Auratic

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As Dryssia drew near she noticed the new arrival, dismounting quickly and simply, froze… staring at the girl without a word or warning.

• “Hey, Dryssia, what’s that thing…?”

Yet there was no answer. Thankfully however, the tree-like thing also stopped before long. There was no need to take action if it remained stationary.

• “Is everything alright?

Even on her quiet days it was unlike of Dryssia to not respond to Alicia. Sensing that something wasn’t quite right Alicia looked around, this time even the ever so knowledgeable Water spirit had no idea as she gently shook her head side to side, Rufus seemed just as clueless while Ramiel seemed to be finally at ease, free from Apricot’s caress. At last she took notice that the Epimeliad had also lost all of her animation as well. The situation turned into the most disquieting staring competition. Despite their stillness there was clearly life in them still. Trying to understand what was happening Alicia turned to her usual methods.

⟨ Cold Reader ⟩

‘...........................................’

But there was nothing to be gleamed. A static whitenoise without emotion or thoughts that could be understood.

‘This is creeping me out now… it’s like they returned to being trees… trees… huh…?’

When she first formed a covenant with Dryssia from the pact Alicia acquired a few plantlife related skills and among them, there was one in particular which allowed her to communicate with plantlife. Without finding the opportunity to use it, it had long escaped her memories, until now.

⟨ Telepathy ⟩

‹ Floraempathy ›

Her mind operating on human - an animal - ordonnance couldn’t make sense of the language that was used within the Kingdom of Plants, being perceived only as meaningless silence. Though she now started to develop an intuition of what florae around her, felt and perceived it was still not enough, thus she delved deeper. As she tuned in to their preferred method of communication, she found herself naturally drifting away into a trancelike state. Becoming one with the ebb and flow of floral life. Innumerable complex systems of veins and arteries carried information, sugar, water, nutrients, energy, everything. Alicia understood why there were no words, no emotions. Plants had little need for such distractions. Everything and everyone one was connected, each for their individual gains yet contributing to the whole. As one sheds its excess it is taken to another, the deficit another taken from the whole. Alicia felt as if she was some bumbling tourist that had found themselves in the busiest street of another country. Streams of information passing by her. She could ‘hear’ the entire forest with incredulous detail, from the faintest whispers of tiniest blades of grass to the gentle hums of the tallest trees.

Overwhelming was the number of interactions and propinquities. And still Alicia saw two grand nexuses infront of her, where countless connections formed messy tangled matrices, sprawling out like roots of trees that knew no boundaries. The quick flashes of lights zipping back and forth between them, she could only guess that they were exchanging information. Though dryads may seem scatterbrained, Alicia now realized that perhaps there was no helping it. For they heard and tended to the wants and needs of every plant around them, mediating between dozens of thousands of trees and hundreds of thousands of plants. Though she ill-understood the ‘language’ of plants, what little she understood was enough to convey a simple message with the intention: Return. Hoping that it was unique enough to stand out among the sea of bourns filled with their own impulses. It was no different than yelling something into a crowd hoping that the few intended recipients would hear and understand it. Surprisingly it worked, perhaps it was due to the proximity or something else but the two dryads noticed it and disentangled themselves from the streams of sub-consciousness.

Alicia came to with Dryssia shaking her awake.

• “Ow. Stop shaking me, it's making me dizzy.”

Somehow she was laying on the ground.

• “Master! You’re back!”

Long burnt hazel color hair of Dryssia tickled Alicia’s face as it swayed.

• “I was about to say that to you. Well whatever. You’ve got my message, that’s what matters. Uh, how long have I been out?”

This time the water nymph answered.

• “No more than a few minutes, though you did attempt to plant your face to the ground with quite the force.”
• “And… I’m guessing you didn’t think to stop me from falling, seeing how much soil is in my face and hair.”
• “I did, but it seemed like you had a plan, with how much conviction there was. So we hesitated… and by the time we realized you were really going to hit the floor out, it was too late.”
• “Thanks… for the concern, at least.”

Dusting herself and her hair, Alicia got on her feet, with Dryssia helping her up.

• “So, you're gonna tell me what that was about?”

