An inhuman roar sounded as the creature leapt at Jason, its claws unsheathed. They moved in a downward strike, ready to flay the man's skin from his bones. The strike never landed, as a bolt of energy that flew from Phalmina's outstretched hand intercepted the creature. The bolt caught the creature in the chest, sending it flying back into some bushes.
Jason had recovered by this point and had tapped into his Gaian power, letting it suffuse him with its life-giving energies. The creature had recovered quickly and charged at the lovers again, but Jason was ready this time. Thinking about what he wanted to happen, he poured his power into the thought and it became reality almost instantly.
Tree branches shot out from the nearby trees, wrapping themselves around its arms. At the same time, roots burst up from the ground, entangling and trapping its legs, tripping it up. The creature growled and screamed in frustration, as it tried to fight to free itself, but was soon wrapped and tied up as neatly as a fly in a spider's web.
"Nicely done, Jason!" Phalmina complimented him.
"Read about this sort of thing being done by fictional druids in some books. Thought it was plausible and just did it, hoping it would work," Jason replied with a grin.
"I'm going to have to read some of these books, to see what they know!" Phalmina said with surprise, before turning to the struggling creature. "Ah, this is a troll!"
"A troll? You mean trolls are real too?" Jason asked.
"I told you that all creatures that mankind thought of as myth and legend to be real. That means the less than savory types too, you know," she told in a schoolmarm voice. "Looks like it's gone feral though. Sadly, we will have to put it down, so it won't harm anyone else."
Mina then uncased her wings, letting them out of their confines. Jason was about to ask how they bypassed the shirt, when he saw two immaculate cuts in the fabric, which would allow her wings to pass through. Jason then turned back to the troll, embracing his power, following along with Mina and what she appeared to be doing. The troll stared at them in fear and started blubbering incoherently, which confused him and surprised Phalmina.
"What is it saying?"
"She is saying that she's sorry for attacking us. She didn't know that we were servants of Gaia and she begs for our forgiveness," Mina translated for him.
"Can she speak in a language that I can understand?" he wondered.
"Yes... I can. But my knowledge of use... is... limit?" the troll said, her speech slightly slurred due to her being wrapped up.
"Will you attack us, if I let you go?" he asked, being cautious.
"I will not. You are more than... able of destroying me if you... choose. I wish no harm upon you, Druid... or your fairy guide," the troll said. Nodding and accepting her answer, Jason reversed what he had done, the roots and branches going back to their proper places.
"You can speak English?" Jason wondered.
"I... can. My knowledge of your... language is... limited. It has been... a long time... since I spoke with... anyone," she replied haltingly.
"Why did you attack us?" Mina asked, thinking out loud.
"The... chase he gave... you. I thought he was... after you and... intended... harm," the troll replied.
"Well, he kind of did, but not the bad kind," Mina said with a blush. "What is your name?"
"My name... Xaera. What punishment must I... endure for offending you and the Druid?" she asked.
"Punishment?" Jason queried, weirded out by the archaic question.
"For attacking you and your... fairy guide. There is punishment for that?" Xaera asked.
"No, there won't be any punishment for that. You attacked out of concern for Phalmina and for that, I can't fault you. You can stand up if you like. I'm not mad," Jason assured the troll woman.
Blinking and shaking her head to be sure she hadn't misheard him, Xaera stood up, looking at the human man and his fairy companion. She took in their appearance, and they looked like normal humans and smelled like humans, mostly. Xaera mentally chastised herself for not smelling the fairy before she closed in. She knew that a fairy wouldn't put herself in harm's way like that.
"I'm glad to see that you haven't gone feral like I feared. There are precious few of Gaia's creatures awake in the world these days," Mina commented.
"And fewer Druids, like yours," Xaera stated, agreeing with the fairy woman.
"My name is Jason, by the way. Feel free to call me by it if you like," Jason told Xaera.
Her jaw dropped open, being addressed by the Druid so openly! She blushed, mumbling a thank you for that invitation to speak to him as such! Xaera also felt a little warm under the rags she wore, as the Druid's presence was having an unintended effect on her.
"I caught a bit of an accent there in your words. Where are you from?" Phalmina asked, ever the inquisitive one.
Xaera opened her mouth to answer but was cut off by a deep rumbling that sounded from her. The troll woman looked away from the couple, her skin flushing from a bright blue to a deep cobalt. Jason looked around, Gaian power flaring in his hands.
"Are there other trolls nearby?" Jason asked warily.
"No, it's just me here," Xaera whispered, still hiding her face.
"Jason, put that away! That growl was her stomach!" Mina said to him, exasperated.
"That was her stomach??"
"Doesn't your stomach growl when it hasn't been fed properly?" the copper-haired woman asked him.
"Yeah, but not that loud!" Jason admitted.