115 Speechless

I continued to track Tide and Fume as they rushed off to save Ivy. It stung a little to put away my pride and ask Tide to help, but Cocoa continued to help ease my frustration at not being able to do it myself. No matter how painful it was I knew it was the right choice.

I was also angry with myself. I never even stopped to think that the fire spirit might be here because of Maximus. But how could I have ever known? He was after us spirits. Why would I think he would use Fume to get Mist instead of taking her?

It had been more than half a day by the time that Tide made it to Ivy and I could tell she was very weak. She had not been responsive the few times I tried to call her. I could only hope it was because she was resting. A few minutes later the flow of energy leaving Ivy slowed.

I let out a pent up sigh. The medicine worked. Ivy was getting better. Some of the weight on my shoulders was lifted. I tried to focus on Ivy getting better but the stress of needing to find Mist and Faun frequently bore down on me. I was glad Cocoa was there to lift me back up.

By the time we made it to the pond it was evening on the second day since Tide had rushed off. Large swaths of the north side of the pond were covered in death. Many of the trees near the clearing would have to come down and the sward between the treeline and pond was a lost cause. It seemed like the fish did not fare much better as several were floating belly up in the pond.

A shining light on the south side of the pond caught my eyes. It seemed that my two newest trees managed to make it through the fight. The residual spiritual energy from their forced growth had left the only patches clear of death.

Taking my eyes off the tree I looked to Ivy. Rine was once again sitting on Ivy's shoulder as she recovered. He looked very unsettled. I had a feeling like he was blaming himself for what happened. If any one was to blame it was me. I am the one who sent him off on a pointless task. But if he stayed he would have just been another victim.

The medicine I had made for Ivy seemed to be working well. Only small traces of her wounds were left on her arm and torso. The bright green of fresh shoots was traced over her skin. To be honest it looked like scars that mortals bore. My insides cowered thinking about what kinds of wounds could scar a dryad. Even drawing our blood was not easily done.

As I looked over her she tried to give me what I assumed was supposed to be a reassuring smile. But her strength was all but sapped and the effect was far from convincing. She was sitting up resting under an oak tree still holding onto its faded leaves while watching the maple tree glow. I sat down near her and joined in her observations. I wanted to say something to apologize for getting her mixed up in all this. But I could not find the words to say, so I just watched the tree.

The maple was just starting to fade to red. Not really sure that is the best way to say that since it was gold to start. But the leaves were turning orange as the energy Ivy had given them started to run out and winter was catching up to it. Watching the two trees free from blight protected by the strength of a dryad gave me hope. Maximus was not stronger than us. He just played dirty. I would not be tricked by him again.

Tide was also watching the tree but she was sitting on an island rock a few steps from the shore of the pond kicking her 'feet' in the water. I had to question if I could call them feet since they were no longer formed in flesh. I wanted to tell her to get out of Mist's pond. But I stopped myself. Mist was not here and starting an argument with the person that just helped me save Ivy would only delay finding out what happened.

Cocoa had sat on the bank near Tide. They were talking quietly as if not to disturb us. "How could this have been done by a mortal?" Cocoa asked while looking around at the wreckage.

"I do not understand either. But I can see how Faun could have been taken by surprise if she did not know this was coming. Ivy was in really bad shape when we got here," Tide whispered back, her feet stopping.

"She looks mostly fine now." Cocoa said looking over at us. "Did you help patch her up?"

Tide shook her head. "That medicine was better than anything I would have expected. I am not sure I would have been able to patch her up any better if I used my powers."

I cut off my powers from the plants near Cocoa. Their conversation was keeping me from finding the words to say. Sadly I caught sight of Fume and was distracted once again. Fume was staying in the areas that had been scarred by Maximus. She was not restraining her flames as she did when we walked. Her flames were burning brightly with greatly increased temperatures. She used the flames of her body to incinerate the death. Inspecting Fume's handywork, it seemed that her flames purged all traces of the blight from everywhere she touched. My eyes opened wide in shock. This was much more efficient than the mushroom kingdom I was trying to grow to rid my woods of the blight. I wonder what it would take to convince her to burn the blight for me. I know she loved to eat, but guessing from the face that she was making the blight did not taste good.

Would she like a hard wood to savor or a pine to devour quickly?

In the end it seemed I would not be able to come up with the right words to say. Giving up, I just opened my mouth"Ivy, how are you feeling?" I asked, breaking the silence between us.

Ivy blinked several times as she turned to look at me. My words seemed to pull her back from some rumination. After a moment she said, "I am light headed. But I seem to be getting better." After she spoke I noticed her inching over a little to be closer to me.

I put an arm around her shoulders. "Are you able to tell me what happened?"

Ivy shuddered at these words. "I want to say no. But you need to know. Mist is in danger."