[Dominate] didn’t require much ‘figuring out’. Some skills, it seemed, worked intuitively, with Sable only having to point the ability toward her target and think about using it.

The tiny green-skinned creature—the goblin—struggled against her. Not physically, but mentally. It was a battle of wills, but overwhelmingly one-sided. Her opponent’s mind submitted, crumpling in less than a second, and [Dominate] ran its course.

***

[ Entity [Aylin] added to Thrall ]

[ Thrall capacity: 0/5 -> 1/5 ]

[ Entity is of sufficient sapience. [Dominate] provides no bonus intelligence. ]

***

The last notification pleased—and horrified—Sable. The first because it meant there was a way to tell which creatures were naturally intelligent and thus shouldn’t be taken advantage of, but horrible, because she’d just squashed a person’s mind and forced them into her thrall.

Oops?

It was only temporary. She needed information. It wouldn’t do any permanent damage. Right?

[Hello?] Sable asked.

She knew the telepathy attempt—as promised—worked, because as soon as the word left Sable’s mind, the goblin flinched. Then, it gawked at her. Even more than before.

‘It’. That wasn’t right. She was pretty sure the small green creature was a woman. Her long hair and general figure suggested it. When it came to alien biology, Sable couldn’t state anything with certainty. But calling what was clearly a person ‘it’ was out of line. So, ‘she’.

After a few long moments of the goblin continuing to gape at her, Sable tilted her head. It spurred the woman—Aylin—to scramble to her feet.

Oddly, she bowed. As low as she could manage, with two fists clasped to each of her thighs.

[You can understand me, right?] Sable asked.

Aylin looked up at her and blinked. Sable realized the casual tone she’d taken must be … incongruous with what the goblin girl had expected.

“Uh. Yes, Mistress. I can.”

Mistress?

Hm.

Sable had mixed feelings on that. On one hand, weird. On the other, she kind of liked it when people groveled at her feet. When they recognized her natural superiority. She deserved to be called Mistress. Maybe something even more flattering. Queen? Sovereign? Terror of the Skies?

Sable shook the thoughts away.

Maybe her reincarnation was influencing her more than she thought. That hadn’t been the potent, overwhelming effect from using the [Inspect] skill on [Hoard] and [Notoriety]. That had been natural. Or … her new natural. Her dragon-self’s natural. She liked being respected.

Becoming a different creature entirely had come with side-effects. Her biology influenced her passively, and arrogance, it looked like, was at the forefront of that. She’d have to be careful. Keep it in check. Even if it did make her all warm and fuzzy seeing how respectfully bowed, partly in terror, partly in awe, her recently collected servant was.

Though, maybe she should play into it? If her [Notoriety] stat was influenced by how people perceived her, acting herself—her human self—might be a bad idea. She needed to have a reputation, didn’t she?

An imperious attitude might do her good.

[Hm,] Sable said, putting on a character that … maybe wasn’t that much of a character. [I’m in need of a guide. I suppose you will do.] She gave Aylin a disdainful appraisal, then sniffed. [For now.] She let the black-haired goblin girl squirm under her attention, until finally she spoke.

“What can I do for you, Mistress Sable?”

That made Sable pause. Aylin knew her name? But of course she did. In the same way Sable could inspect other people, they could her. Wouldn’t that make, like, espionage impossible in this world? Or were there ways to work around it? Could you ‘change’ your name? Deny an [Inspect]?

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The questions flicked into her head, but she didn’t let herself get sidetracked.

Also, she supposed she ought to address something. However much Sable was putting on act, she wouldn’t go letting this woman believe she’d been subjugated forever. How to say so without compromising her image, though?

[Your service will be temporary,] Sable said, though in the same haughty tone as before. [I need information. I’ve awakened recently and find myself without an obvious path forward. I will not compel you, since I find such forcefulness … distasteful.] She sniffed disdainfully. [As if a true monarch would need to rely on the coercion of a skill, and not dominance of self.]

Was she laying it on too thickly? The imperious attitude was coming with unfortunate ease.

Aylin stared at her. Sable couldn’t quite make out her expression. There was a lot—reasonably—swirling around on her face. Lingering shock from Sable’s arrival, fear for her well-being, and … something else. Almost anticipatory? Excited?

[Speak.]

Aylin startled, then shook her head and bowed. “I’m happy to serve, Great One.”

Great One. Oh, she did like that.

Though, Aylin hadn’t answered. The reasoning for her anticipation—why she, indeed, almost didn’t seem upset by Sable’s arrival, and appropriation into her [Thrall]. Even temporary, as she had assured her.

