by Paul Yoder
“This garden is young, comparatively to my kind, but even so, it has stood guarded by dryads for a millennium now as the oaks in which we hail from began to become the predominant tree here. Only a handful of outsiders have been allowed here, and half of them were saren, the other half, haltia. The two peoples share a respect for Farenlome and her ways.”
“Yes, Sareth holds friendly ties with Farenlome and often shares knowledge and magicks with her children. It has been a mutual boon for our people,” Reza confirmed, sounding as though she were reciting text from a study book back at the monastery, feeling more than a little pang of guilt at how little she knew and had paid attention to her studies and her people’s ways during her upbringing.
Leaf held aloft a branch that hung low in the path to allow Reza to pass under, quietly in thought as she considered Reza’s heritage.
The two women stepped into a clearing; moss, pools, and small lazy streams covering the floor of the forest with moss-covered, winding oak boughs constructing the low-hanging canopy that shaded most of the open area. There was little that made sound there. The occasional ruffle of leaves high above and the quiet trickle of water below seemed muffled. It felt like a sacred place, even to Reza, and she at once suspected this was their destination.
Yes, this is the garden,” Leaf said, smiling at Reza’s awed expression. “It has been a long time since our last visitors here. Come, have a seat while I call my sisters.”
Leaf lifted a hand over a jutting island of soil amongst the shallow pools and river and slowly, up came a webwork of roots, interweaving and forming what looked to be a delicate stool. Reza looked to Leaf and approached, testing it with her hand, then took a seat, finding it to be quite sturdy.
Reza waited patiently now, watching Leaf walk a little further into the garden, past a few mossy pools until she reached a ring of trees, softly touching each, whispering silent words, reaching into its trunk and pulling her melding wooden hand back out.
After melding with the last tree, she turned and came back to Reza, standing next to her, looking back to the trees, waiting patiently as the sounds of the forest slowly crept back in to fill the hush of the place.
Minutes passed by, and Reza shifted in place more than a few times. She had the sole constraints of dealing with a physical body, at least one made of flesh and blood, unlike Leaf. She was considering breaking the silence and asking Leaf what they were waiting for when something began to grow out of one of the trees.
It was slow at first, but then, the knot of wood that was protruding from the grand oak’s trunk began to take shape and form. Before she could tell what shape the mass of wood was forming, another tree began the same process, this one a slightly different hue of wood, but the size and shape seemed similar.
A few more trees began to groan and protrude, and soon the whole circle of trees seemed alive with movement, each harboring forms that were constructing into a figure much like Leaf’s.
Reza’s expression was a look of wonderment. She doubted few mortals had ever witnessed such a sacred procession of the heart of the woods. She couldn’t recall of any record even describing such an event.
Each of the figures’ features became more defined and delicate as they separated from the trees they had spawned from. Soon, all nine dryads were walking towards the group, lumbering and creaking at first, but becoming more limber with each step.
Encircling Reza now, all ten dryads, including Leaf at the center of the ring, stood looming over their guest—and lucky Reza felt to be a guest, as the sight of the dryads would have been the sight of doom had she wandered into their brook on her own, uninvited. The thought alone was enough to cause her to tremble.
A guttural clicking sound began to resonate from one of the dryads, and Leaf responded in kind, creaking and mutely popping in what Reza guessed was a form of communication between the treekin.
One among them stepped forward, speaking in a low, groaning voice, “We hail from many lands all across Yuna. Some of us are young, some very old. We are all descendants of Farenlome, some distant and not so distant. The one you know as Leaf had called us here on your behalf. I would know who you are before we discuss your need.”
The one that spoke was a darker grain than the rest, and she had dark green sprigs and buds. Reza looked to Leaf briefly and answered the dryad addressing her.
“My name is Reza. I’m a saren knight currently on a mission to kill an avatar of Telenth.”
She felt it was brief but was not sure how much more of an introduction the dryads required.
