Wild Wastes 4 -Ch13- (Patreon)

Zathira glided up to a rather ornate door that stood out. There was even an inlay in the material that looked like some sort of glittering material that probably cost far too much.

“Knock it down for me,” growled Vince as his heart pounded in his ears. His teeth were clenched together and felt as if they might crack against one another with the force he was exerting.

Elizabeth advanced to the door, lifted a bare leg, and then put it through the door with a massive whallop. The great coat that was covering her shifted with the movement but didn’t reveal anything of her.

With a wail of metal tearing loose the door came off it’s frame and slammed into the ground on the other side. Not waiting for Vince Elizabeth walked into the room followed directly behind by Red then Zathira.

Apparently Vince was being given the “important person” entrance and wouldn’t be allowed in immediately.

Seems more fitting for a man with a grander name. Like… Alexander.

I’m just an ugly little bastard.

Nasty thing that I am.

Vince.

Kinda like… Steve.

Vince only lingered for several seconds before entering.

Stepping into the bedroom he found the baron.

He was sitting in a chair at a desk, half naked, and looking very angry. He also had a hand towel in his lap that had what looked like blood on it.

Already well past angry and in the “rage” territory, Vince jumped further than he wanted to with his thoughts. That maybe this man had already slaughtered all the unseeded Dryads as well.

As if drawn by his thoughts, Vince’s eyes flit over to the corner of the room.

Curled up there was a very dead Dryad woman. Her eyes were open, empty.

Vacant.

Staring into nothing.

“You? What are you doing here! How dare you come into my private chambers and—”

“Kill him and pull his soul out for questioning,” demanded Vince through clenched teeth, now ignoring the baron. “I want to know where every single Dryad corpse is. We’re going to plant them in the roots of their own trees.

“They might not ever come back, but we can at least give them that chance. Once you’re done with his soul, Zathira. Turn it over to Leila. We're going to have some long lasting fun with it. There's no point in torturing his body when we have his soul.”

The entire time Vince had been speaking, the baron had been babbling at him. Demanding one thing or the other, accusing him of being impertinent and oafish, and a slew of other things that were ridiculous given the situation.

Red zipped forward and caught the baron around the throat. Lifting the handsome man out of the chair she carried him over to Zathira.

Struggling against the Cursed-One’s might he fought for all he was worth. There was no escaping Red in spite of that fact.

Zathira laid a hand to the man’s head and her eyes became an abyssal black.

The baron went limp instantly and his body slack in Red’s grasp.

“I’ve plucked his soul free, you may dispose of that,” Zathira breathed with a low hiss. “The… unplanted Dryads live, yet are dying. They need a grove to power them since they… don’t have the ability to seed yet.

“Though… there… there is one that can seed. The baron decided to slaughter them all because the one that can be planted in the Dryad dungeon. She was to be the new Grove-mother. She’s a daughter of Flora.”

“Perfect. We’ll make her the duchess, bury her family accordingly, and let her tend to her family,” vowed Vince. “I’m going to go start digging the graves. Please… bring their bodies to me when you find them. I’ll need several planks of wood, several feet of copper wire, a bell, and a stake. Per body, that is.

“When you find Flora’s daughter and her sisters please assist them to the location. We’ll… make it a dual ceremony for them all. Burial and bestowal of rank.”

Pivoting on his heel Vince exited the room and then paused in the hallway.

Standing there, he wanted to slam his fist into something. To break things and then burn the wreckage to ash.

It felt like his throat was dry as he stared into the void.

Distantly he could hear a crackling noise. He couldn’t identify it, and he didn’t care at the moment. All he could see and hear right now was a very sad Dryad named Flora who lived and died as a prisoner for no reason other than what she was.

***

Standing in the courtyard where the Dryad’s had been held prisoner Vince waited.

Over time servants began carrying out bodies to him. They were always wrapped in linen and hidden from sight.

Vince uncovered each one. Making sure to strip them of clothes as well. Just as he’d done for Karya, Daphne, and Green.

