To say there was a passage to Wrotor in the basement was an understatement. The entire lower floor was one massive chamber that led deeper into the mountain.

Mylisant showed us the way, pleading, “At least stay for tea before you go. There are a lot of us in need of help and so little time. My daughter wasn’t the only one. Come for a cup of tea. I promise I won’t take up much of your time.”

Wendy’s ears perked up at the sound of tea. She nudged my shoulder. Can we please stay for tea, Melvin? I want to try some.

Using group chat for the first time since we were separated got the attention of Joe. Wendy? Where are you having tea? Did you find another village?

Wendy blushed, temporarily distracted from her tea. Oh, hi Joe. Yes, we found a town called Hudholm. Melvin cured the mayor’s daughter and we’re about to look for another villager’s dad.

Joe wasn’t interested in any of that. When are you coming back?

Since Wendy hesitated to respond, I replied in her place.

We’re just going to be in town for one day. Then we are going to start heading back.

Joe seemed to be the only one speaking in group chat. Okay. Please keep us posted.

I turned back to the girls and suggested, “Why don’t you two stay behind with Mrs. Pouimont and hear what she has to say over tea. I am going to go see if I can find out what happened to Guinny’s dad. I’ll be careful. Don’t worry.”

I said that last part more to Kalli than anyone else. It didn’t work. Like there’s a chance I’d let you go alone. Without me to keep you out of trouble, you’ll just go get yourself killed.

Shrugging my shoulders, I amended, “Okay, Kalli and I will go rescue Guinny’s dad, and Wendy will stay behind for tea.”

The aeromancer looked ashamed and asked, “Are you sure it will be okay if I stay behind?”

I shrugged and said, “Either this is a very bad idea in which case you’ll need to organize our rescue party or we will be back in no time at all.”

She still didn’t seem convinced but in the end, the tea won out. Wendy plodded off up the stairs with the mayor to sample the local tea while Kalli and I passed through two massive doors leading deeper into the mountain.

As we passed the guards that were stationed on either side of the door, I asked, “Hey, why does this passage exist if you guys don’t get along with the trolls?”

The guard appraised me momentarily before replying, “You must be new, eh? You magic folk normally don’t talk to us humble peasants. As to why this room exists, only your kind would know. We just guard the gates to make sure no trolls come through. Noble mages visit Hudholm from time to time and pass through these gates. Not one of them has ever told me what they were doing. Matter of fact, you are the first one to ever acknowledge my existence.”

“Fair enough,” I muttered, taking Kalli’s hand and marching into the passage.

I shared my God Eye trait with Kalli because the hallway didn’t have a light source. As we marched through the darkness, I began to sense that the fixtures on the walls were out of mana. When I fed them, torches blazed to life, casting light well into the distance.

Kalli looked at me nervously and asked, What do you think they do down here?

The first thing that popped into my mind was The Temple of Doom but I didn’t want to worry Kalli.

I don’t know. They probably have some kind of deal with the trolls to mine in the mountains or something. Then they send an awakened from time to time to renew the contract.

Kalli’s expression softened and I could feel some of the tension lift as she replied in mate chat. That makes sense. It’s not like they could be cannibals or anything, right?

I wasn’t quite sure if trolls eating humans qualified as cannibalism but secretly hoped that the trolls were vegetarians. We walked in silence for a while, both of us lost in thought.

Suddenly, Kalli spoke. I know this is the right thing to do. We can’t let Guinny’s dad die. That would be too sad.

Even though I wanted the same thing as Kalli, I had to prepare her for the harsh reality of what we were possibly waking into.

There is a chance that he might not be alive. If these trolls are vicious, we are probably going to have to turn back.

I wanted to say that I couldn’t afford to let Kalli get hurt but the words died in my mouth when I saw the defiant look on her face. He is alive. I can feel it. And we are going to save him. I have faith in us!

Kalli’s mana flooded into me with her conviction, making me feel like I could do anything.

We will save him. I believe in us too.

The first two trolls we ran into were both asleep. They stood guard at a gate that was slightly ajar, each slumped against rusty spears. Their loud snores were dead giveaways of their status.

Kalli was slender enough to slip through the crack in the gate but I was forced to push the gate open to slide through. It lurched a couple of inches, making a loud scraping sound as it ground along the dirty ground.

I squeezed through and we both held our breath for a minute, worried that the sound had woken the guards. When the snoring didn’t stop, we proceeded.

The room beyond the gate turned out to be a storage of some sort with crates stacked to the ceiling. We crept between them as we made our way to the exit at the far end of the room. No guards were stationed at the rather plain-looking door.

Kalli gasped quietly as the door opened into a quiet street in an underground city. It took us both a minute to overcome our shock at the sight of the castle that towered over the stone buildings that lined the streets ahead of us.

A frown crossed Kalli’s lips as she looked at me imploringly. How are we going to find him? This place is massive.

In the distance, we could see lanky hunched creatures that were as green as the sky above Gaia. I hadn’t gotten a good look at the trolls guarding the gate in my haste to slip past them.

A bigger question is going to be, how do we sneak past these trolls without getting caught?

Kalli slunk into the shadows and suggested, We could try sneaking through the alleys between buildings.

That worked for a while. The room we emerged from didn’t seem to be in a crowded part of town. The only thing we could think to do was make our way closer to the castle. The majority of our journey through the underground city was uneventful. When we finally neared the castle built into the wall of the chamber, we ran into a massive open market.

