"Alright, everything here seems fine. Sammy put your mask on, it's already afternoon, we need to be quick about this."

"Wait, what? How is it afternoon already? It was still dark out when we went through the portal to the Silent Leaf. We didn't spend that long there did we?"

"That's correct, we didn't. But some portals take longer to connect than others. To us, traveling through it seems instantaneous but it can take a while depending on the distance to get through them. Most naturally occurring portals like the fairy ring we used are slow portals. As a rule of thumb, if you can see through the portal it's mostly instantaneous, if you can't it will take some time. "

We then walk up the stairs. Hildi checks my clothes one last time, just to be safe, before we walk through the rays of sunshine coming through our windows, towards the front door. Hildi opens the front door and rips off a piece of parchment nailed to our door.

"What does it say, Hildi?"

"Nothing of importance, let's go inside the carriage Sammy."

She throws the parchment to the ground and leads me to the carriage.

"Hey, Psst, Pavel. Pick that up for me please," I say before entering the carriage, while Hildi takes the reins at the coachman's seat.

"Fine but you need to buy me time to run there and back. I can't teleport to you while holding it."

"Got it. Hey, mommy?"

"Yes? Is everything alright!? Are you hurt!?"

"What? No I'm fine, I just wanted to ask how the carriage got back here. AbBEE couldn't have driven it and you were carrying me on foot right? Did you drive me home first and then carry me?"

"Oh no, the Kelpies brought it back by themselves after they noticed we weren't coming back."

"They can do that?"

"Of course they can, they're smart creatures."

"Then why do we need someone on the coach seat?"

"Well, someone needs to tell them where we want to go. Also, the humans would be more than suspicious of seeing a carriage without a coachman."

At this point Pavel comes back into the carriage holding the note, so I close the door. Hildi then says, "We're ready to go. Make sure to sit down, honey," and closes the slit to the coachman's side.

"Alright Pavel, now is a good time, please tell me what this says."

"Oh? I thought you only wanted me to bring this to you, you never mentioned you wanted me to read to you as well, xaxaxa"

"Of course I do! No need to be pedantic now, read it!"

"Sigh I'm not being pedantic, you just need to learn to be more precise in your speech, that's very important for your kind."

"Yeah, yeah, less preaching more reading please."

"The things you do as a royal guard…Ahem, it says 'Bring out your sick and your faithful. The day of reckoning is upon us. If you wish to be saved, come to the church immediately.'"

"That can't be good…It's only been a day, why are they already calling the day of reckoning?"

"No idea, but if you look outside with your soul seeing eyes you can see the infected."

Looking outside, most of them seem fine but some are already coughing. When I turn on my soul seeing eyes though, I can tell that most of their souls have black spots on them. Some even have straight up holes in their soul.

"Is this disease…destroying their souls?"

"It's at least attacking it, yes."

"Does that mean they won't be able to reincarnate?"

"Not necessarily, the soul can recover…Even if it will leave scars. But if their souls can't fend it off, then they will die permanently."

"That's…Horrible."

"Well, to the Archlich it's probably a mercy."

"What does he want anyways!? What mercy is there in death?"

"Hmm…From what I heard, the reason he wants to spread nothingness is because he himself doesn't wish to exist but his powers don't allow him to die. So he instead hopes to go back to before he was sentient by destroying everything else."

"So just because his life is miserable he has to make everyone else's life miserable too? What a prick."

"A prick? I would have expected you to use some harder words than that."

"I would…But I also kinda get where he is coming from…That doesn't make it right but I can't help but feel kind of bad for him… I feel like he just needs someone to love him, some reason to live, you know?"

"Xaxaxa, you really are something else. Even after nearly dying permanently you still have pity for him. You really are a treasure worthy to be protected by a royal guards captain, xaxaxaxa."

"Pfft, as if you can protect me, looking like a little toddler. Maybe once I'm older and can actually fully manifest you haha."

"I hope that will take a while. Your mana is already at the level of an adolescent with magical training and the scariest part is your insane mana regeneration. If it keeps growing like this you'll develop mana sickness even if I'm fully manifested."

