Chapter 8
RENNEN
Once outside the edge of the village, Rennen picked up speed. The greenery swayed as she passed. If she could make it out undetected, she had a real shot at getting to Zinnia’s forest. Hopefully Zinnia would help her.
“Leaving so soon?” The voice cut through her thoughts.
She skidded to a halt and whirled toward that deep voice. The Eldest knelt in human form. His bare fingers dug a hole in the black dirt.
“How did you see me?”
He lifted the wand she’d given him in answer. Her heart shuddered. The wand she’d created for him. One more step down the path of being a tree protector. She waited for him to throw accusations at her, but instead he turned away and resettled his basket. He sat so calmly that his presence calmed her. She was not being chased, not being judged. She could stay or go if she wished to. Her worries, the fear, all faded into the background and curiosity won out. She stepped near. “What are you doing?”
He handed her a thin green plant with dirt that still clung to its roots. The plant was alive with the potential to be something more. More of the same plants lay in his basket.
“I grow these from special seeds in my garden.” A long line of the limp plants extended in each direction. He planted the last one that connected the two sides. “They are for protection. The Dark Master will come.”
“Because of me?” The idea of putting those cute pups in jeopardy tightened her gut.
“In part. But that is Adelram’s story to tell.” He was not looking at her, but at the row of plants.
It made no sense that Adelram had brought her here. Not if she was putting them all in danger.
“Want to help?” The wand glowed and he made a sewing motion. The new plant wove into the line of plants causing a chain reaction. Each plant lifted and wove into its neighbor. Like they would form a net around the village. But it didn’t seem very strong. These weak and ineffectual plants could not possibly protect the village. A village she’d put in additional danger with her presence. She gave into the urge to help.
She tucked the loose plant in her pocket and reached out to read the spell. Since it was her wand, she could feel the magic. A protection spell, what a tree maid might put around a favorite tree or watering hole. Protection was something she understood. Her hand on the ground, she found the pattern and then expanded by asking if the trees and the brush would help. The willing ones she wrapped in the Eldest’s casting. The grass brought them together, the Eldest, the trees, and Rennen.
And then something more happened with the rush of wind and tinkling bells. Those limp plants drew the magic inside and the magic spawned creating a magical flash that connected them.
She knew the Eldest. His real name was Virgil. He came from a tribe far, far away. He needed to protect his people from the growing darkness of the Dark Master. He knew she had her great, great grandmother’s nose. He knew dark secrets that she only glimpsed in the rush of his life. Secrets he would protect with his life.
She knew the lives of each tree and plant who were now a part of the bond. From when they first tasted the sun, to every break and bug bite and mating.
And in that moment, they knew her as well. They knew her deepest secrets and darkest corner. They knew about her mistakes with Gant and her growing attraction to Adelram. They knew about her Mother. About her need to belong and desire to be the one that merged back the Dryad lines by mating Gant. About how lost and alone she felt when she could not love him and had no tree, no home.
And they accepted her with no reservations. For the first time, she found a place that she belonged. She could be a part of this village. Her mistakes would not matter.
The Eldest leaned in and patted her leg. His sympathy caused her heart to pound, her throat to close. The past rejections rose and taunted her. Who was she to enjoy such acceptance? If her chosen had left her and her mother chose to be a Tree Protector, rejecting her in the process, she couldn’t be worthy of belonging.
She rejected the bond the spell offered and drew away. Her heart galloped. She needed to get to Blaze Woods and out of this confusing world of gentle, protective predators.
Rennen leapt up and sped past trees to the west towards the foothills, trying to outrun the confusion. What was wrong with her? This was becoming a pattern. Would this be her life? Constantly fleeing?
She crossed the stream in a single bound. When her feet touched the ground on the other side, she knew she was in Zinnia’s land. The land itself was branded with her signature.
Zinnia, the tree protector with the surliest reputation. She never left her land, and killed trespassers like a frog would eat flies. Rennen needed a way to approach her, but she could not stop to think. She crested the hill and smacked into a warm body sending the body flying. Red hair swirled in the air. The red hair of a Tree Protector.
Rennen tumbled and landed with a crunch on dry leaves.
Zinnia landed hard against a tree. Then she bounced back up and drew a curved sword. “Who dares enter my domain?”
Rennen stood slowly and brushed the leaves off to avoid looking at Zinnia. “I am sorry, sister. I did not know where else to go.”
