Angor Reborn by Richard Ashley Hamilton

Author:Richard Ashley Hamilton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon Spotlight

CHAPTER 11

THUNDER AND PLUNDER

The Trollhunter’s body washed up at a place it had been many times before: the canals of Arcadia. The storm surge had deposited Jim Lake Jr. in the concrete channels of his hometown.

His limp form tangled with other debris as an undertow pulled Jim down. His face sagged and slipped beneath the abundant currents. He sank until something snagged his torn collar.

Sir Barks-a-Lot tugged Jim’s head up and out of the water. The pup’s legs churned furiously as he dragged the Trollhunter over to one of the sloped retaining walls. Now clear of the deluge, Sir Barks shook the moisture from his fur and prodded the Trollhunter with his snout. The young wolf had followed Jim the entire way from the dam, never losing his scent. But now the person Sir Barks had rescued—the same person who had rescued Sir Barks hours before—lay still on the canal’s inclined wall. Jim did not move, and his skin turned all the bluer.

The young wolf barked for him to wake up, but he did not. Sir Barks laid down beside Jim, about to close his sad, puppy-dog eyes, when they caught a glint in the canal. Sir Barks raised his head and spotted Jim’s Amulet in the mass of downed tree limbs and junk that collected at the base of the bridge.

The puppy jumped back into the canal, retrieved the device with his teeth, and dog-paddled back to Jim. Sir Barks dropped the inert Amulet on Jim’s chest, where he’d seen it worn before by the Trollhunter. The wolf then howled at the moon, as if demanding that something happen.

And it did. The Amulet suddenly sparked alive, its gears whirring, its crystal face ejecting more orbs of energy. The spheres gathered inside Jim’s heart and emitted a defibrillating shock. The Trollhunter gasped alive, his eyes wide with amazement, his blood pumping again. Sir Barks jumped on top of Jim and licked his face.

“I missed you, too, Barks,” Jim said weakly. “And you are one very good doggy!”

Propping up his bruised, waterlogged body, Jim saw the canal’s water level rise even higher. He took Sir Barks under one arm and climbed up the overpass’s weathered beams. From the relative safety of their perch under the bridge, Jim panted, catching his breath. He and Sir Barks heard car horns honk and wet tires squeal above them as drivers traveled through the rainstorm. Jim winced at the noise, which sounded particularly shrill to his pointed ears. He hadn’t missed the sounds of civilization while he was out in nature.

Maybe that’s where I belong now, thought Jim. In the wild with other animals. . . .

He stared at the rushing waters beneath him, picturing the faces of the friends he would likely need to leave behind. Like a daydreamer imagining shapes in the clouds, Jim saw his mom smiling back at him from the swirling surface. Claire and Toby then appeared until they, too, dissolved. Now Jim saw Blinky and AAARRRGGHH!!!’s faces in the canal and wondered if he’d ever truly see them again.

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