Each of the dryads looked from Reza to Leaf, now waiting for an explanation from their sister.
“Farenlome has seen fit to bless her recently. An ancient one renewed a powerful enchantment upon her ring. This fact alone gives me reason to believe the mission she is on may require our aid, for their numbers are weak and small currently, and though Reza has spoken to me of allies and plans in which to expunge Telenth’s chosen, I fear the strength of their foe may be too powerful for them as it stands. I consider bestowing her a portion of the life sap.”
Wood creaks and chirps started up again after Leaf’s last statement, sending a wave of excitement through the ring of dryads.
“Gifting the sap of the dryads is a decision not to make lightly, Leaf!” the dark oak dryad almost hissed, garnering nods and headshakes from the other treekin. “It would take not just from you and your grove, but all within the sisterhood and their connected groves. One has not bestowed this gift to a mortal for well over a thousand moons!”
“Their need and cause are great. I would not have suggested the gift unless I deemed it prudent.”
“The sap collects slowly, and the health of oaks across the land wanes for a season. It would be a difficult time for us, but mostly for Leaf and her grove as the sap is renewed,” one of the lighter oak dryads whispered suddenly in Reza’s ears, providing her with a bit of context to the mysterious speech the council was wrapped up in. Though she had just met Leaf, the apparent consequences did set a good deal of guilt in her heart, even though she had not even been the one to ask for the dryad’s help.
“I didn’t know, Leaf. You don’t need to risk yourself for us—” Reza started, but was cut short from a side-eye and a terse reply.
“I do this for the cause you are wrapped up in. It is Farenlome’s will, and I will see her will realized. If I deem to aid you, you will be aided.”
Leaf’s usual fairylike tone had turned fierce. Reza knew better than to rebut her, surrounded by her kin in the heart of their sanctum. She sat with hands on her lap as if an obedient child wishing not for a second reprimand.
The garden was silent for a tension filled moment before the dark oak dryad said in an exasperated tone to Leaf, “Most stubborn of all our kind—most mercurial. Leaf, you and your woods will suffer the drain more than ours. For us, a few trees may die due to sickness, for you….”
The elder paused, leaving off on the depressing train of thought, all waiting for her to continue. “We will do what we can to support your grove in its time of need. I can tell, nothing we can say will change your mind on a matter such as this. If it is indeed our great mother’s will to impart with these mortals the precious blessing of the forest to help them accomplish their quest, then she will surely answer our prayer and imbue you with a measure of her essence which should be potent enough even to bring low an avatar of Telenth-Lanor, that great corruptor.”
At that, Leaf’s crinkled brow eased, seeming once again to return to her whimsical self. Bowing to the dark oak, she crooned, “Thank you, Tulanae. Being the oldest child among us, having your support eases my mind, though sometimes I know you think I heed not anyone’s advice—I do—hence why I called you all here. Even begrudgingly giving your blessing shows there is some faith and wisdom in heeding a call I suspect is true.”
For Reza, interpreting the treekin’s expressions was difficult, but the look Tulanae gave Leaf seemed to be
one of exasperation with her younger sister.
“This…blessing. I will not treat it lightly, I assure you,” Reza added, seeing that the others held a great deal of doubt for Leaf’s support for their cause.
“I suppose that is all we could ask of you. We would hold you to that vow,” Tulanae said after a moment of silence.
She turned to Leaf, adding, “And of you, be careful, Leaf. After the sap has been given, the winter’s chill will bite deeper into your wild woods. Call upon us as need arises. If this truly be Farenlome’s will, you will have the support necessary to see through the season of frost.”
Leaf nodded graciously, switching their speech from callatum back to the creaking moans of treekin, leaving Reza there to listen to the haunting sounds of the forest and trees for some time. The day in the sleepy grove wore slowly on.
14
The Stray Hound
“We have no idea how long this Leaf intends to keep Reza occupied, or even where they were headed. I don’t like it. It’s been over half the day already,” Fin said, throwing down a botched leather braid he had been working on for his pack, looking to Arie for a response.
