creature had stealth on its side and an innate ability to remain hidden, but it lacked the same carefulness that trolls, changelings and even goblins had developed over the many years. It stumbled through the town, a strange mix of slick and clumsy as it set off car alarms and slunk swiftly back into the forest in the same breath. Its form was disguised perfectly yet its trail was not so well concealed.
Even with all the hustle and bustle surrounding the creature, it had taken a while for the everyday people of Arcadia to catch onto their latest resident. The creature had been so sleek at first that the Trollhunters couldn't figure out when exactly it had arrived and how long it had been there before they'd picked up on its presence. In fact, the only reason people had begun to learn of it was because the creature was growing seemingly more daring over the passing days. It slipped through town more often and things had begun to go missing, mostly miscellaneous items as well as food and other random objects. Its visits became more frequent the duration of its stays had stretched nearly from dusk till dawn. It was noisy as well. Not all the time, but occasionally a shrill roar would rattle through Arcadia.
In the wake of this creature, unease and intrigue had begun to smother the town and intrigue from humans was a dangerous thing indeed. The last thing that the Trollhunters wanted was for a stupid teen to go monster hunting after dark. While it was hardly likely that they could catch the creature when even the Trollhunters could not, it didn't rule out the possibility that they may stumble across some of Arcadia's other secrets.
The chance of such an event happening had spurred the group into taking more vigorous action; more missions, more patrols, more chases.
After their latest failed attempt at trapping the creature, the crew of teens and trolls had been left with no choice but to pick themselves up and try again the following night. The expedition hadn't been entirely in vain, however. Something had seen amiss about the beast that night; it hadn't been flying quite as smoothly as the last few times they'd spotted it. Beneath a flickering street lamp, it had delayed its escape for just a moment in which Jim had glimpsed its form. While it had still been too fast to make much sense of it, the young Hunter had thought he'd seen a humanoid silhouette on the creature's back. He hadn't been quite sure though and after sharing his discovery with his friends they too found it doubtful. It hadn't been completely ruled out of truth though. Afterall, if Jim, Toby and Claire had managed to get swept up in troll business who was to say that some other unfortunate person hadn't gotten caught up in something similar.
They put the thought to rest for the time being and turned their attention to brainstorming until they had some kind of direction on how to proceed.
Leaves crunched underfoot as yet another search mission ensued. Five sets of eyes surveyed the surrounding forest, desperate to glimpse any sign of movement. It was difficult to detect the creature outside of fast moving blurs and the occasional reptilian rumble. Jim tilted his cranium to gaze up at the inky cracks against the canopy, it seemed a clear night with a plentiful glow pouring out from the moon as if to grant them all some much needed light. Whether that would do much to help them in their quest, they'd simply have to find out.
They each moved with a slower gait than usual, slow and purposeful as to avoid detection. The plan this time required much more stealth than their previous ones. The creature had evaded them so often that any prospect of capture seemed impossible. So, if they could not trap it in Arcadia, why not find out where it spent the rest of its time?
"You sure it went this way, Jimbo?" Came the uncertain voice of Toby. His portable war hammer sat tightly clutched in the stout boy's palm, ready to sprout into its full size at the first sign of danger. His sage gaze was fixed on the surroundings as he spoke, only sparing a short glance to his friend in dazzling silver armour. Aside from protection, the amulet helped illuminate their path with a much appreciated sapphire hue, though it had been dampened as to avoid attention.
Jim nodded, "It keeps flying this way. Every night I swear I see it take off in this direction. It must be... I dunno, hiding out here or something."
"The lair of the beast," Blinky concurred. It was his plan after all to track down the creature's whereabouts during the day and he seemed quite fond of his epiphany. Apparently, he'd been lulling over the idea for some time but had been reluctant to suggest it. '"Its a foolish tactic to challenge an unknown creature in its own home'" he'd said, only their recent disastrous escapades had finally convinced him to put the plan forth. "And remember, no engaging with the creature if we successfully locate its abode. This is merely a recon mission, once we've enough evidence to deduce its heritage we shall return to Trollmarket and formulate a proper plan going forwards."
"I still think we should finally deal with this thing," Toby grumbled. "We've been hunting it for weeks already." Toby was wary as he trudged forwards, back-to-back nights spent trying to capture their new foe had left each of them worse for wear - the human half of their crew anyway. Blinky had sunk himself in relentless research that often ate into his sleeping hours, but aside from that he and Aaarrrgghh were lucky enough not to have their rest interrupted.
