When Jim came back, his armor glowed red and he carried a sleeping Enrique.

Blinky and Aaarrrgh had only moments to take in the details. Jim's thinner face, the scratches on his cheek, the red sheen to his eyes, before they noticed the shadow looming behind him.

"Master Jim?" Blinky said, fear and trepidation in his voice. Not sure if this was a dream, not sure if Jim knew he was being followed, not sure if, finally, after all this time, he was seeing truth.

"We saved them all," Jim said, voice raspy and faint.

Blinky didn't know if it was from screaming or disuse.

"We?" Aaarrrgh asked.

The shadow behind Jim loomed closer, no long on the other side of the barrier but crossing it. A troll, tall enough to have to duck under the stone, with horns sharpened to a point. His skin scratched, single blue eye burning. The glyphs on his arms, chest, and stomach glowed the same red, Blinky was horrified to note, as the trollhunter armor now glowed.

All of the historian's nightmares came true in that moment. Gunmar, in troll market. Gunmar, uncontested. Gunmar, with baskets of children hanging from his sword hilt.

Too shocked to do anything, Blinky and Aaarrrgh only stared as Jim handed Enrique over to Blinky's stiff arms before helping Gunmar untangle himself from the basket cord.

Had Jim, in his human way, 'dealt' with Gunmar in a non-violent way similar to Chompsky?

The parting of the barrier drew Blinky's attention. Through it walked three Gumm-Gumms, and based on the slight nods they gave Aaarrrgh, they had once been under Aaarrrgh's command. Aaarrrgh blinked at them, but nothing else. Each Gumm-Gumm had a basket containing a sleeping child hanging off each shoulder.

One by one, they dropped the baskets near Gunmar and Jim, before returning to the Darklands.

Blinky tried to catch Aaarrrgh's eyes, but the ex-general's attention was focused on the Gumm-Gumms. His eyes flicked from them to Gunmar, then back to the bridge.

"Master Jim," Blinky began, "What are you doing?"

"Making sure the kids are all right." He didn't straighten from his hunched position over the basket Gunmar had carried, tucking the child in. Task done, he moved to another basket.

How the human managed to ignore the sheer presence of Gunmar next to him, Blinky had no idea. Blinky wanted to grab Jim by the shoulder and do any number of things. Shove him to safety behind Aaarrrgh and attack Gunmar. Yell at him for leaving. Feed him. Soothe the tenseness he could see in Jim's face. Push him towards the surface where friends and family waited.

Three of his hands twitched, waiting for the opportunity, when Blinky noticed Aaarrrgh had moved. He now stood before the doorway leading to the rest of troll market.

It hit Blinky, troll market was defenseless. Not only were they not prepared for a fight, they weren't expecting one. Gunmar was in their home. They didn't know. The trollhunter had led him here.

"Master Jim," Blinky said again, still trying to understand what exactly he wanted to asked. "Why did Gunmar help you save the children?"

"Because of the impure."

"Excuse me?"

Impure. Not changelings.

Blinky flicked two eyes towards Gunmar. The leader of the Gumm-Gumms was ignoring the human moving around near his feet, arms crossed while he watched his soldiers bring in more children. He didn't seem concerned at all of an attack, from Jim or Aaarrrgh or the rest of the market. No rush to have his army walk through the bridge.

Gunmar caught Blinky looking. The taller troll grinned, a mouthful of fangs. He looked obviously to the children and Jim. Licked his lips.

Blinky's stone went cold.

Whatever was going on here, now, between Jim and Gunmar, with the human infants, with Jim's not normal behavior, was Gunmar's doing. Worse, despite the troll not saying a single word, Blinky knew the Gumm-Gumm held control over Jim.

Blinky kept two eyes on Gunmar, two on Aaarrrgh who had also noticed the display, and settled his two most forward eyes on Jim. The teen had moved on to another basket, ignoring the Gumm-Gumms delivering children. There were now eighteen in the room.

