As I followed the troll contingent, something continued to trouble me. While it made sense for such a large party to be sent for the noble's son, having dozens upon dozens of trolls just for the four of us seemed like overkill. Clearly, something else was going on. However, at least they seemed to be more friendly. My companions, though still unconscious, were handled with relative care. I even exchanged a few words with the shaman. Nothing significant, but it was progress.

Eventually, we reached the troll village. It resembled Amazonian remote tribes, with huts scattered along a valley split by a medium-sized river and connected by a few wooden bridges.

My companions were taken to a hut, while I was instructed to follow, arriving at a larger hut to meet someone important. Stepping inside, it seemed to belong to a shaman, but with a different twist. There were many incenses, producing a myriad of scents, some rather pleasant.

"Welcome, human," said an old female troll. I assumed she was old; at least, she didn't have the same lithe appearance.

"Thank you for inviting me to your village," I replied. I didn't know if you could curry favor with trolls, but it was worth a shot.

"We saved you from the Stonejaw. You are indebted to us," she said, getting straight to the point.

"Again, I must thank you for the assistance, and of course, if there is anything I can do, please tell me," I replied, hoping it wouldn't involve culinary recipes.

"You are to visit all three villages belonging to the Bloodfang tribe," she said without hesitation, indicating that a plan was already in place.

"And if I may ask, what do you want me to do in those villages?" I continued.

"Nothing of importance, just eat the food, drink the water, and move on to the next village," she replied, once again without hesitation, indicating that orders were coming from a superior.

"Can my companions join me?" I didn't want to leave them to whatever fate they might endure.

For the first time, she seemed to give it some thought. "Yes, they will accompany you to see the Spiritwhisperer, Grumlok."

"So…" I tried to break the awkward silence that descended, "when do we eat?"

"Food will be provided shortly," and with that, she turned her back to me, signaling for me to be ushered to another hut where a large table was being filled with food.

The food was mostly meat-based, and after some hesitant attempts, I discovered it was quite tasty, if excessively spicy.

My companions were ushered into the hut, and their bindings were cut. It was amusing to see their faces transition from terror to confusion, then relief.

Viper was the first to speak. "We passed near a big pot outside. I thought we were going to be the food." Guess that explained the terror.

"What is happening?" Alira interjected.

Recounting my admittedly small chat with the elder, they seemed more puzzled than me.

Speaking of the elder, she entered the hut with warriors surrounding us. She sat at the table and began eating. A few minutes passed in silence, but I couldn’t handle the uncomfortable silence for too long.

"So are the rumors about you eating humans true?" Maybe not the best question, but I was drawing a blank on what to ask.

My companions coughed, almost choking on their food, but the elder seemed to smile. With the tusk in the way, it was hard to tell for sure.

"Yes…" A long silence followed, and I was beginning to regret my question. But she continued, "We are aware of that rumor, and rest assured, it is not true," delivered with pure calm.

"Oh my god, they have a sense of humor. Well, I was too shocked to smile at first, but eventually, a smile did appear on my face.

"A sense of humor and not eating humans. This could be a great day for troll-human relationships," I said, feeling optimistic.

"The other prisoners we have might disagree with that," the elder said.

After a long silence and my inquisitive looks towards Alira, who shrugged in response, I continued. "What other prisoners?"

"We captured three humans some time ago who entered our territory."

"Can they be released to walk with us to the next village?" I mean, it didn’t hurt to ask.

"To secure your freedom, we had to promise the release of other prisoners; otherwise, it could have led to war."

"What will happen to them?" Somehow, I knew I wouldn’t like the answer.

"Death. The Stonejaw take the words of the spirits a little too literally," she explained, showing some emotion, which suggested that maybe they had a little bit of a religious schism.

"Can you at least free one of the prisoners? I mean, we were four. A fair agreement would have been two prisoners each, so technically, you owe them just two prisoners," I said, feeling conflicted but trying to secure some kind of compromise.

She thought for a moment and, in a very human-like behavior, sighed before saying, “Very well, you can have one prisoner, but you may not ask anything else of the village.” Her tone became sharper, so it was time for me to stop pushing.

We ate in silence for a while until the elder stood to leave. But before she left, she said, “Come, choose one of them.”

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I was led to another hut, and inside, two men and a woman were tied up. They were all about the same age and seemed healthy. It wasn’t exactly Sophie’s choice, as clearly children and women are first in emergencies. I pointed to the woman, and the elder confirmed with the soldiers, who cut her bindings and brought her to me.

She was clearly panicking, but as we exited the hut, I turned to her and said, “You should be safe,” or at least as safe as me, whatever that was worth.

When we got back to the food hut, she eventually sat near Alira. Throwing some glances at Alira, then at the newcomer, she finally got my message.

“My name is Alira,” she extended her hand, and while a little hesitant, the new woman grabbed it.

“Thalia.” she almost whispered still unsure about the situation.

Viper, who had been surprisingly quiet, continued, “Are you by any chance from the expedition of the Darkmoor heir?”

“Yes,” she managed to say after a pause. Clearly, she needed a little time to process.

“Do you know what happened to the heir?” Steel interjected.

"Stop with the questions," Alira interrupted them. "She needs a little breathing space."

We all stopped with the questions, and after a few minutes, Alira leaned over and whispered something to her. It seemed to calm her.

“Why are they feeding us? What's going to happen to us?” At least she seemed better.

“We are to visit two more troll villages, and after that, hopefully, we'll be free,” Alira explained.

“Are you somehow allies with the trolls? erhaps you could speak on behalf of the other two men.” For the first time, she seemed hopeful.