"If we see an opportunity we'll catch it, but unless that happens we stay hidden," Jim announced.
The trudge continued, Claire was studying the trees around her quizzically. Her doe eyes fell on every twisted path, rock cluster and winding tree. "There's a cave up this way, isn't there?" she said.
Toby looked at her with a furrowed brow. "Kids used to use it to go drinking away from town," she continued. "Until someone went missing there a while back."
"Too close to Bular's old stomping grounds," Toby mumbled. The Gumm-Gumm Prince was still a grim thought, even if he only existed now in memory. At least there were less kids showing up on milk cartons with him gone.
"So this cave could be the place then, lets check it out and keep our eyes open," Jim called out, still leading their way with his blue shine through the encroaching darkness. He swung his heavy sword to cleave a path where the vegetation grew thick and tangled, slicing the ferns and brambles with practiced ease.
Eyes fixed ahead, sounds of the forest flooded his ears. There was a different kind of noise at night, one Jim much preferred to the hustle and bustle that clogged his everyday life: stillness, alive with the buzz of insects and the breath of the wind. Branches swayed to the music of rustling leaves and the scuttling of critters - or goblins, there were still plenty of those lurking near Arcadia. The night was familiar to him now, a routine he wouldn't mind so much if his nocturnal adventures didn't leave him with deep-set eyebags and a less than perky attitude when the sun was up. It was comforting, in a strange way.
Then there was a noise Jim did not expect, a sudden gust of air follow by a shrill cry that rattled the air and had he and his companions desperately moving to muffle their ears. Jim winced and grimaced until the all too familiar roar faded and the hefty flap of wings replaced it. He was quick enough, luckily, to catch sight the drunken form flying above them, well, more like crashing. Above Jim was a gap of open sky, unmarred by branches or leaves, that provided a decent view of the hectic scene before him.
The beast was rumbling and drifting down to the ground in a slow, irregular fall. No matter how much it tried to soar, gravity tugged it back down again like chains. He couldn't see anything immediately wrong with the creature but it fell like a bolder nonetheless, only its outstretched wings slowed it enough to stop it plummeting completely to the ground.
Jim drew in a hitched breath and took of running as the creature fell beyond his sight. "This way!" He called. The Trollhunter had been first to gather his senses but his companions weren't far behind and were swift to join him in the chase.
Harsh snaps of tree branches and the crash of the large beast sounded its grounding spot, until nothing. For a moment, the maze of trees combined with swallowing darkness disoriented Jim from his pursuit and he could spy no clues to point him in the right direction. It was a distant muttering of an unfamiliar voice that drew him from his confusion to guide him once more, though he could not decipher the exact words. That, along with the faint clanking of metal, quickly became his compass.
Jim followed the noise like a beacon, dashing past ferns and hurdling tree roots until he reached his destination and skidded to a halt. Seconds later, the rest of his group stumbled into standing behind him.
A shallow clearing lay before them, a small, few meter wide gap where the trees thinned out like a stage. Overhead, a break in the canopy plunged the clearing in a lunar limelight. Ferocity cloaked in black scales was the centrepiece. With a visage sharp and sleek, the beast stood as low as it could to the moss and grass that coated the ground. Jim's eyes traced its sprawling wings and ridged spine in tentative awe laced with a healthy dose of fear. It was far too easy to imagine those obsidian claws lunging for him.
As soon as Jim and his companions broke through the bushes the creature had been quick to display its fangs and narrow its pupils. A low rumble resonated from within its throat, not dissimilar but somehow far more spinechilling than a troll's growl.
Almost subconsciously, the cerulean light pooling from Jim's amulet burst from a dim hue into a fiery blaze that seeped through the rest of his armour. It wasn't another moment before his blade once again materialised in his hand.
Crunching of ferns underfoot signalled the presence of another who, embarrassingly, had flown under Jim's radar. Despite having been tracked down thanks to the stranger's mumblings, they'd been overshadowed by their reptilian companion when it came to catching the young Trollhunter's attention.
Not missing a beat, Jim gathered his wits to assess the situation.
