The Dryad 118 Harsh Truth

Ivy sighed as she finished her story. "As I slept, nightmares kept flashing through my mind, sending me into fits of terror. " She shook again, clearly trying to dispel the nightmares. Then she looked at me with big eyes. "I finally woke up to find Tide standing over me. Tide said that it was your medicine that healed me. Can you please teach me how to make it?" I was glad to see that the ordeal she had been through had not affected her inexplicable energy.

"I will teach you when you are better," I pacified her. There was still more I needed to know. "But if Maximus knocked you out, why are you still here and not gone like Mist?" I asked trying to fix the big hole I saw in the puzzle.

"I have been trying to figure that out but I did not come up with anything," Ivy said looking puzzled. "I really can not remember anything until Tide gave me the medicine. I think I might have felt you calling to me but… it is all sort of a blur. "

It was frustrating not knowing why Mist was taken but Ivy was still here. I am not saying that I wanted them to trade. It just seemed so senseless. Maximus chased her all the way to my woods and drew me out from the pond to get at her. And then he just left her there?

"If only I did not stay that extra night with the humans," Rine finally broke the silence he had maintained since I reached the pond. "Why was I too afraid to fly back at night?"

"Rine, it is not your fault. You were doing what I asked you to," I said trying to calm him.

"I think I might know." Tide interjected seeming oddly timid compared to what I was used to dealing with in the past. She seemed hesitant to speak more so I nodded to get her to continue.

"There were many of the pointy eared ones prowling this area when I showed up. I have to think that this Maximus was chased off and fled with Mist. It would be hard for a human to carry both a water sprite and dryad."

Tide then eyed the fairy on Ivy's shoulder. "The only thing that would be different if you were here is that Maximus would have left with a fairy and a sprite. You may be quite strong for a fairy, but if Ivy's story was true you would not have been able to change the outcome."

I found myself nodding at her words. I was trying to convince myself that I was just agreeing with Tide to make Rine know this was not his fault. In the end I failed to convince myself that I was just agreeing for Rine. Tide's words made a lot of sense. It would be much easier to carry a bowl of water than a teenaged girl. But why did he have to take either?!! After yelling internally at Maximus, I reflected on Tide's rather harsh words to Rine. That was much more like the Tide I remembered.

"So the elves chased off Maximus before he could kidnap Ivy and he escaped with Mist in the bowl. Do you have any idea about where they took her?" I asked to no one in particular.

"I could not tell the difference between him and the elves by his footsteps," Ivy responded in a downcast voice. "I just thought the elves were finally taking a break. Their insistent stomping through the woods has been driving me crazy."

I wanted to ask her how she did not notice a difference in the presence that he showed but I stopped myself. She was still a young dryad. This might not even be a skill she has learned yet. I had not taught her how to do it. I looked at the others but as I expected there was no response to my question.

With nothing else to do I spread out my powers to their fullest extent. Looking at the damage to my home in detail I wanted to cry. Fume had only been working on cleaning up inside the treeline. The trail of blight left by Maximus's pa.s.sing was still clearly visible beyond the edge of the clearing. I followed the trail left in the underbrush to where the body of the last of the elves guarding the pond once lay. The flurry of elves that Tide told us about must have taken his body; all that remained of the elf there was the blood that had seeped into the soil. But after finding the remnants of the elf the trail grew faint. I searched until I found the final resting spots of all the elves, and then the trail disappeared. No matter how much I searched in that area, I could not find another trace of the death that Maximus brought.

On the other hand, finding the trail of him leaving the pond was nearly impossible. Plants' sense of time was very loose and there had been so many people trampling the underbrush that, even though I could tell which way he headed out of the clearing, the criss-crossing paths soon made it impossible to tell which was him.

I was not about to give up. There had to be more clues. I spread out my powers further. Maximus had to have used his power at some point in the woods. I just needed to find it. The more I spread my powers the more frustrated I grew.

"Why can't I find him?" I cried out. There just were no traces of him. How did he lose me in my own woods?!

"Let me try," I heard Tides voice from over me. I had not even noticed that she had walked over to my side. I felt her powers wash over my woods. It was clear that despite how much my power had grown over the millennia I was still a long way from reaching her level.