Istan's POV

This is the second time now that I have seen Forest Mother walk off into the distance because I was too weak to follow. How did it come to this again? What have I done to deserve this? I have devoted my life to her but I am still not strong enough.

We stayed in the capital two days after our meeting with Maximus’s teacher. We had waited to see if we could get any more news about his whereabouts, but it was fruitless. I could see the stress eating at her as the days passed. I wanted to do something. It was clear that it was not just the stress. Every day she was getting weaker and weaker as her power was slowly draining. The only thing I could do to help was to get her out of the city. 

“Miss Laurel, nothing has turned up in the last two days. I think it is safe to say that Maximus would not have returned to this city,” I said as she was sprawled on a bench in the garden. Her apparel was rather scandalous right now. Yesterday she had bought a long skirt and a button up blouse. But right now most of both her legs were dangling out of the skirt while the sleeves of the blouse were rolled up to her shoulders. And to top all of that, her blouse was unbuttoned to where her navel would be and did little to cover her. 

The view was very enticing to my carnal mind, but the horror of seeing our esteemed Goddess in such a compromised state was something that I could not tolerate. I tried to ask her to cover herself more appropriately, but she only responded by saying. “You should be happy that I am wearing clothes at all, I would much rather be naked.” Leafia did suggest that she regrow her clothes, but that was rejected since she would run out of energy even faster. 

After I saw that I got no response from Laurel about my statement that Maximus was not in the capital, I continued, “We know that he passed through Ivy’s woods. I think that we should head back there and try the south road. We might be able to find something by looking that way.” 

It did not seem like Laurel wanted to reply, but in the end she said, “We will head out tomorrow. Please tell the others so we can get everything ready.” 

We were busy the rest of that day getting everything ready to go and saying the necessary farewells. I was sure to invite Lady Lillian to visit our village if she ever got the chance. Lady Lillian was most generous and gave us a parting gift, enough coins to finance the next stage of our journey. 

As soon as we made it out of the city gates the next morning, Forest Mother’s, I mean Miss Laurel’s, condition noticeably improved. I knew from what she told us before that Miss Laurel was not really able to gain her strength back in the suburbs of the city, but at least she was no longer losing strength. 

It pained me to have to think of her as Miss Laurel and not Forest Mother. I felt like a part of me was breaking every time I referred to her by name. She was a holy existence whose name could not be lightly uttered. I learned from Emily that she was the First Dryad, reaffirming my faith that she really was the Mother of the Forest. But if I did not change my way of thinking about her, I would always call her by the wrong name when I spoke.

On our way back we took a slightly longer path back to Ivy’s woods, heading south first. We already knew that there was no information to gather on our previous path. As we traveled we would often linger in the small groves of trees we found, taking slightly longer breaks than the horses needed to help Laurel recover her strength.

It was on the second day out from Yana’s capital when a maple seed came swirling out of nowhere and smacked into Miss Laurel’s face. I held myself back from cursing at the impudent seed that would attack the Goddess that ruled over it. I knew Laurel would just berate me for getting worked up over what she would call ‘a trivial matter’. However when I looked at her, I could tell this was no trivial matter. Instead of seeing her usual carefree face I saw complete terror.

I was, as usual, a little too worried about making sure my wording caused no offense. So Leafia beat me to the question. “Laurel, what is wrong?” 

“Something has happened to my woods. I need to get back as quickly as I can,” She said this as she dismounted from her horse. “You are dismissed from your service to me. You have all been a big help,” she said and started walking down the road. “But I do not think you can keep up.”

“Miss Laurel, are you sure that you do not want to take your horse?” I asked, bringing my horse alongside so I was even with her.

“He would not be able to keep the pace that I will set. I will be walking day and night until I get there. Gray might be able to keep up the pace for a day or two, but none of the rest of you would be able to follow.” These words were hard to hear, but I knew that it was true. 

I held the coin bag toward her. “Then please take some money with you. Miss Lillian gave us more than we would need on our trip home.”