Catching glints of metal from the creature's torso and tail, Jim noticed the mechanical contraptions attached to it. Beside it, with a far less intimidating form but still unsettling nevertheless, its humanoid associate stood with one hand grasped tightly on what appeared to be a saddle.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Jim warned, raising his sword slightly. A stern brow and a subtle tense in the Hunter's shoulders served as his bravado. The rule 'always be afraid' had been drilled into him so much that Jim rarely felt much else while out on missions, but he'd found that faux confidence tended to help when confronting an enemy - which he still wasn't sure if this stranger was or not.
The stranger watched him, eerily unmoving aside from the curious tilt of his head. Jim could not glimpse their eyes in the darkness to see what exactly had snagged their attention.
With no sign of an impending response, Jim pushed again, “what are you doing in Arcadia?” Nothing. A frown spread when he was once again answered with silence, "why are you here?"
One hand now rested on their beast’s head as if to keep it from charging as the stranger stared unresponsively.
Thick with silence, the clearing seemed to hold its breath as the one sided interaction unfolded. Any rodents or birds that would have been conducting the usual ambiance that hung in the late hours of night had been scared off by the creature's tumble. Evidence of its fall could be spotted all around them through shattered branches overhead and disturbed soil underfoot.
"Okay then," Jim murmured to the rest of his clique as he rolled his shoulders. "Guess its plan B."
Immediately, following a routine too well practiced now, Claire and Toby gripped their respective weapons and moved to flank the beast. Behind them, Blinky rummaged through one of his leather satchels before pulling out that familiar velvet pouch. Opening the small bag, Blinky and Aaarrrgghh recoiled from the traces of dust that billowed out. The mossy Krubera even went as far as too cover his nose with one of his great fists. "We ought not to waste any more of this dust, I don't know how much more Rotgut's will be willing to give us before we begin receiving accusations of the unsavoury variety."
"They'd just assume you have insomnia or something won't they, what's so bad with that?" Claire spoke, steadily circling around the beast to block its escape by ground.
Blinky grumbled, "trolls don't require nearly as much sleep as humans do, therefore we don't face sleep-related ailments all too frequently. However, there is a good portion of us who use remedies such as this recreationally."
"Oh," Toby chuckled. "Troll drugs."
Now almost fully surrounded, the creature's aggression only spiked. Its wings were half-spread to largen its form and its tail lashed about uncomfortably.
Jim took a step forwards which only earned him a growled reply. "If you won't just talk about this then we have no choice but to just take you with us back to Trollmarket until we figure out what to do with you."
The stranger, still rapt in silence, gave a wary glance to the other Hunters closing them in.
With still no sign of co-operation coming from the individual, Jim cast aside any misgivings of the task at hand and gripped his sword tighter, beginning to approach them and their scaly mount. Fighting trolls was one thing but he'd never kidnapped anybody before, even if it was to keep Trollmarket safe and secret. He wasn't so used to facing humans like this. Maybe they were a changeling. He hoped they were, then at least he'd feel a little better about what he was doing. 'It’s fine' he told himself, it’s not like they were going to hurt the pair.
There was a shift in the stranger's demeanour as they reached for a weapon at their hip.
Sword drawn with a metallic 'shink', the stranger took a step forward to shed their cloak of shadows and reveal their form in the invading moonlight. Now in a slightly more well-lit spot Jim could properly analyse them.
Their getup, a blend of leather and scales with an innate resemblance to the creature in the clearing, momentarily stunned Jim and lead the Hunter to question for a brief second their human nature. Similar waves of ridges lined their spine and most of their facial features were hidden behind their mask. That meant searching for them in Arcadia during the day was off the table. Jim cast the missed opportunity away from his mind, telling himself there'd be no need to track them down again as long as they got a hold of them while they could. For that reason, he focused his mind and steadied his twitching muscles.
Unfortunately for Jim, however, the stranger did not intend to match him in sword play but had instead a much different endeavour.
Escaping from the hilt of their sword, green smog began to fill the air around the clearing. With a vague smell of gasoline, the sickly cloud spread and sprawled amongst the trees as if a thick fog had suddenly settled. Under the cover of the cloud the stranger retreated to their creature and mounted the saddle.
Hazy in the green gloam, Jim could barely make out the silhouettes of the stranger and the creature and, upon realising what they were doing, rushed forwards with his sword raised over his shoulder and his feet thundering against the earth.