“Why do I smell wolf?” Zinnia sniffed strongly and brought her her nose to the vee of Rennen’s neck. She held still, not yet sensing any anger or danger.
“It’s been a long and confusing day.” Her voice sounded so small, so defeated, so sad.
Zinnia tilted Rennen’s chin and stared at her face. “I know you.”
Rennen towered above Zinnia, but Zinnia's energy and leather armor made her seem much bigger. Zinnia’s sharp cheek bones reminded Rennen of Gant. Zinnia’s hair had appeared red at first, but a dark cast under the red made it look more purple. Rennen searched her memory for any trace of this woman. There was nothing. “I don’t know you.”
“And yet I know you.” The sword slid away into its sheath. Zinnia put her hand out palm up. The other hand fisted onto her cocked hip. Her green eyes flashed in challenge making a chill crawl down Rennen’s back. Tree Protectors had uncanny abilities. There were rumors that some could see into your soul. Rennen hesitated.
“You would refuse me a reading?” Zinnia said in a soft hiss. The tops of the nearby trees rattled together like clashing sabers.
Rennen bit her lip and then slowly put her hand palm up on Zinnia’s palm. Red hair tickled Rennen’s wrist as Zinnia traced the lines of Rennen’s palm. She muttered and frowned and then shook her head.
“Come with me, sister.” Zinnia dropped her hand and headed deeper into the woods.
Rennen struggled to keep up, she’d not had a chance to recharge. The trials of the past days leadened her limbs and slowed her steps. Sleep had been good, but what she really needed was some food and a place to truly recharge.
A moment later, the heart of Zinnia’s forest opened. The oldest tree in the forest towered before Rennen. Five people could link arms and still not encompass the girth of this ancient oak. She could feel its power through the ground, thrumming up her legs. The oak was not perfectly symmetrical, but had a large white rock the size of a standing man embedded in its side. Her heart went out to the tree. Something monumental had happened here and it was of the same magnitude as Shattered Oak. Despite the warmth of the breeze that tickled her arms, something deeper felt cold.
Concentric circles of white stones filled with protective power that snapped and crackled girded the big tree. Outside the largest circle, young oaks and other trees competed for the light, but inside, just grass and flowers grew. The rocks and tree must be protecting something.
Zinnia leaned against the oak and patted it. “Do you know what this is?”
Unsure what Zinnia meant, Rennen answered, “An oak?”
“Next to the oak.” Zinnia gestured to the stones.
“Some stones.” She felt stupid, and heat filled her face.
Zinnia glanced up sharply and examined Rennen’s face. Zinnia must have seen something amusing because she tilted her head back and laughed until she fell, wrapping her arms around the tree. The oak swayed its branches and rustled its leaves in amusement. The tree was far more aware than Rennen had seen any other tree.
Once she got herself under control, Zinnia asked, “Do you know what a tree protector does?”
“Kills.” The whisper passed the lump in Rennen’s throat.
“No. We defend and protect.” Zinnia nodded once, an abrupt motion, her gaze fierce.
“But your hair is red, you’ve spilled life blood.” Rennen wanted to take the words back. It was not wise to poke. Zinnia had something more than red hair.
“I have.” Her chin came up, the sheen of tears flashed before being blinked away.
Rennen hadn’t expected Zinnia to admit her sins. She did not look embarrassed. She looked determined with her jutting chin and firm lips.
“Y-you don’t deny it.”
“How could I? There are certain things worth fighting for. Worth protecting.”
“But–”
Zinnia made a cutting motion with her arm. “No, listen.”
Rennen’s mouth snapped shut under Zinnia’s imperious gaze. “These rocks are the top layer of a tomb. The tomb of one who should not be named. More evil than the Dark Master could ever hope to be. He shattered more trees and broke more lives than anyone in living memory. I make sure he stays in his tomb.”
Zinnia’s words rolled around in her head. Rennen was missing something. “How did that make you a tree protector?”
Zinnia stepped away from the old oak and circled Rennen like a wolf stalking a fawn. The forest darkened. “Why didn’t you and Gant leave the woods together before the curse struck?” The word felt like daggers striking Rennen’s chest.
“Th-there was no time.” A lie. He had wanted to. She realized the truth, she had not wanted to and he’d stayed for her.
“Truly?” Zinnia lifted a taunting brow. “Or was he not the thing you were meant to fight for?”
Rennen opened her mouth to say that she did love him, but could not. Her heart thumped faster at the truth. She had not loved him enough and was not willing to give up her hamlet to be with him. Heat flooded her chest, neck and face. Shame crawled into her heart.
