𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐔𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐇𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒 [𝐣𝐢𝐦 𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐱 𝐨𝐜]

Chapter 48 | Trollhunters

"You are waking. I shall be watching and waiting for your return. Until we meet again, Liz Walker."

Liz Walker...

Liz...

"Liz?"

"Liz!"

"Lizzie!"

Her name echoed in her mind like a drop falling into a pool of water. Gradually, she forced her eyes to open. At first, everything in her vision blurred, but with every blink, her vision became clear. However, the instant feeling of restraints on her arms and wrists captured her attention.

Looking down, she finds herself hanging just above the Killahead Bridge. A pool of blood below her dangling feet, spreading across the stones of the ancient bridge, soaking into the cracks and making the etchings glow as she felt a warm, iron-like smell of blood trailing from her wound across her left shoulder and chest down her weak body.

"Liz?"

"Jim?" Responding to the voice that said her name, Liz immediately raises her head to see Jim standing before her on a raised platform in front of Killahead Bridge. Her eyes take in his wet, disheveled state, and her brow furrows as she looks around, recognizing that they are inside the museum. So the Killahead Bridge was here this whole time.

Upon realizing it, she noticed Bular standing threateningly close to her, Blinky hanging helplessly upside down by a rope nearby, and the changelings and goblins waiting below on the ground with apprehension. After assessing the situation, she drew her stern gaze back to Jim, her eyes softening. "Jim, what's going on? You shouldn't be here."

Jim took a step forward towards her. "Liz, it's okay. Everything's going to be alright, I –"

Suddenly, a sword appeared from the side, its sharp edge hovering close to her neck, making Jim pause in his advance. Bular growled, "Open the bridge. I will not ask again."

Blinky instantly panicked, fidgeting against his binds. "No, Master Jim, don't do this! If you release Gunmar and his Gumm-Gumm army, you will be unleashing darkness! The world will not survive Gunmar's reign!"

Liz pulled against her binds, but it was useless to begin with. "Blink is right, Jim. You must not open this bridge. Our lives won't matter if everyone's lives will be at risk."

"Your lives matter to me, Liz...and I don't plan on opening the bridge," Jim reassured her mentally. Contrary to his words, he reached for the amulet in his pocket and brought it out, clutching it between his palm and fingertips. Instantly, blue smoke began pouring from the slot on the bridge that fits the amulet, and the bridge glowed brighter with the amulet's proximity.

"But Jim! What are you — "

"Think about Trollmarket! Your friends! Your own mother!" Blinky added to emphasize his point, but to no avail, since Jim didn't listen. Slowly, he moved the amulet closer to the open slot as his eyes flickered to Liz. "Do you trust me, Liz?"

"We trained you better than this!" Blinky shouted, but it was ignored as Liz stared at Jim before nodding slowly. "I trust you."

"For the glory of Merlin, not another step!"

Barely far from the keyhole, the amulet pulsed brighter. But before Jim could insert it, his watch around his left wrist beeped a simple pattern. Liz's eyes widened in recognition, and apparently, she was not the only one as Nomura shouted. "He's wearing a tracking device!"

Searching around the room to find who had been near, Nomura scolded Strickler, "You said the Trollhunter was alone."

"Not Trollhunter." Jim grinned, "Trollhunters!"