Both tree nymphs held each of her arms, almost possessively.

• “We were just getting to know each other, and then got carried away!”
• “We’re so sorry! We couldn’t help it.”
• “So you two already got acquainted, that’s good. Now before you go spacing out again, would you like to tell me what the hell is that thing?”

Alicia brought attention to a hulking amalgam of a tree that Dryssia brought over.

• “Uh… Friend…?”
• “You don’t sound too sure…”
• “Friend with… Mushroom. I think…”

‘Right… She was going to look into the mushroom farms. And brought this thing back. I wonder…’ 

Llynbel, being the one that had been around the forest the longest, had only a clue to offer.

• “They look similar to relicts, though this one is fairly young… if not recently born. But something… is off about it. I’d be cautious if I were you.”

• “Can I… touch him?”
• “Yes…? Maybe…?”

Placing her hands against the bark of the ‘tree’ it was slightly warm to the touch, as if it were some sort of animal. There were some creaking sounds but for the most part there was no reaction from it, yet.

‘Come on now… it's just a tree… how fast can it really move… honestly. But if it came to it, I can still torch it. Here we go. Alma…?’

⟨ Soul Echo ⟩

>Toxic Reaction… Neutralizing…
>Lifeform Analysis underway…
>Compiling Records…
>Taxatta regiusa.

‘A poison yew… And… something else…’

>Leucostoma aboripetans.

>Parasitic fungal colonies formed symbiotic relationship with host.
>Mycelium network underneath bark forming connective tissue. Able to interact with Host. Fungal composition structurally analogous to Animalian muscle tissue. Enables locomotion.
>Theory. Accuracy 97.1%
>Fungal colony reaching maturity, proliferation priority. Subject able to take over motor functions of insects. Spread spores over large area. Colony located on tree. Immobile. Tree developed symbiosis with invader. Resilient to fungal infection. Fungi developed motor functions to spread fungal spores. Complete lifecycle. Fungal colony inactive, motor functions remain.

‘I remember hearing something like, fungi are closer to animals than they are to plants. And I did read it somewhere about fungi making zombies out of insects. What I didn’t know was that they were so close to animals that they are able to evolve muscles, just to spread their babies, since the goddamn tree they were on was immobile. So it's still a tree, a tree with odd fungal infestation. Though I’m guessing it's not that fast.

>Analysis Complete. Reclaiming data. Updating…

‘Wait what are you doing…?’

>New Acquisition: Innervate; Relict Protector

‘Great, now I can make my very own monstrosities. Just what I wanted.’

• “Apparently it's something called Relict protector.”
• “Hooh, I thought I’d seen last of their kind.”
• “Know about them?”
• “Special cadre of Relicts, fiercely defensive of their home that is the forests they live in, and ruthless those who defile their grove.”

Worried that Alicia wouldn’t take it in.

• “Can we keep him?”

‘You’re bad at making puppy eyes…’

• “Well… It seems docile enough… Why not, just keep an eye on it.”
• ““Yay!””

‘Seems like they’re happy enough… I wonder…’

• “I guess Apricot has those horns because of her affinity with goats I suppose.”
• “Eh? Do you mean this?”

Scrambling prickly shoots grew out from within her hair circling around her temples, forming a coronet of thorns atop her head. Branching wooden growth sprouted out from the crown of her head, forking into boughs, crackling as it did. What had formed could only be described as an verdant antler covered with vines and a circlet of briar. The trenchant points these antlers possessed proved it to be sufficiently the deadly weapon if utilized.

• “Oh-kay… so it's normal for dryads to have horns…? Why did no one tell me this?”
• “Because master never asked…?”
• “Well why didn’t you show it until now?”
• “Uhm… it gets stuck in branches, and the birds… keep trying to roost on them…”
• “Ah, I see… Ahem, anyhow, I think this little problem is done and over with. Dryssia, I think you can tour your new friend here around, just be sure not to bother people too much.”
• “Okay! Hey, let me show you the buzz bugs.”

‘…I really hope she meant the apiary…’

Relict slowly meandered behind the two dryads. Alicia noticed a few threads stuck to the upper parts of the tree spirit, glittering in light.

