Daylight is Mine to Protect

Not Quite Ordinary

In my dreams, He visits me again. He has no face, but His voice echoes throughout my head, working its way into my conscience. "Hello Amber." His voice, so rich, so old, so wise. Once again, I find myself trusting it and the being who produces it. "You have found the Trollhunter." It isn't a question.

"Yes, your mightiness," I reply, bowing to his unseen body.

"Please, just call me Merlin." A green fog that I had come to think of as him swirls around me. "Have you seen the amulet?"

"No Merlin sir. He hides it well."

A sigh echoes through the fog. "That is both a curse and a blessing."

"I've seen the ones he calls friends." I ask the question that had been on my mind all day. "Are they to be trusted? One almost gave him away."

Another sigh. "While I admit they can be foolish, I believe the Trollhunter is weaker without them, as is the way of humans." I imagine he is looking me over. "Except for you, of course." I'm not sure whether to be proud or hurt. "Find the amulet soon. I can feel dark times ahead of us. Protect daylight, or it will be lost."

I nod my head in understanding. "I'll do my best."

"For the sake of Arcadia, I hope you succeed."

* * *

I wake up with a jolt, the events of last night spinning through my head. I need to get to that amulet. I get up and rush to the mirror to look at my reflection. I wince at the very noticable scratches on my face. There's no way I'm going to be able to hide this. Guess I'll have to figure out some sort of excuse. I brush my hair quickly and look through my bag for anything edible.

With a quick breakfast of jerky having been finished, I put on my backpack and head outside where my bike awaits me in the garage. I get on in and ride down the road towards the school.

The first class is Biology again. As Coach Lawerence is trying desperately to understand the throat, I am finishing hacking into his computer from my phone. Once I have, I change the slide he is on to my own slideshow. "Greetings class," I speak into my phone using a male voice. Once again, I'm so glad I was born with voice manipulation. "Today we are learning about the throat." The sound projects through the speakers of the projector and to all the members of the class.

"Ok, whose messing with the projector?" demands Lawerence.

"Food, you know that stuff that you need to live," I continue on. The class laughs at that, and the Coach gives up and decides to let the mysterious person teach the class. "First goes into your mouth and into the Pharynx. Ph stands for f-irst." The class continues on in this manner with me making jokes whenever the students started looking bored. By the end, I had taught the whole class the parts of the throat, even while my own throat becomes sore. Yet, I smile in knowing I had helped them out.

Claire approaches me at the end of class. "Hey, Amber right?" I nod my head. "Why did you mess with the projector?" I freeze in place as my mind ticks slowly, trying to understand what she had said. She knows. As I'm desperately trying to come up with a response, Claire says, "Don't try to say that you're not. I saw you speaking into your phone using the same words as the man on the screen. What did you use? A voice manipulation app?"

A little tension leaves my shoulders as I realize she didn't know I could manipulate my voice without one of those cheesy apps. "Uh, yeah," I say, trying to look guilty. "I did. But, in my defense, Coach Lawerence really needed the help."

Claire studies me some more before shrugging. "I respect that."

"What?"

"I said I respect that. I was actually coming to thank you. That was the first fun class since Strikler taught here." Strikler. I thought they didn't like him. I thought they knew he is a Changeling.

"Oh, well uh, you're welcome then," I reply. She nods and walks away.

* * *

The bell rings, signifying the end of the last class of the day: Spanish. "And remember to study for your exams next week," our blond haired, blue eyed Spanish teacher Señor Uhl remarks, as we leave the classroom. I had spent practically the whole period studying him instead of the Spanish words as well as the rest of our teachers throughout the day. I had learned to be prepared for anything since living with Morgana.

I am walking towards my locker, when I notice Jim, Claire, and Toby talking adamantly with one another. I try not to appear too suspicious as I edge closer to hear what they are saying.

"You're sure you saw him?" asks Jim.

"Yes!" replies Toby. "You can't mistake a tall, lean monster with rock for skin and only one eye." Rock skin? One eye? What the...

"Well, if he is back, we need to tell Blinky," Jim says. I picture the troll Blinkus in my mind. With four arms, blue skin, and eight eyes, he is quite the sight to behold. I remember seeing a glimpse of him in a book somewhere.

"Yes, Blinky! Good idea Jimbo." Toby gives him an uneasy smile. "Let's go to Troll Market immediately!"

"At least he doesn't have my staff or the key to Troll Market anymore," comments Claire as they walk away. I stiffen up. Wait... Rock skin, used to own Claire's staff, only one eye, used to have a key to Troll Market... My eyes widen. They're talking about Angor Rot! I race to keep up with the Trollhunter. They should be safe once they're in Troll Market, but until then, I have to protect Jim. I curse. Shoot, I wasn't able to snatch his amulet. I pause momentarily in my race after Jim and grab a long branch off the floor. There, now I have a weapon.

I stealthily follow Jim and friends to the canal where the entrance of Troll Market is without any attacks from Angor Rot. I had rarely seen the Pale Lady's pet in my time with her and could've sworn the Trollhunter had destroyed him a while back. I carefully watch Jim and his friends enter Troll Market and sigh in relief when they successfully do so. Only afterwards do I head back to my small home.