"What's mana sickness?"

"It's when your body produces more mana than it can use up or store. It's not necessarily dangerous but it causes you to constantly leak out mana, which makes you emit a presence that is easily detectable with magic. If it's particularly bad, people can even feel pressure coming from you as if the air around you is thicker, making it hard to socialize with people who have less mana than you. There is even a combat technique where you try to artificially induce mana sickness by purposefully exuding parts of your mana in a small area around you to distract your opponents or even make them fall unconscious if their mana is particularly low compared to yours."

"That sounds awesome! How do I learn that!?"

He pulls on my ear, "Do you not listen to me at all!? It's a sickness! It's not something you want to get! It makes it hard to have a normal life. Seriously, it's best for you to just stay in your castle and not practice any magic or go into combat!"

"Uhuh, well maybe I will stay in my 'castle' if my personal royal guard is watching over me, hahaha."

"Yeah…Haha…"

"Even if you're not that strong of a guard right now, I'm still glad to have you as my friend, Pavel."

"Yeah…And I'm still glad I get to guard you, my princess."

"Pfft, now you're just getting corny."

The carriage starts to shake a bit more as we seem to drive onto someone's lot. The carriage then stops and the slit to the coach seat opens again. "Alright Sammy, we're here."

Shortly after, the door to the carriage opens as a pink vaguely Hildi shaped blob holds out a hand to me. I first miss when I try to grab her hand because of the weird proportions but then take her hand on the second try, causing me to giggle.

"What's so funny, Sammy?"

"Looking at your soul just makes me happy."

"Pfft, you're so cute. Come on, let's go."

I leave the carriage and look around. It seems we're in a slightly more remote part of the city. In front of us is a huge looking house the size of our mansion but with a very different design. I'm not sure how to describe it but it looks a lot more 'pedestrian' than our house. Overall, it's just more run down looking and less fancy. It is also covered in vines and it looks more lived in than our place. Walking up to the door, there seems to be a big silver door knocker on it. Obviously not touching it, Hildi knocks on the door with her hand instead. It doesn't take long for the door to unlock and a green soul blob to peek out of the door.

Then a male voice says, "What do you want?"

"We need to talk to the leader of your order."

The green blob tries to close the door again but Hildi puts her foot in the way and says, "It's urgent."

I can then hear an old woman's voice speak up from inside the building saying, "Now, now, no need to be rude. I have been expecting them."

"Are you sure grandma?"

"Why yes, I had a vision a few days ago. I just wasn't sure when they'd come."

"Fine, you're allowed in but make it quick."

The door then fully opens and Hildi walks me inside. I barely took a step inside, when the door behind me closes and locks again as the green blob walks past me toward the voice of the old lady. She also seems to have a green soul but hers is a lot smaller and has vines all over it, as well as two thorns where her eyes would be.

"Hey Pavel, what do the vines mean?"

"Basically they're the same as the chains you saw before but the vines make it so her soul reincarnates into a Fey when she dies, rather than go to a deity's realm."

"And her eyes?"

"What about them?"

The old woman speaks up, "Oh…These old things? I lost them to a disease a long time ago."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"Mommy, can I try something?"

"What do you want to try Sammy?"

"I think I might be able to help her eyes."

The man from the door chimes up, yelling, "Nonsense! No matter what we tried no one was able to heal her eyes, whether through magical or non magical means."

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

The old lady interjects, "Hmm…But rarely has someone shown such confidence about it. I'll allow you to try, child."

I then walk up to the her and put my hands on the thorns. I can actually grab them…That's good. In one fell swoop, I yank out both of them at the same time and once the thorns leave her soul they just disintegrate into dust in my hands.

I can hear sniffling from the Old Lady and the guy from the door grabs me by the arm and yells, "What did you do to her!?"

Hildi then grabs his arm and says, "If you want to keep that arm, let go of my daughter."

