“That’s a tree,” Yvette whispered.
“Look again. That’s not a tree. It’s a dryad,” Gervas said firmly, slowly loosening his pull on the bow, though not unnocking the arrow.
“It’s very much a--” The words stuck in her throat a moment later and she realized that it wasn’t a tree at all. She looked like one of the most beautiful women Yvette had ever seen, her skin just a light tint green, her hair flowing like thin vines down her form. Her body was clothed in small, green leaves. Yvette flushed a moment later, wondering how she could have mistaken her for a tree at all. However, when she glanced away and looked back, once again there was a tree in place. She blinked a few times and was once again able to make out the woman hidden beneath the illusion of a tree. “How is she doing that? Wait. No. Don’t answer that. Magic.”
Gervas gave a light chuckle. “You’re the mage, aren’t you?”
“I’ve read books about them, I’ve never actually seen one before!”
“You probably have. They’re very tricky,” he muttered. “Why are you here?”
“I was curious,” the creature said. However, when the woman spoke it was as if a veil had been lifted. Yvette could now firmly make out the woman, her eyes focusing on her and no longer struggling to see through the tree.
“That’s incredible! How do you do that?” Yvette asked. “That magic, it makes you seem so… tree like.”
“I am a tree,” the dryad said,
“Right, of course,” Yvette said softly, staring at the creature. She had read about dryads in the past, but not very much. They were fairly peaceful creatures, long lived and slow. As long as you avoided damaging their groves, they would rarely harm humans. In fact, they were said to bring life and growth everywhere they went, able to turn barren wastelands into beautiful fields in only a few years.
A chill went down her back. While they, themselves, were rarely dangerous to humans, they were often surrounded by things that were far more deadly. To hurt a dryad was said to cause a curse to fall on the offender, that all manner of monsters would track the cursed one and destroy them, both body and soul. While there was no actual proof of this, many dryads were guarded by fay and some were even guarded by dragons.
“How long have you been watching us?” Gervas asked.
“Since you stepped into my new grove yesterday.”
“Why did you--” Gervas started, but Yvette cut him off.
“What’s your name?” she asked quickly.
The dryad turned to her with a confused look. “My name? Yes. In your tongue I believe it would loosely translate to Sun Through The Golden Leaves. Though I have found many of you call me Sunny.”
“Have we trespassed on your lands? Done anything to disturb your grove?” she asked, trying to keep the worry out of her voice. If a dryad was here, there was no telling what else was out there, watching them.
“You have done no harm from what I have seen,” she said.
“Wonderful!” Yvette stepped forward and quickly felt Gervas’ hand on her shoulder, pulling her back. “Hey!”
“Don’t go closer to it,” he snapped. “It’s still a fay, they’re dangerous.”
“She’s a dryad,” Yvette said firmly. “They’re harmless. Unless we hurt her, but even then she’s unlikely to attack us.”
“It has been spying on us. We have no idea what it can do.”
“Her, not it. And she’s...” Yvette trailed off and glanced at the creature. “Is it her?”
“Excuse me?” Sunny asked.
“Her. Are you a her? Or a him?”
She stared at her for the longest time before shaking her head. “Ah. This question again. I believe her is closer to what I am than he.”
“Okay, right,” Yvette said before turning back to Gervas. “See? Her.”
“I don’t think it’s either. Or it doesn’t understand the question.”
“Her.”
“Fine. We don’t know what she’s capable of. If we’re in her grove, then we could be in a lot of danger.”
“You are in much danger,” Sunny said.
“See?” Gervas said, before glancing back to the dryad. His hand tensed and he started to pull the arrow back, but Yvette reached out and gripped the hand on the arrow.
“She wouldn’t have come here to just threaten us,” she snapped. “Can we please try to hear her out? You know how rare it is to be able to talk to a dryad? They don’t leave their groves that often and they can be really skittish. So can we please not shoot the nice dryad, for me?”
“I am not skittish, but I am aware of the dangers of such weapons. They are quite the favorite of Xequ’tulon’s chosen. Please do not aim it at me,” Sunny said. “I have met many of your kind, however. You are quite interesting, when not hostile.”