Kalli peeked her head out and concluded, There is no way we will be sneaking through there.

We huddled in the alley, desperately trying to come up with a plan. Finally, Kalli sighed. It would be so much easier if we could just ask these trolls what happened to Guinny’s father.

Her complaint gave me an idea.

Why don’t we just do that?

Kalli’s eyebrow shot up, giving me a look that told me she thought I was losing it. How do you propose to do that? Do you even know how to speak troll?

I grinned at her before closing my eyes. It was Justin Beiber time all over again. Doing my best to use the skill I absorbed from Mr. Ramsey, I let my mana wash over me.

Think trolls. Think trolls. Think trolls.

Kalli stared at me as I worked through my mental image of what a troll looked like. It was a little unsettling seeing myself through her eyes as I supplied mana to my new self-image.

The girl squealed out loud before clamping her hand over her mouth as my face began to shift and distort. Seeing it through her eyes made me a little nauseous. My face and body were becoming something else. I didn’t feel any different though. The persona that my mana was creating was all an illusion, changing the way the light reflected off of me.

When I opened my eyes, I saw Kalli clinging to the wall on the opposite side of the alley from me. I blew her a kiss and held out my arms to her.

Why are you way over there? Come give me a kiss.

She stuck out her tongue but didn’t budge. No way!

I laughed, not blaming her for not wanting anything to do with me in my current form. However, the joke was on her.

Okay, now it’s your turn. Go on. Transform into a troll.

Kalli gaped at me. What? No way. I can’t do that.

Somewhere inside myself, I had a strong feeling that she could pull it off if she wanted to.

Do you want to try, or do you want me to put the illusion on you?

She hesitated, sending waves of fear and revulsion through our connection. When she didn’t reply, I tried to soothe her fears.

Relax, Kalli. It’s only an illusion. You won’t turn into a troll. Not really.

She sucked in a deep breath and her whispered voice entered my head. You do it.

I tried to do her justice, using images from the trolls I saw and memories of the movie Shrek. Sure, those were ogres and not trolls but Kalli had layers too. Finally, I kept her red hair, not knowing if there were any redheaded trolls running about.

When I was finally satisfied with my work, I took a step back.

There, all done.

Kalli opened her eyes and looked down at her hands. I knew she had already seen her face through my eyes as I had seen hers when she watched me. Kalli frowned and said, I’m hideous.

I had prepared for that answer, and I closed the gap between us and kissed her with as much passion as I could for a she-troll. Kalli spluttered and pushed me away. Eww, gross.

Laughing, I took her hand in mine.

It’s just an illusion. It was still me you were kissing on the inside. Come on, let’s go find Guinny’s dad.

The mention of Guinny’s father cheered the girl up as we stepped out of the alley, making our way through the crowded market.

The first stall we approached contained an old troll with wrinkled browning ears who was selling clay pottery. As we approached, he called out to us, “Hello Miss. Do you have any need for clayware this fine evening? Fresh off the kiln.”

Kalli blinked and gave me an unsure look when the troll addressed her. I nodded slightly to her and we both made our way over.

When we got there, the troll looked Kalli up and down, sniffing her for a moment before announcing, “You are absolutely disgusting. It’s a shame about your smell though. No stench at all. Not everyone is perfect though, I suppose. Does this troll belong to you? Not much of a specimen if you ask me.”

Kalli fidgeted but didn’t reply to the troll. I don’t speak troll or whatever language this is. How am I supposed to answer him?

Remembering how my skill worked, I explained to her,

If you can understand what he’s saying then you’ll be able to speak to him. Just say it like normal and he’ll understand.

She gave me a small nod again before replying to the troll. “Um, thanks. I think. Yes, this troll is mine. He might not look like much but he’s got it where it counts and that’s enough for me.”

The troll looked me up and down, his eyes lingering on my groin. “Ahh, I see. He’s well hung. Good for you. You’re only young once after all. So, might I interest you in some Tupperware?”

I secretly enjoyed Kalli’s discomfort as she blushed, the redness of her cheeks a stark contrast to her green skin. It was interesting that there was a troll word that translated to Tupperware as well. Kalli cleared her throat and shook her head, “I’m sorry. I’m not in the market for, um, that stuff. I was wondering if you could tell me where a human from the town outside of the mountain would be held if they were captured.”

The troll scratched his butt, causing Kalli to cringe, as he answered offhandedly. “I suppose someone like that would be taken to the dungeon in the castle. Haven’t seen a human down here for quite some time though. Did you hear something?”

Kalli shook her head again. “No. Nothing like that. I just had a bet with a friend. She thought for sure that human prisoners would go to jail and not the dungeon.”

“Jail?” The troll laughed. “Hah. Like the empress would ever allow that. Any humans down here would have to be well hidden or it would risk breaking the treaty.”

Kalli and I looked at each other. A treaty was news. The mayor never mentioned that.

Do you think Mylisant knew about the treaty?

Kalli rubbed her chin thoughtfully. She didn’t seem to.

When the old troll cleared his throat to get our attention, I blurted out. “What treaty are you talking about?”

The troll gave me a sad look. “Oh, you poor country bumpkin. Where did this exquisite creature find you? How do you not know about the treaty? That is the one thing that makes us all slaves to our human overlords? If we were caught housing a human down here during an inspection, they might just kill us all.”