"That does make sense," Tallia said, and I smiled.
"Since it is just the two of us for now, I am going to set up in this town and use it as a base to sneak around the other towns. I also want to make some appearances in Torrain as myself to keep them all on their toes. If they think they are being cornered by more than just me, it is going to make it a lot harder for them to move, and hopefully, it will make them sloppy," I explained, and Tallia nodded in understanding as she stood, and came to sit on my lap.
"I have to say, I am really impressed with how you are handling this. Not many people would be trying to reason with their sworn enemy," Tallia said as she ran her fingers through my hair before she began playing with it.
"Well, the thing is, I want Xena on my side. With her help, we can take down all of these other Blood Witches and make a stand against them," I explained as Tallia listened intently. "But first, we need to get rid of the cultists since they will just keep coming back like weeds if we don't."
Tallia nodded in agreement before kissing me gently on the lips and then standing up from my lap. "Alright then, let's go see the girls."
I rose and hugged her as Tallia gestured for a portal to open to the backyard of Eliza's Manor. The two of us walked out, and I started to get hot and stripped off my coat. For some reason, the warming spells didn't work on the clothing when I was at Tallia's place, but the moment I was out of the portal, the magic worked again. I would have to do some quick testing on the way back, but that could be useful if I got hit with something that caused temporary or lasting magical effects.
"Galio!" Eliza cried as she ran out from the back of the manor and jumped into my arms, making even Tallia smile. Eliza gave me a kiss and then squirmed out of my arms to take Tallia but the hand and drag her to the manor. Watching the two of them get along now made me grin as I followed them inside, where Eliza was showing Tallia how clean the place was, and right as I started to walk through the door, two things happened.
At first, I felt my foot press on a trip wire, but I flipped forward onto the rug that suddenly sucked me down into a hole. As I struggled with the starch-soaked rug that had the consistency of cardboard, a bucket of some white goop was poured over me, and then glitter rained down on me.
"While you were gone, I was busy!" Senna called down when the goop started to harden at a remarkable speed, locking me into place with the starched rug. I could break out, but then I would wreck something, and I didn't want to make a mess of Eliza's clean house.
"You win this round, Senna, but you had better watch your back from here on out!" I growled as the floor slowly started to lift and push me up after Senna walked away and pressed something that I couldn't see.
"Oh, don't worry, I will be the winner of this little game! You might be the god of Tricks, but I am the human of them, and you should not take me lightly anymore. I will always get you when you least expect it!" Senna laughed as I was pooped out off the floor and tipped over to crack my prison in half, letting me fall out.
"I told you that I wouldn't go down without a fight, so you might as well just give up," I said to Senna as she crossed her.
"Says you!" Senna called out before walking away and leaving me with the mess. I groaned and opened both doors, chucked the two pieces of goo-cement cover carpet outside, and then burned them into ash, and then turned back to see Eliza with crossed arms.
"You owe me a new carpet now," Eliza said, and I rolled my eyes.
"Senna starched it and then ruined it using me!" I complained, but Eliza came over and cuddled into me.
"But I want you to come with me to pick out a new one," She said cutely, and I grinned and pulled her into a kiss.
"Tonight, we can go if there is anywhere still open when I get back with Olivia. We are also going to have to take her shopping, and then to get some stuff made for her. I will get some things made in... what is that far town called past Torrain?
"Calham, if you are talking about the farthest north town. Why did you go so far?" Eliza asked as Tallia took my other arm, and we walked back outside in the backyard. I had come pretty early, so I was surprised that Eliza was even up. She seemed to have a sixth sense of me and was always waiting for me. Either that, or she just was always waiting for me to return.
"I was just making sure to hit all the major towns since I want to make a map of where everything is and as much information about each town as possible. If we are going to take down this cult, then we need to know how many members they have in each town and where their strongholds are," I explained, which caused Eliza's brows to furrow.
"That sounds like you think that there is going to be an all-out war soon," Eliza said, her eyes getting wild with worry.
"I am trying to stop things before they start getting everyone involved. The biggest thing will be trying to find the sacrifices and saving them. Once I can do that, then that will take quite a bit of the bite out of them, and then it will just be a matter of getting rid of the rest of the demons. That is the hard part. The easy part will be getting things set up so all the towns can contribute to making a good trade route, so everyone has a better quality of life in the northern parts," I explained.
This chapter is updat𝙚d by f(r)eewebn(o)vel.com