Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia

27: Escape from the Darklands

Barbara woke up to her alarm. She woke up on the couch and turned off the tv that was on all night. "Jim?" She called. "Jim, honey, are you up?"

She went up the stairs and saw a note attached to his door.

Late night last night. Sleeping in.

--Jim

She opened the door. "Honey, are...are you here?"

She looked around to see an empty room. "Jim?"

Jim got up from behind his bed. "Oh, hey!" he said. "Sorry, mom. Putting these socks on is so easy today."

"You scared me. I was worried you'd run off or—"

"Run off? Where would I go? Some scary underground world? No, I've been here the whole time. Oh, your breakfast! Almost forgot."

He quickly ran down the stairs and threw an entire egg, milk carton, and apple into a bowl.

Barbara walked over to him. He was trying to make something in a pan, but the whole pan was on fire. "Looks like you've been taking cooking lessons from me," she said.

"Doctor said, after that concussion and loss of memory, you need all the nourishment you can get." He managed to get a burnt omelet onto a pan. "And voila! Omelette a la Jimbo."

She took a bite and gagged. "Thank you, Jim. Must've been some concussion. I still can't remember when we redecorated the house."

She looked around at a few of the changes that were made to the house after the incident with Angor Rot inside the house. "It's a shame," Jim said. "I-I really love the wallpaper you picked. Mrs—mom. Gotta go, but I'll be back for dinner." He ran into the garage. "See you later, Dr. L!"

"Dr. L?"

***

Jim opened the garage and saw Claire with her bike and helmet. "We are late, Jimbo," she said.

He sighed and climbed onto his bike. "Keeping up appearances is hard."

They rode down the street. down the street. "She was so close to finding out today," Jim said. "I don't know how long I can keep this up." He ripped his face off and turned into Toby. "You wear the glamour mask and play Jim," he said. "It's got this sweaty troll stank to it."

"No way. We made a deal. You cover for him in Arcadia, I handle all his duties in Trollmarket."

"Fine. Speaking of which, any word?"

"Come on, Tobes. It's only been two weeks, and the amulet hasn't called for anyone else. We know he's okay in the Darklands. He'll be back, and with my baby brother."

They rode down below the bridge. "I hope so," Toby said, "I don't know how much longer I can deal with this stank. Where are you, Jim?"

***

Jim sat in a cave in the Darklands, trying to light a fire. "Come on, come on!"

The piece of stones started catching on fire. "Yes!"

He heard the sound of a creature and hid behind a wall as a giant creature with giant teeth poked its head out. It slithered out of the cave, carrying a long tail with it. Jim ran into the cave and uncovered a pile of eggs. "Yes!" he said. "Dinner!"

He put the eggs in his sack and looked up to see the giant creature looking at him. "I don't suppose you want to talk about this?" Jim said.

The creature was a huge, black, snake-like creature with a pair of large horns on each side of its head, a series of thick, scales covering its back and a large mouth covered with crooked teeth. It doesn't have eyes, so it was blind and depended on its tongue to perceive its surroundings, similar to a snake and lizard