An Escape

“Bard. What are you planning?” Preparation asked as he came over.

“Sen’s better at logistics when it comes to wars. She hails from the silver woods, De- I mean, War Tree’s forest. I’m just pointing out the information we have. She’ll likely need more if we want to survive this,” Bard answered, rising to his feet, walking over, and bowing. He heard Preparation chuckle and then saw his branch move. “Then after we have all that information, give her this. I don’t know if I’ll have the chance to, since I’m doing patrol tonight.” In Bard’s hands was a token of approval. Bard looked back at Sen, who was shuffling things around as more Dryads approached with more details.

“I’ll do that.”

Life also moved over. “Bard. With these times, you’ll have to stand in place of us and teach her what we would have. When you deem her worthy, you can also give her this as well,” She said. Her token of approval appeared in Bard’s hands, and he looked at the two. He wasn’t sure he could stand in for either of them, but this was this order, and so he would obey.

“I wish you would be able to give this to her. I don’t… want you to be throwing your lives away. We’re not even sure an Elder can-” he stopped as he recalled the shade with the green eyes.

“It’s just a precaution and our preparation. Since you are pledged, we don’t want to be the cause for you not to have that finished,” Preparation said.

“And there is still much life for you two to share. She has been good for you, Bard. And you are no doubt good for her too. You even seem more comfortable around crowds.”

“Well, I had to. We stayed with a human settlement that was nearly wiped out from the shades,” Bard said, and then his mind whirled in a million directions.

“Life. I don’t know if this would work… but, I’ve got a village that we are establishing that has Dryads and Humans. I’m also getting Catfolk to join, or be our main trading partners. If two songs were better than one, I’ll get more Elders to gather there as well.” He said, organizing his thoughts. “Perhaps we can have those that remain here to head in that direction. It’s better than waiting for the shades to take us.”

“But, humans attack us,” Life countered.

“These humans came and received tokens from Elder Perspective. They also are working with Def-War Tree to get his token as well. It’ll be a place where they can coexist and survive, if not thrive,” Bard said excitedly.

“That would be ideal. And the preparations you could do if they weren’t fighting…” Preparation mused. “Life, I think it wouldn’t hurt. Perhaps we should travel there.”

“But… where is it?”

Bard went to Kai and grabbed his map. He brought it out and showed it to the two and showed where they were and where Sal Shefa was going to be built and where the residents were now.

“That’s across the desert,” Preparation muttered. “Life, your trees need more water than mine do. That would be a problem.”

“There is a river that flows south from the lakes. But to gather resources, I would head to Elder Paradise. You could also warn the catfolk since they have ways of killing the shades. It would be unpleasant, but they are interested in Dryad hair and such, so I’m sure you could procure sunstones as well. I could have Jamil or Kihana there help with that.” If he wrote a letter to them, he was sure they would help out. “Then I would head west and follow the lakes south as it turns into the river. There are some ruins I would avoid along the way, but after that it would only be a few days without much water before you hit the northern end of the mountains where Sal Shefa is being built. I’m sure you’d be able to get water there and make it the rest of the way.”

“It could work…” Life said and then called over a few of her dryads. Bard explained what he had thought of.

“We won’t. You just want to kill us.”

“We will die if we stay here.” Life countered.

“There’s no proof that this place exists!” another argued.

“That’s enough out of you. Do you have a different plan? You know Life doesn’t want to watch her beloved children suffer and shade.” Preparation countered. There wasn’t much those dryads said after that.

“Thanks,” Life said.

“You go too easy on them, Life. This isn’t the place or the time to be like that.”

“Look at you two, you sound like an old couple,” Sen teased as she came over. Bard noticed that stance, she was in her leader mode. And he had to agree, they did sound like a couple, at least judging by Elvira and some of the others he had met in the village.

“We are not. Elder’s don’t have that sort of thing,” Life countered. Bard held back a laugh.

“Besides. Life is too focused on the moment. She’s the reason we are in this mess,” Preparation argued. Bard covered his mouth to hide his smile.

“Am not!”

“You are. If you hadn’t focused on ‘life and harmony’ so much, you would have seen this coming and prepared yourself more. I was the one who had to rescue you and your dryads. And now you’re just taking my resources.”

“And this is exactly why you don’t have any dryads. You just complain that they’re a burden,” Life growled back.

Sen stepped near Bard and was very still as she watched the two bicker back and forth.

“They do seem like a couple. Don’t they?” she whispered in Bard’s ear. He nodded. “I don’t get it. They both clearly care for each other. But they don’t seem good at communicating it.”

“Most Elder’s don’t form a family style relation with others. Defender and his sister were a bit of a unique example,” Bard said. “Life tends to view the dryads as her children and Preparation doesn’t see eye to eye with her on that, but he does take care of her without her knowing…” Bard recalled how it was when he got here. “How’s the plan to get through the narrow lands?” he asked.