• “It smashed through the web perimeter didn’t it… …I’ll go and see if someone’s gotten onto patching it yet. Where’d Ramiel go?”
• “When Apricot got lost in a trance, he felt that he wouldn’t get another chance quite like it and excused himself. He’s probably halfway to the mountains by now.”
• “What about you? Got anything planned?”
• “I believe your trollish admirers have been trying to rear fish in parts of the lakes and streams around the area. I should go and see how they’re doing.”
• “I was thinking about starting on a dam, I might need your help with that later.”
• “Hm? What for?”
• “Lots of things, but mostly for getting an aqueduct for a potential irrigation system and plumbing system.”
• “Plump… what?”
• “I’ll explain it when the time comes. I have to make some expansions to the treehouse, getting a little cramped for the girls in there.”

Since their destinations were in the same direction they started walking together, with the well tended orchard serving as a pleasant backdrop.

“Good thing this was a minor problem, things have been getting a bit tense out there. It’s nice to have slow days.”

Just as she had finished her words, a telepathic transmission ringed inside her mind.

• ‘Mistress, Echo has returned. She has urgent information to share.’

By the tone and speech pattern alone, Alicia recognized the one who conveyed it to her was Alpha and by the same token she knew it was a serious matter.

• “Shouldn’t have said anything… shouldn’t have said anything…”

Llynbel, who noticed her stop for a brief moment before cursing at herself under her breath, had a fair understanding of what had transpired. 

• “I’ve heard stories of desert folk saying jinxes are a form of curses cast by certain types of Djinn.”
• “Well if you find the one that hexed me, tell me where it is. I want to have a nice, friendly chat with it at length.”

Despite the meaning of her words, the soured face and the dry delivery of the words suggested quite the contrary. It was just her style of humor.

• “Alicia, I, and I'm sure many others will be more than happy to help you. You need only ask.”
• “Thanks, I know.”
• “Do you? Because how I see it, you always try to do things alone behind everyone’s back and keep ones you care about uninvolved with anything with even the slightest hint of danger. That’s how you protect them, right? You do realize that there are some things that you won’t be able to hide right? World is a big place, you can’t be seriously hoping to brave it alone.”

There was a uncharacteristically long silence from Alicia who usually quick-witted

• “Sorry, bad habit of mine, runs in the family you know. Mom always scolded Pops for it.
  Don’t worry, I’m not that naive. I just tend to withhold judgement until I get every little scrap of detail, then choose the right person for the right job. I have a plan coming together nicely, there’s nothing to be concerned about.”

Though it wasn’t the most convincing explanation nor a compelling justification, the absolute confidence she emitted was enough to persuade the water spirit.

“Besides, engineers rarely work on their own. It's so much easier to tell someone to do it for you. Then berate them for not understanding simple instructions”

• “Huh, I can imagine. Still, I’ve got no clue what exactly engineering is…”
• “Hm… how to put it… Engineering is the art of redirecting the great sources of power found in nature for the use of Humanity. Wait, I’m hardly a human anymore… Uh… for the use of common folk? What about mortal races? Sounds too long doesn’t it? Hmmm…”
• “Is that so…”
• “Anyway, it’s something like that. I’ll flesh out the saying on my way back. Did you say anything? I wasn’t paying attention.”
• “No… Nothing…”

Auratic

Wow, a chapter that's actually on its scheduled time slot. Who kidnapped the author and replaced him?

Yolk aside, happy new year to all of you. Next chapter is going to have a little Chronicle inserted before it.

Leucostoma is a real species of fungi that infects trees. aboripetans is definitely not a real thing since it literally means, moves-a-tree.

• “Never, if it is ordained to be, at this very moment if it is their will. Acquisition of land accidentally or not, is not to be done without prior preparation. We believe that they ought to come under our lady of their own volition. That is, however, is not to say that they can't have some encouragement, and gentle persuasion.”

By the by, the relicts are mash of tree like fantasy creatures from 3 different series. I'll give you a hint for each, Tolkien, Blizzard, CDProjektRED. One to name the each species correctly gets 10 fakebux and a singular drop of clout.