Lost in Phantasm (Merlin Fanfiction)

Part 5: "The Troll Castle"

Many leagues away, Arthur's night was only beginning. The trolls tied him to a post again, one mounted on a small platform. They carried the platform to a large arena of some sort. Arthur saw many benches. He wondered if the audience would be more trolls. Next to him, on platforms similar to his, a gryphon nursed its many wounds. Beyond it, Arthur saw a unicorn with a blood-red horn. It stood unevenly on three legs, as the fourth had a gaping red wound near the hock. At the end, he saw a tall cage full of the glowing creatures he had seen the night before. Arthur concluded that these must be fairies.

A large tent lowered over the group, and Arthur heard the bellows, snorts, and screeches of their newly-arrived audience.

The voice of Garrgan rang out, "Hear ye! I am about to present to you a sight both familiar, and never-before-seen! You will see your beloved fights—" hoots and cheers from the audience "—and you will see a new sight, just arrived from worlds beyond, one that no other creature has ever laid eyes on!"

Arthur braced himself as the curtain began to rise.

"Underworlders," Garrgan finished, "I give you—the HUMAN!"

If the Underworlders were shocked to see Arthur, he was even more so to see such a nightmarish array of creatures: hags, werewolves, minotaurs, ogres, scores of goblins, and even several giant Cyclopes gathered to watch the spectacle. Well, they mostly watched.

Arthur jerked in surprise as a large, rotten fruit sailed through the air and struck the gryphon full in the face. All of the Underworlders took pleasure in hurling rotten fruits and vegetables at the prisoners. Arthur now understood what it must feel like to be in the stocks. A fruit like a squishy brown tomato struck him full in the face and splattered down his neck. Arthur learned to keep his mouth and eyes shut. He kept telling himself just to wait until it was over.

After a while, the trolls began selecting prisoners and bringing them to another arena for "the fights." The Underworlders evidently knew what was going on, for they soon lost interest in pelting the remaining prisoners, and caught up in something else they could see going on below the stage with the platforms, which Arthur could not see. Finally, it was down to the unicorn and Arthur. Of course, the Underworlders "selected" Arthur as the next fighter (via an increased volume of pelting).

Garrgan dragged him away from the post and handed him his belongings.

"I think you'll be needing these, human," he warned, "we want you to survive your first night at least! You're our star attraction!" He waited just long enough for Arthur to slip everything on, then shoved him through a door. Arthur immediately dropped down a long chute and landed somewhere completely dark except for a few weak torches. The room was vast, dotted with the thick pillars that supported the stage. Arthur saw a door at the far end of the room.

The Underworlders began chanting, "Fight! Fight! Fight!" and Arthur heard the loud groaning of some colossal pulley. To his astonishment, light flooded the room as not just the door but the entire back wall raised into the ceiling. Nothing prepared him for what he saw waiting for him on the other side of that wall:

A toe as big as his head. 

A toe attached to a foot, attached to a leg, that bent to support an arm, raised to protect a head that just barely brushed the twenty-foot ceiling of the arena, all of which belonged to a giant boy. A very frightened, but very dangerous giant boy. Arthur was no more than a dry twig to the boy. One squeeze of his fingers, and Arthur would be dead. 

Arthur gripped his sword, trying to ignore his heart beating so hard it threatened to burst from his chest. The boy stared at him, blinking slowly. Arthur felt he could not breathe. 

"What're you waiting for?" Garrgan roared from the mouth of the pit. "FIGHT!"

Arthur dove behind the nearest pillar. He heard the clanking of enormous chains as the boy's manacled hand appeared beside him. Arthur quickly stabbed at the hand, and cringed as the boy roared in pain and pulled his hand away. 

Arthur took advantage of the distraction and ran to another pillar, closer to the giant. So long as he could remain out of sight, he reasoned, he could survive. The giant wasn't very nimble in that forced crouch position, so all Arthur needed to do was keep the being distracted and overcommitted, and all would be well.

The ground quivered as the giant shifted his feet. Arthur fought to keep himself still as the hands groped around some other pillars. The size of the palm was bigger than Arthur's whole body, the thumb reaching almost to the ceiling. He surmised that the giant could do little more than feel around in those areas because the shackles attached to his ankles were too short to afford him much mobility. In spite of this, Arthur snapped to attention quickly when one hand felt the ground right next to Arthur's feet, barely brushing the toe of his boot. Arthur didn't hesitate to strike. Giving the giant another jab in the hand, the young king of Camelot dashed back across the room--or he would have, if the giant had responded like last time and retracted his hand. 

Instead, Arthur found himself heading straight for the long fingers like so many downed trees right across his path. He tripped and tumbled among them, fighting to keep his balance and clear the hazardous area. Halfway past the curled hand, a few of the fingers suddenly twitched and collided forcefully with him, sending Arthur flying back against a pillar. The sword clattered away from his hand. Arthur was completely defenseless. He could not muster the strength to move from where he lay, well within the giant's reach.

Just then, he heard Garrgan's voice, "Thank you all, it is nearly dawn. I am afraid we will have to continue the fight tomorrow night. Please return to your homes before the sunrise."

There was an extended cacophony as all the creatures filed out of the arena, but no trolls came down to retrieve Arthur. 

He would have to spend the day down there with the giant he'd just wounded twice.