“It’s sketchy at best,” Sen sighed. “We could test out a few things tonight and that would put my mind at ease on it, but… I don’t know.”

“Then, for tonight, we’ll do just that. What did you have in mind?” Bard asked as he leaned over and touched his forehead to hers.

“Well. I want to see how the shades react to a sunstone. The ones from the lake, I mean. And a light stick. How many have we got of those?” she asked.

“Not many…” Bard sighed. “A few torches would be good too. Just to keep the light a bit more cohesive. I’m sure Preparation has some trees that are nearly dead with him. He lets them serve until they are done.”

The noise around them stilled, and Bard looked up and out. Several Dryads stopped staring as soon as they realized he was paying attention. He was aware that his and Sen’s relationship was different, but did they have to do that?

“Bard? Do you think we can get out of here alive?” she asked. Bard pulled her into a hug.

“Of course we will,” he reassured. He wasn’t sure, but he would do all he could to get them out of this. The two of them left for the lake, carrying some supplies, in order to test it out.

Bard and Sen completed their testing and returned to Kai, feeling relieved that it had worked. What greeted their eyes set a smile on Bard’s face. It was heartwarming to see all the children resting around the oversized wolf in the glow of the sunstones. He looked out at the night sky and the barely visible stars.

There were strange noises out there and some trees had agreed to becoming firewood as it beat becoming a shade. Other’s offered their dying branches and resources.

As for Bard, he had Sen sleep so she could be of help during the day. For tonight, he would stay and play with Life, strengthening her song. As night fell, and the Suns appeared, Bard strapped himself to Kai while Sen began to lead them to the lakes. At the pace the Dryads could go now, it would take them two days to get to the southern route, and their ideas would be tested in that night.

He rested as best he could and when he awoke, they were roughly where he expected them to be. He unstrapped himself and joined up with the elders while Sen finished preparing the fires. Many Dryad children were strapped to Kai, while Sen stayed with them as well. It was the safest place. Bard could see that they had sustained injuries during the day, meaning it was getting more dangerous. He played his best while he kept waking some of the Dryads to rekindle the fires.

It was a long night, but they managed to last.

The next day, they would arrive at the center where it branched south and west, Life’s original homeland. The trees there were all shaded except their tops. Sen roused him as they figured out how to get past. With Bard playing, they could force the shades back a bit, but with the group they had, it would be impossible to keep everyone safe. And with the suns out, the sunstones were dim, absorbing the light above them.

They moved the children to ride Kai, though the older ones would have to run. Some of the trees were ridden by the dryads, while Bard played near the Elders. They made their way towards the trees, driving them back as best they could. The light from above acted as a shield, so long as the trees were not right next to them. While the song drove them back, Bard was concerned with how close they remained. They traveled along the lake edge, heading south. The water’s lapping at the shore was deceptively calm compared to how Bard felt as they walked.

As they came further and further south, Bard had a sinking feeling. When the shade trees began to push closer to the song barrier, his fears began to grow.

“Sen!” he shouted, holding out his tokens. She did the same, and they added the other songs. The dryads began to panic and some rode out ahead. The Shade trees quickly attacked them, and they writhed as they began to turn black. The rest stayed even closer to one another. If they stayed here through the night, then he couldn't guarantee what would happen. Their march continued unabated as the sun traced across the sky.

“Bard. If you were to take Sen and ride Kai with your sunstones and tokens, do you think you could cross the lake? Safely?” Preparation asked. Bard’s playing faltered.

“Uh… well, it’s possible.”

“It’s just a thought,” Preparation said.

The day started to grow old, and the suns began their final descent in the sky. They nearly passed the shade woods and if they could get some distance, then they would be safe. As they reached the end, Life and Preparation stopped. Bard moved past them and stared in disbelief. Before them was a green way, but beyond that, more shaded trees and Bard could see eyes in there. The kinds that moved as the normal shades would. A more dangerous forest lay ahead. There was a path on the side, if they traveled along the water front, but that wouldn’t be promising with nightfall.

“We’ll camp here tonight. Get things prepped,” Preparation said, calling the end to their march. The dryads huddled in the center with Sen and Kai, while the trees came close together around the Elders. They got fires surrounding them as the night began. Bard sighed. It had been an all day march with playing, and his arms hurt. Sen seemed to be discussing something with the Elders when he approached. She looked him up and down and then sighed.

“You need to rest,” she huffed as she grabbed his hand and took the violin. She then took his hand and guided him to Kai.

“I’m fine, Sen,” Bard protested. “If I don’t play, then we’ll-”

“If you play badly, then it will disrupt their song. You need sleep.” Sen countered, and Bard didn’t have anything more to say. She was right after all. She pulled him over to Kai and had some of the kids move about to have him sleep comfortably. She then snuggled up next to him and refused to let him move. Being still made his eyes feel heavy, and within moments he was asleep.