The World Dragon's Heir-Chapter 680: Get The Payment

Lunch was brought out, a heavier meal than usual, as Beth knew that spoiling their hungry guests was the best way to get them to come back soon.

She might not be getting a bonus for helping the Duchy’s business, but she was still enthusiastic about helping. The full five-course meal, starting with Dave’s favourite spicy potato soup, had everyone’s mouth watering.

But when she brought out the grilled fish with mango salsa, even Lord Blackwell was shaking his head in dismay.

The Mangos were not local, they would have had to be imported from somewhere with much warmer weather. Which meant that they had been sourced from the Merchant’s Guild, and because they were fresh, not canned, they must have been brought by portal.

A true extravagance.

"We’ve had an abundance of fish in the river lately. I believe that it might be the result of the flooding upriver. However, some suspect that it’s actually magic that the River Troll is using to attract people to the shore." Dominic explained.

"Is that safe?"

"Probably not. But we have an agreement that he doesn’t eat locals. In exchange, we will drive goblins into the river whenever we can. He’s got a particular liking for them.

I assume it’s an acquired taste."

Marshall shrugged. "River Trolls are an odd bunch. They’re nasty tempered, and even if you speak Trollish, which I don’t, they rarely agree to go along with anything. They just keep attacking the moment that your back is turned."

"Well, sometimes you just get one that prefers to be an ass instead of making a deal.

They’re incredibly protective of their rivers, especially if the river is more of a stream. The less that they have, the more protective they get. The Daves are the same way.

Ours are remarkably accepting because they’ve got so much.

You should have seen how happy they were when we built the new walls around the Manor. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a troll that close to spontaneously dancing."

That was a lie.

Dave had been dancing with joy when they built a whole new defensive wall out of solid stone, anchored right to the bedrock.

"Well, I suppose that it is time. You did say that you needed to get back in a timely manner, so I have arranged some of our strongest mages to open a portal back to any landmark you can name in the southern Axbridge region.

There are a few towns that have Portal Arrays as well, if your people are near one of them." Dominic suggested.

General Marshall shook his head, then took a flat stone disc out of his storage item.

"If you can send me to the linked copy of this portal stone, it will be perfect. That will get me directly to my people, and without the chaos of having me appear in some random town.

It’s been quite a novelty being so welcome here in Wistover, but even in Axbridge, I do stand out far more than I would like."

Dominic laughed, and patted the man on the shoulder. "I wish that I had some way to help you with the wing issue, but I really don’t know how to explain the process. It’s just something instinctive."

"That’s fine. Now that I know it’s possible, I will try to think of something. It’s likely not possible for me, but it will give me something to occupy my mind during the slow months where we’re mostly waiting on the rain." Marshall agreed.

"We can’t open portals here in the Manor compound, there are protections in place. However, we can do it just outside the gates, so I have called the mages there." Dominic explained.

Actually, the mages in question were already in the room, as both Amie and Alistair had eaten lunch with them.

But that wasn’t the point.

The trolls and giants joined them at the gate, where Alistair began the casting ritual, then motioned to Dominic and Amie.

"The area is quite a distance off, and I’m not the most familiar with it. So, if you can just put a hand on me to add some mana flow, this will go more smoothly," he explained.

Dominic nodded, and followed the instruction.

The mage pulled at the surrounding energy, and Dominic channelled mana toward Alistair, not casting a spell, just moving the mana.

That seemed to do the trick, and the portal began to waver into existence, before stabilizing large enough for even the Giants to walk through. That seemed a bit excessive, as the larger a portal was, the more power it took.

It was a nice thought, though.

On the other side, a group of ragged looking refugees was gathered with battered weapons, ready for whatever might have happened to their leader.

"Stand down, Prince Dominic has been quite hospitable, and he has agreed to a large trade deal with us. Weapons, clothing, tonnes of food, everything that we asked for and more."

The General’s wings spread with excitement as he explained the situation, and then the Burlish Resistance Army cheered.

The Mountain Trolls from his force rushed through with a full pot of soup, a gift from whatever Larry was on duty today. Or perhaps a first meeting tradition among Mountain trolls. It was difficult to guess when they were so excited that they weren’t speaking clearly.

An older man, a human mage, stepped through the portal and extended his hand to Dominic.

"Thank you, Prince Wavemates. You don’t know how much this means to us.

We had been concerned about sending the General and his guards through, but they were the only ones who we thought might survive if the welcome was hostile. Our apologies for not sending someone a bit more civilized."

Dominic laughed. "Hardly uncivilized. He’s been both polite and eloquent since he arrived."

The mage looked confused, then gestured to the black winged dragonkin.

"That one is the General. You didn’t mistake him for one of the trolls, right?"

"Why would I mistake Dave for General Marshall?"

The General laughed and patted the mage on the shoulder. "I have much to explain to you. But first, let’s pay the fine man, then close this portal and get dinner distributed before someone comes looking for us."

The old mage nodded, but his hands were moving. A bit clumsy, but the Wavemates hand language.

[What did you do to him? General Marshall has been more than half feral since I met him fifty years ago.]

Dominic just shrugged and signed back at him.

[I have no idea. He was fine from the time that I met him.]