Druid Chronicle Ch. 04

When Orren woke, he had no idea what time it was. That was typical as his bed was underground in a windowless room. He did know there was hair in his face that wasn't his and a body in bed with him.

He reached out gently to touch whoever it was and try to determine what body part he was touching. A shoulder perhaps?

"This is how you sleep?"

Neive's voice. He relaxed a little.

"Yes."

"It is nice but very dark."

"Yes, I like dark for sleeping."

"Are you angry?"

"Angry? No. I was a little startled to find you here but you are always welcome."

"I came to warn you but you were sleeping."

"Warn me? You can wake me up if you have to warn me."

"Someone is coming."

"Who?"

"I do not know. I think a sorceress."

Orren froze. "When?"

"Today. Probably."

"How do you know?"

"I see things. Future things."

Orren propped himself up on one arm. "You can see the future?"

"I see threats to me before they arrive. Usually."

"The sorceress is a threat?"

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. Is not very accurate, just a warning."

"Does this happen a lot?"

"Last time was quickfire."

"Sherra."

"What?"

"Sherra. It is probably her. She created the quickfire you were worried about. Now she is coming herself. That can't be good."

"Why would she come?"

"Maybe she is looking for a missing person. Maybe she is looking for Ephenome."

"What missing person?"

"One of the ones Ephenome ate."

"Does she know Ephenome?"

"No."

"Can she tell one alraune from another?"

Orren sat up suddenly almost knocking Neive off his small bed. "That's a good point. She has no idea. No one does. Still, it will be dangerous to host her."

"Before you prepare I wish to do something."

"What?"

She ran her fingers along his shoulder and then along his collar bone picking out a soft spot just inside his shoulder joint. She pressed a finger into it, hard, really hard. It felt like she was going through it.

"Neive that..."

"Shhhh."

He bit his lip and waited out the pain. She removed her fingers. In the dark he couldn't see anything but he had a pretty good idea what had just happened.

"You marked me?"

"Yes."

He couldn't think of a reason to object, he couldn't think of how it would necessarily help either. Perhaps dryads were territorial.

"I name you as druid." She added.

"What? You can't...", but she could. In fact had he taken the test to become a master druid he would need the approval of a creature integral to nature. A dryad would have been perfectly acceptable. "Neive..."

"You saw what I saw. You are a druid." Her tone was very matter-of-fact and indicated her decision was final.

"What will you do today then?"

"I will stay in my tree. I will defend if I need to."

"Okay, I don't think you will need to."

She kissed him suddenly, quickly and then stood up and walked away. Could she see in here, he wondered.

Orren dressed and went outside to find Ephenome and told her the news about the sorceress.

"Are you sure it is her?" she asked him.

"No, but it seems likely."

Ephenome didn't seem overly concerned. "If you want to kill her, we will kill her."

"She is formidable."

"So are you, so am I, so is Neive."

"How does a dryad attack a sorceress?"

"I do not know, but I have heard they are dangerous enemies. I leave them any space they desire."

Orren checked for Antonella but there was no sign of the mermaid. He was tidying up inside now that he had an inside and was actually having a guest when his wards were set off.

It was in fact, Sherra. His wards were sufficient to tell him that given that he had met the sorceress of Krii several times before. She followed protocol and introduced herself. He responded as a fellow sorcerer would and then allowed her in. With no outward reason to be hostile towards her, he allowed her to approach on her own.

Waiting on his front porch, Sherra approached riding a white horse. She was alone, which surprised him.

She dismounted and advanced on foot. He bowed. "My lady."

"Orren. I was told you were living here now. I hope you don't mind some company."

She wore purple and red robes. Close to the colors of town but not close enough to indicate she was on official town business. Intriguing.

"Would you like your horse pastured?" As he said this, Hallem walked over and waited.

"That would be most kind, thank you." The gnome had to reach way up to take the lead and led the horse off to the pasture.

"You may enter of course, but I should warn you it's hardly in a state to receive guests."

Standing next to him he realized she was taller than he was. She had long straight black hair which was partially covered in a red head scarf.

She laughed. "This is not exactly a state visit."

"Come inside then."

He had exactly three comfortable chairs at this point and Sherra helped herself to one of them. Orren sat down facing her and waited. Sherra was examining the room.

