The Dryad 17 Departure

We left the next morning just after sunrise. The elven elders wanted to make a big deal out of it, but I forbade them and commanded them to go back to the woods. So it was just a quiet farewell to this village in the end. We rode our horses at a leisurely pace to preserve the horse's strength. We were heading to further to the East. It seems that the kingdom of Yana was a medium sized country just to the northeast of this one. However we were all the way at the western frontier of this country, so it means we mostly would be heading east. I also learned that this country is called the Franklin Dukedom. It is a small country mostly surrounded by 'wilderness'. The west side was my woods, though they called it the elf country. To the North were high mountains that were hard to cross. The mountains also formed one of the edges of my territory. They were too high for trees to grow. and to the south was a large desert. The desert on the south was quite large and ran along the full souther border of my forest until it reached the sea on the southwestern end of my forest.

The soil of the desert was too poor for plants to grow. There was something in it that would kill most plants. I have not spent much time on that side of my territory, only a few hundred years all together. It would take more time than that to figure out why plants would not grow and how to make them resistant to what was poisoning them. If I could find a plant that did well there I could take what made that plant special and apply it to others. But I did not have the first plant to start from. I did know that there were several flaming pits there and I was almost positive they were related to why the plants did not want to grow. When growing my home I have mainly focused on the northwest and the east. Though the humans in the east of greatly slowed down the growth of my woods in that direction. The northwest was still mostly uninhabited with just a few small tribes. From what Faun has told me they seem to be part human and part animal. Sounds like Faun would fit right in if you took away her ability to transform. I myself have never met them. The mountain to the north did have some human-like life too, but they did not come down into the woods much so I do not know much about them.

Thinking about these different intelligent life forms, I remembered something important. They all form communities and regularly interact with each other. This would mean that they, at least in some measure, kept tabs on each other. I was taking Emily and Gray out of their community abruptly. People would notice that they were missing. Would that affect them being able to come back?

"Emily, how are you going to explain your absence to everyone in the village?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Um. I guess I did not think that far ahead. I kind of got swept up in the moment. It might be hard to come back then."

"Don't worry." Gray said, "I told some people in the village that your mother had fallen ill and you we were traveling back to your village to take care of things for a time."

"Thank you. You have always taken care of my mistakes. That's why I love you so much."

"Enough flirting, some of us are still single here." Leafia complained.

"I was single for around 300 years, Leafy. I don't think you have the right to complain. You look like you are 25 years old."

"You look like you are barely 20, so that point does not help you. I am in my 40s now and everyone my age is married."

These two were really starting to get along like they were old friends. In many ways it reminded me of Faun, Mist and myself.

"Well, I am still single after tens of thousands of years." I could not help replying.

"Once again you look like your just over 20 years old, so that is not helping," Leafia said in exasperation.

Emily started laughing at Leafia's pretend rage. I even saw a crack in Istan's stoic face. Well, stoic might not be the right word. I had seen other facial expressions, mostly due to shock and frustration having to deal with me not accepting his reverence, but there has not yet been a smile on his face.

"So all the elves your age are married? What about this one?" I asked toward Leafia while pointing at Istan.

"He has a wife and several children."

"And he just got up and left home to follow me without a word to them?"

Istan could hear us talking about him but did not say anything. Leafia pulled up her horse right alongside the one I was riding and said in a low voice, "His devotion to you is quite extreme. I have wondered sometimes how his wife puts up with him being more devoted to another lady."

I had to agree with Leafia on that one. It felt like he really had his priorities backwards. What was the purpose of being devoted to someone that did not even know he existed until a short while ago? He should focus that energy to the ones that know and care for him.

I felt a little awkward being the subject of that devotion. I am not sure that anyone else noticed this, but I felt that I really had to move the conversation away from myself.

"Emily, how did you and Gray meet? This might make for a good learning experience for those who have yet to find romance." It was a good thing that Istan was currently riding in front of Leafia and myself because at my comment Leafia tried to jab me. She was not trying hard and missed but I did not want to deal with calming Istan down if he saw it. I personally did not mind. I would much rather have relaxed bickering than reverence.

"Um. Well." I was a little surprised that this question fl.u.s.tered her, but I guess in some ways I was a parental figure to her so it was understandable when being asked personal questions. "I was out gathering some herbs in your woods. Sorry I should not have been there without your permission. I know it was--"

"-- I already said that I do not mind so stop apologizing."

"Sorry for apologizing again." This time I glared at her. She really needed to change that submissive att.i.tude towards me. Was it really that hard to treat me the same way that she treated Leafia? Emily then continued. "I was out gathering in the woods when four wolves surrounded me. Gray heard my cries for help and chased off the wolves. I was so grateful to him. So I did not chase him away like I did with all the other men I had met over the years."

"There you go Leafia, you just need to find a man to save you when you are in desperate need of help," I said.

"That would first mean I would need to find a man stronger than me who could help me when I was in trouble. The only one in the Elf village that might be able to do that is him," she gestured toward Istan, "and he is nearly as old as my father."

Istan could not stay quiet this time. "That is surely your own fault for being too good at hunting. Maybe you just need to switch the roles around. You could be the one doing the rescuing."

"That might be hard for the marriage. It would take a special man to be willing to hide behind his wife when trouble arises," Gray said. "At least that is how it is for us humans."

This comment made me think. "Emily, you should be strong enough to deal with a few wolves. Why did you need Gray's help?"

"How could helping plants grow a little faster help me to drive away wolves?"

"You can do more than just make them grow faster. I thought you said that your mother taught you how to use your powers."

"I was still young when I left and she did not have time to teach me everything. She wrote more down for me, but some of it I could not figure out from words on paper." I realized that I had some work to do now. Emily would be a lot more helpful to me if she knew how to use her powers properly.

"I am going to teach you how to use your abilities better. There is no way making plants grow a little faster is the extent of your power. That is not even a tiny fraction of what a Dryad is able to do. I know you are just a half Dryad but I can sense that you have more ability than you think you do."

"I am sorry I am such a disappointment."

"Emily! Stop apologizing," I said with some frustration. "I am doing this because I want to help you. I am not doing this because I think you are a disgrace to the Dryads." Under my breath I whispered. "And I want to be your friend. Would it be too much to ask for you to treat me like you do Leafia?" I am not sure if Leafia, who was still riding next to me, heard that or not but there was a small twitch in her movements as I whispered.

"Emily, we are going to spend part of our lunch break and at the end of the day practicing together. I will be a strict teacher so you had better work hard."

"Yes! I will!" Emily's energy was a bit surprising, but I found it cute.