The Dryad 91 Purge

I stayed still for several hours searching for any changes that might be caused by Maximus. As far as I could feel with any detail, there was no new sign of him. However, the old blight that was covering my woods kept distracting my from my searching. I kept thinking that I was finding traces of him each time I found more blight. But each time I looked closer I found it was older. Since I was in the heart of the blight infected corner of my woods, I decided it was time that I should fix this stain on my home.

It was late fall. Instead of making trees sprout new growth which would be wasteful and could cause the plants more harm than good, I caused the plants to cast off any of the parts that were infected. The noise of the forest increased as any thing from small branches to whole trees fell to the ground. I felt many of the elves that were not further away in their village jump at this sudden cacophony. I could tell that many of the humans in the nearest village had also noticed. Also, many dogs and other animals started to add their cries to the noise of the woods.

Searching around to check how my work was progressing, the disgusting feeling of the blight still washed over me from the surrounding fields. It was then that I remembered the man at the bar where I first learned about the magician saying that the fields around the village had been affected, too. Time to improve my public image with the humans, perhaps. I stretched my powers over the surrounding countryside and caused any disease to be cast off throughout their lands as well. Though I wondered if the suddenness would feel like a help or hurt to the humans… . But whether they appreciated the help or not I was not going to let the blight remain. I did not want to risk the chance of the blight spreading again.

The stirring of the forest and the surrounding land lasted for most of an hour as I made sure all traces of the blight were cast off. Now what was I to do about the vile rot strewn on the forest floor? This was not the type of rot that I liked, the type that would give new life. Worst of all, it might be able to spread back to the trees in the spring when they grew once more. Ideally I would use fire to destroy any trace of the blight. But I had never played with fire and the thought of purposely spreading fire over my woods caused me to quiver. I did not trust myself to not lose control of the fire. I could see the legend now of the green skinned witch throwing around fire and burning the village.

Not having a better option, I stooped down to the ground and closely look at some of the blighted leaves that had previously fallen. I was very surprised to find that there was mold growing on some of the blight. Instead of suffering like all the other fungi that had been trying to do their job and clear the forest floor, this particular type seemed more than happy to eat away at the blighted leaves, even more so than regular leaf litter. Most people would not even know that it was there. Its colonies were small and not able to be seen with the eye. But that did not matter to me.

This really made things so much easier. All I had to do was speed up the growth and the spread of this mold. Spreading my powers out once again I caused every colony I found of this mold to grow and spore. The fruiting body of this mold was small and black. Once the mold had spread I then reinforced those spores until they were able to take 'root'. I would need to do this several more times to efficiently eliminate the blighted rot. But that should wait. If I did too much at once, it would break the balance of the forest and the surrounding fields. I was already going to have to cull this strain back in the spring. But the effort was worth it if the blight was eradicated from my woods.

When all the mold was established, I once again spread my mind over the forest to see the results of my work. The only thing that did not seem to go as I expected was that the elves that had been within range of my purge were clearly nervous and scared by the cacophony that just echoed through my woods. I suppose I didn't check if anyone was within range of any of the cast-off blight. It didn't seem like anyone got hurt. But they were definitely feeling worried. So much for my public image. I sighed internally, reminding myself that I really should tell them about that prince…

Ivy's mood, on the other hand, was broadcasting as a mixture of shock and wonder while the fairies seemed to be dancing in excitement. But I could not help but smile at Mist. It seemed she felt a mix of boredom and wondering why I waited till now to take care of it. I was not sure how much she was able to sense these changes being a water sprite. Even though her powers had grown in the hundred years since she formed, this area of the woods was still at the edge of her perception range. I had to think that she and Ivy were not able to get a clear picture of what was happening.
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Now that the blight was cleared out of my 'vision,' I continued my searching one more time. But as I expected when I started clearing the blight, there was nothing left to be seen. Wherever Maximus was now, he wasn't here. It felt frustrating to lose his trail yet again. But the thought of having him in my woods made me feel sick and I was also glad that he was not here. When I opened my eyes at the end of my searching they landed on a large log full of the blight that had been cast off in front of me. The sight of the blight made me angry. Why did this happen to my woods, my friends? I lashed out with nearby vines, wrapping them around the bole tighter and tighter until it was crushed into splinters.

Seeing the chips of wood scattered around me, I thought of my powerlessness. I could destroy this broken, blighted piece of wood. But I could not find its source. I sighed. It was time to go home. Since Maximus was out of reach and Ivy was here and safe, there was no emergency that needed immediate attention. I began to make my way to my pond at a more leisurely pace.