by Wolfe Locke
“Pleased to meet you, Terra,” Zander said, bowing low. Wood nymphs were touchy, and it paid to be respectful.
“Elves, I’m all right with,” she said, looking him up and down and then glancing around at the rest of the group. “The golem is fine too. No problems with golems, I can smell the Netherworld on him. But what manner of creature is this… Celeste?”
“Excuse me?” Celeste raised an eyebrow and said. “Did you just ask what am I?”
“I already know. Human right? I can smell the taint of your people on you. Corruption and filth.” Terra bared her teeth, looking feral, and Zander quickly jumped in.
“My golem’s in trouble,” he said. “As you can see. None of us can heal him, and it’ll take too long for him to regenerate the limb in the Nether. We don’t have the power to heal him here. Do you? Also, Celeste is an ice spirit, not a human. At least not anymore.”
Nymphs loved flattery, and this one was no exception. She looked at Rocktooth’s head, nostrils flaring. Then she nodded.
“Yeah. I can heal him. But on one condition.” The nymph smiled as if toying with an idea that Zander wasn't going to like.
“What’s that?” Zander prepared for the worst.
“Once my forest comes back completely and has taken all of this back for nature, I’ll be bound here for the rest of my life. But before then, while it’s returning, I’m still able to travel. I want to come with you three and see more of the world. Let me join your group." For Zander, that wasn't the worst ask he had heard. He pretended to considered it, but his mind was already decided.
“Okay,” Zander agreed, trying to not sound unhappy with the arrangement. He didn’t relish the idea of having a touchy wood nymph along for the ride. But if she could help Rocktooth, it was worth it. Besides, another member of the team helps for getting through the ruins safe.
Celeste crossed her arms but said nothing. He wondered if he’d be getting an earful from her later. He could already tell that she didn’t like Terra any more than he did. But for now, at least, they were stuck with her.
Notification: You have gained a party member.
Terra the Wood Nymph has joined your party. Hailing from the wooded grove of Old Mill, she has agreed to help Rocktooth in exchange for a chance to adventure.
Chapter Sixteen: The Way Back
* * *
“All right, golem!” Terra said, wrapping a pair of vines around her hands and planting her bare feet in the earth. “Let’s bring your body back.”
Okay. Sure. She knows I have a name, right? You did tell her correct Zander? Unlike Celeste, it’s difficult for me to talk to her direct.
She closed her eyes, and the forest was filled with a ghostly green light as her magic settled around Rocktooth’s head. One stone arm sprouted out of the ground, then the other. In seconds, he was fully formed again and sitting up cheerfully.
I am all that is ROCK! Give her my thanks. That worked better than I expected it to.
Terra shot a smug look over at Celeste, who pretended not to see her. Zander swallowed. A nymph and a powerful human-turned-frost-spirit, traveling together and at each other’s throats? It didn’t sound like his ideal type of journey.
Keep those two separated, Rocktooth rumbled as he slowly got to his feet. I’ll keep watch tonight. You will need to keep them separated. I know the way of women are new to you, but for one as old as me, I’ve seen this before. Jealousy.
The golem practically skipped, at least as close to skipping as a giant rock person could get as he took off into the woods. Rocktooth was pleased to have his body back. Well, at least someone was happy.
“Don’t worry,” Terra said casually. “We’re safe here. I don’t allow monsters in my forest. If any do try and manage to get passed my plants, I’ll let you know.”
“That’s good,” Zander said, glancing over at Celeste.
“I’ve a network. Like I’ve got all the trees to keep watch for me. The vines do their part too. It was a pretty big effort. Ashes and beeches don’t naturally like to come together. They’re sworn enemies. Always have been. But I was able to get them both to the table.”
“Uh,” Celeste interjected sarcastically. “Great work, Terra. Very diplomatic. I’m sure your, whatever you have, would be very proud of you.”
“It was quite an achievement.” The nymph replied testily. “Better than some people might be able to do.”
