No More

Chapter 66: Damnation Part 1

Several days later...

Jesse and his group are inside a cave: resting for the night. Axel, Petra, and Bailey were resting while Lisa is keeping watch. Jesse and Olivia were talking near the fire.

"Why were you outside of the Dome of Concentration?" asked Jesse to Olivia as she explains her perspective of Redstonia's demise. "I thought you got answers from Ellegaard."

"I couldn't," replied Olivia. "She locked herself in, focused on a project, and refused to see anyone. I had to help manage the other citizens and the dryads."

"Still, a giant robot that blasted Redstonia into smithereens... that's just nuts!" screamed Olivia. "How did Jess build something like that?"

"Hatred must be a good motivator," Said Jesse. "I don't know what Ellegaard took from her, but it must have been important that my sister would do something like this."

No one said anything for a while until Jesse broke the silence. "I can't believe Ellegaard got dryads to support her kingdom," said Jesse, changing the subject. "With their magic over nature, she could supply her kingdom with unlimited wood and crops!"

"She is amazing," proudly said Olivia. "Ellegaard offered the dryads sanctuary in her kingdom. I guess other beings know the dread of war."

"Why would she do that?" asked Jesse, applying a Potion of Healing to his right eye before covering it again with his eye patch. "Why help them?"

"It was a win-win situation for both parties." Explained Olivia. "Dryads get safety from the Triple Devastation, and Ellegaard's kingdom gets a species that can control nature on her side. Not only for growing trees and crops, but to help defend Redstonia."

Jesse wanted to snort at that proud statement. 'I guess even forces of nature couldn't stop my sister...' Thought Jesse. "What are dryads like?" asked Jesse curiously. Who wouldn't if they interacted with an isolated species?

Olivia's proud face turned into an uncomfortable expression. "The don't really talk, or show emotion often. Just mostly showing a blank face," Olivia then smiled. "But they are the nicest people you will ever meet."

"Really?" said Jesse.

"Really." Confirmed Olivia, nodding. But then her expression turned dark. "However..."

"What?" asked Jesse.

"Dryads have very..." Olivia waved her hand in a motion, trying to find the right word. "Barbaric customs."

"Barbaric?" asked a surprised Jesse. "What happened to: They are the nicest people you'll ever meet?"

"They are nice," defended Olivia. She took in a deep breath. "It's actually another reason why Ellegaard took them in, she believed she could change that. I just wish she actually did instead of locking herself inside her dome."

"Olivia, what do dryads do?" asked an eager, and curious, Jesse.

She looked at her friend, steeling herself to answer. "They believe that nature decides everything, so when dryads have newborns, they..."

"They?" pressed Jesse.

Olivia inhaled another deep breath. "They leave the babies in the forest. Alone."

"What?!" shouted Jesse, almost waking up everyone asleep and earning a glance from his wife. "Why kind of parent does that?!"

"Dryads can control and respect nature," explained Olivia. "It's their way of testing if the child is strong enough to control that power to survive."