Before the situation can escalate further though, the old lady firmly says, "Let go of that young girl. She just healed my sight!"

I can feel his grip loosen as he runs over to the old lady and says, "Really!? Can you truly see!?"

"It isn't completely clear yet but with every passing moment, I can start to see shapes sharpen and colors becoming more vibrant. Please accompany me to the garden, if I'm going to see again I want to see the garden we have built for so long. Please you two, feel free to accompany us."

"Uhm…Sammy what did you just do?" Hildi asks, baffled.

"I just pulled out the thorns in her soul."

"Pavel?"

"Don't ask me, I have no idea what she's talking about. I didn't see any."

"So, Sammy, honey. What happened to the 'thorns' when you pulled them out?"

"They just turned to dust."

"Hmm…Well, I don't really understand what you did but it doesn't seem dangerous, so great job Sammy. Thanks to you, we'll probably be treated a lot more favorably now."

The pink Hildi blob then pets my head as we follow them into the garden. It seems like the building is built like a square, around a garden in the center. There are also multiple other souls running around in different sizes and shades of green. Some also have vines around their souls. The weird thing is that there is also a tree in the middle of the garden with a lot of green soul energy around it.

"Hey Pavel, what's with that tree?"

"Oh, what you see there are residual thoughts and feelings, probably from the druids here. Often places that are either well cared for or have strong emotions happen around it like a beloved play place for children or an execution ground will have some of the emotions linger there. When they build up for a long time they can even start affecting the people around them, like making them happy, feeling dread, or becoming sick."

"Is it okay for that kid to sit inside that tree then?"

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"The kid inside the tree, right here."

"I don't know. I guess I'm not seeing what you're seeing."

Getting closer to the tree, I try to make out more detail. It feels like I'm looking through the glasses of someone with a high prescription, everything is just blurry. But when I try to concentrate on it more, the blurriness slowly goes away, as what looks like a girl my age with green skin lying in a fetal position, covered in vines comes into view. It looks like she's sleeping. But there is something else…Writing? Mo…Morgana.

"Morgana?"

After I speak her name there are multiple different colors emanating from the tree as the girl from the tree slowly wakes up and looks at me.

"Did you awaken me, child?"

"Uhm…Yeah I guess?"

"What is your name child?"

"Ehm, you can call me Sammy."

She sits up fully and stretches, "Yawn And your real name?"

"I…I'm not allowed to tell people."

"I guess you're still too young to make decisions like that. So is that your mom?" She says pointing at Hildi.

"Yeah."

"Hmm, at least she doesn't hide her appearance. Say, is it in fashion to wear the dead hide of humans?"

"Oh…No, someone forced my soul into a corpse to enslave me. But thankfully the enslavement part didn't work."

"Ah that's good then. You see, I quite like the humans here, it would sadden me if they were in danger of getting skinned for their hides. Say, is there a reason you are hiding what you look like?"

"I'm not necessarily hiding what I look like but sunshine makes my skin burn. So while the sun is out I have to cover up."

"Oh, in that case, please feel free to rest in my shade." She says as the tree creeks and cracks and slowly leans over to put me in the shade.

I then suddenly get picked up and carried away by Hildi, "Be careful Sammy, the tree's about to fall over."

At the same time a bunch of the green souls start running towards the garden in the middle saying things like, "Cast Life magic!" or "No, get rope, we need to stabilize it first!"

The old lady then walks over to the tree and mumbles, "This must be a bad omen…If our ancestor tree is dying that means we're about to vanish as well…"

A little annoyed, I start yelling, "Hey! Everyone! Stop overreacting! She was just trying to give me some shade!"

Hildi asks, "Who are you talking about? Pavel?"

Pavel shrugs, "I don't know either, she was just speaking to the tree."

The old lady then comes up to me and asks, "Have you been conversing with our ancestral tree?"

Morgana sighs and says, "I guess it's time to show myself."

She stands up and walks out of the tree, her vines still connected to it like an umbilical cord. She is surrounded by blue light as the druids start gasping and pointing while Hildi moves me behind her.