She shot Celeste a significantly dark look, and Zander decided to change the subject. “Hey, thanks for fixing Rocktooth. We were really worried about him.”
“I’m a skilled healer,” Terra said. “It’s a wood nymph thing. And I’d like to say I’m better than average. It comes from having to deal with humans for centuries. They injured plenty of my trees—and it was on me to make them better.”
“Elves are good healers too. And Celeste, here, was able to identify about thirty types of medicine in a Healer’s Den.”
“It’s true,” Celeste said. “I was. Including the ever-important mysterious V capsules. We’re going to earn a lot of money when we get back to Zander’s village.”
“Money,” Terra said, rolling her eyes. “My people don’t care about it at all. I don’t understand why anyone does.”
“Do you want me to explain money to you, Terra?” Celeste said, her voice syrupy-sweet. “I’d be happy to educate you.”
“So, are you planning to come back to my village too?” Zander said interrupting before things got worse. “How far do you want to travel with us?”
“As far as you’ll let me!” she said, looking genuinely excited. “Until my forest is almost finished taking back all of this area.But that won’t be for a while. There’s a lot of traveling ahead for me yet!”
Zander tried not to groan. But if she was determined to come with them, it was probably best to be polite. She was clearly a powerful mage.
“All right,” he said, pulling out his map and spreading it on the ground. “Do you guys want to see where we’re going? We can plot out a route to my village.”
The two females clustered around him, bending low over the map.
“Where is it?” Celeste said, squinting her eyes as she tried to read, before figuring out most of the markings had been written in the language of the elves.
He pointed. “Its right there. The big star drawn on the map. It’s called Haven. If I had to guess, its about two or three days’ walk from here, so not too bad.”
“It’s closer than I expected.” Celeste admitted. “I thought we’d have to be on the road for much longer.”
“Yeah, the city ends pretty quickly. Soon we’ll be in the actual forest.” Zander replied, looking apologetically at Terra. “Not to say this isn’t also a nice forest.”
“That’s not how I remember it at all,” she said. “Atlanta used to sprawl on forever. You’d think you were almost out of it and then it just…kept going…. You never hit forest until you hit Blue Ridge.”
Terra made a face. “I’ve never really left my wood, but that sounds right for what I know of humans. Endless sprawl of grey and black. Dead trees everywhere. Concrete. Animals shoved out of their natural habitats. Savagery.”
“Well, I don’t know how it was,” Zander said. “I only know how it is now. And now, the city itself is terrible, but at least it’s pretty contained. The forest where my village is great though! You guys will love it. You’ll see!”
He was trying to keep things positive, but the women were almost snarling at each other. Time to get back to the map.
“So, as you can see, we’ll be heading north. There are a few demi-human villages on the way that it might be worth hitting up. We can try to sell some of our gear in advance so we’re not stuck lugging it all the way back. And some of the demi-humans themselves might be interesting to you, Celeste! They’ve got all kinds of skills. And you can get used to seeing them before we get to Haven.”
Terra sneered. “She’s never seen a demi-human before? Really? Where’s she from?”
“Hey,” Zander said. “Around here, we’re nice.”
He was fine with Celeste not wanting to talk too much about her past and reveal more to the nymph about her previous human life. Given Terra’s vendetta against all humankind, it seemed like that would only make things worse. Luckily, Rocktooth interrupted.
All clear, the Golem projected as he poking his head in between the trees. No monsters in sight or in earshot. I’ll keep patrolling, though.
“Rocktooth says it’s all clear.” Zander told them.
Terra looked around at them gleefully. “See? I told you two I keep my forest clean. If any monster comes within ten feet of us, my trees will beat it to death.”
“That’s impressive, Terra,” Zander said, shooting Rocktooth a pointed look.
I thought you might need some help, the golem said. So I came back. But for the rest of the night, you’re on your own.
Chapter Seventeen: Saving the World
* * *
The mood was still tense the next morning, as Celeste started to build a fire for breakfast.
