“Regis!” His friends called out to him as one, seeing him behead the ranting fat noble.

The spell weaver bent down and picked up the head by whatever little hair it still had, turning around to leave the room. His face was blank, his eyes burning with a crimson light of sheer hatred that few could match right now.

“Let’s go,” he said with a surprisingly frail voice as the others made way for him, the pair of guards stepping aside at the door, shivering as they looked at the monster that walked by them.

“This escalated quickly.” Amanda remarked as she and the others followed the silent dark elf.

On the way towards the exit, they came across several more guards, but none of them dared to stand in their way after noticing the head he was carrying. As they reached the door, one of the guards had just enough mental strength to open it for them, the sight of fully armed guard squads and more soldiers pouring into the courtyard greeting them on the other side of it.

“Halt!” the supposed leader of the guards said, but a moment later his eyes threatened to fall out of their sockets as he and the rest of his squad stepped back instinctively. “What the...”

“Your lord is dead,” Regis spoke with a renewed resolution, his voice carrying power and weight as it resounded through the manor’s courtyard. “His reign of cruelty and greed is over.”

Saying that, he threw the head forward, letting it roll across the ground for several meters for everyone to see.

“You have two choices now. You either bend the knee and swear your fealty to his heir, Lady Zola Vidal,” he turned toward the still shocked young woman. “Or you can gather your belongings and get the hell out of here.”

“Just who do you think...” One of the soldiers tried to step forward while raising his sword before a lightning bolt struck the weapon making him drop it as Fabien lowered his still sparkling hand.

“I am lord Regis Thorne and I came here to retaliate for Arley Vidal intruding upon my land, sending soldiers under the cover of night to kill my people. He even sent his own daughter, an unwilling participant to assassinate and slaughter innocent villagers. Now he paid for his transgression with his own life. I suggest you do not follow his example.” He spoke with noticeable anger in his tone as he looked at the soldiers of house Vidal.

“Now make your choice! Is there anyone who denies her claim to the title of ‘Lady’ of House Vidal’s territory?”

His words were followed by a lengthy silence which made Quentin slowly step forward, planning to intervene with a softer approach that might quell the dark elf’s oppressive lordly aura. It was however unnecessary as an old soldier with a faded scar on the right side of his wrinkled cheeks began to lower himself to a half kneeling position.

“I swear fealty to young Lady Zola Vidal!” The veteran guardsman said.

“I swear fealty to Lady Zola Vidal!” Said another, younger soldier who was followed by many more.

A good minute later all of the guards were on their knees swearing their fealty as Regis stepped back, letting Zola come forward to meet her people. As he did so, he sank back into the line formed from his friends, a soft hand grabbing hold of him as Sophie took his still-shaking left hand.

“I, Zola Vidal hereby accept my position as the new head of the Vidal family and Lady of the Vidal territories.” The young noblewoman spoke with a gentle tone.

As she said those words, a heavy yet calm aura washed over the manor’s courtyard with her as the centre, a clear sign of the Heart accepting her as the new ruler of the region.

“I also accept your fealty and ask you to rise!” Zola called out to them as she looked at her people, then back at Regis and his group before speaking again.

“Arley Vidal was a cruel man,” she started, earning some hushed reaction from the guards. “We all know that. His greed knew no bounds and our people suffered because of that. Now that he is gone, it is up to us to set things right and to help our people. I will need all of your help to achieve that. Luckily, despite the previous lord’s actions almost bringing ruin to our land, we also managed to gain allies.”

Here she turned toward the outlanders.

“Lord Regis might seem overbearing, but he is so to protect his people. That’s something I can respect and I sincerely hope that with Arley paying for his actions, we can put our past grievances aside and become allies in the future.”

The crowd looked at the dark elf after hearing those words, as if expecting an immediate reaction. ‘Shit!’ He thought. ‘Well played, Zola. What am I supposed to say to that? Okay, calm down. It’s not like she asked me for an alliance through marriage or something. I should just offer some help as a symbol of good faith or something.’

“Although my people suffered a lot, so have yours,” he said after Quentin nudged him a bit. “An alliance between our territories would be most welcome as I too hope that together we can prosper even after everything that happened on these lands.”

A visible relief spread among the guards and the people who showed up to see what the commotion was about. Zola seemed to emit just enough authority and kindness to make the people calm down a bit and Regis’ words also further calmed their worry.

“Sir Desimir,” the young woman called out to the scarred old man with surprising politeness. “We need to get our forces organised and in fighting shape.”

“At once, milady.” The old soldier nodded with understanding as the important task was given to him.

He turned to the side, picking two younger guards to follow him and immediately left.

“We also need to see to the matter of Mistfield’s food supplies and other necessities. The people are hungry and weak.”

“I’ll take a few men to the granary and to the warehouse to take stock of our supplies.” A more scholarly-looking soldier took the initiative, earning a nod from Zola.

“Looks like she’s got things under control from here..” Sophie said relieved that they managed to avoid further bloodshed.

“I imagine that pig got her tutored in the related subjects to raise her value in the eyes of the other families with potential suitors,” Fabien remarked before turning to Regis. “So what now? Are we going home, because we have a lot to talk about.”

“Yes,” the dark elf sighed. “We should get going.”

The group turned toward the path they came from, intending to head back to the local market square where they saw Mistfield’s gateway before.

“Are you living already?” They heard of soft and worried voice from behind them as Zola hurried after them.

“Yes,” Regis nodded. “The others must be worried about us being gone for so long and you seem to have things under control here.”

“I see,” she sighed dejectedly. “I don’t want to sound ungrateful, since you have done both Mistfield and me a tremendous favour. It’s just that I hoped you could stay a bit longer. There’s so much to...”