“See?” Yvette said. “She’s harmless. Now, Sunny? Why are we in danger?”
“You are heading into my home.”
“I thought we were in your grove already?” Yvette asked, glancing back at the dryad. The woman looked confused for a moment, before shaking her head.
“No. Yes. You are. But my home. My first grove. It is very dangerous. Three trolls have come and destroyed all. Taken over my grove to feast on the magic that dwells within. To go there would catch their attention, you will be devoured.”
Yvette’s eyes widened and she turned towards Gervas. “We should--”
“No,” Gervas said firmly, slowly lowering his bow. “Sunny, was it? Thank you for the warning. Could you tell us how to go around it, then?”
“Yes. Continue as you are, but do not cross the river. Go upstream to where the water springs forth from inside the land. Cross past there and you will be outside my home. The trolls will not disturb you.”
“Thank you,” he said before he reached down and began to unstring his bow. “Well, I guess you were right, Yvette. Let’s go.”
“W-what? But… but we need to help!”
Gervas shook his head. “No, we don’t. Trolls. There is one simple thing you do when it comes to creatures like this. You go around them. You do not try and get them to go around you.”
“But… but...” Yvette glanced back at the tree once again. The dryad had gone so still that the tree appearance seemed to have fully taken over once more. “She needs our help. We can’t just ignore her.”
Gervas sighed and grabbed her wrist, before pulling her forward. “Yes we can and yes we will. Listen, this is so, so far beyond us. Do you know what happens to people who mess with trolls? They die.”
“But my magic is--”
“Your magic isn’t up to this task. Maybe if it was one troll, I’d say yes. But you heard her. Three of them. Do you even know what a troll is?” he asked, continuing to drag her along behind him. Chestnut and Redwood followed slowly behind even without them guiding.
“Yes. A massive, destructive creature about the size of a house with a thick hide, like stone. They devour magic and magical creatures, using it to sustain their forms. Incredibly dangerous.”
“And you want to fight three of them. What in our history together makes you think we could?”
“Not all at once. If we took them on one at a time, then--”
“One at a time,” Gervas muttered under his breath. “You’re going to get us both killed with thoughts like that. They are trolls.”
“You asked me, once, what kind of mage I want to be. You said you were proud of the fact I wanted to be the kind of mage that helped people. She’s people.”
Gervas stopped for a moment. She could see it in the way he wavered, however. He was considering it. Even better, she could see the way his jaw was setting, how frustrated he was getting. She was winning.
“Besides. It’s a mage’s duty to deal with these kinds of things. Trolls are destructive. They’ll drain this place dry and then move on to the next place full of magic. Then the next. Eventually, they’ll become too strong for anyone to deal with. There’s three of them, so if they’re grouped up like that they might not be that strong yet. This may be our chance to get rid of them before they get out of hand.”
Gervas sighed and slowly let her hand go before glancing back to her. “You know, when I said those things, I didn’t mean go blindly into suicide,” he said, his voice dripping with annoyance.
“It’s not suicide. I know if you’re there, you won’t let anything too bad happen. How about this. We just take a little look and, if it’s too dangerous, we’ll leave.”
He eyed her for a moment, his eyes narrowing. Finally, he gave a small nod. The frustrated twitching of his eyebrows and jaw told her that she had won. “Very well. But you do EXACTLY as I say. Understand? No running off and trying to do it your own way. You follow my directions at all times.”
“Of course,” she said, a grin forming on her lips. “I’ll do exactly as you say.”
“Don’t know why I let you get away with this stuff,” he muttered to himself before reaching out to grab the reins of Redwood, slowly guiding the horse forward. She did the same for Chestnut, though she didn’t understand the need. Both of the horses were mageborne, animals altered and shifted by magic to make them smarter, stronger, faster and just superior to any normal horse. While they weren’t quite as smart as a human, they were more than capable of following commands and keeping up.
