Fire & Flood

Chapter 11

Emily felt frozen. She was focused on a large mountain lion that was slowly stalking towards them. Suddenly, she heard a loud tearing noise and Morgan was no longer human. In his place stood a colossal black wolf. He leaned forward on his front paws aggressively and a snarl escaped his mouth.

Don't get in the way this time, Emily heard Morgan's furious voice inside her mind.

Emily! Sam's voice yelled inside her head. Get away from him!

The world around Emily started to blur. The grove itself kept shifting. One moment it was a swamp she saw with Morgan, the next moment it was Sam's beautiful meadow. Emily felt disoriented.

"Stop!" She felt herself shout, her voice felt distant. She was sinking, drowning, gasping for air. The world around her kept shifting. She saw Morgan's human face lean over her mouthing words of concern. Sam's face was there too, she felt like she was looking at them through a tunnel. In a distance Emily heard a scream. It was distant at first and then grew louder and louder until she realized it was coming from her.

"You broke her. Well done!" Emily heard Morgan's muffled voice.

"Emily!" Sam yelled, "snap out of it!" She felt his strong arms on her shoulders gently shaking her.

"Well, I guess that's one way to get rid of your tribute. Not sure daddy Sylvos will be too pleased," Morgan said slyly.

"This is your fault!" Emily heard Sam snap at Morgan.

"How? If you didn't charm her, she wouldn't be having a mental breakdown right now," said Morgan. "That's the thing, you are not human, you have no idea how fragile they can be." Morgan said the last part quietly.

Emily felt Morgan cautiously touch her hand. The screaming in her head stopped, but she still felt herself falling. Soon there was nothing but darkness and silence.

When the darkness faded, Emily found herself in a foggy marsh. The gnarled branches of twisted trees loomed overhead like ominous sentinels, casting elongated shadows that seemed to dance in the murky fog. As she ran, the soft ground beneath her feet threatened to swallow her whole. Each step she took was leading her deeper into the unsettling abyss. The air was thick and still , broken only by the haunting whispers of the marsh.

Desperation fueled Emily's frantic search through the sinister landscape, her heart pounding with an unrelenting sense of urgency. But, what was she looking for? A dark voice, almost imperceptible yet undeniably present, murmured ominously all around her. It whispered that all was already lost, a relentless refrain echoing through the twisted trees like a mournful dirge. Despite her ceaseless efforts to escape the clutches of this spectral nightmare, the pervasive feeling of impending doom continued to grow, leaving Emily trapped in a disorienting nightmare where hope seemed as elusive as the feeble light struggling to penetrate the shadows around her.

Suddenly she fell. She felt the dark waters swallow her as she sank deeper and deeper. Emily gasped for air. A silent scream for help left her lips. She felt her efforts to be futile. The darkness of the cold water felt welcoming. "Give up," she heard the voices whisper. "Let go," they said in a singsong voices that echoed lullabies her mother sang to her as a child. But before the last of her breath could escape her lips, Emily's eyes fluttered open.

She was in her room. Her mind was quiet, but her head was sore. Emily sat up tasting acid on her tongue, she felt nauseous. The room around her felt like it was spinning and she closed her eyes to steady herself.

"You are awake," she heard a familiar voice say in relief. Emily slowly opened her eyes and saw Sam sitting at the foot of her bed. He looked worried. He was fidgeting with a pen cap. That's an oddly human thing to do, thought Emily.

"Why are you here?" Emily demanded trying to sound as angry as she could given her headache and nausea.

"I was worried. Look, you have every right to be upset," Sam said calmly. "I manipulated you. I can't ever make that right."

"Why?" Asked Emily.

"Just like Morgan, I am bound to Sylvos. My job is to recruit a new druid when the old one has served their purpose," said Sam.

"So, you chose me as the new druid? Man, you don't know how to pick 'em," Emily chuckled.

"Actually I didn't pick you. It was you who picked me," said Sam while looking at his hands that continued to play with his fidget.

"When I saved you," said Emily.

"Yeah," said Sam. "You sealed your fate when you made that choice."

"That wasn't a choice!" Emily yelled and her head throbbed violently. "You were almost dead!"

"And yet, a choice was still made. You could have driven away...," Sam started but Emily interrupted.

"Now I know why Morgan hates dryads!" She said intending to hurt Sam. Sam flinched at her words. He seemed to shrink onto himself, the pen cap in his hands becoming his solitary focus.

"I wasn't lying when I told you that I loved you," Sam said quietly. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I didn't mean for you to get involved."

"In the grove... you were charming me," said Emily.

"I was, I didn't want to lose you. I couldn't think what else to do," said Sam. His eyes searching Emily's face for any signs of forgiveness.

"But Morgan already showered me what the grove is really like, so my brain short circuited," Emily contemplated out loud.

"I am sorry," said Sam sadly. Emily heard genuine remorse in his voice. Her head throbbed.

Emily looked up at Sam. His green eyes that once reminded her of a summer meadow were coloured by sadness. His golden hair cascaded down his face like tendrils of fading sunlight. Emily really wanted to reach out and touch his face, to wipe the sadness from his eyes, but the pain in her head made it difficult to have her eyes open for any length of time, let alone move.

"Sam, I can't have this conversation right now," said Emily weakly. Her headache was making her feel more nauseated and she yearned for the darkness of sleep. Her thoughts were muddled - an exhausting cycle of druids and dryads, and their destinies.

"I'll leave, so you can rest," said Sam and quietly got up.

"No," said Emily, "stay." Emily felt Sam shift into a cat and gently walk to her side and lie down beside her. He was warm and soon Emily drifted off to a dreamless sleep.

Emily didn't know what time it was when she woke up. The sun beamed brightly through her window. Sam was gone and Emily felt  guilty for being harsh with him the night before. Looking back at past events with a clear, and pain free head, Emily started to recount and put together everything that has happened to her.

First of all, Morgan did not want to kill or hurt her, he only wanted to be free and to break the cycle. Secondly, Sam really did seem to care for her, but, like Morgan, he was compelled by the god Sylvos. Finally, at the root of it all was the capricious and demanding god of nature. The pattern of druid/dryad relationship, the sacrifices — it all started with Sylvos.

If it started there, it all has to end there, thought Emily with confidence and determination as she looked at the dark snow covered forest beyond her window.