"I need you to explain it to me, Master Jim. It's obvious you have information I lack. What about changelings had you convince Gunmar to help you?"

Gunmar huffed a laugh. Jim didn't notice.

"The impure are the biggest threat to humanity." Jim finally stood tall and looked at Blinky. "They look like us, have been here for centuries to build up a network and put people in power. The Janus Order, they're called. The Gumm-Gumms are not a threat to humanity. The impure are, especially since they hide amongst us."

"Gumm-Gumms eat humans," Aaarrrgh rumbled.

"False." Jim walked over to Gunmar and leaned against the troll's black stone, right ankle crossing over the left. He came up to Gunmar's elbow, the glowing troll marks almost lining up with the etchings on the armor. It made them look connected. Inseparable.

The amulet on Jim's chest pulsed as he spoke and Blinky felt the metal in his pocket burn. A ring of brass. It had been the only thing left behind when Jim walked under the bridge. For the doom of Gunmar, Ellipse is his to command.

It had given those left behind a small bit of hoping, knowing Merlin had planned for this. Built it into the Amulet of Daylight. Yet Blinky felt as if Merlin hadn't anticipated everything.

After all, he had used the last of his life and power to construct the Amulet to aid trollhunter warriors in guarding the heartstones. Merlin died centuries ago, and yet his opponent still stood. There in the living stone flesh before Blinky. No doubt, Gunmar knew how to corrupt the Amulet.

It was the only reason Blinky could think of to explain Jim forgetting everything he knew about Gunmar's history. Of his use of Gumm-Gumm vocabulary.

"Gunmar and I have been working on this plan for over a month," Jim continued. "No more good troll, bad troll. I protect them all."

"And how do the children relate to this?"

"Impure are a risk to humanity and a danger to Gumm-Gumms, disobeying orders and seeking power for themselves. They're to be stopped."

"And rescuing the children do this?" There were thirty now, and still the three soldiers brought more.

"Disrupting the connection between an impure and it's familiar robs the impure of its abilities. No human connection, no human-like talents. They can no longer look like us, or even changed handle the sun."

"You mean, every time a new child crosses the barrier, a changeling is forced into its troll form?"

"And if in the sun, turned to stone." Jim grinned. "Simple solution, isn't it? Save the children, save the world?"

No, Master Jim, Blinky wanted to say, not simple.

Because every five minutes, when a Gumm-Gumm solider came back carrying two baskets, two of troll kind possibly died. And even if they weren't in the sun, no doubt news had already broken of monsters living amongst the humans. This plan carelessly carried out something Jim struggled with – killing – and ignored a major part of troll culture and objective – stay hidden.

"Saving the world is rarely simple, Master Jim."

"I don't agree." Jim took his weight off Gunmar, and the black troll used two fingers to pat his head. Like Jim was a pet. The image grated Blinky's sensibilities.

There were fifty children in the cavern now. Sleeping, sucking on thumbs. Blinky tightened his hold on Enrique and felt a ping of fear for NotEnrique. The changeling had grown on them all. Blinky hoped he had been in his crib when Enrique had been brought over. In the house, out of the sun, with Claire's parents at work.

"What will happen to the changelings not turned to stone? To NotEnrique?"

"All impure need to be cleansed from the world."

Blinky swallowed, mouth dry. "And then what? Gumm-Gumm's cross over from the Darklands and live with us in troll market?"

"Yes. They're not evil, Blinky. Gunmar explained thier dark, aggressive nature is because they lack access to a heartstone. You told me yourself, trolls' lives are linked to it. Being trapped in the Darklands started slowly killing them. I couldn't let them die."

Interesting. Blinky hadn't known that about the heartstone, that there was no equivalent in the Darklands. If he had, he would have advised long ago to pulverize the stone and let the Gumm-Gumms languish into death.

The Darklands hadn't made Gumm-Gumms evil, they'd been sent there for being so. Jim used to know that.