Still, they did seem to prefer being led, so she had no qualms about directing them as needed. They were excellent partners for the trip and she couldn’t have imagined their journey without them. She felt another rush of excitement for the coming experience.
She’d never seen a troll before. She’d heard of them, but there was no telling what they were actually like. Meeting a dryad and a troll in the same day would be incredible.
------
“Wait here,” Gervas said, staring into Redwood’s eyes. “Keep Chestnut out of trouble. We’ll be back soon.”
Yvette stared at the river before them. It wasn’t very deep, though it was incredibly wide. “We’re not bringing them?”
“No. They have a lot of magic in them, I’d rather these trolls didn’t know they were anywhere nearby. We’re a lot smaller and easier to hide.”
“Right,” she said, her heart beating faster when she looked across the river. Soon.
Gervas fully readied himself for the coming battle, strapping his sword to his hip, tying his quiver and unstrung bow across his back. He then made sure both of their bags were properly secured to the saddles before turning back towards her. “Carry this,” he said, before tossing his shield to her and picking up his spear in his right hand.
The heavy metal nearly knocked her over, making her stumble back a few feet when it hit her. “T-this thing is heavier than your sword! How do you fight with this?”
“Experience.”
“Why am I carrying it?” she asked before repositioning it on her left arm.
“Because we’re crossing together.” He took her right hand with his left and began the slow trek across the river. He used his spear as a walking stick, poking into the water and testing the ground before each step.
“It’s not that deep, we can see the bottom,” Yvette mumbled, keeping her voice low. Though she’d expected the water to be ice cold, it felt warm against her feet, soothing her ankles.
“It can still be slippery or unstable. Yvette, remember what I said? Follow my direction. Keep it down, too. We don’t want these things noticing us.”
“Right,” she whispered, letting him slowly guide her through the water. The trip was slow, but calm. However, when they came on the bank she couldn’t help but let out a soft, startled gasp.
Everything felt different. The moment they stepped onto the dirt of the opposite bank, it was as if they walked through a veil. The trees and grass were so green they seemed to almost glimmer like emeralds. The air tasted sweet and inviting, warmth that seemed to flow around her like a gaseous blanket. Almost at once she felt so comfortable she could have laid down and slept.
Even more so, there were things out there. She didn’t know what they were, though. Just things. They seemed to move out of the corner of her vision, but when she tried to focus on them, they were gone a moment later. As if they weren’t there at all. “What’s that?”
“Fay,” Gervas whispered, slowly pulling her forward. “Do you mind removing the water?”
“Right,” she said quickly, before waving her hand down. “Cleanse.” The water weighing down the bottom of her robes evaporated almost instantly. He then moved the hand over him and it evaporated off him as well. “So those are the fay?” she whispered.
“Probably.”
“Can you see them?”
“Sometimes. It’s not easy, though. The dryad was easier.”
“Why are you able to see through them so easily?” she asked gently.
“Because my mother used to… never mind. It’s not important. We’re in dangerous territory, look,” he whispered, pointing off into the distance.
She turned to look and, for a moment, all she noticed was that there were a beautiful pack of butterflies that, if she focused really hard, she swore she could almost make out weird, almost human, bodies attached to. However she soon saw what he meant. A small clearing of trees had been torn apart, little more than stumps remaining, with jagged, sharp tops. It looked as if the trees had just been ripped off, rather than cut. “How...”
“Trolls,” Gervas whispered. “Dangerous, deadly and big. You’re right, though. They must not be that big.”
“Why?”
“The trees weren’t ripped out by the roots.”
Yvette could feel the color drain from her face and she barely suppressed a whimper. She was starting to wish she had listened to him and just gone around. She never wanted to face something that could so easily tear out a tree.
The wonder and awe that had filled her began to crumble with this new knowledge. Those things that seemed to dance on the edge of her vision seemed so much more hostile now, as if they were monsters just waiting to strike. How Gervas could handle all of this without being scared, she didn’t know. “Have you fought a troll before?”