“Yes,” she muttered, seeming conflicted with the whole situation. “My people generally have positive relations with treekin, but, for the most part, I did not grow up around them. I admit, I’m not sure if we can trust Leaf,” she said, pausing again, thinking on the matter further before continuing, “I would need more time with her to know of her true motives. This all happened so fast. Now is not the time to put our faith in strangers.”
“Heaven knows we need all the help we can get, though. This is a fool’s errand we’re on,” Fin voiced, looking at a worn-down, deathly ill Nomad who had been feverish since earlier that day, still buried under the roots. Since Leaf’s departure, the tree had not moved once.
Cavok had been still the past hour, deep in meditation Arie and Fin figured by the looks of it, but now they noticed that his eyes were open, and he was staring intently out past the trees the way they had come.
Fin slunk to a wide tree almost unnoticed, even to Arie’s keen eyes, noticing that he was contoured to the back of the tree. She focused on what he was holding, though, oddly enough, she was not able to discern what was in his hands, almost as though her mind refused to see it.
She was about to follow Fin’s lead when she noticed a figure standing at the knoll top. His features were concealed by the light from the grassy field behind as it shown past him and into her and Cavok’s eyes.
Slowly, the stranger walked down out of the sunlight and into the shaded grove, Arie letting out a gasp as he did so.
“Yozo….”
Cavok slowly got to his feet, no weapon in hand but still remaining a terribly threatening sight to the average traveler’s eye.
“How did you find us?” Arie inquired, a hint of worry apparent in her voice. With how winding their trail had been over the last few days, she realized that to find their trail, it meant his intent would have had to have been paramount, making sure to track their every move hourly for the last week or so since they had seen him along the road. A man whose whole focus doggedly remained glued to their whereabouts for a week straight was no man to be taken lightly, she knew, and with how he had dispatched Nomad so easily last encounter, her worry was well warranted.
“It seems, whatever you did to him up in that monastery, got Hiro moving again; though, whatever possesses him now, does not seem to render him coherent,” the foreign man Arie knew as Yozo said as he casually strolled down the hill of moss and grass.
Cavok went to intercept the approaching man, but Arie called for him to stop.
“Wait,” she said, the tremble in her voice causing Cavok more pause than the word itself. Keeping an eye on Yozo’s sword hand lightly atop his hilt, Arie hefted her bow and addressed the foreigner, “We give you one chance to explain yourself. You are a skilled duelist, I have borne witness to that, and so I would have us avoid conflict here if possible, but think us not novices to battle.”
Arie waited for an answer from the man, ready to nock an arrow at the first signs of aggression. She knew they had no margin of delay with Yozo.
Yozo’s eyebrow rose, a smirk flashing before he responded in broken callatum, “Threaten me with muscles…” he nodded to Cavok, “and arrows?” nodding to Arie. “You’ve tried that last we met. If I wanted, I could handle you both without effort, even with the help of your sneak behind that tree over there. But my purpose does not involve you three. Hiro must pay for his sins upon my family…our family.”
Fin quietly stepped out from behind the tree realizing his cover was blown, responding to the man’s ramblings, “If your quarrel is with Nomad, then it is with us. We will protect him with our life. If you are here for Nomad, you may not have him. If you plan to fight us to get to him, then let’s go. If not, be on your way. We have pressing matters.”
Yozo’s grip tightened on his hilt for a moment, his smirk turning deadly flat, eyes jutting from one foe to the next, calculating.
Tension in the grove ramped suddenly, Arie nocking a bow slowly, Fin slipping a hand to a line of throwing daggers, and Cavok’s muscles taut, straining in anticipation. The tension mounted to a tipping point, just before Yozo relaxed his grip, letting out a sigh as a distant yell broke the silence.
“What was that?” Arie blurted out, relaxing her string as Yozo let his hand slide off his sword hilt.
