Trollhunters: welcome to the darklands

Chapter 8: "WHISTLE IN THE DARK

"A purple hand reached up to the withered vine and plucked the fruit that sagged from it.
"Mmm, Cimmerian fruit. Smells like . . . death," said Nomura before she took a ravenous bite and snatched some more from the vines.
Nomura couldn't remember the last time she had eaten. The Changeling had grown used to hunger and other discomforts in the months since she'd become trapped in the Darklands. Every time she thought of the reason why—a failed attempt to return Gunmar to the surface that backfired and brought Nomura here—she simmered with rage. But then Nomura would calm herself by whistling her favorite human melody, Peer Gynt.
Devouring the rest of the rotted fruit, plus a few more, Nomura whistled a few bars, before drifting into a long overdue sleep. Yet the muted sounds of nearby movement made"

"her cat eyes snap back open. Nomura sprang to her feet and unsheathed the two scimitars strapped to her back. She scanned the darkness and saw several pairs of beady red eyes glowing back at her.
"Cha-hoon! Cha-hoon!" wailed dozens of tiny voices before a pack of Albino Goblins leaped out at Nomura from behind the wilted vines.
She slapped away a few of the white-skinned, red-eyed creatures with her curved blades and ran from the twisted vineyard. The Goblins chased her like deranged bloodhounds and kept calling, "Cha-hoon! Cha-hoon!"
With her long, muscular legs, Nomura easily outpaced the Goblin pack. But she halted in the middle of a narrow rope bridge that stretched over a deep pit. Dictatious and a platoon of Gumm-Gumms waited at the other end, their barbed weapons drawn.
"Well, isn't this a surprise?" Dictatious said with menace. "An unregistered Changeling running free in the Darklands."
Nomura looked back and saw the Goblins massing at the other end. Trapped, she peered"

"over the side of the rope bridge and saw nothing but endless black beneath her.
"Did you enter our realm with the Trollhunter?" Dictatious asked. "The human they call Jim Lake Junior?"
A bitter laugh overcame Nomura. The Goblins and Gumm-Gumms all looked at one another, not getting the joke.
"The Trollhunter?" she cackled. "You'd find him in pieces if we'd traveled together."
Dictatious arched his six eyebrows and said, "Charming, I'm sure. But tell me, if not the Trollhunter, then what, exactly, brings you to the domain of Gunmar the Vicious?"
"As if I'd tell a scheming underling like you." Nomura smirked.
She took a step backward and almost lost her footing. A few pebbles dropped off the rope bridge and disappeared in the darkness below. Nomura regained her balance, but remained slightly distracted since she never heard those pebbles hit the bottom.
"It doesn't look like you have much choice," Dictatious said, and then sneered before addressing the Gumm-Gumm soldiers. "Make it painful."

"Dictatious's cloak swirled as he turned on his heels and walked away from the bridge. The Gumm-Gumms and Goblins closed in on Nomura, bloodlust in their manic eyes. She gripped her scimitars tighter.
"You still have one last chance to save your life," Nomura called out.
Dictatious looked back at her with bemused curiosity and asked, "Save my life?"
"That's right," Nomura answered. "All who serve Gunmar know of his distaste for failure. I've trekked from one end of the Darklands to the other just to avoid his vengeance."
"The only failure my six eyes see here is you, Impure," Dictatious spat.
His four arms flashed a signal, and the Gumm-Gumms and Goblins encroached upon Nomura once again. But rather than strike out at her enemies, Nomura relaxed and returned her swords to the scabbards on her back.
"True," she said. "But if I die, I take the location of Skarlagk's hidden fortress with me."
Dictatious's six eyes went wide. Nomura smirked again."

"Wait!" Dictatious ordered, and everyone froze. "You know, a long time ago, I also bartered for my life in the Darklands. I betrayed others—Trolls I admired, even respected—so that I might survive. You'd do the same, Changeling?"
"That's right," said Nomura. "I've been here long enough to know Gunmar hates Skarlagk almost as much as he does the Trollhunter. And only I know where to find her. But if you end me before I can share that information with Gunmar . . . well, who's the failure now?"
Nomura laughed again. Dictatious considered the offer. And those pebbles finally hit the bottom."