The Dryad 41 Images

I thought that it would be a little odd for me, the one being escorted, to be asking all the questions, so I gave Gray a look. It seemed like he understood what I wanted because he asked. "It does not sound like you get many magicians visiting this village?"

"We have not seen one in many many years," one of the older men said. "To us magic might as well only exist in the fairy tales. People don't stop here unless they have to. I am sure someone as important as a magician would go on to a town with an inn."

Gray gave a frown. "We are trying to meet up with the magician Maximum, but we only know the basic area of where he was supposed to live. We were hoping to take as direct a route as we could since we do not know how long the patriarch's daughter will last. Have you heard of him?" The men in the room thought for a minute. It did not seem like anyone had any clear ideas, so Gray added, "He often calls himself Maximus the Powerful." Several of the men in the room started to laugh.

"What is with that naming sense?" one of the men said.

"I know, it sounds like something James would make up in one of his stories."

"Hey! Even my stories are not that bad. And I don't hear any of you complaining about my stories when we don't have company," the one who was apparently James protested in return.

As they were arguing, my mind returned again to my time with Faun. I could practically hear her voice. It was a scene from when we had been dealing with what are now the cottonwood trees.

"What on earth made you think that making a dandelion more than five times your height was a good idea?" I could hear her saying in protest.

I felt that I could see the white fluff floating around the men that were still in the middle of arguing.

"You did not seem to think that it was such a bad idea a few years ago." I could hear myself protesting. "If I recall correctly you especially liked the bright yellow tree and seeing all the fluff blow away on a windy day. You did not say anything then." As I heard myself protesting, the fluff around me grew denser, distorting my view of the room.

Soon the fluff began to clear a little but it did not seem like the men were sitting around tables any more. Around use all I could see was trees. Istan was trying and failing to bat the fluff away from his drink that now seemed to have white foam on top, and Emily seemed to have merged with one of the saplings nearby. She must have gotten much stronger to be able to merge with plants. Several of the men were sitting along the trunk of a tree that Faun had just asked the help of some beavers to cut down. I was getting lost and having a hard time telling what was real. Faun was so alive, and really, I knew every little thing about how she looked. These human men on the other hand just seemed fake. I could hardly tell one from the other. And the more I looked at them the more their front teeth seemed grow. I blinked and looked at them again but this only led to them being covered in hair.

"I would have thought that you would have had something in mind once they started to seed," Faun called from the end of the downed bole.

"I did think about it. I worked hard to make it so that the seeds would grow. This was the first time I really worked on that. It is much harder than you would think," I said with some pride. "You try and mix a cricket with a frog and make them have children!"

"Yes, you did a great job. You managed to do something that no other spirit has ever done before," she said with a mocking bow. "Now make sure that you kill all the seeds in the area." I was going to grumble that I had already taken care of the seeds, but I was cut off by Leafia.

"This is the first time that I have been able to leave the woods," she said. As she spoke, I felt confused. Wasn't she in the woods right now?

"What do you think of the outside world so far?" one of the beaver people sitting on the log called out.

Before Leafia could answer, Faun called out to me. "We better hurry up. In a few more weeks these trees will seed again. We need to at least make sure we stop the ones that are in bloom."

"It does not seem like any have managed to leave the woods yet. We have that going for us," I said.

"It is very different. I am not used to all this open s.p.a.ce. I have had trees around me my whole life." Leafia said. "I do like being able to really see the sunset." What open s.p.a.ce? We are in the middle of the forest. The clearing made by the fallen tree would hardly count.

I was getting more and more lost. I did not think that Faun and Leafia had ever met. I could see Faun and myself walking off into the woods. Why were all the beaver men coming with us? I did not really want them here with me and Faun… and Leafia?

I do hope that Faun and Leafia will get along well. They are both dear to me. "Could you pa.s.s the nuts?" Gray called, but I ignored him as I was intently searching the area for all the cottonwood trees that were getting ready to seed.

Suddenly all the cottonwood fluff disappeared as Gray tapped me on the shoulder. "Um, Laurel, could you please pa.s.s the nuts?" Gray said. By the way he looked at me it seemed that he had to repeat himself at least once. I had not been coherent enough to process his words the first time. What was going on? Faun! Where did Faun go? I have to find her, she might be in trouble. Leafia would help me find her. They were friends. No, they had not met. But then why would she help. I looked to see Gray giving me a curious look and quickly pa.s.sed him the requested nuts. I took a deep breath and slowed my mind down. Faun was still missing which hurt deeply, but my companions and I were trying to find her. I did my best to focus on this. and to not get distracted by the white fluff that started to reappear.

After I pa.s.sed Gray the nuts, the man who seemed to be the leader spoke up for the first time in a while. "Getting back to your first question. I have never heard of this Maximus the Powerful. But that does not mean much. We are a small town and much of the news never makes it to us. The only advice I can really give is head to the capital. As I said before, most people do not stop here and just head on through to the next town."

I did my best to reign in my confusion and deal with what was in front of me right now. I was not surprised by that they did not know about Maximus, but I was a little sad nonetheless. The one thing that did surprise me was how easy it was for us to gather the information we needed. I don't know why, but I thought that we would have to do more prying and sifting through the information we gleamed. At least in this village, it looked like they were willing to tell us everything they knew.

It was nothing like the times Faun and I interacted with humans. As I looked at the men around me, I could see the last time Faun and I had tried to visit humans together. For a brief moment, I could see the men around me dressed like those humans from long ago in leather and animal skins. In my mind, I could see the people around me running away from me and Faun or being tripped up by plants as they tried to attack us with sticks. I shook my head trying to clear my mind. I could not let myself slip. They were not wearing animal skin, but fabrics.

As I was fighting within my mind again, one of the men wearing clean clothes made from fabric yet holding a crude club said, "I am sorry we could not be of more help. But we would be glad if you could tell us some stories of your journey in exchange for the drinks promised earlier." The man was no longer holding a club, but a mug of ale. "We are in desperate need of stories and news that are not made up by James and Dale. Can you please tell us more?"

"You too, Richard." The man that seemed to be James called out.