"That is some series of wards you have on the outer wall."

He sighed, a contentious topic to lead with. "I strengthened them after the town patrol walked right in."

Now she looked a little embarrassed. "I gave them the tokens to do that. They were not supposed to use them carelessly. I heard what happened here, and elsewhere in the area and I apologize. There was a widespread misuse of my trust."

"You gave them quickfire as well."

There was the briefest moment of surprise from her but she quickly covered it. "That should not have been brought here either. How did you know? Surely they didn't threaten you with it?"

Somewhere along the way she had cast a spell to detect lies. He could tell it was there although she had been very skillful with it. He could work around it but there seemed to be no hostility so far so he decided to stay close to honesty.

"A dryad lives in the vicinity."

"Oh. Of course. Did you kill them then?"

"What?" Orren reacted honestly, shocked that she asked so directly.

"One of them has not returned."

"I did not kill them." Strictly speaking, this was true.

She shrugged. "Under the circumstances, I would have. Cabot and his friends are a miserable impertinent lot and there won't be many left before long."

"I heard Cabot was missing."

"Dead. He's dead. We scryed for him and he is most definitely dead. It's about time."

Orren was still a bit taken aback by all this. "Aren't you, umm..."

"What? Mistress to his father? I am, but he's not mine. If he was I can assure you he would have turned out differently."

"The ones who were here said he was killed by an alraune."

"Maybe. Who knows. If so, he deserved it. He had no chance. Personally, I doubt he ever found an alraune. He angered nearly everyone he encountered so this was inevitable."

"Yet you gave the town militia quickfire to destroy the jungle?"

"That was a calculated risk. Once he disappeared his parents went berserk. I couldn't calm the sheriff down and his wife was hysterical. If I had refused to give them the quickfire I would have jeopardized my own position."

Orren had little to say to that.

"You don't approve?" she asked.

"I spent five years training as a druid, of course I don't approve."

"You also spent five years training as a sorcerer and I know you're not so naïve as to think you never have to choose the lesser of two bad options."

Orren shrugged. "Doesn't matter now. It's done. I'm in no position to criticize you. If I may ask, why did you come here?"

"Curiosity. That's really the sum of it. The report said you were living here in the ruined shell of a house and I wanted to see what you were up to."

"Why me?"

"Why you? You were a promising sorcerer. You would be a member of our conclave now had you remained."

"I have no desire to ever be a member of your conclave."

She stood up and started pacing around his hall. "Orren I'm sure that was very traumatic for you. You were young, your loyalty to your master was commendable but none of what happened had anything to do with you. Master Cheyne made his own decisions."

"Why are we re-hashing this?"

"I think you should come back to sorcery."

"I've never left it."

"You're not a master."

Orren looked up. "Is that the problem? I'm out here using sorcery without having earned my robes?"

"No. The conclave has no issue with you on that front. All of us can sympathize with your plight."

"All of you?"

"Most of us."

"I came out here because no one else wanted this place. It suits my temperament, I am not disturbing any one. I hoped to be left alone."

"You can have that if it is what you want." Sherra said. "I was hoping you'd give it up though and become my apprentice?"

"What?"

"Finish your training with me. Become a full sorcerer."

"Why would you want that?" He already knew the answer as he asked it. He answered it himself. "You need more allies on the conclave."

She walked towards him with a swing of her hips to catch his eye and he recognized the trick and caught a piece of the hex she traced with her other hand as she did so. A physical attraction spell. Again, he could dispel it or nullify it but he allowed it to stand to avoid direct conflict with her. It did work to an extent too. She was older than him, maybe as much as a couple decades but she was still attractive, more so thanks to the spell. The robes she wore hid most of her figure but the curves of her hips were apparent and the robes were parted to show one leg from just above the knee downwards.

"You don't need to do that Sherra."

"Forgive a middle-aged woman her vanity."

"You were attractive enough without it." He saw her eyes widen slightly at the compliment. "However, I don't want to be involved in your politics, or any politics."