“I hope you’re using downed wood,” Terra said. “Not pulling branches off my trees.”
“Yep,” Celeste said curtly. “All from the ground. Took me a little while to find enough, too. I had to get up early to do it.”
“That’s because I keep my forest clean. And I don’t need to sleep. You could have asked me to get the wood for you. I’d have been happy to oblige.” Terra explained.
“All right. I will next time.” Celeste responded in a voice that let them both know she had no such intention.
Zander was already aware that Terra didn’t need to sleep. She’d been hanging around all night, planting flowers and encouraging trees to stretch their branches over the camp as additional shelter. It was nice, but a little excessive.
“What are you making for breakfast?” Terra said. “I can gather up some nuts and berries for you.”
“No need, we’ve got some bacon left over from a find yesterday, maybe I can find some bird eyes—” Celeste said, and the nymph recoiled, looking horrified.
“Meat? Eggs?” she said. “Seriously?”
“What’s wrong with meat?” Celeste asked defensively.
“I’m a vegetarian. All wood nymphs are. We find meat disgusting. It’s just animal flesh. Muscles, and things.” Terra explained. Zander was fairly confident her heard the nymph mouth murderer a few times after.
“Well,” Celeste snapped. “You don’t have to eat it.”
“Maybe we can do something else?” Terra said. “There’s a stand of ferns down by the duck pond. We could do toasted ferns for breakfast instead. Since you didn’t want the nuts and berries.”
“Sure,” Celeste said. “It’s your woods.”
They both looked at each other for a minute.
Terra crossed her arms. “So do you want to go get those ferns, or--?”
“Fine!” Celeste snapped, throwing her arms in the air in frustration. “I’ll go get the ferns.”
She stormed off. Terra watched her go, then sat gracefully on the ground next to the half-built fire and snapped her fingers. The wood caught flame instantly.
“Why are you being such a jerk to Celeste?” Zander said. “I know this is your forest, but you were really rude to her just now. And you could have helped her with the fire at any point.”
The nymph shrugged. “She smells human.”
“She is human. Or was. She’s something else now that.” Zander explained. “I’m trying to help her become human again.”
“Well, there you go then.” Terra replied curtly. “I don’t like humans. I don’t want them in my forest. I don’t want to be around them at all.”
Zander sighed. “Look. I get it. They destroyed your forest. Turned it into a park. Killed a lot of trees. That wasn’t right.”
“It wasn’t,” she said, crossing her arms.
“But Celeste didn’t have anything to do with any of that. It’s not her fault.” Zander protested
“Still.” Terra continued.
“And if you want to come with us, you guys need to figure out how to get along.” Zander said.
Terra looked annoyed. “Seriously?”
“Seriously.” Zander replied with a firmness. “You can’t be fighting constantly. We need to be on the same team if we’re going to make it back to Haven safely.”
“But she’s—” Terra’s voice trailed off.
“But nothing.” Zander cut her off. “You’ve done a good job here, but you’ve never left your forest. You don’t know what’s out there.”
“I know enough.” The nymph replied.
“But I know more,” Zander said. “And I’m telling you. We need to work together. I don’t even know how human Celeste is at this point, anyways. She’s at least half frost spirit.”
A stick cracked behind them, and they turned. Celeste was coming back, her arms full of fiddlehead ferns. Zander nudged Terra.
“Welcome back!” the nymph said with a broad smile. Her teeth gleamed in the morning light. “Do you want help cooking the ferns?”
Celeste looked confused. “Uh, sure?”
“Ferns can be tricky, especially over an open flame.” Terra explained as she gave Zander a knowing smile. “But I’ve done it a lot, and I know I can be helpful!”
Zander glared at her. She was laying it on a little thick, but Celeste seemed genuinely pleased for the extra set of hands preparing breakfast.
“Sure, Terra!” she said. “I’d love help. We’ve got so much meat and food—maybe we can do two breakfasts—one vegetarian--on two separate platters.”
