The Nekromancer - 29. Chapter 29

The woods enveloped them, dead branches covering the road, ancient tree trunks forcing the road to wind. This wood was a relic from ages past, a casualty of the war between the archmage Nex and the lich Geb. Two individuals had scarred the land permanently in their squabbling, and the forest was left to suffer for it.

Amnor Sen held his glaive as they rode, glancing around them warily. He didn't trust this silence. They had started out before dawn, taking just enough time for Jakun and Jeremy to gain their spells for the day. The catfolk was riding a tiger, a living tiger. Amnor Sen had felt a surprising amount of pride when Jakun had summoned it.

But now they were five hours into the woods, the silence around them oppressive. Every footstep, every clearing of a throat, startled Amnor Sen, making the elf fear an imminent attack. But none came.

"Look at that tree," Jeremy said suddenly, Amnor Sen and Jeremy both flinching at the noise.

The elf looked at the tree, a quiet gasp escaping him.

"That's pink ivory… By Shelyn, I need a piece of that…"

He had only ever seen a picture of this tree before, a rarity in Holomog. To find one in a dead wood… it saddened the paladin. But not enough for him to miss out on the chance to harvest a branch or two.

Zephyr stopped, letting the elf off his back. Amnor Sen approached the tree, looking at the dead wood.

"Back off…"

The elf flinched at the ghostly voice, stepping back quickly. A tall, pink woman stepped out of the tree, her dead eyes staring at the group.

"A ghost dryad?!" Jeremy hissed behind Amnor Sen.

"I'm not a ghost and my tree is not dead! Leave my tree alone!"

Amnor Sen shook his head with a groan.

"Such beautiful wood…"

"All the other trees around here are dead. How do you know yours is still alive?" Jakun asked suddenly, the catfolk's boldness another surprise.

It seemed the amurrun had truly found his voice in Mechitar. He was growing up, and Amnor Sen's pride grew, the elf happy for the cat. Though now was probably not the best time for it to come out.

"I fight their corrupting influence. Nex will not take my tree."

Amnor Sen frowned at the sight of mold on the dryad's side, black and festering. She was corrupted herself, though she seemed to still be fighting.

"Let me see your tree," the paladin said, stepping forward.

"No! You will not touch us with your metal!"

The dryad lunged at them, a wooden dagger in her hand. Sharpened through woodcraft and magic, Amnor Sen didn't doubt it could cut like steel.

An arrow suddenly whistled through the air, catching the dryad's arm. She screamed as Jakun lowered his bow, the cat reaching for another arrow. His eyes were narrowed, a growl in his throat.

Amnor Sen grabbed his hatchet, taking the moment to slam the head of the ax into a small patch of dark bark on the side of the tree. It came away in a cloud of spores, damp pink wood underneath the mess of fungus and maggots. He raised his hatchet in disgust, preparing to hack the diseased wood away.

"Amnor Sen! Wait!"

Jeremy's hand shoved past the elf, slapping over the mold. He let out an agonized cry as the mold was sucked out of the wood, the cleric's body spasming as he took the disease in on himself.

"Jeremy?!"

The elf reached for his husband, hesitating as he saw black mold spreading up the man's arm.

"It's… I can feel it killing me…" Jeremy gasped, clutching his arm. "Oh gods… Please remove this disease!"

The mold stopped suddenly, before reversing down the cleric's arm.

"Heila! Leave them be!"

Tearing his eyes from Jeremy's arm, Amnor Sen saw a cloaked man running toward them, a scimitar flashing in what little sunlight passed through the roof of the forest.

The dryad vanished back into the tree, arrow clattering to the ground. Amnor Sen turned back to Jeremy, grabbing the man's arm to examine it. Thankfully, the skin was unblemished, tanned brown hue back to normal.

"What is wrong with you? You call me stupid and then you pull something like that?!" the paladin hissed.

"I was trying to save us!" Jeremy grunted, pulling his arm away. "It worked, didn't it?"

"Yeah, only because the gods helped you," Amnor Sen growled.

"What are you doing?! Get away from the tree!"

Amnor Sen grabbed Jeremy, pulling him toward the strange man.

"Who are you?" he asked, gripping his ax.

"Lynaq. I'm the druid of the Southern Axan. What in the gods' names were you doing messing with Heila's tree?" the man demanded.

"Healing it… I think," Jeremy groaned, his body stiff and sore.

"Healing… it…?"

The man pushed past them, laying his hand on the tree.

"Her illness is gone… bless the gods for sending you to us..." Lynaq praised.

"Yeah… shame we couldn't get some wood from her though," Amnor Sen sighed longingly, looking at the tree.

"Oh, I have a branch of hers I've been saving. Though if you want better wood, you should see my sister to the north. She has a small grove she tends to," Lynaq smiled, conjuring a branch out of the air.

"You… carried a branch around with you… in a pocket dimension?" Jakun frowned, looking at the old branch.

"Of course. I've been studying it to find ways to treat Heila. But now I have no need for it," the druid shrugged, handing the branch to Amnor Sen. "My sister lives just over a day's flight away. You might have some trouble with wolves though. She's always been better with plants than animals. Here's a hint, if you hear howling, don't let them bite you."

Humming merrily, the druid stepped into a tree, vanishing from sight.

"Fuck, is that what I'm like when I start talking about Caiden Cailean?" Jeremy frowned.

"Oh no, you're much drunker," Amnor Sen said, shaking his head. "Let's try to get a little further in before we stop for the day. Then I'm going to need a couple hours to cut this branch properly."