𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐔𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐀𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐇𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒 [𝐣𝐢𝐦 𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐱 𝐨𝐜]

Chapter 38 | Bravery Is Not Without Fear

"Lizzie!"

Jim shouted, time slowing as he stared wide eyes at Liz, crouching in pain with her hand on her shoulder, blood spilling through the open cracks of her pauldron, left behind by Bular's special dagger. To the boy's disgust, the Gumm-Gumm prince licked the blood from the blade.

"Hmm, so this is what the Guardian's blood tastes like," Bular commented with a menacing grin, trading the dagger upon his belt for his sword. "If it weren't for my father's request, I would have her dead and her blood run dry."

Fearing for Liz, Jim quickly grabs the bleeding girl, ignoring her painful grunts as Bular swings his sword at them, causing Jim to jump back in time and pull Liz behind him within the pillar of light.

"You reek of fear, Trollhunter," Bular mocked. "You're no match for me without the Grit-Shaka."

Ignoring his comment, the Trollhunter glances at the manhole before looking at Bular and his sword, brows furrowing when he realizes something that could help them. Bular swung his sword again and again. Jim easily dodged backward from the blade, which wedged deeply in the concrete, causing it to get stuck. He watched as Bular tried to yank it out unsuccessfully, bringing Liz beside him to whisper in her ear, "I have an idea, but you need to de-transform as I do."

Liz glances at him incredulously, her hand clutching her bloody shoulder. "What?"

"Trust me," Jim begged, placing his metal foot on the blunter side of Bular's incapacitated blade and pulling Liz closer to his chest with his arm around her waist. Liz would have blushed profusely if not for the stabbing, burning pain in her shoulder and their imminent demise.

"I lost the Grit-Shaka," Jim admitted as he glared at Bular, pulling the amulet from his armored chest to de-transform as Liz followed suit. "But I can still be brave."

With a frustrated roar, Bular finally pulled out the sword from the ground that they were balancing on. As Bular lifted the blade free, he also raised the champions into the air. Jim instinctively grabbed Toby's waiting hand, who, with struggle and a little help of levitation magic from Liz, pulled them out of the sewer to safety from the Gumm-Gumm prince's reach.

Without hesitation, Jim frantically kicked the circular cover back onto the manhole as Bular roared in fury, making the boys fearfully shriek before dropping back onto the ground with Liz, groaning after the heart-racing event.

"Strickler's a changeling," Jim shared, breathing heavily to catch his breath as he forced himself to sit up.

"I never trusted him," Toby admitted, continuing. "Also, you've been a real turd to – O-Oh my gosh! Is that blood?!"

"Liz!" Jim instantly snaps his head to the girl lying beside him. Crawling closer, he sees blood beginning to soak through her light-blue sweater. Quickly, Jim removed his jacket, tying it around her bleeding shoulder to hold pressure while acting as an arm sling, making the girl groan in pain. "We need to get you to the hospital!"

"No. No hospital." The brunette shook her head, forcing herself to still her trembling as she sat up, blood spilling down her cradled arm. "I need to get to Vendel."

"Are you crazy? You just got stabbed in the back. Literally!" Toby exclaimed as Jim noticed blood seeping through his blue jacket tied around her shoulder. "You need a doctor, Liz. My mom, she can help you."

"And how are we going to explain it to her, Jim? Barbara would recognize it as a stab wound the moment she sees it. I won't be able to find a logical excuse for it," Liz drew in an unsteady breath, gritting her teeth to withhold herself from groaning in pain. She forgot how pain truly felt without her armor to protect her and to think there was a weapon capable of penetrating her armor's magic defenses. Her shoulder feels like it's on fire, and she wants answers. "I'm sorry, Jim, but Vendel is my best bet in cases like these."