The Two Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia Book One: Just the Beginning

Chapter 24: Wingman

The blazing fury of Angor Rot was charging toward Strickler as he sat in the driver's seat of his car. In a rush of panic, he turned the key, igniting the vehicle and sprung into action. He reversed, slamming the trunk into Angor's fastly approaching form and then proceeded to speed away as quickly as he could.

But that didn't stop the troll from barrelling after him in a mad dash. The assassin took a leap and landed right on top of Strickler's car, stabbing his knife through the roof. He swung and landed on the windshield, causing Strickler to weave dangerously into what would have been oncoming traffic.

Angor's head smashed through the driver-side window, shattering the glass. Strickler had to raise an arm to prevent the glass from raining down on his face.

"You can't escape me now." Angor snarled, "After I'm through with you, I'll kill the Trollhunters and everyone else!"

Strickler gaped at him, his eyes showing his terror, "Are you mad?!"

"No," Came the assassin's dark reply, "I'm free."

In a rush of adrenaline, Strickler kicked open the car door and ripped off his seatbelt to leap from the car as it veered off the road, heading straight for a steep drop off. Strickler grunted as he rolled across the grassy forest floor as both his car and Angor Rot went careening over the cliff's edge.

He struggled to catch his breath after a moment, staring over at the ledge where the troll assassin and his car had vanished.

_

"Raelynn fainted, and I grabbed her, took the Killstone from him," Jim was explaining our endeavors with the Kairosect to our friends as we met together in Trollmarket, "And never looked back."

"A valiant risk for the second Triumbric stone," Blinky nodded, before he scrutinized both Jim and I, "but as you say, Jim, Angor Rot's ring was destroyed?"

I nodded, "Yeah. He wasn't very happy to lose his soul, if I remember correctly. Now that no one controls him, I guess he'll be on a warpath."

"All the more reason to find the third and last stone before he shows up again," Claire remarked from where she and Toby walked into the library.

Toby grinned when he saw Lyonna in her original, non-fleshy form, "Hey! Lyonna! Good to see you back to normal! I was really starting to miss you there."

She sighed, "My only regret, Toby, was that I never got the chance to drive one of your automobiles."

"Yeah, but what was that legend again?" Jim asked, already having forgotten the riddle of the Triumbric stones.

I smiled softly and began to recite it easily, "Three forces elemental thou must seek, in marshlands, caverns deep and mountains peak." Jim and Toby looked at me, bewildered, while Claire only seemed indifferent.

She shook her head at both of the boys and patted my shoulder, "What, if she can memorize four-hundred lines of Shakespeare, then she can remember that little riddle."

I nodded at my best friend, "Thanks, girl." She only laughed slightly.

"Well, check and check on mountains and marshlands." Toby remarked simply, counting off on his fingers, "that just leaves us the caverns deep."

"Trouble is, Tobias," Blinky sighed, crossing his many arms, "all trolls live in caverns deep. To search all would far outlast our life spans."

Lyonna glanced around the library, searching for something, "Has anyone seen Arrrgh? If we ever plan on finding the final stone, we'll need all hands on deck."