“Sephentho’s scouts are on their way. I thought I could get to you sooner than they, but it appears they were not leisurely about their pace,” Yozo sighed once more.
“We need to get Nomad and move. We’ve stayed here much longer than I had liked,” Fin insisted, moving to a buried, exhausted Nomad, starting to work on digging him out.
“Wait,” Arie barked, not liking that Fin was letting his guard down with Yozo still a threat in their presence.
Looking back to Yozo, she questioned, “How many scouts are on their way?”
Yozo tilted his head, trying to get a better listen as the sounds of commotion could be heard in the grass field above and said in a low tone, “Five, but they are not the problem. The troop they scout for holds thirty-five as far as I could count. I do not know how far behind that troop is, but dealing with those scouts would delay us for too long.”
Arie looked to Fin and Cavok, not sure where they stood currently—Yozo’s presence complicating the situation further.
“I wish to settle things with Hiro, but now is not the time. Get him out of here or risk having Sephentho’s might upon us all here and now. I can give you only a few minutes. Use that time wisely.”
Tipping his wide-brimmed hat, Yozo turned, and just before rushing back up the mossy knoll, he added, “Just know, I will be back to collect my dues. Hiro will answer for his transgressions.”
Arie watched the foreign man for a moment, disappearing through the tall grass, heading straight for the noise of the scouting party, then turned to see that Cavok and Fin had already begun the task of getting Nomad unearthed.
The great tree’s roots gave them no rebuff this time, and with a bit of dirt removed and one great yank from Cavok, Nomad’s ragged body was wrenched from his earthen, wooden prison, Fin tightly wrapping the unconscious man with steel cord around the arms and torso, clipping it to itself to bind the man in case he awoke to his usual ill-tempered self.
“At the ready! He’s in the grass!” the group heard from above in the field, a scuffle ensuing, though luckily for them, the melee did not sound as though it was getting closer to them currently.
Looking back for a moment through the dark woods where Reza had followed the dryad into, Arie went to help Cavok hoist Nomad’s exhausted body over the tall man’s shoulder.
“What about Reza?” Cavok huffed, adjusting to the man’s weight.
Arie looked back once more, still not sure if they should search out Reza and risk getting deeper into the strange woods or head of
f to the west and attempt to reconnect to the highway after losing their pursuers.
“I’ll find her,” Fin said easily, patting Nomad on the back. “You two just get this one safe back to Sheaf. It’s maybe a two-week journey from here at a clip. Get some mounts when you can. With Reza’s healing attempt for Nomad failed, I’m not sure what other options we have, if any. At least in Sheaf we’ll have safe harbor while we figure this whole mess out.”
“Sounds good,” Cavok gruffed, starting off immediately to the west along the treeline, Fin calling after Cavok as he left, “Keep an eye out for that Yozo fellow. He seemed like trouble. And I know how you like to push your luck with trouble.”
Fin let out a smile as he watched Cavok lope off, grunting back at his long-time friend’s unnecessary worry, giving Arie a hearty reassuring pat on the shoulder before turning for the dark woods.
“Hey,” Arie called to Fin, causing him to pause once, halfway turning back to her. “Watch over her. You damn well better not make us wait for you there long.”
Fin issued a flippant smile and salute before heading through the oaken boughs that led him down the shady woodland path, hoping the trail led to Reza.
15
Blood in the Trees
A calm breeze blew in through the green canopy above, drifting a sappy bitter smell down to the garden floor where Reza sat, listening to the council of dryads chatter in their creaky treekin speech.
Just when she was about ready to interrupt the drawn-out communion, badly wanting to get back to her group at that point, Leaf turned to her and spoke once more in their language, Tulanae standing supportively by her sister’s side as she made her announcement.
“We have come to some conclusions. Most more than likely don’t concern you directly, but I feel it best to keep honest with you of our motives in helping you on this mission of yours.
