Chapter 49

49 Close Brush.

The guards all ran over to the bonfire and surrounded the princess and the rest while their gaze locked onto the tree line. Quies had also taken out his sword and was ready to deal with the enemy.

Just when the tension was at its peak, two figures walked out of the tree line. Under the moonlight, their features looked very mesmerizing, Azula was surprised and she stood up. The two figures looked like they were made of wood.

Quies asked, “May I ask, what brings your excellency here?”

His tone may sound calm but his heart was palpitating. The creatures in front of him were called the Driad. They were the creatures that lived in the forest, the information about them was scarce, however, these creatures were not known for their hostility.

The figure in the front said, “We sensed the presence of your magical beasts, so we came to check. We hope that you do not mind the intrusion. Not many people stay in the woods at night.”

The voice of these figures was very ethereal. They had green beady eyes, shining like a gem. Meeting these creatures was an experience that could not be explained with words. Azula said, “We thank you for your concern, Your excellency.”

The creature waved his dainty hand and walked towards the boulder where Valerian was lying down. Azula could not help but ask, “Is something the matter, your excellency?”

The wooden creature behind shook his head, while the other figure had already come closer to Valerian. The boy seemed to be sleeping, however, the Wraiths all had their gazes trained at the creature.

The creature asked in an ethereal voice, “May I ask, how you got the blessing from the wolves?”

.....

Valerian opened his silver orbs, looking directly at the slender figure in front of him. He made a few signs to see if the figure can understand him. To his surprise, the figure said, “May I hold your hand? That way we can talk directly in each other minds.”

That said, the creature stretched out his hand. Valerian hesitated and the figure said, “Do not worry, it is not wise to close your heart to everything.”

Valerian thought for a bit, while the creature kept looking at him patiently, although there was no expression on the face, the green eyes seemed to be happy. After a few minutes, Valerian extended his hand and the Saltus held onto it gently.

The driad asked, ‘Now, can you tell me?’

Valerian opened his eyes wide, and the voice was heard directly inside his mind. He asked, ‘May I know who are you?’

‘I am Olivis. A driad, creature of the forest.’, replied the figure.

Valerian was surprised because he has only read about them briefly in a book. He composed himself and narrated the incident of how he got the blessing from the Driad. He did not know that the Driad was very surprised, well the facial features certainly did not help.

After Valerian was done, the Driad nodded and said, ‘Thank you. I wish you joy.’

The figure let go of Valerian’s hand and said, “Goodbye.”

Then he walked over to his companion and after greeting the people, they vanished back into the tree line as if they never existed in this world. Azula heaved a sigh of relief and cast a gaze at Valerian, who was slowly walking over to them.

Azula was smart and she could tell that the child has a lot of questions and cast a gaze at Quies, who made the guards move out of the place.

Priscilla thought the mood was too stiff and said, “Valerian, you did not return my magic knife.”

The boy woke up from his daze and took out the knife from the inside of his coat pocket and gave it back to the maid. He said, ‘Thank you, this is a very handy tool.’

Priscilla smiled and said, ‘I am glad that you like it.’

Valerian nodded gently and cast a gaze on Azula. He asked, ‘Your Highness, what happened just now?”

Azula sighed and said, “I am as clueless as you are, what did the Driad communicate to you about?”

Thinking about it, the child told Azula everything, and the four people were surprised. They did not expect this guy to go and face a pack of wolves that were too magical. The princess said, “Driads aside, I want to crack your skull open to see what is going on inside that brain of yours.”

She directly reached out and flicked her finger on Valerian’s forehead. The boy felt wrong but he did not refute it, after all, he did not know what he was thinking at the point when he engaged in combat with the pack.

Priscilla giggled, but after receiving an icy glare from the boy. Azula scolded Valerian for running behind strength a bit too much, then she said, “Only when you are alive can you get stronger Valerian. Do not be reckless in the future.”

The child gazed at her, the gentle tone made his heart shock a little. He nodded and said, ‘Yes, Your Highness, I will pay attention the next time.’

Azula nodded and said, “Driads can sense if someone is blessed by the nature. They are often seen as the priests of nature. If a forest has a driad present in it, the humans inside will be able to pass by the place unharmed, because Driads are the symbol of harmony between humans and nature.

However, as for why they appeared here? I can only say that it might be because of your blessing.”

The people agreed and accepted this explanation. However, they were unaware of the truth.

...

Olivis was walking through the forest with his companion, the other Driad asked, “Was he the one?”

Olivis nodded, and the companion was shocked. He stopped in his footsteps, looking at the back of his partner in a daze. Olivis said, “Have you decided to take root here, Celtis?”

Celtis asked, “Why did you not bring him over, the council...”

Olivis stopped and turned back to look at his companion, and asked, “Have you forgotten the purpose of a Driad?”

Celtis was taken aback and asked, “What does that have to do with this?”

Olivis shook his head and said, “We do not force others, we live for harmony. Do you think that blessing he has is something simple? When I held his hand, I could tell, that if I hurt him, then I will decay in a matter of seconds. Understand? He is not so simple.”

Celtis did not expect his friend to say something like this. He asked, “What do you mean?”

Olivis sighed and said, “I will need you to swear in the name of Vita that whatever I tell you will not be heard by a third soul.”

This statement made Celtis shiver, he was entangled, for a driad the oath in the name of Vita was sacred and if they broke this oath, they will be doomed to rot away. However, looking at the serious gaze of his friend. Celtis nodded and swore in the name of Vita.

Olivis said, “Inside that child not only resides the blessing of the dragon god but also the blessing of our greatest fear. The dragon of decay, the queen of dragons, Senium Dracos.”

Celtis was shocked, he asked, “What do you mean? How can Senium have passed down her magic to him?”

Olivis shook his head and said, “I have no idea how she did it but I am sure, that she did this to prevent us from harming him. If the magic of decay goes out of control, then the entire driad species will be gone.

Also, I was never in favor of hunting him. What is the difference between us and those greedy humans? Hunt a child, who was blessed by the dragon god? Was it his choice or was it his parent’s choice? Divinus helped us in the time of our greatest peril, instead of looking out for his son, we are harming him? The driad race has fallen in the hands of those senile old men.”

Celtis had no words to refute, the anger Olivis had was justified. However, he still asked, “Oli, what do you think will happen if the other driads found him? You know, not everyone is as compassionate as you are.”

Olivis nodded and said, “I knew you would ask this, I have already left a trace of Driad breath on him. It will mask him from the other driads.”

Celtis nodded and said, “Well, shall we go back and report to the council? They may be senile but we have to keep up the pretense.”

Olivis nodded and the two walked to a big tree. Celtis took the lead and suddenly, his body melted into the tree trunk. Olivis turned to look in the direction of the camp and mumbled, “Grow strong, Son of Divinus, Vita needs your help.”

Then he also melted in the tree trunk.