Ambassador to the Freaks

(13) The Great Forest

There was a knocking on the door of the wagon. The four men in the cramped room all woke to it, but Shen was out of bed the quickest and hurriedly opened the door. Monsta was there, a trail in the dirt behind her from where she had dragged herself across the ground. She blushed at the sight of him, having never seen his bare (and quite muscular) chest.

“What is it?”

“It’s Old Oak. Please, come with me!”

The four men dressed and carried the mermaid between them out toward the farm. Not much light was shining down through the gathering clouds, but she could feel where they were headed, and soon Bertram could feel it as well. “This is earth magic, and also water and… I don’t know what else. What is he doing?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t see, I just felt it. This way.”

As they grew closer, everyone could feel it. The ground beneath their feet seemed to crawl with energy. Lewin nearly became dizzy from trying to keep his footing on the flat earth. Despite the dim light, every color seemed to be sharper and brighter, especially green. Finally they found the dryad. He was standing tall out in the field near the farm, his arms stretched so long that they connected with the ground. Whatever was happening, he was clearly the one responsible.

Shen left Monsta with Roddy and approached Old Oak. “This is a violation of King Mellius’s laws. You are not to perform this kind of magic outside your forest.”

“No, he’s not doing anything dangerous.” Bertram put a hand on the knight’s shoulder. “Just let him finish.”

But Shen pulled away and marched closer. “Stop this now, or I will intervene.” The magister gave no response. Shen reached out and grabbed one of the long wooden arms, but recoiled immediately. A tingling sensation had nearly numbed him, as if he had hit his bone and sent a shock through his arm.

“Look!” Monsta had crawled to the bean fields and was staring at the stalks that had appeared so dry and thirsty earlier that day. Verdant color had returned, and they were growing and curling out of control. Even some weeds were springing up with renewed life. All through the farm, everything was growing thicker and stronger. Out in the endless fields of felled trees, sprouts were appearing in the cracks in the stumps. Every dead tree was now host to a small growth of new life.

There was a final moment of magic that took everyone’s breath away. During that moment, even the plants seemed to grow an inch and glow with healthy light. The spell then broke and the magic was gone, though the greenery all around was healthier and stronger than before.

Old Oak’s eyes opened. “Good evening, Ob-Enon.”

Shen was immediately before him. “You know the laws you have broken.”

“I wanted to do a favor… for the Ambassador.”

“I will report this to his majesty.”

“What more… can Mellius… do to me?”

They both stared silently, neither blinking. An energy filled the air between them, though neither was performing magic. Lewin felt the hairs stand on his neck. Monsta did her best to disappear.

Even Shen could not stare down a tree, and he turned and marched back silently. Lewin took a breath, only then realizing that he hadn’t been breathing.

“What was that?”

“A spell of earth… water… and spirit. Also… stone… to bind it.” The dryad was clearly weary, not just from the magic but from the lack of daylight.

“I’ve never heard of magic like that.”

“I have.” Bertram was just as wide-eyed as the Ambassador. “But I’ve never seen it done, or heard of a human who could do it.”

“I would not… recommend… a human… do this. They have… too few… winters…”

Monsta understood. Somehow, she had known before he said it. “You planted your life.”

“Only a few years.”

“What?” Lewin rushed to him. “You can’t do that! You’re going to die soon; you can’t throw away the years you have left.”

“It is not… spent years… that will kill me…” After that he was silent.

Roddy was the first to voice what they were wondering. “What did he mean by that, Bertram?”

“I don’t know.”

“You were the one who looked in his mind. You saw that he was dying.”

“It wasn’t that clear, like reading a book in another language. But I’m certain he expected to die very soon.”

They all went silent for a while. The renewed life all around them suddenly seemed a grim contrast to the dryad’s strange words.

“We need to get him back to the convoy. Roope wants to leave before first light. We’ll bring Poetry out to get him.”

“It will take a few more of us to lift him into the wagon.”

“Then we’ll wake the girls. Don’t bother Shen with this now.”

With the dryad in the small wagon, there was hardly any room left for Monsta. She was curled around his feet beneath shelves of crates and chests that with every bump in the road threatened to topple onto her. Roddy was driving the wagons down into the great forests where the dryads lived. It was still dark out, but they had been told that they would be able to see the craggy mountains in the distance once they arrived. Between the mountains and forest was the Di-Joten, one of the larger rivers on the entire eastern island.

The scent of rain was in the air. Monsta had always been able to feel the rain coming on. Joten had good systems in place to prevent flooding, but she had occasionally fantasized about water filling the castle grounds during a particularly big deluge. Now she was afraid of flooding, which was strange for an amphibious girl like her, but the thought of Poetry being swept away by a current with her inside was nerve-wracking.

She was not getting to sleep, so she submerged her mind.

There were two levels of this magic. Both were the same state of peaceful emptiness, but the first level was close enough to the surface that she could still observe the world outside. She could take in the sights and feelings her body experienced and understand them, while still remaining stoic. The lower level was where her thoughts and memories were strewn before her, though she did not catalogue them as Lewin did. She saw, or rather felt, shapes in the darkness. Like objects floating in dark water, but with no current to disturb them.

Monsta stayed in the first level, letting the worries and uncertainties float away as they continued down the road.

“Can you hear me, Monsta?”

“Yes, I hear you, Old Oak. Can you enter my mind when I am submerged?”

