The Book of Ga-Huel

by Richard Ashley Hamilton

  They watched the battling Unkar take The Book of Ga-Huel and head for the exit.

  “So, you got it back? Nice one, Unkar!” said Jim.

  “Yeah, the thing about that is . . . ,” began Unkar’s spirit before loud roars filled the temple.

  Jim saw another wave of Jungle Trolls dogpile on top of the real Unkar and drag him to their master—Bular. The sight of Gunmar’s vile son made Jim’s blood run cold. Even though Bular could not see him—could not hurt him in this Void Visitation—Jim still recoiled in abject terror from the sight of the monster that would nearly kill him one day.

  Bular barked orders at the Jungle Trolls, saying, “Toss the Trollhunter into the spike pit so that our Stalkling flock might gorge on his entrails and slurp the marrow from his cracked—”

  “Uh, nothing more to see here!” Unkar’s ghost hollered at Jim, drowning out the rest of Bular’s violent decree. “Nothing at all! And it’s, er, probably past your bedtime!”

  “No, wait!” cried Jim.

  He saw that The Book of Ga-Huel had fallen open on the floor. Another dazzling array of light burned from its bindings as a new blank page miraculously started filling with ink.

  But Unkar’s ghost was in a hurry to leave. He pressed his fingers to both his and Jim’s Amulets, which began ticking like two timers. Jim had just enough time to see a blueprint or schematic appear on the lambent page—it looked like an arm, but more cylindrical and segmented—before he and Unkar’s spirit returned to the Void.

  CHAPTER 9

  DEATH BY DETENTION

  “So let me get this straight,” said Toby. “Señor Uhl punishes us for being at school when it’s late—by making us stay at school even later?”

  “Maybe he is a Changeling after all,” Claire deadpanned.

  They looked up from their shared table in the school library and out the window. Dusk had already fallen over Arcadia. They were only forty-five minutes into their two-hour-long detention and already bored mindless. At least Claire was.

  Toby whiled away the time by stealing glances at Ellie Stemhower. The librarian stamped return dates into books without flourish or fanfare. But to Toby, the menial task took place in slow motion. Each stamp beat in rhythm with his own heart. Ellie’s red hair smoldered like fire under the florescent lights. Toby thought he heard romantic music playing in the distance.

  “You’re drooling again,” said Claire.

  Toby quickly wiped his mouth with his vest, only to snag the fabric on his braces.

  “Owe, gweat,” he muttered through a mouthful of sweater.

  As Toby tried to disentangle himself, Claire went back to her own private daydream. She thought about Jim, and another pang of worry clenched her stomach. It pained her to leave Trollmarket while he was still in the Void—to leave Blinky and AAARRRGGHH!!! at the mercy of Queen Usurna. But what choice did any of them have? The Book of Ga-Huel had brought nothing but uncertainty into their lives ever since they found it. And even if they did avert the destiny spelled out for Blinky on that page, what then? As Trollhunters, wouldn’t the specter of death always be waiting, ready to strike as soon as they let down their guards?

  “Whew!” said Toby, licking his now-freed braces. “That tasted . . . not terrible. I think I’m starting to see why Trolls are into socks.”

  Claire rolled her eyes before gazing back at her Advanced Placement American History textbook on the desk. All the text started to blur together after nearly an hour’s worth of homework. She was about to call it quits for the night, when Claire saw a painting in the book of the signing of the US Constitution. She squinted, leaned closer, and said, “No way . . .”

  Toby watched Claire pull out her cell and hold the camera lens over the painting. She pinched her fingers on the screen, zoomed in on the image, then gasped. Toby looked at Claire’s cell and saw a close-up of The Book of Ga-Huel hidden in the painting. A man with a powdered wig and bright yellow eyes clutched the book, leering behind all the Founding Fathers.

  “Are you kidding me?” yelled Toby.

  Ellie gave a friendly “Shh!” reminding him to use his library voice. After waving sheepishly at Ellie, Toby softly said, “I’ve been staring at this painting for days in class and never noticed The Book of Ga-Huel! Makes you wonder where else it pops up. . . .”

  “Yeah,” said Claire in a hushed tone. “It does.”

