Alexis smirked at Dominic, who just shrugged in return.
But his eyes were glowing gold, his teeth were sharp, and his claws were out.
Every time that he got excited lately, more draconic aspects would appear, making Alexis suspect that his bloodline was only now beginning to awaken. Either because he was back in Wistover, or because he was finally taking on the roles that his bloodline wanted him to.
There was a saying in Cygnia. "You can run from fate, but not forever." That was what Alexis suspected was going on with Dominic.
Either that, or it could be something as simple as his possessive nature reacting to any sort of threat to his status as her chosen partner. He had charged out as soon as she was in danger, and most of the other times she had seen his bloodline react was when she was teasing or tempting him.
One of the Purity Sect mages walked up to Dominic and stood on her toes to stare deeply in to his eyes, while he gave her a confused tilt of his head, wondering what she was up to.
"Interesting. That’s not a spell, it’s really your eyes." She noted.
"Of course, they’re my eyes. They’ve been in my head my whole life." Dominic agreed.
"No, they’re glowing gold. I thought that it might be a side effect of a spell that you were using, possibly the Arcane Blast. Many mages’ eyes glow when they have defensive magic active, or have a staged spell ready to cast." She explained, still uncomfortably close to his face.
"Well, that is interesting news, I’ve never noticed them doing that before." Dominic replied, then carefully moved the mage back a step.
Alexis shrugged. She had seen it more than once. But as it didn’t impair his vision, Dominic wouldn’t notice unless he was looking in a mirror when it happened.
"What will we do about the troll?" Wilkes asked carefully.
"Going by what the dead mages were saying, there is a whole group of them. I will go talk to them. My family has a pretty good relationship with trolls in general, and I’m sure that they’ll agree not to cause trouble." Dominic offered.
Everyone else stared at him like he had said something insane, while Dominic waited for them to respond.
"You plan to negotiate with them?" Alexis asked.
"Sure. We haven’t had any trouble with the water troll in the river, have we?"
"There is a river troll nearby? And you didn’t think to tell anyone?"
Dominic shrugged. "I asked him not to attack any of my people, and then fed him some goblins. That’s really all it takes, as long as nobody goes picking fights with him."
"We need to work on defining what constitutes an important fact that everyone in town should know." Alexis noted.
"What about these new arrivals, though? They’ve gotten very close to inhabited territories, and they’ve just been removed from the influence of a mage sect. We didn’t get the details, but these former prisoners might know more if we ask the right questions.
Why don’t you take them back to town, and I will go catch up to the Sheriff and Billy Bob before they get themselves injured?" Dominic offered.
The Princess sighed, then nodded. "You do that. If the trolls will listen to you, it has to be you. They certainly aren’t going to listen to anyone else."
Dominic took off at a run, and Alexis turned to the people that the mages had been keeping captive.
"Would you like to come to Wistover after you eat? At the very least, we can get you a few nights’ rest, some proper food and some fresh clothes. Then you can decide if you’re staying or going home.
We get caravans from the Merchants’ Guild every week or so, and you can get a ride with one if you wish to leave." She offered
The unofficial spokesperson for the prisoners frowned. "Given everything that we know about Wistover, the best answer would be no, thank you. However, I trust you when you say that it is safe to enter and no longer cursed.
We appreciate your hospitality, Princess. If you lead the way, we will follow." The source of thɪs content is 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡·𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖·𝔫𝔢𝔱
Alexis turned away so she could signal her Royal Guards.
{Check them all for contagious disease, and anyone who might still be a spy for Dagos.}
There was a chance that there was another mage pretending to be one of the prisoners, and that they would attack once they were unattended around civilians.
Dominic quickly caught up to the pair trailing the Troll, as they weren’t rushing. The last thing that they wanted was to actually catch up to the troll out in the open and have it find them first.
"Gentlemen, I will go ahead and speak with the trolls. They’re likely to listen to me, and that should solve our problem." Dominic whispered.
"Seriously? Alright. We will follow at a safe distance." Sheriff Nate agreed.
Dominic followed the trail of the troll off into the distance, and found that the rest of the trolls had gathered along the river, ten kilometres west of Baron William’s holdings.
They had only recently arrived, Dominic could tell. The grass was still springing back up on the path they had followed. But it wasn’t just trolls. There were also two mages with them who were standing around some sort of magical array.
It wasn’t a physical device, but a spell they were casting. Dominic waited for a few seconds, trying to determine what it was for.
Then, he saw the array pulse with mana that wrapped around the necks of the trolls.
It was the array to keep them under control, so they didn’t smash the mages.
Dominic smiled as he lifted his rifle to his shoulder.
A sharp crack and one mage fell, splattering blood all over the face of the other. The second mage panicked, and ran into the group of trolls.
For a second, Dominic thought that he might have had a plan. But the mage kept running, right out of the camp.
A second round dropped him, and Dominic raised an [Area Barrier] as he stood and walked toward the trolls.
Now, for the fun part.