"Trolls no accept Gumm-Gumms," Aaarrrgh said. If anyone knew, it would be Aaarrrgh. His history as Gunmar's general kept him isolated for centuries, and even today people were wary of him. Blinky had bonded with him over similar feelings of being an outcast.

"It will take time," Jim admitted, walking toward Aaarrrgh. "But you settled in and there's a reason we limited the crossing. The army on the other side waits, a sign of good faith."

Jim wrapped his arms around Aaarrgh's stone one. If he noticed how the original wound had turned all but Aaarrgh's fingers to hard stone, or that his side was cold too, the human gave no notice.

"Jim."

Blinky saw Aaarrrgh's face from across the cavern, creased with worry. His tone was laced with it, concern and fear and confusion.

Jim didn't notice any of it.

Blinky didn't fully understand what had happened, he doubted Aaarrrgh did either, but something in the larger troll's stance made Blinky stiffen.

Aaarrrgh knew one thing better than Blinky. War and violence. And he read something about it in the way Gunmar stood and stared at Jim.

Enrique shifted in Blinky's arms, starting to wake. Soon, he'd cry and demand food. The child shouldn't be here, none of the kids should be. Blinky looked at the other sleeping children. Vendel would throw a fit.

The babies needed to leave. And maybe, Jim too. Maybe distance would break the control Gunmar had.

"Master Jim," Blinky called. "You've done it. You found Enrique. Perhaps it is time to return him to Claire?"

Jim turn his attention away from Aaarrrgh to look at Blinky. "Yes. I promised Claire I'd return her brother."

Jim held his arms out. Slowly, still keeping eyes on a Gunmar whose smile was dropping, Blinky approached Jim. If Gunmar didn't like the idea of Jim leaving, Blinky would adamantly suggest he go. Now.

"Do you want me to call ahead?" Blinky asked. But Jim gave no indication of having heard, scooping Enrique into his arms and heading out the cave.

Blinky took a second to watch Jim leave, on his way to relative safety, then took up a place next to Aaarrrgh, face stern. Trollhunters to the end.

"Go with Jim," Aaarrrgh whispered. "Needs help."

"We can't leave Gunmar here alone! He'll take over troll market."

"I stay."

There was such sadness, such finality in that statement Blinky knew instinctively that he needed to stay. To die with his best friend. "Then I will stay too, my friend."

"No." Aaarrrgh shook his head. "Help Jim."

"But-"

"Warn others. Help Jim's head. Jim can win."

Blinkly closed his eyes. All six. Logic dictated that Aaarrrgh was right, as much as Blinky hated it.

"Okay."

He fled, closed the cave behind him as he ran, ran straight for Vendel to explain, leaving Jim to make his way to the surface alone. The teen was so focused on his task, on Gunmar's task, that nothing would stop him. Blinky had time to warn his people.

Not that it mattered.

Stories of Heartstone Troll Market's fall started with Gunmar bursting through a cave, the blood of fifty human infants on his lips, the pelt of his ex-general on his back, and a thousand Gumm-Gumms marching behind.

A/N: Theory time!

A friend pointed out all magic in this world is item based. The exception seems to be Angor Rot, who can actually cast (though he does often cast *on* objects). Thus, if you turn your soul into an object in a Freudian deal, you get powers through that object. With limitations, of course.

Merlin did the same, 'cept his soul out lasted his body, giving the trollhunters access to his powers.

Relatedly, trolls' lives are very, very connected to the heartstone. It keeps them alive, at the very least, and we know that stones hold power. The Triumbric Stones, being literal parts of Gunmar, thus contain parts of Gunmar's life and power. Put something like that, born of the evil that had started to kill other trolls, near a good soul? Things get messy.

Gunmar's soul, through his connection to the stones, can twist Merlin's soul. And as Merlin's soul is pretty well bonded with Jim's...well. This.

I'll probably play with different ideas and bents to this in the future. (I have this developing thing involving Baba Yaga). In the mean time, you are all welcome to pick my brain on Tumblr. And since I'll finish my rewatch tonight, I'll probably start the next chapter of Jim Hunters.