“Once,” he whispered, his hand tightening on hers. It was so tight it almost hurt, but she didn’t mind. The reminder that he was here, that he would keep her safe, helped to calm her nerves and drive the fear back just a little.
“What happened?”
“Broke an arm. All in all, rather well. Now quiet.”
She nodded and followed behind as quietly as she could. Her hand tightened on his just a little and she felt thankful he had given her the shield to carry. While she doubted it would do much to stop a creature that could tear apart a tree with its bare hands, it felt comforting to have some form of protection in her grip.
The things moving in the corner of her vision seemed to melt away while they traveled, though the soft warmth of the air and the brilliant green of the plant life remained.
A sudden crunching sound filled the air and Gervas moved quickly behind one of the trees, pulling her tight against him. He held a finger to her lips, waiting and watching.
There was a loud thump suddenly and she realized what she’d been hearing was. A tree. Heavy footsteps filled the air. Gervas peered around the tree and then motioned for her to slowly look as well.
She did and her heart started to hammer, barely suppressing the urge to whimper. The troll was the size of Redwood, at least, and in the midst of kicking over a tree. With each strike of its massive foot, the wood cracked until, finally, the monster reached out with a massive hand and gripped the tree, shoving it over and leaving a jagged stump behind.
The creature was incredibly round, shaped like a massive boulder. She suspected if it pulled in its arms and legs it would have been indistinguishable from one. Its hide looked as if it was made of solid stone, with small cracks throughout it. The massive creature picked up the new, toppled tree and tossed it back onto a pile of three others, before reaching back to drag them away. She stared at the trees with wide eyed horror, each one was so thick she doubted she could have wrapped her arms around them and many times her own height.
She listened helplessly while the monster dragged them off, letting out a sigh of relief once she could no longer hear it. To her amazement, Gervas seemed oddly calm, he was even smiling. “That thing was horrifying. Why are you smiling?”
“You were right. It’s not fully grown. We might be able to eliminate it before it gets fully grown. If all three of them are like that, this won’t be so bad.”
Yvette’s mouth fell open and she couldn’t help but wonder if he’d hit his head somehow when she wasn’t looking. “That thing just kicked over a tree. You saw that.”
“Yes, it did. That’s what trolls are. They’re like parasites. They devour anything and everything they can, until the land is left ravaged and destroyed,” Gervas whispered. “But that’s when they’re fully grown. Now? We can stop it before it gets out of hand.”
“How?”
“I haven’t figured that part out yet,” he mumbled. He then glanced back at her and slowly lifted a hand to pat her on the head. “We can leave if you’d rather, though. This is dangerous. You’re not a member of the Mage’s Association anymore, either. Once we get to town, we can let others know about this. They’ll probably send a message out and have someone else come deal with it.” He shook his head. “But… you’re right. I think we can deal with this. Before it gets out of hand.”
Yvette nodded. She wanted to do that, it was the smartest course of action. Fighting something like that, especially three of them, seemed impossible. All of those thoughts of how amazing an experience it would be vanished in the face of actually seeing such a monster.
She lifted a hand and slowly pressed it against her chest. So much of her life seemed impossible, though. So much of what she was trying to do. Even if it was scary, did she really want to just give up when it was hard? If she let something like this stop her from doing the right thing, then how was she going to face everything that was going to face her in the future? Besides, Gervas believed they could do it. As wary as he had been of coming here at all, how could she flee now that she had dragged him all the way here?
“No. We have to. It’s the right thing to do. You said we can handle it, right?”
“I think we can. It won’t be easy, though. There’s a chance we could die.”
“We could die at any time already,” she said with a small smile. “Besides, I’m sure I could find a use for troll’s blood for a reagent of some kind. Who knows?”
“There’s the mage,” he said with a light chuckle before he started to pull away from the tree and make his way after the troll.
Yvette’s eyes wandered down to his hand and she felt a little red filling her cheeks. He hadn’t let her hand go since they’d started across the river. She felt she should have been frustrated or annoyed, as if he was just babying her. But his presence was comforting. It made her feel warm and safe.
So long as she had him by her side, she knew she could face whatever came.
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