“Yes, but only with your consent. I am not powerful enough to force myself in, nor would I do so.”

“I am not afraid in this place. I welcome you in. Tell me why you are going to die.”

“Because I am not human.”

“Are you going to speak to me in riddles?”

“Yes. That is my habit when training saplings.”

“Very well. Is there a disease that will kill anyone who is not human?”

“No.”

“Are humans going to war against you?”

“No, but you are nearer the answer. I will answer your question again. I am going to die because Mellius is a human.”

“I understand.”

Sunrise never showed itself as they entered the great forests. Rainclouds opened up above them and covered the sky with a curtain of water. The wagons slowed every now and again, but continued onward even as the ground grew soft. The road slowly disappeared as they went deeper, until they were blazing a new trail through the thick wet greenery.

These trees were big. Not all of them, but those that were stretched head and shoulders above the others. Thick roots crossed every available patch of ground so that Roddy had to proceed through trial and error.

Monsta was brought into Good Drink once Roope and his family were up and about. Eventually, the performers all gathered in that wagon around the hearth fire. Old Oak stayed aboard Poetry and Roddy remained outside to drive. Shen also failed to join them. The rest enjoyed each other’s tightly packed company and practiced music to pass the time. Lewin was no good with the flute, but showed some potential with the harp. Monsta had a hard time finding an instrument that would accommodate her webbed hands. None of them sounded particularly good with the constant bumping that ruined any good melody they got going.

Roope propped the window open so they could watch the forest pass around them. The occasional clap of thunder preceded a flash of light that broke through the holes in the canopy. Finally, after an hour of pressing through the most difficult terrain imaginable, they stopped. Roddy entered later with a towel on his head, thoroughly soaked from the onslaught of rain. “Wagons are stuck, and I know better than to push them deeper into the mud. We’ll continue once the sky is done spitting on us.”

Monsta giggled more than she should have at that analogy, which was not all that funny and a little crude, but she saw the sky and rain so much differently than a human that the comment struck her as wholly absurd.

Clean clothes were found for the driver, and soon he was changed (in the tiny amount of private space afforded on an entertainer’s wagon) and sat down by the hearth to warm his wrinkled hands.

And they started moving again.

“What!?” He jumped up and forced his way through the crowd. “How? I tied the animals up!”

The wagon sprouted several heads as everyone peeked out to see what was pulling them. The light was still dim, but at the front of every wagon they saw a dryad, each shaped differently of twisting wood but definitely the same creature as Old Oak. They stepped steadily, feet sinking deep into the muck but moving forward nevertheless. A fourth dryad was leading the oxen by a rope tied around its body. Old Oak himself sat in the driver’s seat of Poetry, seemingly oblivious to the rain falling upon his head.

The humans all pulled themselves back in with bemused looks. Who were they to deny free help?

Echoes of thunder still rang out, but the patter of rain had stopped. Sandra, who was closest to the window, pushed the shutter open and gazed out. Her eyes and mouth both dropped open. “Well, look at that.” The wagon came to a halt. A few of them made for the door. “Wait! We’re the Ambassador’s escort, after all. Make yourselves presentable.” She proceeded to fuss over Cory and Leesil while the rest found better clothes, or for some of them, costumes. Monsta had no hair to arrange and only one shirt, but Auren made some small adjustments to make the nereid feel prettier (although in doing this, she neglected her own hair, which needed attention).

The door opened and Auren stepped out first. The wagons were all gathered together in a glade, which had one tree growing in the middle. It was a large glade, and an even larger tree. This ancient thing towered above all those around it, its highest branches reaching out to form a ceiling that was blocking out all the rain except above a small pond, where droplets were steadily falling. All throughout the glade were dryads, many shorter or thinner than Old Oak, but all of them had uniquely twisted shapes. Their eyes of amber gazed at the human as she exited.

Shen was already out, badge on and sword ready. Old Oak was near as well, standing tall, and though he did not express human emotion through gesture, he seemed proud.

Auren bowed and stepped aside, revealing Lewin at the door. All together the assembled dryads raised their arms and spoke together. “Welcome, Ob-Enon.” Their voices echoed off of each other and filled the glade until the sound seemed to be coming from the distant trees. Lewin’s knees shook and his brow was sweating. Really, a dozen different human signals of unease could be seen in him, but thankfully his audience knew none of them. He waved to the gathered throng.

The troupe followed Lewin out and gathered around him. The glade was lit by a soft light coming from all around its outside edge. Luminescent mushrooms were growing on trees or logs that cast a diffuse glow. Some of the assembly carried these mushrooms like lanterns. A single dryad could be seen moving forward through the crowd, casting moving shadows by the light of the glowing fungi.

This was the most human-like dryad they had yet seen. Not only was it nearly human shaped, but it was clearly feminine. She had short twigs sprouting from her head like hair and moved with much less deliberate motions. Her face bent into a smile as she attempted a curtsy. “Welcome, Ambassador! Welcome, guests! My name is Apple. If you need anything during your stay, please feel free to ask me.”

“Hello, Apple. I am Lewin, the Ambassador.”

“Would you like to begin the ceremony now?”

Lewin’s face went nearly white. “No! No, we will are your guests, and will proceed at a dryad’s pace.”

Apple made a surprised expression. She turned to Old Oak. “Well, look at that. Not all humans hurry.”