  She clicked a picture of the painted Book of Ga-Huel, then opened up her phone’s web browser. Toby watched over Claire’s shoulder as she then uploaded the photo into the browser’s image recognition app. The screen populated with numerous renditions of The Book of Ga-Huel taken from other works of art. Claire and Toby’s eyes widened. They spotted the timeless tome in a fresco of the burning of Rome, in various Renaissance portraits of yellow-eyed royals, even in a black-and-white photograph of the library aboard the infamous dirigible, the Hindenburg. Claire and Toby nearly jumped out of their skin when they heard someone say, “Gute Nacht.”

  Señor Uhl had entered the library and greeted Ellie before shooting a disapproving look at Toby and Claire and disappearing down one of the aisles. Toby stood up with the Gaggletack.

  “What’re you doing?” hissed Claire.

  “Do the math, Claire!” Toby hissed back. “Uhl starts having loud arguments with an invisible someone in his office the same day that The Book of Ga-Huel turns Strickler’s office into a tanning salon! We now have photographic proof that the book was in Germany, which is—oddly—our Spanish teacher’s country of origin! And worst of all, he gave us detention!”

  “Well, when you put it that way . . . ,” said Claire.

  Toby stomped into the aisles and found Uhl in the World Travel section. The stern teacher noticed his student approaching and said, “May I help you, Mister Domzalski?”

  “As a matter of fact, yes, Señor Uhl,” Toby began politely. “I think we had ourselves a bit of a misunderstanding earlier and—HEY, WHAT’S THAT OVER THERE?!”

  He pointed behind Uhl, who turned around to see what the fuss was. Toby rushed forward and pressed the Gaggletack against his teacher’s hand. Señor Uhl shrieked and fell backward into the bookshelves. Claire ran up, saw Uhl completely buried under a pile of books, and heard Toby ranting, “Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! UHL’S A CHANGELING!”

  Panicking, Claire extended her Shadow Staff and dragged the babbling Toby inside a new portal. The black hole vanished, leaving behind the motionless Uhl—and Ellie Stemhower, hiding meekly behind her clipboard in the next aisle over. . . .

  • • •

  Back in the Hero’s Forge, Blinky, AAARRRGGHH!!!, NotEnrique, and Chompsky observed another shadow portal spit out Claire and a blathering Toby.

  “Uhl! Gaggle! Book! Tack!” he shouted at his Troll friends.

  “Egad! Has Tobias gotten into the Elix-Lore again?” asked Blinky.

  “Where’s Usurna?” asked Claire, noticing the lack of Kruberas. “Did she take Jim?”

  “Master Jim has still not returned from the Void,” said Blinky in concern. “As for Queen Usurna, NotEnrique arrived just in time to scare her away with his ‘comedy stylings’!”

  “Ya should’ve heard my bit about the Stalkling, the Goblin, and the Helheeti at the beauty pageant,” NotEnrique boasted. “It killed!”

  “Oh, it killed all right—killed any chance we had at convincing Usurna of Master Jim’s innocence!” cried Blinky.

  Chompsky tilted his Gnome hat at the Soothscryer. Jim stumbled out of a whorl of blue mist and into the Forge. AAARRRGGHH!!! caught him and said, “Had us worried.”

  “Sorry, big guy,” said Jim, getting his bearings. “Blink, turn to page seven hundred and twenty-seven in The Book of Ga-Huel!”

  Blinky did as told and held up the requested page for all to see. It contained the same blueprint Jim saw in his Void Visitation to the Mayan temple, only now completely rendered.

  “Looks like a ruddy arm ta me,” NotEnrique said dismissively.

  “That’s not just
any arm,” said Jim. “It’s a mechanical one. Like—”

  “The one I built for Draal,” Blinky realized, his six eyebrows cocked in suspicion.

  CHAPTER 10

  ARMED & DANGEROUS

  Draal’s metal hand tightened its grip on his ax. The sharpened blade glinted with moonlight as he patrolled the backyard. Casting a look over his spiked shoulder, Draal confirmed the Trollhunter’s mother was safe inside her kitchen, still scraping that pan. He then went back to walking the perimeter, keeping watch for any sign of that yellow-eyed figure. Draal saw nothing, but his ears detected a muted whoosh behind him. He spun around and found the lights flickering through the basement window—right below Ba-Bru-Ah. Without hesitation, Draal rolled into a ball and launched back into the house via Jim’s open window.

  Inside the basement, a building shadow portal made the hanging light bulb flicker on and off. Once the vortex grew wide enough, AAARRRGGHH!!! poked his head through—only to get punched square in the jaw by Draal’s mechanical arm. Jim, Toby, Blinky, NotEnrique, Chompsky, and Claire all exited the portal in time to see their large friend slam into the floor.

