《Flyleaf》Trollhunters/Merlin

《 Chapter Fifteen 》

"It is always hard to watch those that you love drift away."

Esmerion is pretty sure his stomach isn't going to hold still much longer.

Slowly, he exhales, closing his eyes with a small motion. "So ye're sayin', that there were Blood Goblins, an' ye didn't tell me?!"

The group flinches back with expressions of guilt.

"Is there anythin' else that I need to know about?"

Jim hesitates, and immediately finds Esmerion's furious gaze burning holes in his own eyes. He shrinks in on himself, trying to escape through the a gap in the group, but Aaarrrgghh blocks the escape route before he can even take it.

"Jim?" Esmerion leans forward on his crutch, a vaguely threatening tone entering his voice. He reeks with power, magic flowing from his core at a gentle pace. "Do ye 'ave somethin' to say?"

His glare grows more stifling, and Jim wants nothing more than to duck behind Claire and Toby. It doesn't help that Munnin has perched himself on Aaarrrgghh's head and is croaking at him in an almost mocking way.

"We're not goin' any farther into Trollmarket unless ye tell me," Esmerion claims, and he jerks his head toward Aaarrrgghh, who side steps and blocks off the crystal stairs. Silently, he notes that there is no evidence of his previously spilt blood in the chamber.

"All right, all right!" He cracks under the pressure, waving his hands about with distress. "One of the Goblins said something else got out of the Darklands."

Esmerion's eyes widen and he swears, snarling at nothing as he considers this information. At best, only a few Gumm-Gumms got out. At worst... well, he can't quite decide whether Gunmar or Mordred is worse.

"None of ye will say anythin' about this in Trollmarket," he orders, sounding not unlike Kanjigar in the moment. "I can tell Draal, but anythin' else will cause unnecessary panic. Am I clear?"

"Crystal," Blinkous states with a passive voice before turning and starting down the stairs.

Aaarrrgghh has the polite decency to offer Esmerion a lift, to which the male gratefully accepts. He smiles in his friendly way and gently scoops him up, placing him on his mossy shoulders.

Settling himself and his crutch, Esmerion rubs the ruff of feathers on top of Munnin's head, making the raven croon happily. Jim meanders nearby, letting the others meander down into Trollmarket as he silently promises to join Claire.

"Somethin' ye need, Jim?" Esmerion asks with vague interest, paying more attention to his companion than his foster-brother.

"Are you okay?"

Esmerion smiles grimly, still stroking Munnin's feathers as he considers his response. There is no honest answer he can give without telling the boy everything, and he isn't ready to share anything more than necessary.

"Never better," he says, because a half truth won't harm anyone. But it's hardly believable, and he knows it from the way Jim looks at him.

Jim folds his arms across his chest, frowning at the male atop Aaarrrgghh's shoulders. "Doesn't look like it. You had a fight with Mom, didn't you? She was crying when we left the other day."

"I'm not a wee laddie, ye know," he chides, gently gripping Aaarrrgghh's mossy fur with bandaged hands. "I can care for m'self well enough without some lass tryin' to influence me."

"She only cares for you." Jim sounds upset, and Esmerion doesn't blame the young lad, knowing he would react the same if the situation were reversed. "You had no reason to upset her!"