The Woodlands

the end of the day, even a weather-resilient nymph like Neem was beginning to

night," Dacen suggested when h

d. He was quite exhaust

ff the ground and brought it over to some shrubbery further in the woods. He the

ing?" the nymph

he then attached the two corners o

next to him as gesture for Neem to join him. The nymph reluctantly

on't want me to conjure up a flam

e dark magic, he did not fully tr

ttle flame," he

n he relaxed it, there was a sma

ked as he put his hands up to the flame, but he

" the foreigner

l have you taught yourself?" Ne

d of droplets hitting leaves

ated simply. Neem gave him a cold glare. "I"ve learned some basic healing spells,

e wh

ne, but if I have the dew from a red-striped lily, then that will enhance my healing power's effec

. He found it hard to associate healing with dark magic.

I want to be able to use my a

bit about making medicine and enhan

ave him a very

magic ab

as if he was about to crush a seed

oddess had to give the forest spirits som

ld teach me," Dacen sa

hook h

ies are pure magic

s

g pure magic than dark. I can teach you a bi

ounds p

tion? Not wanting to look too deep into it, the nymph lay down and rolled so that his back was to Dacen. Seeing this, the foreigner snuffed

riously injured by, say, a wolf attack,

wn next to tiny white flowers at the base of

hem in Dacen's satchel without asking permission. "They can be used without

simply. "Let's hope we don

ays good to have a

irection we are heading?" the foreigner asked, st

entered the forest until they started attacking creatures, but they seeme

aid. A hint of fear wa

e. "I pray that what lies beyond the Woodlands is just a wolf pac

t? A huma

I hope I'm not, we may have to mak

e we meant to

ated bluntly as he d

ea what a vam

satisfy both their needs at once. A blood wolves generally tracks down these magical

hy

apped h

to ever walk through this forest. My power cou

iece from his satchel. To Neem, it looked l

k a somber tone rather than the f

reach my destination as soon as possible, but the closer I get to the border, the stronger the ch

eturn to his part of the forest, yet a part of him wanted to see this through to the e

ge of the Woodlands and that's exact

his usual, a

ur mind when you see how

k when black dust shot out of the tiny piece and began to form the shape of an

e an animal?" Neem a

mane of the creature. He looked and saw the fear in the nymp

ked as he cautiously put his

th of animal. It was mor

It's

this thing the whole time?" the

rains my power within a matter of hours, but in the

nd adjusted himself before

er ridden a

ding did not frighten him, he generally trusted

e and held out his hand to Neem. The nymph took

eature started to walk. "

ate this," Dacen said i

side of the horse with the heel of his

his arms around Dacen, clinging on for dear life. The horne

ing the beast. He was not enjoying it, but he d

his every day, how

ack at the nymph. "So

f we ride like this every day, how long do you thi

would usually take. So may

wanted to prolong Dacen's departure from the forest. He barely knew th

he borders of the Woodla

across the

he borders in t

What did

ds. Fields an

the border in t

if there was anything grea

the edge of the forest

forest and I'm just one little nymph. Also, why would I

"Well, if the warlock is real and the path to his home is safe, p

re leaving the Woodla

an't. A little adven

dventure is

g. Why else would you be escorting a 'da

creatures!" Neem squeaked in an annoyed manner.

sure. Tha

t

ver yo

with that sar

laughe

to smile at his escort. "And, well, probably part of that is because most beings are too frightened by my horns to g

ed by you when we f

ill a litt

distrust of foreigners. If not, then how could you be

say I full

e anything I can d

rea

pit

ul manner when he saw the ho

to his surprise, it was the little wooden horse figure. Unsure of what to do with

s ith his eyes clos

ll right?"

-between breaths. "My... my

e looking up at the sky. "Doesn't look like it'

surprised by Neem's intrusiveness as he pulled the pack away from the exhausted man. The ny

he said cheerfully before

k...

into the Nacta River. "I've never ventured to this part of the forest-and I've t

ater. Dacen was sitting up, but his face was as pale as a corpse, a

Neem wh

oldly in what sounded like dual voic

d, he fell back down and

before pouring the water from

pulled out a pear to eat as he watched the river flow. He glanced over at his companion a

wiping the pear juice from his lips with the ba

curiosity got the better of the nymph, and he opened Dacen's pack yet

m from opening the book to the first page. He wanted to get a good sense of exactly what type of magic

out that he had gone through the book. It was not as if hybrid had forbidden the nymph from reading the book. No, he

of strange animals, blood, and death. How cou

k be to possess books su

mage of a man with hooves, furry legs, and curled horns took up a whole page in the book. He appeare

r the influence of the warlock. He looked d

tures were along the

l entering the Woodlands, he thought as

Its skin was blue, while its black hair reached its lower

a vam

its wrists was slit open, with dark blue liquid pouring from the wound. It was at this point that Neem final

d prominent in his thoughts. In the end he did eventually drift off, but the illustrations from the boo

r Dacen if he started practicing rit