  “Draal! What in Gizmodius’s name did you do that for?” Blinky demanded.

  “He’s finally cracked,” NotEnrique said. “Was bound to happen, really. Always trainin’, livin’ alone in a basement, referrin’ to himself in the third person—”

  “Draal the Deadly has not cracked!” said Draal.

  He looked in confusion from his dented hand to AAARRRGGHH!!!, whose eyes and runes now glowed an unusual shade of purple. Blinky rushed over to his best friend and said, “AAARRRGGHH!!!, you must calm yourself! The last time you looked this way, you went berserk after we brought you back to life! This rage you feel is merely a lingering side effect of that dark reanimation spell—don’t let it overtake you!”

  “You—I—I rushed down here so fast!” Draal stuttered to the furious Krubera in front of him. “I thought you were—”

  “TRAITOR!” roared AAARRRGGHH!!! before he decked Draal.

  The blow sent Draal flying across the air and smashing into a shelf full of old paint cans. He—and the cans—fell with a loud clatter that echoed all the way to the first floor. Jim heard his mom yelp in surprise and drop the frying pan with a clang.

  “Did those dang raccoons get back into the basement?” Barbara asked aloud.

  Draal tackled the violet AAARRRGGHH!!! Everyone else gave them a wide berth, not wanting to be steamrolled by their considerable bulk.

  “AAARRRGGHH!!! Draal! In Deya’s name, stop fighting!” Blinky bellowed.

  Pressing himself against the wall, Jim looked up the stairs to the basement door, which Draal had left open in his haste. Barbara’s shadow appeared in the hall beyond the doorway, getting closer.

  Flinging himself up the steps two at a time, Jim twisted off his Amulet and vanished the armor a fraction of a second before Barbara saw him. He quickly shut the basement door behind him, and blurted, “Mom!”

  “Jim?! I thought you weren’t home,” Barbara said.

  “Oh, did you? That’s weird! I’ve been here all the time, uh, pumping iron in the basement,” fibbed Jim, before another crash echoed below them. “With, um, Toby.”

  They heard Toby scream, followed by another loud banging sound.

  “Um, that’s it, Tobes! Feel the burn!” Jim called down toward the basement.

  “Jim, we don’t have any weights down there,” Barbara said skeptically.

  “Right! Right you are, Mom!” Jim stalled. “That’s why, instead of weights, we’re lifting . . . each other?”

  His smile strained to its breaking point. Barbara glanced sidelong at her son and said, “Is that a thing kids are doing now? You know what? Never mind. Just bend with your knees, not your back.”

  “Fair enough, Mom! See ya!” Jim replied.

  He ducked back into the basement, slammed the door shut behind him, and looked down the stairs. Jim’s eyes bulged in horror. Draal and the purple AAARRRGGHH!!! still tussled, with Blinky, Toby, Claire, NotEnrique, and even tiny Chompsky trying to pull them apart.

  “Jim, hurry!” grunted Claire. “AAARRRGGHH!!! still can’t control his temper, and Draal’s fighting for his life!”

  “Neep, neep!” seconded Chompsky.

  “Let go! I’ve got an idea!” said Jim, leaping off the staircase.

  The others distanced themselves as Jim landed on top of AAARRRGGHH!!! and Draal. He wedged himself as far between their gnashing bodies as he could and said, “For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command!”

  As before, a bubble of energy enveloped Jim like a force field. But as it expanded, the bubble pushed apart Draal and AAARRRGGHH!!!, separating them. Now sporting the Daylight Armor, Jim landed between his two stunned friends and said to Claire, “Quick—the woods!”

  She channeled another black hole through her Shadow Staff and swept it across every member of Team Trollhunters, herself included. The portal collapsed, the light bulb stopped swinging, and Barbara walked downstairs with a tray of food, saying, “Okay, you buff bodybuilders, Dr. Lake is here with some healthy snacks to boost—”

  Barbara dropped the tray on the floor. Not only were Jim and Toby gone, but they had left the basement a shambles, with debris scattered everywhere.

  “I’m not cleaning this up!” yelled Barbara as she stomped back up the stairs.

  • • •

  Draal and AAARRRGGHH!!! shook off their lingering dizziness from their impromptu trip to Arcadia’s woods and charged at each other again. But Jim stood fast between them, held out his armored hands, and shouted, “STOP!”