“You are a Tree Protector. It is who you are. He was cursed. Why were you together?” The statement hung between them in the air. Zinnia demanded an answer with her silence. Even the wind seemed to pause to see what Rennen would say.
“I thought I could fix our people. If only I could get him to love me.” The words were small and soft in the silence.
“You thought you were the chosen one?”
“Yes.” The confession was barely audible over her own pounding heart.
“And did you get him to love you?”
“Yes.” Of that she was sure.
Zinnia watched her face again. “But you did not love him.”
Rennen closed her eyes and swallowed the hurt those words caused. Maybe she was broken and not able to love since she was a Tree Protector.
“Tree Protectors are made to love.” Zinna said it as if she knew what Rennen was thinking. “In fact, they feel more deeply than a normal Dryad.”
Rennen didn’t know what to say to that. How could those that kill be more prone to love?
“What you are meant to protect will stalk you.” Something sad and bemused flickered across Zinnia’s face. Her lips softened and a half smile played on her lips which reminded Rennen of Adelram’s smile when she’d used his name for the first time.
“That person will mix you up. And you’ll do things you never thought you could or wanted to do.” Zinnia’s unfocused gaze made Rennen believe that Zinnia was not talking about Rennen but of Zinnia herself.
Rennen got an image of the wand she’d crafted. She’d known how when the Eldest had asked. Uneasiness flickered to life. If she were a Tree Protector she’d given him a powerful talisman. And she’d given Adelram the start of a mate bond.
Rennen pressed her lips together and shook her head. She was here for a reason. “Can you use your wand to allow me back into the hamlet?” It came out sounding desperate and breathy.
Zinnia’s face twisted with pity and something sad flickered across her face. “I have no wand. You would have to make your own and dip it in your blood.”
“And that would get me back into the Hamlet?” She could still get the wand back from the Eldest, but it would mean he could not renew the protections on the clan’s borders. Could she do that? Leave them unprotected?
“No, sister. You need to embrace the truth. You are what you are. A tree protector.” Again Zinnia’s fierceness surfaced, flushing her face and making her eyes snap.
“But-”
“Tree Protectors make such a wand as a weapon. A weapon made to kill a cursed one.”
“Are they always lost? The cursed ones?” Gant had been kind to her and had been her constant companion. Did he deserve to die? Had she made things worse for him?
“Most are lost. A few over the millennium were strong enough to resist the darkness. We all have choices.” Zinnia’s fingers strayed to caress a strange locket on a chain tight around her throat.
“What happens when they are lost?” She’d been selfish, she realized that now. Gant had been left to suffer because of her choices.
Zinnia closed her eyes and gave a secret smile that was part grimace. “It’s like being overrun by ants. They dig through and find everything useful and then change it to suit their purposes. Unless you can get rid of the ants, the ground is forever changed. And once it is changed nothing else can live there but ants.”
“How could you know?” Rennen asked. Her words seemed to personal as if Zinnia had experienced them.
Zinnia closed her eyes and gave a secret smile that was part grimace. “It’s like being overrun by ants. They dig through and find everything useful and then change it to suit their purposes. Unless you can get rid of the ants, the ground is forever changed. And once it is changed nothing else can live there but ants.”
The thought of Gant being devoured by ants had Rennen stepping back. A crunch drew her eyes down to the Tannan leaves. Some dryads changed these tough leaves into sturdy boots. Was she just like the leaves, unwittingly shaped by the forces around her? A helpless mix of options swirled in her head. She could try and rescue Gant, but he did not wish to be rescued because she did not love him. She could stay with the Wolves, but then what? Embrace the bond not only with the protective spell but with Adelram? She did not have a bond necklace, so it would not be a true bond.
“The wolf is on his way. If you wish to avoid him, you can go through my lands.” Zinnia offered no hint of her opinion. Her expression was blank and her eyes clear.
“He will just follow me.” He would follow her to the ends of the world. The thought eased something deep inside. Maybe that was an option.
“If he enters my land, I will rid you of him.” The words were precise and cold.
Rennen’s stomach twisted at the thought of Zinnia killing Adelram. She didn’t want him dead. If she let Zinnia do what she intended, then Rennen would be responsible for the downfall of two men. The first through her selfishness, the second through inaction. If she let Zinnia or even his own kin kill Adelram, what did that say about her?
Zinnia’s gaze connected with Rennen’s gaze. “The more important question for you is what will you do?”
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