I can hear the old lady starting to cry again as she says, "The birth of a Dryad…From our ancestral tree nonetheless…To be able to see it with my own eyes…"

Morgana then walks over to the old lady, pets her head and says, "You did well taking care of me and this place."

"I…Of course! Our people have taken care of this place for at least six generations! Our ancestors planted your seed in this land when we decided to settle down here. But to think that'd I'd be able to see the birth of a Dryad…Makes me feel truly blessed."

"Well, if you wish to show your gratitude then show it to this little one. Had she not woken me up I would have slept for another five or so generations of your kind."

"I…When my vision told me that great fortune would befall us if during our time of need we still reached out to help the Fey, I didn't expect it to be this great of a fortune…Please do tell me why you two have come here. You will have our full assistance."

Hildi speaks up, "We came here looking for information. Do you know about the druid order in the forest west of here using acorn symbology?"

"Hmm…I do know of them. Though there has been no contact for months now. I doubt they're still alive."

"You are correct with that assumption. According to my daughter, it was a total massacre, most likely done by knights. However it is unclear where these knights hail from."

"That is…Very unfortunate, they were good people."

"What I need to ask you is if they had any powerful and influential patron Fey."

"Hmm…I don't think they had anyone particularly powerful or influential as their patron but they did have a deep connection to the autumn court. For at least as long as our order has been here, they have never contracted with a Fey from a different court, so I assume if you're looking for a patron of theirs, that's where you would find them. If you don't mind me asking, why are you interested in that?"

"I do mind. I'm asking the questions here, not you. Now tell me what do you know about the flesh imprisonment ritual?"

"That is something I haven't heard since I was a child…From what I remember, it is a dark ritual using a human sacrifice to enslave a Fey. It's an extremely powerful curse that interferes with the very soul of the target. It would certainly take a powerful Fey patron for druids to successfully conduct a ritual like this."

"Do you know of a way to undo a curse like this?"

"Not one that doesn't involve the Fey involved with casting the original ritual. Are you saying that this was done to someone?"

"Yes, they did it to my daughter, on the day of her birth."

"Perhaps it was conducted by someone very close to you then."

"What makes you say that?"

"The ritual involves knowing the true name of the one being imprisoned. If it happened during her birth, that means either someone was present during the naming of the child after the birth and fed that information to someone who already had prepared the ritual and was just waiting for the name. Or it could mean, that someone already knew the name that was going to be given to her and waited for the labor process to start to prepare and ultimately cast the ritual. The only other possibility I could think of, is a tier 0 artifact that would allow you to know someone's true name but that would only be accessible to the royal families of the courts so it's very unlikely."

"And what if we knew for certain this person had access to tier 0 artifacts?"

"Well…In that case, unless the druids of the western forests made a contract with someone outside of the autumn court the only culprit that would make sense is King Denevere, ruler of the autumn court."

"Are you absolutely certain about that!?"

"Well…Think about it, someone powerful who has access to tier 0 artifacts making a contract with a relatively obscure group of druids absolutely loyal to the autumn court. King Denevere is not married and his parents and siblings died in the war against the Archlich. It has to be either him or someone very close to him."

Hildi gets visibly angry and repeatedly stomps her foot to the ground, "Damn it! Damn it, damn it , damn it!!!

"What's wrong mommy? We finally found the one responsible, all we need to do now is kill him right?"

She seems to compose herself a little and kneels down on one leg in front of me.

"Sammy, it's impossible. I'm not nearly good enough to commit regicide and even if I was, we would have to be on the run for the rest of our lives. We can not follow this path anymore."

"Then…What do we do?"

"I don't know…But I'm sure we'll figure something out. Even if we don't, I'll make sure you can have the best life that you can…"

Pavel angrily stomps up to the old lady and says, "Hey you, you said before that you have had a vision of us coming here. Can't you give a prophecy on how to help her or something?"

"Hmm…I can try but I can't guarantee how clear the prophecy will be. Come with me child, let's sit down at a table."