He arranged their bodies appropriately, where sometimes he had to put a body part close to where it should be, then interring them into the earth. Making sure to have put their bodies directly in line with the roots of their tree.

Either the tree would integrate their Dryad back into themselves, or assist in regrowing them. He knew without asking that Blue would vehemently deliver prayers to the fallen Dryads that they might regrow and return to life.

She was a priestess of Yosemite after all. Her words carried a weight backed by thousands upon thousands of believers back home.

Reaching out he adjusted the small bell on the stake.

“Not going to let what happened with the others happen again,” he muttered to himself.

Looking to Flora’s corpse he winced, then reached down and gently moved her index finger. The wire that was tied around it pulled at the bell and it made a ringing noise.

“There. When she wakes, she’ll have a little time before the earth just takes her life away again,” he said with some satisfaction. Then he grabbed the two small enclosures of wood he’d made and laid them atop her.

One over her head and face, the other over her chest.

It’d give her a chance to take a few breaths and then try to move. Only for the bell to sound and whoever was on duty to notice it.

After that, it’d just be a matter of retrieving the Dryad.

They’d been deliberately buried in a fairly shallow grave for easy retrieval. A guard would need to be present to listen for the bells as well as to discourage scavengers or grave robbers .

“May you return quickly Flora. I hope that your afterlife, and the life after your death, are kinder to you than they were previously,” offered Vince, then reached out to gently pass a hand to her shoulder.

He passed a small amount of power into the corpse after thinking about what he’d learned afterward from his own Dryads of their experience with death. That they were indeed not mortal and their’s was a domain that was unknowable in many ways.

There was a shuddering noise from the tree and then several roots grew down to spread out over the corpse. They didn’t enter the body, but simply moved across it. Covering one arm from shoulder to fingertips.

“Hm. Well. I’m betting I’ll see you sooner than I think,” Vince said with a chuckle.

Standing up he turned away from the grave.

He’d felt the approach of others. The arrival of Blue, Red, and Sam to be accurate. They were escorting a gaggle of young Dryad women.

They were all standing before him.

On each side of the green-belt were graves dug by him, filled with Dryad corpses. They were only waiting for him to rig up the bell-system for them, and then to be buried fully.

Only one of the Dryad girls looked mature.

In fact, she looked to be Meliae’s age when he first met her. She’d been on her own journey with her first seedling in fact.

Standing at about five foot five, a full Dryad physique with tanned skin, radiant hazel eyes that shimmered to a sparkling green color in the light, and long black hair, she was decidedly different than what he’d expected.

Frighteningly pretty as well. Very different from every Dryad he’d encountered so far.

“You… are lord Vince?” asked the woman.

“Indeed. May I ask your name?” he replied and inquired in turn.

“I am cal-that… Flora, my mother, named me Leandra,” whispered the Dryad. Vince only could guess at the hesitation, but he imagined she probably had a derogatory name she’d been called.

“Ah. Well, you named your daughter beautifully, Flora,” offered Vince, turning to look into the grave. “I will now appoint her in your stead as the duchess.”

Turning back to look at the young woman he found her eyes were glued to the corpse.

“Would you like to tell her goodbye for now?” asked Vince. “She’ll be coming back, you know. It might take a little time but… she’ll be back.”

“She… will?” asked Leandra.

“Guarantee it. I apparently have already regrown one Dryad all on my own. The other two were well on their way as well. I just screwed up the execution. My brother had to help me out with it but, I learned from it. I’ve learned many lessons,” Vince promised with a smile. “So yes, she and all your sisters will be returned to you. I can’t… guarantee their pregnancies though. Those might all be lost. They didn’t have trees.”

Leandra hesitated for only a moment then moved forward. She got down on her knees and then reached into the grave, laying her hands to the Dryad’s bare torso and shoulder.

“Mother… we thank you. You weren’t here to see it, but you gave us the freedom we all begged for,” whispered the Dryad in her own language. “You bartered with an avenging angel to deliver us to sanctuary and lost yourself in doing it.

