Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia

3: Wherefore art thou, Trollhunter?

"This is..."

"Yeah..."

Toby and Jim were standing at the entrance of Trollmarket.

"Woah," Toby said.

"Pretty much," Jim said.

Heartstone Trollmarket was a subterranean metropolis that is the home of troll civilization, pulsing with energy and jewel-fueled lights, where trolls eat, fight, and down brews in pubs. Each troll had a different shape, size, and sometimes color.

"This is your home?" Jim asked Blinky as they walked down the steps.

"Trollmarket's home and hearth and sanctuary for all the good trolls," Blinky told him. "This way, my friends. There is much to see."

"Dang!" Toby said. "And here I thought the only thing underneath our town was dirt and plumbing."

They walked further into Trollmarket and passed many different looking trolls. "Stay close," Blinky told them. "Human feet have never graced the ground of Trollmarket before."

"Human?" A troll asked as they walked past.

"Friends," Aaarrrgghh told her.

They continued walking around Trollmarket. "This is crazy!" Jim said. "Are you getting this, Tobes?"

Toby was taking pictures with his phone. "Oh, yeah," he said. "On it."

They walked past a troll getting a tattoo. Jim waved at them. Toby was still taking pictures of the trolls around them. "Check it out!" Toby said, walking over to different kinds of stone. "Peridot, Topaz, Cassiterite," He gasped and went up to a piece of stone. "Kornerupine!"

He looked up and saw that the stone he was touching was a troll, looking rather annoyed. "Hi," Toby waved and walked off to catch up with the others.

"Your knowledge of minerals is almost troll-like, Tobias," Blinky told him.

"So, your kind, you all live here?" Jim asked.

"Trolls travel from afar to our market to find comfort and remedies," Blinky said. "You'll find almost anything you need and sometimes you'll find what you never knew you needed."

A group of tiny creatures scurried past them. They had white hair and beards, razor sharp teeth, large noses, and black eyes. They wore pointy hats, gray shirts with buckles, fingerless gloves, and brown boots.

One of them looked up at Jim. "Hey, little guy!" Jim said, bending down to look at him. "That's a cute pointy hat." The creature revealed many sharp teach. "And pointy teeth!"

Blinky ran over and shooed it away. "Get away! Get out! Vile vermin! Begone!"

The gnome climbed on a rock and stuck it's tongue out at them, then ran off. "What is that?" Jim asked.

"Gnomes are vermin,"  Blinky said. "Pickpockets, the scum of the Earth! We only tolerate them for their grooming services.

"Grooming?"

"They eat parasites on the larger trolls."

"Jim!" Toby said. "Jim! Check it out!"

Toby ran towards a giant, orangish stone. "Look at that," Jim said. "It's amazing."

"Heartstone," Aaarrrgghh said.

"The life force of trollkind," Blinky said. "The means that keeps us from crumbling to stone and the source of light and sustenance."

"Okay," Toby said. "That's totally the bomb."

"What are humans doing here?"

They turned around and saw a group of trolls, looking at Jim and Toby.