For a second, Sable considered pushing the question. The influence afforded by her skill, [Dominate], wasn’t a passive thing. She would have to leverage it to force Aylin into doing something she didn’t want to do—to answer a question she had intentionally avoided. She might have been enthralled, making her mind vulnerable to coercion and commands, but only if Sable pushed for it to be so. Without that, Aylin simply had a telepathic link to Sable, and … whatever else being in her [Thrall] meant. Were there benefits not spelled out explicitly?

Sable fought down her instincts, her newer set, that suggested she force Aylin to explain herself.

[As I said, I recently awakened,] Sable said. [So there’s much I need to know. You’ll help me with this.]

Aylin nodded eagerly, then hesitated. Sable tilted her head to prompt the goblin woman, and she said, “Awakened. What’s that mean, exactly?”

[Birthed. Not more than a few hours ago.]

“Birthed! And you’re —” She cut herself off.

[Speak.]

“You’re … lucid?” Aylin coughed, seeming embarrassed. “Just surprising. A few hours old. That’s how dragons work?”

Sable didn’t want to set a precedent for being questioned, so she didn’t answer. She rumbled, a noise deep in her throat—almost like humming—that came naturally. Aylin paled, recognizing the sound of displeasure.

“Not that it’s my place to question you, Great One.”

Indeed.

Though, Aylin’s curious tone meant she didn’t know much about dragons. Whether that was because they were rare or Aylin uneducated, she couldn’t know.

Either way, it worked to Sable’s advantage. Her odd circumstances—clarity after being born less than a few hours ago—had been accepted easily by Aylin. She wouldn’t have to worry about giving herself away. Whatever ‘giving herself away’ meant. Because obviously Aylin wouldn’t guess her circumstances. Reincarnated from another world. Not the first place people’s minds went.

Assuming her experiences from Earth carried over to this new world. Aylin seemed fairly normal—for a bizarre sense of the phrase—so Sable thought so. People were still people. At the same time, she’d have to be careful. Assumptions were dangerous.

[The first thing I would like to know,] Sable said haughtily, [is where we are.]

Aylin paused in surprise, but recovered. “Well.” She looked around. “This is the Rustling Woodlands. And those are the Endless Peaks.” She pointed through the canopy, eastward, though they couldn’t actually make out the mountain range. “Or did you mean something else?”

Sable didn’t glean anything from the response. Though she guessed it had been obvious she wouldn’t. What use were names of nearby places? It had just felt like a good question to ask. A segue before she got into the odder stuff.

No point in doing that, though. Might as well get to the meat of the situation.

[I need a lair,] Sable said. Of nearly all practical things she had to attend to, a base of operations was near the top of the list. Her [Hoard]—or lack of it—reduced her stats by a staggering ninety percent. Collecting even a small pile of gold would do wonders for increasing her strength. Notoriety, she would get to later. [Where I could find one? You know the area better than I.]

“Lair?” Aylin puzzled over the question, chewing her lip. “Well, what’s your, erm, requirements? A cave, or similar? Or is open space fine?”

Open space? As in, what?

[A clearing? It doesn’t seem wise to store my hoard in a place like that.]

“You’d post guards, wouldn’t you? Or put up enchantments? Ones that drive men mad if they get too close?” She coughed. “Or, you know. That’s what the stories say.”

The second part, about enchantments, was inflected up, like Aylin wanted to ask whether Sable was capable of that, but knew better than to.

And Aylin’s reasoning made sense. A cave had been what Sable had in mind, but any space where she could collect a hoard would work. In the short term, she wouldn’t have much worth stealing, and in the long term, she could work on defenses.

Still, just out in a meadow, somewhere, didn’t seem ideal. But she didn’t think that was what Aylin had in mind.

[Your suggestion,] Sable prompted.

“Lake Plateglass,” Aylin said instantly. “On the island out there. Big body of water with a small island in the middle. Seems like a defensible place. Dunno of any caves, specially none as roomy as an island. I’m assuming you’ll want the space to grow. Get comfortable in.”

An island? Out in the middle of a lake? Maybe not as perfect as that starting cave she’d spawned in, but then again, that sort of real-estate seemed to be in high demand, hence the troll’s occupancy. And she could always move later. She was seeking out a starting base. An interim one, likely.

[It will do. Lead me.]

“Lead you?” She blinked several times. “Oh, uh, sure. But it’s a hike and a half.”

[Then point me the right way.]

“Point you—?”

Before she finished the question, Sable scooped the goblin up in a claw, then took off.