Trollhunters: welcome to the darklands

Chapter 4:phantom pains

"Far across the Darklands, Gunmar the Black sat atop his skull-shaped throne that had been carved from the husk of a dying Heartstone. The crystal seat poured its energies into Gunmar, making the blue veins across his body pulse brighter.
Kodanth and Dictatious knelt at the base of Gunmar's throne. The flickering energy cast sinister shadows across their faces.
"You're looking more powerful than ever, Dark Underlord," said Kodanth.
"Lies," Gunmar replied as he stood to his full, impressive height. "This Heartstone dies, as does everything in this place. Soon, it won't have enough power left to recharge me."
"Th-that is," Kodanth tried to explain. "What I actually meant to say was . . ."
Gunmar descended from his throne and brushed past the stammering adviser. Dictatious smiled to himself under his hood as his"

"master stood in the middle of the Crucible Pit. Gunmar grabbed black sand from the arena's stained floor and let it trickle from his claw like some barbaric hourglass.
"This Crucible Pit has been the stronghold that I—the Black, the Vicious, the Skullcrusher—built to show my dominance over the Darklands," Gunmar said with a snarl. "Now it seems as though it's a tomb. Bular came so close to freeing me months ago, before—"
Gunmar was about to say more, but his body suddenly seized as a sharp pain shot through his skull. He clutched at his missing eye while the remaining one flared in agony. Dictatious ran past the stunned Kodanth to Gunmar's side.
"What ails you, great Gunmar?" Dictatious asked.
"My Eye," said Gunmar, recovering. "Though it has been lost for centuries, it felt like it had suddenly returned to its socket."
"Or somewhere very close," Dictatious suggested.
"Could it be?" Gunmar said. "My Eye? Here? In the Darklands?"

"I won't lie to you," Dictatious continued, tossing a pointed look at Kodanth. "Your son, Bular, was among the finest of Gumm-Gumm warriors. Yet the human Trollhunter managed to thwart Bular's plan to return you the surface and best him in battle."
"Choose your next words carefully," Gunmar threatened, but Dictatious didn't flinch.
"The point being, sire, that if he could defeat one so formidable as Bular, then it's conceivable the Trollhunter might have also obtained your Eye."
"Impossible," Kodanth protested. "What about the Janus Order? My network of Changeling spies has protected the Eye of Gunmar since—"
"And yet our Dark Underlord senses its presence nearby," Dictatious interrupted. "Surely you don't doubt he who tamed the Darklands . . . do you, Kodanth?"
Now Gunmar fixed his stare upon Kodanth, who shrank under the severe gaze.
"N-no, of course not," replied a trembling Kodanth.
"And if the Trollhunter followed the Last Rites of Bodus to collect your Birthstone, Kill"

"stone, and Eye . . . ," Dictatious began.
"Then the fool has now come here in a pathetic attempt to stop me," said Gunmar in understanding. "And, more importantly, has left a portal back to the surface lands. One which I can force him to open. . . ."
"Your brilliance never ceases to astound, my Dark Underlord. The way you pieced all that together—clearly you have no need for an adviser such as I. Let alone two . . . ," Dictatious said with a smirk aimed at Kodanth.
Gunmar's eye flickered as he thought over Dictatious's words. Finally, he spoke.
"Dictatious, dispatch my deadliest soldiers to scour the Darklands in search of Merlin's champion. If the Trollhunter who robbed me of my son has crossed into this accursed dimension, I would have words with him . . . right before I feast on his entrails and wipe the gore from my jaws with a rag made of his skin."
"I will escort them personally, Master," Dictatious said with a bow.
"And what of your loyal servant, Kodanth?" asked the orange Changeling. "Sh-shall I—"

"You shall investigate your Janus Order," commanded Gunmar. "And discover how they allowed my Eye to fall into the Trollhunter's possession under your so-called . . . leadership."
Gunmar lumbered past his two advisers—one pleased, one terrified—and stood before a large gate composed of crystalline orange spikes. He grunted, and the crystal shards retreated into the bedrock, revealing a deep cavern.
"Both of you, leave me to my Horde," Gunmar ordered. "I must ready them to hunt my other nemesis, Skarlagk. Her rebellion has been a light-ray in my side for far too long. How fitting, then, that both of my enemies shall soon meet the same bloody fate."
Gunmar descended into the cavern, and the spikes stabbed out again to close the passage behind him. A moment later, a loud chorus of monstrous animal sounds echoed from within the cavern as Gunmar greeted his Horde. Kodanth shuddered at the horrific noise, but Dictatious didn't seem disturbed in the slightest."

"I think that went well," he said cheerfully before patting Kodanth on the back with four hands and strolling out of the Crucible Pit."