She waved her hand and dispersed her attraction spell and as far he could tell, the truth spell with it. "I understand. I don't like your answer, but I do understand. It is refreshing to be here alone with you. I don't have to search through your words for hidden meanings or try to decide what you're hiding." She seemed to reach some sort of internal decision and she gave him a half-hearted smile. "Well then, why don't you show me around."

He did, carefully. She wasn't dismissive of his partially constructed ruins. When he took her to the terrace she was immediately fascinated.

"Are you planning to capture a water spirit?"

"No, I just want to have a safe supply of water."

"This is a very large safe supply."

Orren realized the conversation was not headed in a favorable direction. "I need it for my greenhouse. I'm hoping to raise some... difficult plants."

She raised an eyebrow. "Druid spells?"

He nodded.

"Gnomes did all this?"

"Mostly, yes."

"Clever of you. You should have become a sorcerer. You still might. I may come back every few months until I convince you. Also it gets me out of town."

He knew that Sherra never did anything on a whim. Any visits she made would be carefully calculated and her 'curiosity' trip almost certainly coincided with some benefit she saw in not being available in town today.

"Were you planning to stay the night, my lady?" He asked.

She ignored the 'my lady' he had added on to make sure he wasn't implying anything more. "Would you have room for me if I said yes?"

"Nothing befitting you but I could manage something."

She laughed. "My guard is waiting outside your gate. I will ride back with them soon. Thank you for the offer though."

He should've known she wouldn't have made the trip unguarded, although she was more likely to protect her guards than the reverse.

He led her back through the house thinking himself lucky to have avoided either courtyard. Lost in his thoughts he realized too late she had brought her hand up to cast a spell behind him. He spun around to try to block it but he was far too slow. Nothing untoward happened. He wasn't sure what she had done. Then she reached out and hooked a finger in the collar of his shirt, pulling it aside far enough to reveal the brown leaf-shaped mark Neive had left there. She had scryed him. He was glad it was nothing worse.

"You could have just asked." He told her.

"I'm sorry. I'm not used to trusting anyone. I did not know you were a true druid now."

"It's a recent development."

She stood there facing him and crossed her arms at the wrists. He knew the pose from sorcery training. She was inviting him to cast a spell against her in exchange for what she had just done. This was a fairly remarkable gesture from a sorceress of her renown. He could see no real benefit to it though. What would scrying teach him? He shook his head, declining the offer.

"Is she the reason you won't come back to town?" Sherra asked.

"No. I didn't even know she was here until you sent quickfire. I told you I don't want to be part of that again. Come live here and teach me sorcery if you'd like." He only offered that knowing there was no way Sherra would leave her place of power and her life of intrigue.

"Let me know when your guest quarters are ready."

Out front, Hallem approached with her horse and left it standing there.

"So now where do we stand Orren", she asked him.

"My lady?"

"Are you likely to oppose me?"

This was a bit of a surprise, everything had seemed to be going well.

"I don't know what you are planning, but I have no desire to be your enemy."

"Are you my ally?"

"If I'm left alone here on my estate, I am definitely your ally."

She nodded. "Good." She turned to her horse.

"Why do you care about one failed apprentice? You don't need me as an ally and we both know I wouldn't last long as your enemy."

She pointed one finger at him. "Your humility is refreshing but unnecessary. I saw your wards, I see what you've done here and if a dryad chose you as a partner you have something to offer her."

Orren grimaced. In trying not to underestimate her he had still underestimated her. He wondered just how much she had learned.

"All I want is peace", he said.

"Do you have enemies?"

"Not that I know of."

"Then you have peace." She nudged her horse and it started walking. She called out to him, "Oh, just in case it comes up, I only send messages by bluebird. Do the same if you want a response."

He stood there pondering that until she was out of sight and then he continued to wait until he knew she had left his property.

"Was that good?" Neive was next to him again and Orren jumped away from her.

"Would you please try to make a little noise when you walk?"

"Sorry."

"It wasn't bad. She doesn't seem to care about Ephenome or any of the rest of it. She knows about you, but that's partially your fault. That was intentional, wasn't it?"

Neive smiled her usual apocryphal smile and wandered off back towards her tree.

Orren wasn't sure what to make of Sherra's visit. She was playing games that were second nature to her and he was utterly clueless and it annoyed him. He found Ephenome and rehashed the conversation with her. Ephenome seemed unconcerned and uninterested in trying to find meaning in it.