  The two titans skidded to a halt mere inches from the Trollhunter’s body. Draal’s chest still heaved from exertion, and AAARRRGGHH!!!’s violet eyes narrowed in disgust.

  “This has got to be a misunderstanding,” Jim said. “I’ve known both of you for months, and you’ve known each other for centuries before that! Everyone just take a deep breath and—”

  “Be cool, baby!” Blinky interjected as he, Toby, Claire, NotEnrique, and Chompsky emerged from the woods.

  AAARRRGGHH!!! huffed, but then saw the pleading look in Blinky’s six eyes. The purple glow on his runes gradually shifted to green before fading altogether, and he reverted to a gentle giant once again. Draal similarly stood down. He lowered his head and said, “Draal the Deadly . . . apologizes.”

  “Me too,” grumbled AAARRRGGHH!!!

  “Aw, see? That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Toby said cheerfully. “Now, how do you guys bury the hatchet in the Troll world?”

  “Why, in cases of a dispute, the two involved parties typically resolve the conflict by bashing their skulls together, until one of them finally passes out,” Blinky said matter-of-factly.

  “Hmm, why don’t we just stick with a fist bump?” asked Toby.

  AAARRRGGHH!!! and Draal shrugged, then tapped their stone and metal fists. NotEnrique stared at Draal’s prosthetic limb and said, “Oi! Isn’t that replacement arm the whole reason this basement brawl started?”

  “What’re you going on about, imp?” growled Draal, his temper flaring again.

  “Easy! Easy!” said Jim. “Draal, there’s a lot to catch you up on, but we found a drawing that looks just like your mechanical arm in The Book of Ga-Huel. Do you have any idea why it would be in there? Blinky’s life could be on the line.”

  “No, I do not, Trollhunter. I swear it,” Draal said, his regret apparent.

  “I suppose it is possible I could’ve fleetingly seen that image during my first reading of the book months ago in Strickler’s office,” admitted Blinky. “Perhaps it subconsciously influenced me to build a similar prosthesis when Draal was in need of a new arm.”

  “I wouldn’t know anything about that,” Draal muttered. “But it stinks of trickery, as does whoever’s been spying on the Trollhunter’s mother.”

  “Wait, my mom?” Jim asked.

  “I have reason to believe that someone has been following B
a-Bru-Uh,” Draal said. “I had been tracking him—or her, or it—when your sudden arrival caught me unawares. I thought I had found the culprit and lashed out blindly and . . . well, you know the rest.”

  Claire covered her mouth and looked at Jim, who seemed stricken by the news. She held his hand and said, “But why would anyone be after Dr. Lake? Any of our enemies who knew she’s Jim’s mom are either dead or banned from Arcadia.”

  “I have to get back to her,” declared Jim. “Right now. She’s all alone.”

  “I’ll go,” said Draal, hoisting his ax over his shoulder. “I am duty-bound to protect her.”

  He gave a curt nod, tucked into a spiked ball, and rolled out of the woods toward Jim’s house. Claire gave Jim’s hand a squeeze and said, “Don’t worry. She’ll be safe with Draal.”

  “I . . . I know,” replied Jim. “But now I feel like we’re back to square one with The Book of Ga-Huel. And if we don’t hurry, Blinky could—”

  “Could get very sick of seeing all these sad faces!” interrupted Blinky. “With all due respect, Master Jim, I don’t know if this day will be my last. But if it is, I certainly don’t want to spend it moping around some moonlit forest like . . . like . . .”

  “Like a Stalkling, a Goblin, and a Helheeti at a beauty pageant?” offered NotEnrique.

  Chompsky squeaked so hard with laughter, he cried. The Gnome removed his hat and used it to dab away his tears.

  “I suppose that’ll have to do,” Blinky murmured in annoyance.

  “It doesn’t have to,” said Toby. “I’m not saying it is your last day on Earth, Blinky. But if it was, where would you want to spend it?”

  Blinky tapped a finger against his pursed lips, deep in thought, before a smile spread across his face. He beamed at his friends and said, “You know, I have just the place. . . .”

  CHAPTER 11

  BURYING BULAR

  “What is this place?” demanded Gunmar the Black.

  The mammoth Gumm-Gumm swiveled his one remaining eye around a showroom decorated with contemporary, yet affordable, human furniture. He kicked over a stand filled with blue and yellow brochures and roared, “This hovel is the vaunted lair of the Janus Order?”