Neither of us wanted to be the one to break it to her, but Alira was more steadfast and explained the situation. Her expression became even more hopeless after that.

Soon, the food was taken away, and it seemed we would be sleeping on the floor. The atmosphere weighted on us since we all knew those two men were basically dead men walking. But I couldn't figure out any way to help them without putting us in more danger, and by the looks of the others, neither did them. Understandably, that left us without much desire for discussions.

The next morning, we were taken to some boats, and we made our way downstream on the river. There were a few very light rapids, but overall, it was the best travel experience so far. When you're comfortable, you can appreciate the scenery more, and it looked like a combination of the Scottish highlands and the Amazon. I know, a very weird combination, but there was magic in this world, so I guess you just accept it.

We reached our destination surprisingly fast. This village could even be called a city; there were still huts by the wayside, but stone structures were more often seen as we went inland to the center.

Again, we were seated at a table, and food was brought.

“This is not just a simple troll city but their religious center. Only one human delegation was permitted to stay here when the accords were signed 100 years ago,” Alira explained.

“How can you tell it’s been 100 years?” Viper commented.

“I saw a glimpse of the pyramid in the center. It looks like the drawing made by our diplomats. It’s their most holy place.”

This time, no one of importance greeted us, so with what Alira said, I assumed he was way more important. So maybe I would have to do something about it. Plus, I was getting a bad feeling.

Raising myself from the floor, I said to a soldier near me, “I would like to speak to Spiritwhisperer Grumlock.” His eyebrow did shoot up at the name, but more than that, he ignored me.

Time to bluff. “He is the one who invited us here and is expecting me.”

This time, looking at the other guards, he was more unsure, but in the end, gestured for me to follow.

In the middle of the city, there stood, I wouldn’t say pyramid, more like a ziggurat. We climbed inside, and I was taken to a very impressive room, decorated with gold, silver, and different precious jewels.

Clearly, this would be the leader. Grumlock was younger than I imagined, at least from his body and how he walked, as he had a ceremonial mask on his head that covered his entire face.

Guess we start with the pleasantries.

“Thank you for inviting us to your beautiful city,” hoping I wasn’t overdoing it.

“Yes… invited, that’s one way of putting it.” Since his face was covered, I had nothing. And the guttural speech made any clue useless.

“I’m glad you had time to receive me. I understand you must be very busy as a leader.” Again, I had to say something as he didn’t seem the talkative type.

He removed his mask as if to get a better look at me. He looked angry, or maybe it was my imagination.

“Yes, very busy.” He was definitely angry, like I was way below his stature to be standing in his presence, but he still answered politely. Guess he had orders from the higher-ups as well. But looking around this room, he seemed to be the king, or whatever the title was.

Sensing my time was limited, I had to ask.

“Not that I don’t appreciate visiting your beautiful cities, but is there another reason for the visit other than sightseeing?”

His anger turned to frustration. Maybe I had a new power to read troll facial expressions, or they were more similar to us than I realized.

“You don’t know, do you?” I was taking a wild guess, but the confusion, anger, and politeness could only mean one thing. “Your gods told you to do this but not why.”

“Apparently, something is going to happen in the future, and your mere presence is some sort of boon that will help my cities.” He was clearly unhappy with the situation but seemed sincere in his veiled insult.

What do you say to someone that actually talks to the gods?

“Gods work in mysterious ways.” It was a saying for a reason, right? People found comfort in that.

“That they do. But enough about this. You will go to the next village and reach it by nightfall. Then, from tomorrow, I will be free of you from my lands.” Now, he seemed more like a classic, evil, vindictive king.

Having a sneaky suspicion, I had to be sure. “By 'me,' you mean me and my friends.” They weren’t exactly friends, but I felt I had to emphasize the closeness between us.

A smile crept onto his face. “The Loa said nothing about others, just the lightning man.”

That wasn’t good. “Well, we're a package deal. Where I go, they go.” Well, that wasn’t going to convince anyone.

“We’ll tie you up and parade you all along the river if we have to,” the guards were already closing in on me, and I felt violence might be the bad play, as 'blessed by the gods' would definitely mean more powerful than me.

“If the gods had use of me now, for whatever reason, they might have again in the future.” Well, I mean, it could be true, right?

“Then after I parade you, we throw you in a dungeon until they need you again.” This was going from bad to worse, but he didn’t sound so pompous anymore, so maybe there was still a chance.

“From my understanding, I can ask one thing from the city in repayment for my service?” Hopefully, what the elder of the last village said applied everywhere.

“And you would ask for the freedom of you and your friends?”

“Yes?” He didn't dismiss it immediately, so maybe there was hope.

“I accept,” he said with a smile. Somehow, it seemed premature to be happy. Of course, he continued, “but only for you. But I wouldn’t want the gods to think I’m not generous. For your friends freedom, they can fight in the arena.”

Damn these trolls and their double talk, and he has the audacity to complain the gods are vague. He must have taken great delight at my anger as his smile grew larger.

“I want to fight for them,” I immediately intervened.

“Oh no, as you said, you are much too important. We wouldn’t want you to have an accident in the arena, would we?” He was back to being pompous, so I was out of options.

“At least give them fair odds.” I thought fast, anything that could help them. “No fights to the death, and if... two of them win their fights, all four can go.” The prisoner swap was done somewhat fairly, so maybe he would be up for it.

“Let it be known that I am generous troll.” Then, in a whispered, self-serving tone, he continued, “It’s not like anyone will win anyway.” Guess you don’t have to be human to be a total asshole, but I wisely kept my mouth shut.

With that, he signaled to the guards, and I was taken back to my companions, who seemed so full of hope.

Man, that was going to be one awkward conversation.