careful, I could lose control. My hands burned from harnessing so much power, and an iron taste filled my mouth, as I had accidentally bit my cheek.
“You can do it!” Xander encouraged me as I paced back and forth like a herding dog getting a stray bull into the pen. The forest wouldn’t do; he needed to go farther.
“We need to get him back to his cave!” I yelled to Xander.
Nodding that he understood my concern, he signaled his men to bring torches while he raced to the stables. They spread out, and with a few more timed lightning blasts to neighboring bushes, setting them on fire, the troll turned and ran into the woods.
“Don’t lose him!” Xander yelled, riding up on Nova. Without stopping, he reached down and pulled me up into the saddle in front of him. My hood fell back, revealing the color of my hair, but I quickly pulled it down low and leaned forward, holding on to the saddle horn for dear life. Xander gripped me around the waist and pulled me back against his chest so he could see over my shoulder as he galloped into the dark woods.
Scared to be so close to him, but also terrified that we would stumble and fall to our deaths in the dark, I reached out and called forth a mage light, tossing it into the air to light his path.
“There!” I said, pointing to the destroyed path the troll had taken.
“I see it,” Xander replied just as Nova leapt over a fallen tree.
I gasped, believing I was falling to my death, but once again, his hand held me close, keeping me safe.
The troll turned to attack us, but I sent another lightning bolt at the troll’s bottom, scorching him. He howled in pain and ran on to seek the shelter of his cave. I thought we had lost him, but I heard the rumbling and scraping of rock as he pulled a giant bolder away from his hidden cavern and retreated deep inside.
Xander slowed Nova and helped me down, and I rushed over to the opening, sending the mage light deep into the tunnel. I couldn’t see him. We had beaten Xander’s troops to the cave, but I watched in horror as the prince unsheathed his sword and was about to go after the troll alone.
“Stop!” I commanded.
“If we don’t kill him, he’ll be back to terrorize the villagers again.”
“Just because you don’t understand something doesn’t mean you should kill it,” I hissed angrily.
“It’s a troll. What’s there to understand? They kill humans, and this one has been terrorizing Celia for years. It’s my job to protect my people.” Xander gripped his sword and pointed deep into the cave.
“If you go in there, you will die,” I said coldly. “Troll caves are deep and filled with traps. You will not make it out again.”
“What would you have me do?”
“Nothing,” I said simply.
“Nothing?” he scoffed.
“That is a gentle Torperren.”
“A what?”
“A troll that spends most of its life sleeping and only hunts goats and farm animals once every twenty years or so. If my guess is correct, every time the town has a noisy celebration, it disturbs the Torperren’s sleep, and he comes in and destroys the inn.”
“You’re kidding me.” Xander laughed.
I shook my head. “The best thing to do would be to spell him back to sleep and soundproof his cave.”
“You can do that?”
Hiding my grin, I moved forward and cupped my hands, whispering a lullaby into them. With a flick of my wrists, I released my bespelled song into the air and watched as the glowing trail flew into the cave, searching for the troll. It wasn’t as powerful as Meri’s songs, but I knew it would do the trick.
We waited a few minutes, and sure enough, we heard the echoing rumble of a snore coming from deep within.
Xander moved to the giant rock and began to push it. Ever so slowly, he rocked it back and forth until it closed over the cave.
I found a sharp rock and began to dig sigils deep into the stone around the cave. Each one glowed faintly before fading away. Xander kneeled near me to watch, and I glanced away, keeping my hood between us, my heart racing in fear. This country hated magic, despised what I stood for, yet I had seen the wards around the palace. Now that he had seen me use my magic again, did he loathe me even more? Would I be punished?