“I have no use for money. It would only slow me down with its weight.” Her words paused for a second while she continued to walk. Then she began to take off her cloak without breaking her stride. “For that matter, I do not need this cloak either. So I will return it to you.” I felt honored taking this cloak from her. I would ensure that it would become my family’s most prized possession. As if reading my thoughts, she said, “Please do not start worshiping this cloak. It is still the same piece of fabric that you gave to me back in my woods. Though it might smell a little more floral now. I got a little too hot in it. It really is too warm. Please use some of the money from Lillian to buy yourself a new one if you can’t get it clean.” Dryad sweat smells like flowers? I could not help thinking irreverently, shaking myself. I was torn between honoring her wish to have the cloak washed or protecting her presence that persists in this cloak. I wonder if my wife would know how to get the dirt off without ruining the scent. I took a quick sniff when Laurel was not looking. It did seem like a scent my wife and daughter would like. 

While I was stuck in my internal debate, Miss Laurel turned her head and looked back at the others. “Leafy, can you catch up for a moment?” Leafia urged her horse on to be on the other side of Miss Laurel. To my shock, once Leafia was even with us, Miss Laurel, our Goddess, began unbuttoning her blouse, took it off and handed it to Leafia. Once the blouse was off, she then pulled her skirt up and over her head so as to not interrupt her stride. “I will not be needing these anymore. I thought you might be able to find a use for them.”

“Forest Mother, you have not regrown your clothes!” I said in protest.

“Nor am I going to. I am not going to waste any effort on something so superfluous. This is how I look in the legends. I might as well live up to it.” She then turned to look at Gray. “So what do you think? Do I live up to the stories?”

Gray turned noticeably red. Despite that, he had a hard time taking his eyes off her. It seemed that Miss Emily was getting leery of his gaze on another woman. I myself, was torn between understanding as a man, and condemnation as a follower of Miss Laurel. “... I think it would be better if your hair was a little greener,” he managed to say after some hesitation. Laurel’s hair right now was mostly blonde but there were some hints of green to it. 

This reply managed to earn a snort of laughter from his wife while the other ladies also laughed. Though Leafia’s face was also slightly red. They had slept in the same bed several times.  Didn’t they see each other dressing? 

“I am sorry, but that will have to wait. I think this might help things a little.” As she said that, the green undertone of her skin started to deepen, spreading from her chest and back until her whole body was covered. I was shocked when even her lips turned into a dark shade of green. 

“Um... Yes... I think that is much more fitting... for your legend.” Gray stammered once again.

The next hour of travel was hard for me. Not physically, but there was a great mental strain. How do I talk with Miss Laurel without looking at her? It would be shameful to disgrace the pure majesty of the Goddess with my carnal eyes. But knowing we would soon have to separate… I wanted to keep pushing on, but Gray called out to us. “We really need to rest the horses now. We have already pushed them much longer than we should.”

I did not want to agree with him, but I had to. I could tell the horses were struggling. Despite all their effort, it did not seem like Laurel was tiring in the slightest. I was ready to dismount my horse and chase after Laurel. But I knew it would do no good. I had never grown accustomed to traveling great distances and I knew that I would not even be able to last as long as the horses did. 

“Would it not be wise for you to stay with us in case you need protection?” I said in one last attempt to keep her from leaving us. 

“I feel that speed is much more important than the help of four more people in dealing with this crisis. I am sure the elves back in my woods will be happy to help,” Laurel said as she continued on, leaving us behind her. “Best of luck to you in your travel,” she called back to us before she was out of ear shot. 

“We will see you again soon,” Leafia said in response. 

I wanted to call out my own farewell to her, but the pain of once again failing in my sworn role to protect her was too much. The right words would not come before she disappeared in the distance.

This break time was rather morose. No one seemed to be in the mood to talk, having just seen Laurel off again. Gray was the first one to say anything. “So what are we going to do now?”

I did not need to hesitate this time. “I will be following Forest Mother as fast as my horse will take me. She still needs our help and I have promised that I will serve her.” I thought that there might be some complaints to this but the others just seemed to smile.

Katuwarrior

My editor did not like this title. But I thought I would give it a try and game the system a little to see if it gets me more views. My big release New Year's Eve did not seem to get me many views. Does everyone else have a life?