As if perfectly timed, the winged beast took to the air with a strong flap of its wings and that's when everything turned hot and golden.
Jim had been but a step away from the creature when a spark rippled through the swampy mist and lit all of it into a swallowing plume of flames. The explosion ripped through the strange gas in a swift wave of combustion that pushed Jim back several meters.
Luckily, the grass and weeds behind him cushioned his fall as he was tossed aside, his armour helped absorb the blow though his ears still rang as he came to his senses. After a few moments the smoke cleared and dissipated in the air, leaving only the rancid stench of ash and a few crackling fires dotted about to hint at what had just happened.
Jim staggered to his feet, the grass burnt black beneath his feet and crunching as he walked. "Is everyone okay?" He coughed.
A quick scan of the clearing showed that while no serious injuries had happened, the explosion had caught everyone off guard. The trolls of the group had come out the best of the lot, protected by their stone skin, though a few of the bags on Blinky's belt now bore singe marks. Aaarrrgghh had managed to catch Toby when the explosion hit, protecting the boy with his massive form. Claire had been blown into a nearby oak and had a nasty scrape on her arm but had otherwise been standing far enough away not to suffer any major wounds. Jim trudged over and helped her to her feet, she was disoriented like the rest of them but had claimed no head injuries. Jim let out a soft breath and allowed himself to calm down.
Of course, the creature and its rider were nowhere to be seen. Jim hadn't expected anything different. They'd left no clues or trail or indication as to where they'd gone and Jim knew that continuing to try and track them down again would be worthless, not with the fresh feeling of deflation in him and each of his friend's. They were more than used to loosing the creature but that time had just felt like a kick in the teeth. Defeat felt much worse when you were close to succeeding and getting caught in an explosion at the end of it hadn't cheered anyone up.
Toby on the other hand was not so keen on soothing his emotions. The hazel haired boy had a look of outrage as he began his tirade, "they... they just blew us up!"
"Tried to," Jim corrected though his voice was a bit hoarse from the ash and embers lingering in the air. He brushed a strand of hair out of his face which felt strangely crisp to the touch. A quick tussle of the rest of his head revealed no other burnt sections; good, he couldn't imagine explaining to his mother why his hair had turned to straw and wire. "Everyone's alright. I don't think that explosion was big enough to do any real harm."
"It did do real harm, Jim! To our egos," Toby bickered back. "We've been hunting that thing for weeks and then we finally have it surrounded and everything quite literally blows up in our faces. We didn't even have enough time to use Blinky's weird sleep sand."
Blinky was the next barer of bad news as he held a scrap of fabric that used to make up the velvet patch. "Yes, well, regarding the slumber grains," he tossed Toby a look as he corrected the boy. "I'm afraid to say we lost the last of our supply during the combustion. It is, unfortunately, a highly flammable substance."
Jim head drooped with a weak sigh. It was hard to keep things together when everything just kept getting worse, and of course he was the one expected to pick up the pieces and mend everyone's spirits. He drew up the best hopeful tone he could muster, which wasn't really any good, and scavenged for what silver lining he could find, "okay, so things didn't really go our way. But that creature and whoever was with it were heading this way before they crashed."
Blinky nodded and placed a hand on the fatigued boy's shoulder, "Master Jim is correct. They must have some kind of hideout further through the forest, and a home to something that size can't be too hard to find. We should regroup and return at a later date to track it down."
"Back to Trollmarket then," Jim dropped his armour, allowing the mystic metal to fizzle away in blue mist, and returned his amulet to its spot in his bag's pocket.
"No," his mentor interjected. "Me and Aaarrrgghh will return to Trollmarket and see what we can dig up on our foe now that we've had a good look at them. You, Tobias and Claire must return to your domiciles and get some rest. Besides, I believe you have an essay due for the morning?"
Jim found himself slumping even more than before and a groan escaped his lips, "oh man, I forgot." He gripped the strap of his bag, adjusting it on his shoulder. He had a few hours before night blended into dawn, maybe he could scrape something together before school started.
Sparing his friend a pat on the back, Toby returned to Jim's side and urged him forwards into pace with the rest of the group as they began their return trek through the woods, "come on, Jimbo. You need a hot shower too, you smell like roasted hair."
"So do you, Tobes," Jim responded with a weary chuckle.
"Yeah, yeah, I know."