Druid Chronicle Ch. 05

"Three. Now there are two." She replied, quietly.

Orren took a deep breath. "Ok, what else lived there? Or even passed through. I want the most dangerous creatures only."

"Me."

He couldn't help but smile. "Aside from you."

"There was a sphinx once. Griffons maybe."

"Good, that's enough."

"What are you going to do."

"I'm going to tell her that chimeras, griffons and sphinx lived in that section of the jungle. I'm going to do it in runes so it will be vague and hard to decipher if the message is intercepted which is why she did it that way. It will serve as a warning that they have gotten in over their heads without giving them anything specific."

He decided not to ask her if that was okay. He had already made up his mind that this was an acceptable path. He did however wait for her response, which was measured.

"What will Sherra do with that information?"

"I don't know her enough to really say. If I had to guess, she will use it to protect herself and her own affairs and maybe try to convince the Lord Mayor that he is playing with fire. She'll only do that though if she thinks it won't hurt her own reputation."

"You could broker a peace."

"Me?"

"You're a druid."

He considered that. Ephenome was insinuating that chimeras might actually accept him as a mediator.

"They'll want blood."

"Yes."

He brandished Sherra's parchment. "We have our own problems to deal with."

He went inside, and wrote out the message as he had described it to Ephenome. He rolled in into a tiny tube and re-attached it to the bird's leg. It seemed disappointed but flew away.

"It will probably get eaten by a hawk."

He shook his head, "I think there is sorcery at work around it. It's well protected. If not, my message will look like a bunch of scribbles to anyone not trained in sorcery."

"What did you write?"

"The symbols for 'danger', 'jungle', 'south', 'home', 'chimera', 'griffon' and 'sphinx'."

"Why all three?"

"I didn't want to be too accurate."

She was thoughtful. So was he. An idea was bothering him.

"Can an elemental creature of the earth get through your tunnel?"

"Not easily. Not without me knowing."

That was not an entirely satisfying answer. "Do you really think it's Karalie?"

"The southern jungle was strong and steeped in magic. It's still strong but weaker than it was. Partially through destruction. I am gone as well. Now I am here. You are here. Neive has been active and Karalie is amplifying that. We will attract the creatures that can see that unless you find a way to shield it."

He nodded agreement. "That can wait until tomorrow."

"Karalie is sleeping in your room."

"Yes."

"Where will you sleep?"

"I slept in my study last night. After... well, you know."

She smiled. She was beautiful. Her petals opened invitingly. His pulse quickened. 'Why not?' he thought and started undressing.