Terra shot Zander an irritated look, but her smile stayed plastered to her face. “That sounds great!”
He watched the two work on breakfast and hoped this temporary peace would last. He didn’t relish the prospect of listening to them argue all the way back to Haven.
The wood nymph’s testy, Rocktooth said. He’d finished his last round of patrols and was lounging against a tall tree. Might be a problem going forward. She hates humans maybe more than I do.
“Let’s hope not,” Zander grimaced.
After breakfast, they packed up and set off again. They were moving through the outer part of the city, and the houses were farther apart than they’d been before. Trees and other plants had taken over some of the side streets, sprouting wildly out of the pavement in some places. Terra wanted to take the long route and try to encourage some of them to grow more quickly, but Zander shook his head.
“It’ll be faster if we stay on the main road,” he said. “I want to try to get into the forest before dark.”
She’d scowled at the first part of his sentence, but the word “forest” made her perk up again.
“What forest?” she said. “Are there other nymphs there? I’d love to see what they’re up to. We can trade gardening tips.”
“There are a lot of nymphs,” Zander said. “They’re all very kind and friendly. Accepting of others. Quick to forgive.”
He was trying to make a point, but she either didn’t notice or was deliberately ignoring him. Celeste kept walking at the front of the column with Rocktooth, completely oblivious to the conversation taking place behind her.
“I wonder if I can take some seedlings back with me,” Terra said. “Diversify the makeup of my wood. I really need some oak trees. Are there oaks near your village?”
“Yes,” he said. “And they’re large. I used to climb on one of the oldest ones when I was a kid. You could jump right into the river from its branches”
“As long as you were respectful,” she sniffed haughtily. “Oaks are dignified creatures.”
They were on an ugly stretch of road, flanked by low buildings that had once been stores. They were all dilapidated now, and their windows were broken.
“Draugr City,” Terra said. “I bet every one of those buildings is crawling with undead.”
“Hm,” Zander said absently. He was looking at Celeste.
She and Rocktooth had come to a stop outside a store, and she was peering through the windows eagerly.
“It’s a game store!” she said.
“Games? Like dice?” Elves had a few games with dice and sticks that Elders liked to play. Zander’s mother had always discouraged him from gambling, so he didn’t know the rules.
“No!” Celeste said. “Like video games.”
He and Terra looked at each other blankly. She shrugged.
“Come over and look!” Celeste said. “There’s a ton of stuff in here.”
“Probably a ton of Draugr, too,” Terra muttered, but she followed Zander to see what they were supposed to be looking at.
There was a big banner in the window of the store. It was faded and torn, but it was still possible to make out what had once been on it. A stylized elf in a green jumpsuit held a sword high above his head, looking fierce. A giant horse pranced next to him, and a red wolf was curled up at his feet. They all seemed to be in some kind of fantasy mountain world, with dense forests and a clear blue sky.
“Is that an elf?” Zander said. “It’s kind of offensive. A little stereotypical, yeah?”
“It’s from my time,” Celeste explained. “We didn’t know elves were real. So everyone just sort of made things up. It’s a fantasy elf.”
“I mean, we don’t all have magical wolves to keep us company. Although I wish I did.”
“Humans,” Terra said, rolling her eyes. The vines on her arms had grown thorns, and Zander made a mental note to keep an eye on her.
“Well, elf aside, it’s an advertisement for a game!” Celeste said. “And it’s one I used to play, too. I remember that horse. I always wanted to get it, but I couldn’t manage to train it.”
“You rode a horse…in a game?” Zander said. He felt a little slow, like there was something he wasn’t getting.
“Yeah. I guess it’s hard to explain if you have no idea what a video game is.” Celeste continued, “But yeah, you could ride a horse around, hang with that wolf, fight. And there was a whole story. A wizard was menacing the kingdom and you were that magical elf guy. You were the only one with the power to stop him. It was really epic and exciting.”