"She came, she left, you're on good terms with her. It is over."

Antonella wasn't near the estate and he went all the way to the river mouth to find her. He had to repeat the entire conversation which led him to think that he needed some way to talk to everyone together in one place. Not an easy problem to solve with a rooted alraune, a mostly rooted dryad and a water-bound mermaid.

Antonella, for all her wisdom, was also no real help.

"Human psychology is not something I'm well versed in. If she were mer I would be wary of her. It seems like any outcome would lead to that though. What if you had let the attraction spell work?"

"I don't know, she probably would've been disappointed that she could beat me so easily. It's quite possible she got away with other spells unnoticed."

"Could have she left things behind?"

"No, I don't think so. That would be tantamount to a declaration of war if discovered and even if I couldn't read it, Hallem or Neive might find it"

He walked back up to his estate slowly pondering all the of the day's developments so far. He found Hallem and talked to him about wanting to talk to everyone in one place. Hallem gave it a thoughtful moment and then shrugged.

"Did Sherra leave any traces of sorcery behind?"

"I personally followed her route in and out. I did not find anything."

"Good."

He spent the rest of the afternoon in the house unsuccessfully trying to finish the ground floor. Neither his magic nor his physical construction skills seemed to be up to the tasks of the day and he was quite frustrated by the time he gave up and went back outside into the front jungle areas.

He was reminded he was a full druid now. He walked at random into the foliage until he found a small log and he sat down on it. He tried to replicate his vision from the previous night. He could do it but it was weak and blurry and somewhat disappointing after what he had achieved with Neive. He could see that a vine nearby him was a part of Ephenome. He could also it see it slowly creeping towards him.

"Stop it." He told the vine.

It didn't stop. She couldn't hear him from here. It came closer. He picked up a stick and used it to push the vine away. He was still mad at nothing in particular as he got up and returned to the house. On a whim he went in through Ephenome's enclosure. Her entire upper body was visible, although it was unclear to him what she was doing.

He was watching her instead of the path and he stumbled over a vine. Another annoying vine. He turned and kicked at it.

"Excuse me." Ephenome said.

"Yes, excuse you indeed." He retorted.

The whole courtyard smelled like her. It should've been pleasant but right now he found it annoying. He turned and stomped over closer to her.

"Stop it with that. You do not need to do it all the time."

"Stop what?"

"The pheromones."

Her eyes narrowed. "This is a normal level, I'm not augmenting it at all."

"They don't work on me anyway."

"Really? Is that a challenge?"

"Don't mess with me today I'm not in the mood."

"I can fix that." There was a playfulness to her tone now. The smell noticeably increased.

He backed away a couple steps. He wanted to threaten her but he couldn't think of any reasonable way to do so. Then he had an idea.

"Go on then, do your worst."

She stared at him and the flowery perfume aroma became so thick he could almost taste it. It was working too. He was aware of every ripple of movement in her arms, her chest, her neck. He had a painful erection and it was taking a considerable effort to stand there and stare back at her. It was exactly what he wanted. He traced the same type of spell Sherra had used on him earlier but he modified it to reflect his own emotions and desires back.

He saw it hit her. Her eyes rolled back partially and one hand went to her breast. "Oh! What are you doing..?"

"A taste of your own medicine." Except he hadn't done anything at all to lessen its effects on him and now he had the added stimulation of watching her start to fondle herself. He took a couple involuntary steps towards her before he even realized it.

"Now." She said. She couldn't even look at him though and one hand had slipped below the petals of the flower. He wanted to be there too. Her other hand lingered on her breast.

"No?" It wasn't a very firm 'no'. It wasn't even a statement.

She moved. He'd forgotten she could do that and she wasn't all that far away. The whole flower apparatus and the thick vine that supported it moved faster than he would've suspected. He stood there dumbfounded as she descended on him and kissed him hard.

She broke the kiss. "Clothes off, now."

"Yes." Any resistance he had was gone and he was undressed in seconds. He literally leapt at her and the flower was already opening further to catch him. She embraced him and he was inside her thrusting against her before the petals were even halfway closed. His lust was still being partially reflected onto her now.