I then follow her back inside and we sit down at a table full of different herbs.

"I will need to touch your skin. Please take off one of your gloves."

Taking a look at Hildi, her pink soul gives me a nod, so I comply. The old lady then takes my hand.

"Hmm…I feel…A great tragedy ahead of you…Death…No, murder of…Your mother by…Your own hand."

"What!? I would never-"

Pavel interrupts me and says, "Let her finish the prophecy first."

"It seems that you are at a crossroad. Before you lay two paths, becoming a warlord or becoming a benevolent ruler. The path you take will be decided upon whether or not a knight can protect you in your time of need. The outcome isn't clear but there is something I can do to help."

She leaves the table and vanishes into a room, leaving me at the table.

Turning my soul seeing eyes off to look at her properly, I yell at Hildi, "Mommy, I would never kill you! Are we sure this woman isn't just lying to us!?"

Hildi gives me a reassuring smile and puts her hands on my cheeks, "Sammy…Don't worry too much about it. Even if her prophecy is true, there could be many valid reasons for why you would have to kill me. Imagine if you or I were the target of domination magic, we could be a danger to each other that way. Or if I was severely injured enough that I'd be unable to recover, perhaps you'd just give me a mercy killing so I don't have to die slowly. Either way, I would reincarnate and two hundred years later I will be back. So don't take it to heart, okay?"

"Okay…"

The old lady then comes back, holding what looks like a large pearl the size of my fist, "Here, take this as a gift, make sure to keep it on you at all times."

"What is it?"

Pavel answers, "It's a mana crystal. It can store up any excess mana you produce or manually put into it. It's usually used to supply magical items but in case you were to get so severely injured that your mana runs out, we could also use it to stabilize you again. It's definitely beneficial to have on hand, especially with your track record of getting hurt. We should charge it as quickly as possible, just to have a safety net ready for you, so I'm going to go back to the spirit realm. Make sure to keep your eyes turned off and don't use any of your bloodline abilities. I will be back as soon as you fill it, which shouldn't take too long with a mana stone of that size and your high level magic regeneration. You got that?"

"Yeah…" I do as Pavel says and put the stone in a small pouch under my dress where I hide my dagger.

"Alright, I'm going to leave now but I'll be back soon." Pavel says and disappears.

Looking around, it takes a bit of time to adjust my eyes again. It somewhat feels like going from a sunny garden, right into a dark basement as the colors become more desaturated.

It's only now, that I can actually take a look at what the people here look like. The old lady is a little chubby and looks like she's in her 80s. She has her hair braided into two braids, one for each side, that hang down her body. She is wearing expensive but not gaudy looking clothes with different rune and animal stitchings on it. Her face looks quite seasoned by the weather as if she's spent most of her life outside. That does seem to be a theme though, as most people here have pretty damaged skin. The guy from the door looks like he's in his late forties, though seeing as he called the old lady grandma he's probably a lot younger than he appears. He seems to be wearing white and brown linen clothes like most of the other druids here. In a way, they also all look like they are related to some extent. I guess six generations of incest does that to you…

As for the Dryad, she weirdly also looks a lot older. In this form, she looks like an adult woman but her soul is only about my age. I guess she did say I awoke her a bit early so maybe that's why.

Hildi takes me by my hand, "Sammy, we've got to go now. Time to say goodbye."

The old lady interjects, "If you're trying to leave the city, I have bad news. Since this morning, the knights have called for a curfew. No one is allowed to enter or leave the city without permission."

"Don't druids always have a secret escape path? What is yours?"

"If we had one we would not have been here today… I'm not sure what they did but all escapes have been blocked off, even the ones they should have no idea of."

"That's concerning but I think I still know a way out."

"Why not just stay with us and wait out the danger? I'm sure after all you did for us, no one will object to you staying."

"If there is still a chance of escape we have to take it now. The humans are in a zealous mood and they have already eradicated one of your orders. I don't see why they would not come for you."

"In that case, I wish you luck. May you wander in the shade of the great tree today."

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