“May you rest eternally and at least watch over us with joy in your heart.”

Leandra kissed her hand and then pressed it back down to her mother. After a few seconds more she stood and looked to Vince.

“She won’t rest eternally,” countered Vince in her own language. “She really will rise again. You Dryads are far more hearty creatures than anyone suspects. Now… will you become the duchess of… what’s the name of this area?”

“Galicia. It’s… you… understood me. You can speak spanish?” she asked with surprise.

“Indeed. Do you accept?” Vince said, continuing in English again. “To be my duchess? Of Galicia? You would only be beholden to me and no one else.”

“Yes, of course I do,” Leandra answered in English and stepped up to him.

In her hands she held a small seed pod. It was cupped in her palms and held up to him as if it were an offering.

“Please, plant me into your grove my lord Vince,” she pleaded.

Frowning, Vince turned and looked to Blue. The only one who would have told her about this would be his own Dryad.

“It’s fine,” Blue said with a wave of her hand. “Besides, she’ll need to be able to travel about a bit further than you think. Meliae needed a great deal of travel that we didn’t expect you’ll remember.

“Her sisters can all plant themselves here with their mothers and aunts. It’d be best for her to be apart from them as well so she can provide them with power, too.”

Staring at Blue Vince knew there was more to this.

He suspected that his little Dryad had already converted Leandra into his service on the way up. That the Dryad in fact would be a grove-wife to Blue.

Except he didn’t want that.

Not right now.

This young woman barely knew her asshole from a hole in the ground and had a lot to do.

“She’ll be fine planting it here,” countered Vince and threw a thumb to Flora’s tree. “If she needs to move around, we can change some things then.

“Sorry, Leandra. Just… not the right time or place. You need to grow roots and become the strength for your family. I don’t know where I’ll end up, but I can guarantee you now that it’ll likely be far from here.

“I formally declare you as the Duchess of Galicia. Hold it firmly and with care in my stead. Now… if you’ll excuse me, I need to go tend to your aunts. They need to be interred.”

Stepping away from Leandra, Vince moved back to Flora and grabbed the shovel. He needed to fill her grave and move on.

There was work to do.

***

“Ah, there is this one’s master,” came a quiet voice followed by the click of ant leg’s moving across stone.

Looking up from the tree of the unknown Dryad, Vince found Petra was indeed on her way toward him. She was wearing a broad smile and her arms and armor as well.

“My dearest soldier, general, and wife,” Vince returned with an equal smile to hers. “You’ve found me. Which means you wanted to talk to me, or to ask me questions, I imagine.”

“Maybe this one just wanted to see her master?” argued Petra as she came up to him.

“Oh, I’m sure you did. But that’s not the reason you’re here. See… I know you, Petra my dear,” answered Vince, reaching up to lay a hand to her cheek. He was always surprised to find her looking as young as the day he met her. He’d grown used to his mature and beautiful soldier-ant. “You are a consummate military leader, and my wife second to that.

“I do not fault you for that but instead I would encourage that. I have many wives, but only one general Petra. Only one who I trust the entirety of my world to.

“In fact, even Felix entrusted it all to you, Petra. Do you think my brother who at times is even more ruthless than I, would ever do that if he didn’t have a single smidgen less belief than I did in you?”

Petra’s eyes had slowly widened at his words. Staring at him as if he were laying out the secrets of the world to her.

“He… would not,” she said after digesting his words for several seconds. “Felix would’ve demanded someone else take control. Like Ioana, to take control. He would never have let me take the leadership role if he doubted it.

“This one… believes you’re absolutely correct and… and will reflect on your words deeply. My role isn’t that of your wife, but your general who happens to be your wife.”

“Yup,” agreed Vince and patted her cheek twice. “Though I really look forward to making you squeal like my wife tonight.

“You’re mine, Petra. I demand that you join me in bed tonight. I’ll milk your poor full stinger, pump you full of my own ‘venom’, and then let you melt away in a tub while I work over your chitin. I bet your littered with dirt and gravel, aren’t you?”

