"Caïssa..."

I ignore the notification window, staring at the grass where the woman, Caïssa, had just been. Just like that. She was gone.

Here, one moment, gone the next. If we weren't here with her, would Caïssa even be remembered at all?

To die alone, in a wild forest, with no family or friends to mourn your passing.

Only the vines that had covered her body remained. Upon those vines, smaller flowers bloomed, in soft, pastel hues of red, blue, yellow, green, purple- every color on the spectrum.

My chest felt heavy.

"Hohhh" A deep grunt echoes behind me. Greenie pokes one of the lighter blue flowers with a finger.

It was a rainbow. Like the song, I'd sung for her. The flowers were blooming in a rainbow of colors.

Isn't it beautiful, Greenie?

I blink hard, knowing if I was still a human, tears of sadness would be pouring down my cheeks. As it was, I was left with a tight chest and a deep sadness for a life lost.

Greenie doesn't respond, gently stroking the petals as the hag had done.

He didn't understand what I meant when I said beautiful. But he felt the same pain I did at the sight of the delicate flowers.

Clip-clop. What sounds like hoof beats I knew was the sound of the Minotaur and the dwarf returning. They quietly exchanged words outside my hearing. Probably the Minotaur telling the dwarf of the dryad, Caïssa's passing.

The dwarf had wound the remnants of the silver metal he'd used to splint my wing into his long beard.

Now, as Greenie and I sat and stared at the beautiful blooms, he unwound it from his beard, while the Minotaur whuffed and spoke a few words in a low tone.

Even now, the Minotaur would punctuate his words with a long, forlorn call, the low tones resonating out over the lake.

And the dwarf finishes fiddling with the remaining metal, sliding his hands over the dirt to try and find where Caïssa's grave was.

"Crawwwk.." My call shows him the direction of the vines, and he pats his hands till he finds the small mound of vines and flowers.

And then he places down whatever he'd made among the vines.

Which reminded me..

Caïssa's seed!

I carefully step over each flower, looking for the brown seed that had sprouted from her belly button.

Found it!
It lay right under the thickest layer of tangled vines, nestled where the flowers bloomed the brightest. Carefully, I pluck it out with my beak.

The moment the seed leaves the safety of the surrounding vines, the flowers and leaves start to rapidly wither and shrivel away.

Caïssa's flowers! I hadn't meant to do that!

And then they were gone, as quickly as Caïssa's own body had disappeared, while I froze in shock.
The large brown seed was still between my beak.

And there was something else too.
Something shiny that Greenie picks up and gathers into his palm for me to see. Small clear stones, the size of a baby's fingernail, that reflected a rainbow prism in the sunlight.

[Dryad Tears]

There was nothing else in the description from appriasal.

Oooooh!

Oh come on, Raven! Shaking my head, I try to look away from the stones. I'd just witnessed a person's death and I was back to thinking about lovely, bright, beautiful shiny things.

But these were nice and shiny as well, not as shiny as the stones in the slave collars, but good enough to add to my collection.
Greenie, can you hold these for now?

I drop the seed into his hand with the Tears.
My beak hurt from holding the large seed for too long.

Stretching my neck a few times, I turn to check on the remaining two-

KABOOOOOOM!!!

A large explosion sends flocks of birds flying up out of the trees.

"Kieek!"
"Groaaar!!"
Both Greenie and the Minotaur cry out while the dwarf immediately gets down low on the ground.
Something flashes as it falls out of Greenie's hand towards the ground.

Flapping my good wing backward, I whirl my neck in surprise towards the explosion while a small soundwave ruffles the white feathers at my throat.

A thick pillar of smoke rose into the air above the treeline.

Wha-WHat!

What just happened!!!

That was definitely an explosion!! And it came from where we'd just been!

-Where my shinies were stored!!!!!

Nuoooooooh!!!!!

Something or someone had destroyed my pretties!! my preciousssess!!

The clay cracks a little with my anguish, the return of sharp pain bringing me back to my senses. As well as the excited barks of one dwarf who shook his fist in the direction of the explosion.

"Ede faecam!!!!"

His short, stocky frame danced around in glee with the most expression I'd ever seen from him as he continued to shout the same words.

"Ede faecam!!!! Ede faecam!!!! Ha! HAHAHAHA!!" And then he laughed, deep belly laughs as tears streamed out of his eyes.

The Minotaur joins in, laughing, when the dwarf takes the time, between laughs, to explain the joke.
......

Too bad both Greenie and I weren't in on it.

Now both of them were laughing, the dwarf rolling around in the grass while the Minotaur's tail whipped around in excitement.

Forcefully pushing the subject of shinies out of my mind, I check on my comrade.

Greenie, are you okay? How's the seed?

Master…

His wide green shoulders sagged.

Greenie drop..

Even with small, beady eyes, Greenie successfully does a sad puppy face.
So I had seen him drop a Tear then when the explosion happened.

It's okay, Greenie, we can look for....

I trail off when I glance down at the ground to check for the Tear he'd dropped.

Woahh!

Somehow, the Tear he'd dropped had landed on the patch of dead flowers left behind by Caïssa. And the flowers were popping up everywhere in the grass surrounding the lake.

A rainbow of hues, flowers of every color, springing to life and turning a simple forest lake into a setting straight out of a fairytale.

Greenie sorry, Master…

Greenie continues to apologize through the thought link, but I reassure him with a pat on his thick calves.

No, Greenie, you did well.

Master?

We know what the Tears do! Good job, Greenie! I pat him again to reassure him.

Now we knew the Tears were some sort of super plant nutrient. And now, with the grass surrounding the lake covered with small beautiful blossoms, it was a fitting tribute to Caïssa.

The Dryad would like this. I tell Greenie.

She like....

Greenie blinks hard, scratching his head to hide the blush that makes his ears change color again.

"Haahh, haaah" The two's laughter finally seemed to be settling down, as the Minotaur finally notices the change in the grass around him.

He stoops down to whuffle the flowers with his cow head, sneezing when a petal inadvertently gets snorted in.

Well, now with my wits about me, I knew we couldn't go back to where the explosion was, for now. It was too dangerous.

Another flock of birds takes flight, calling out to each other as they spread out, away from the source of the explosion. Like those birds, other creatures would be affected. Some of them might even come this way.

Slowly making my way towards the waters of the lake, I dribble some water down my throat as I think.

A glance at my reflection makes me pause. Half of my body was covered in clay, with bits of shiny metal sticking out here and there. Like I was some sort of half-bird, half-robot. Reminding me that yet again, I'd lost my ability to fly.

....We needed to get out of here. My Scent Detection kept picking up something in the bushes beyond us, on the other side of the lake. There was a scent of something musty and wet, carried over on the breeze caused by the blast.

I'd kept quiet about it because I didn't want to have Greenie freaking out while Caïssa gave birth.

Quietly, I called Greenie.

..Greenie we should go now.

Yes, Master.

He was quick to pick me up, scooping me up using his fingers as a perch for my talons. For now, we would head back to the cave and gather our belongings.

The way back was now memorized in my head, so I wouldn't have to fly up and guide us back. Greenie adjusts the slingshot (that he hadn't used yet!) in his loincloth and wraps up the Tears and Seed in a scrap of cloth that remained from Caïssa's clothes.

And then, with me on his shoulder, he turned towards the bushes in the direction of our cave-

To find the dwarf and the Minotaur, both kneeling on the ground and looking up at with an expectant gaze.

"Kieek!"

I accidentally squeeze too hard on Greenie's meaty shoulder with my talon.

Aw man...

I'd forgotten about them for a moment...