“You can do it,” the dark elf reassured the young woman. “I know you’re up to it, but if you want, I can use the gateways and travel to Hunor. There are a few second-tier spell casters stuck in there I’m familiar with. I’m sure that one of them would be more than willing to come here and serve as your advisor, should you accept them into your service.”

“Ah,” Zola’s eyes lit up hearing the possibility of having a strong spell caster aiding her in solidifying her position. “I would be grateful if you could do that. Mistfield doesn’t have much to offer to a second-tier mage, but whoever decides to come here would be warmly welcomed.”

“I’m sure Salvador could advise someone,” the spell weaver remarked as he looked at his weary companions. “It’s best we get going. See you later Lady Zola.”

“Good luck Zola!” Amanda and Sophie said as one before the group headed out.

“Regis...” Quentin tried to call out to this companion, but the dark elf just sighed.

“Whatever you have to say, let’s wait until we get back home.”

The following few minutes were filled with an awkward silence as the group of five reached the market where the gateway was. It hummed slightly as Regis’ amulet synchronised with it, its runes lighting up as it got activated. A moment later the group was sent forward through space, arriving back at Thornfell in a flash.

“They’re back,” one of the guards said to his nearby companion, prompting him to hurry inside the inn. “Welcome back, sir!”

“Thanks.” The short answer resounded, but it seemed that the guard’s previous loud announcement brought more attention than expected.

The villagers began to flock into the square, hoping to see the returned outlanders. Soon everyone was there, curious and worried, if their expressions were any indication. When everyone was there, including the rest of the team, Fabien nudged Regis to step forward.

“They’re waiting for you to say something.” The infernal whispered, prompting the dark elf to wave the murmuring crowd of people to silence.

“As you can see, we have all returned unharmed,” he began his speech by stating the obvious. “I wish I could say it was an epic battle worthy of songs, but it wasn’t. Let it be enough that lord Arley Vidal is gone. His daughter, Lady Zola took over the Vidal territory and the local forces swore their fealty to her.”

Another wave of murmurs and whispers flowed through the crowd before the spell weaver continued.

“Of course, they have their own troubles to sort out, but we both agreed that being on friendly terms would be beneficial for both settlements, so we aim to form a loose alliance of sorts. For now, just know that the threat is over.”

“I guess those are news worthy of celebration,” Bray spoke up as he appeared from the small crowd, earning quite a few agreeing nods. “I’m sure we can all agree on that, given how the weight of the previous few days finally fell off from our chests thanks to you.”

As the old man said that, he looked at the group of five, their eyes somewhat downcast for their own reasons.

“He’s right,” Amanda whispered. “I’m not really a party person, but we could really use some downtime.”

“I guess you’re right,” Regis let out a sight. “We’ve all been on edge these past few days. Let’s end today with some good food and music!”

The relieved villages began to cheer after they heard the young lord agreeing to the celebration. A moment later everyone began to busily walk about, preparing chairs, tables and the like. The inn’s door got opened wide as Mary and some of the villagers hurried inside to gather ingredients and cooking implements while Fabien and a few guardsmen headed over to the warehouse to bring back more food.

“It’s too bad we don’t have a fire pit,” Bertram sighed as he and Durnan were walking not far from the dark elf. “That wild boar you shot in the morning would have made for a nice roast.”

“I can help with that.” Regis said aloud as he walked a few metres away from the Landwaker’s barrier.

He then used his terraforming spell to sink in the ground a good half a meter deep in a meter by one-fifty area with two ten by ten centimetre columns of condensed earth forming at the end which he turned into stone.

“Is that big enough for you?”

“That’s perfect your lordship,” Bertram said with a wide smile as Durnan nodded along. “We’ll get things ready right away.”

“We should talk.” Quentin said in a sombre tone as he headed over to the smithy, the rest of the outlanders following him.

“What’s with him?” Valerie asked in a hushed tone from Sophie, but the young sun elf just gave her a said look as she shook her head.

Once everyone was inside the smithy and Amanda closed the door, all hell broke loose. A solid punch sent the spell weaver stumbling back a few steps.

“What the bloody hell happened back there Regis?” The paladin asked, fuming with anger.

“You saw what happened.” He noted, wiping the blood from beneath his nose, pulling it back into place with an audible crack.

“What’s going on?” Letty asked from the side with a terrified look on her face, but her question got overshadowed by Quentin’s rage.

“I know what I’ve seen, but it doesn’t explain what happened.”

“Why?” Osmond asked a bit louder than his wood elf companion. “What happened?”

“Regis went beast mode on Vidal and his top two henchmen.” Amanda answered.

“One moment we were listening to that fat prick, the next thing Regis pretty much shoved his bladestaff down the local mage’s throat while he blasted the knight in the face with a lightning bolt,” Fabien explained. “And at the same time he spartan kicked Vidal across his work desk.”

“Damn,” Cruz cracked up. “So much about diplomacy.”

“We agreed that we would first try to diffuse the situation peacefully.” Quentin argued.

“I know.” Regis grumbled while healing his broken nose.

“And you still killed him.”

“What was I supposed to do?” Regis finally snapped as the golden circles around his purple irises turned red. “I swear to the seven I wanted to negotiate. I wanted to give him a scare. I wanted to frighten him and make sure he would never send more people after us, but when he began to prattle on about how he ordered his soldiers to give us a torturous death before raping the women of Thornfell, I bloody snapped!”

At this point, he was practically shaking while the air in the room was crackling with arcane energy.

“There was no reasoning with an animal like that. Even when his cronies were dead, he still only cared about the money he could have gotten for that damn arcanite obelisk. I couldn’t let a bastard like him live. I wouldn’t!”

“Well, shit.” Cruz and Valerie hissed while Letty and Mary put their hands on their mouths in shock.