“T-I… yes please, husband. I could use your care,” mumbled Petra, her eyes closing and her face nuzzling into his hand. “I’ve earned it as well. We took no losses in the fight, though we did have several wounded. Mr. White junior injected them with a ‘project’ he’d been working on. They were back in action within minutes and returned to the fight.

“He… he’s very good. Just like his father, just not very confident. Yet.”

“Wonderful. Good job. You’re a spectacular general, Petra,” complimented Vince. His fingers moving across her jaw and cheek. “Now, what else needs to be said? What can I do for you? What do you need from me?”

“We’ve sealed off the keep and this plaza,” whispered Petra, her eyes closed and practically hanging in his hand. She was an incredibly affectionate and cuddly woman when they were alone and this was just ever more proof of her heart having changed considerably after her death. “Tomorrow we announce to the populous that we’ve formed a new colony.

“A colony from the empire of Yosemite, founded in and amongst Dryads. Due to the terrible conditions laden upon the Dryads of europe we’ve brought cleansing fire and shot to their shores to sweep the field. None will be left who profited from the harm of so many Dryads.”

Ah.

I forget that she and Meliae share a deep bond.

When Petra died, it was Meliae who swooped in and took the children. Who mothered them personally and without a beat. Treating them as her own children in all regards.

It was Meliae who took them all to Petra’s monument to thank her for her life and her death.

She likely feels the same way I do for how the Dryads have been treated.

“— push them all to the north. Right out of their own country, or into the sea,” Petra continued. “As to the royalist faction… from what thi-I can gather, they’re no better. Perhaps even worse in some regards. They’ve taken their war to the citizens and left it at their doorstep.

“They will slaughter anyone who supports their enemies. Doesn’t matter who.”

“I see. Well, we’ll have to sweep them out as well,” murmured Vince. “Thoughts on the Dryads here? Duchess Leandra?”

“We need Dryads to help us. Leandra and her sisters will be fine here,” Peta mumbled in an almost sleepy voice. “You must accept Dryads into your grove. They will need to travel with us. Blue cannot do this alone.

“She will approve those who wish to join, you will accept them, you will grow your grove here. Just as you did in Yosemite.”

Sighing, Vince wasn’t surprised by that. He knew he’d sidestepped Leandra, but not the actual issue. They did need Dryads.

“I understand and… will comply with your will, Petra,” allowed Vince.

“I thank you. Leandra will be joining your grove tomorrow. Blue had orders from me to not let her accept a refusal from you,” continued Petra. “Several of her sisters will also join your grove tomorrow. I’ve also sent out messengers to all Dryad populations that are in hiding. Red and Sam found several of them.

“I’m sticking with Meliae’s original requirements as I felt they produced the best candidates for what we wished. With any luck we’ll have twenty or so Dryad’s for the grove by the weeks end.”

Laughing now, Vince wasn’t surprised in the least. Petra was a very smart woman and had foreseen him stalling. Denying Leandra.

“I understand,” he confirmed, still laughing. “Before you say it, I get it. I won’t fight it. You’re… you’re Fes, here. Fes Petra.

“You have to manage our family. You’ll put strong women in front of me that you want in our marriage. I won’t fight you, Fes Petra. You won’t make Berenga or Yaris look at you poorly.”

“G-good that you know it. I’m… Fes here. Europe Fes Petra, while Yaris is the North American Fes. Berenga is our spiritual Fes,” Petra summarized as if reciting something that was told to her. “I’m still surprised that I lost to Yaris. That Berenga did as well. Then promptly made Berenga Fes again and told me I was the European Fes.”

Vince wasn’t surprised that Yaris had beaten both Berenga and Petra. His spunky Royal Elf wife could even land a strike on him at times.

If ever there was a woman to leave Yosemite to, it’s Yaris.

“I… need you. Here. Now,” whimpered Petra. “You can collect my venom later. After. When you’re cleaning me.”

“Sure, Petra,” agreed Vince, then kissed her.