Wraithwood Botanist-Chapter 208 - 154 - Fourth Guardian

I snapped my eyes on Nethralis with a chilling gaze. "If you get involved with this, you will be breaking every agreement we've made."

"That's a bold claim," Nethralis said.

"It's concrete," I retorted. "I've gained no soulastic warning for harming the dragons. That means that our soul pact has judged that I've been attacked to the furthest extent imaginable, and I am within my rights to seek retribution. If you stand against that, yes, you will have broken our contracts as well."

Zyphrael opened his mouth, but Nethralis put up her hand.

"She's right."

She glanced at Kyro, who had his arms folded, staring at me with disappointment in his eyes.

I scoffed at his look. "What? I brought over one hundred elites willing to sign their lives to me and this forest, and you're treating me like I'm breaking pacts. We need them."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not frustrated because you're wrong. I'm frustrated that you're throwing a fit."

"Throwing a fit? He tried to kill my brother!"

"Yeah, throwing a fit. No one is blaming you for hitting him, we're annoyed that you're treating us like we are."

"You just sat back and watched Thorvel attack!"

"He did not attack. If he did, we would have intervened, but we obviously wouldn't unless necessary. And so you're aware, that kid was doing remarkably well at defusing the situation. Well, considering how unreasonable this brute is."

"I'm not unreasonable!" Thorvel thrashed and snorted and calmed down when Kyro shot him a warning glare.

"Now we've broken a measure that we've held for tens of millennia by showing ourselves, and you're acting like we're here to attack you. And if that wasn't enough, you unilaterally ordered a set of sovereign guardians to disavow their leader and demand another set of guardians not get involved in the forest's affairs.

"That's not okay. Protecting yourself is justified. But it doesn't entitle you to do whatever you want."

My heartbeat grew weaker, echoing softer until it returned to normal.

I released the roots on Thorvel, and he pushed himself up.

"Now, please—release the vraxle," Nethralis said.

"I can't yet," I said. "They're temporarily paralyzed. They're safer in the canopies."

Nethralis said and motioned to Zyphrael and others. "Go protect them from the birds."

Zyphrael clicked his tongue and flew off.

Then she made eye contact with me. "So… you control the Bramble now?"

"I can. We should speak about that in private."

"And the people?" She looked at Tyler and Felio and the terrified villagers.

"They have a silence pact, but I've waited to make their loyalty pacts for you to witness. That way, the hardliners would be able to go, Well, it's absolutely impossible for them to screw us, and we'd get that behind us."

She looked at Aiden. "And him?"

"He has a silence pact. It isn't perfect, but… Braxton is already holding a multiversal auction on forest information. He probably knows about you already. The little he can mine from Aiden won't make a difference."

She nodded and looked backward. "And the other humans that stayed behind?"

"They denied my order to vacate. If you deem it fit," my eyes turned cold, "kill them."

Nethralis nodded and looked at my villagers. "Make sure their pact is absolute. We have welcomed them and will treat them as allies, but that comes with costs."

I nodded.

"Take them to their new home," she said. "We will convene in two weeks. Until then, Zyphrael will oversee their pacting. He may not like or trust you—but he is fair."

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I nodded. "I agree."

Nethralis turned to Thorvel. "You broke your agreement with Mira—and you will be punished."

"She didn't warn me she was going into the Bramble!"

She narrowed her eyes. "And why might she have avoided you?"

He turned away.

"Return to your nest and think of your successor."

"Nethralis!"

"There are four guardians—and three agree that your judgment and anger have been a risk to this forest. Now go."

He looked away in shame, glowered at me, and then spread his wings and shot in the air. Loose rocks and wood plumed in a dust cloud. Nethralis blew it away with a wind spell and then made eye contact with me.

I nodded, and she gave the signal, and the pixies turned invisible, disappearing like ghosts. I saw their camouflage for the first time—it was illusionary rather than Active Camouflage, and it utilized a form of aura dissipation that blended with illusions and the environment.

I turned and saw Kyro still present. He had fluttered up to a tree.

"You're not leaving?" I asked.

"After what I just saw? Not a chance." He took a long drink. "Now help your people. Or… well, just watch. These people seem capable."

I turned and saw five healers from the Prine family performing mass healing on those who were injured. A few people were buried under rubble, but our militia flipped the boulders with ease. Our people were self-sufficient.

They would be a huge help.

I walked up to Tyler. His cool, collected, strong man front broke when I approached him. I offered my arms, and he gave me a hug.

"Mira… What's going on?"

"Not now," I said.

"Okay… But you were really cool… again."

I chuckled. "You'll be cool, too."

"I'm not sure… back talking dragons…"

"You get used to it," I said, repeating, "You get used to it. Come on, let's go."

I turned to the villagers. "Welcome to the shit I put up with for the last few years. It won't be like that. Thorvel… was just a problem. And as you just saw—he's gone." I chuckled self-deprecatingly. "What a hell of a way to kick off our relationship. But, well, let's go home."

It was a rough start, but once they saw the bathhouse and homes, I had a feeling that people would be far happier.

But that was a long way off. Because we had a whole lot of people and not a lot of mounts. So I guess we were going to have to walk it.

Or so I thought.

It wasn't eight hours into our walk when we came across a wild herd of henkos. They were something similar to large land otters in appearance. Like most weaker creatures, they were swarm types, and they had risked a trip to the Bramble to eat the survivors.

They saw us and fled, but Kline and the lurvines herded them like border collies, and Aiden waved to them.

"Hello friends. How would you like something a lot tastier than weak humans?"

I pulled out cleansed steaks, and not twenty minutes later, over one hundred and twenty villagers had doubled up, and were now riding colossal land otters, laughing and saying:

"This isn't what I was expecting when I came to this place."

"I gotta admit," I said to Aiden, "That class is pretty handy."

"Compared to what?" he asked. "A class that lets you control the Bramble? Not gonna lie, between this and being able to trap a dozen dragons with a motion… I'd probably choose the latter."

I laughed. "You act like I can do it everywhere."

"You can't?"

"Of course not…" I flicked my hand at him, and he flinched.

He blushed and snapped his fingers, and the lurvine turned to me in unison, blinking dryly.

I pursed my lips and tried not to laugh. "That was your response? I threaten you with plant strangulation, and you respond with sassy stares."

"Hey!" he said. "I'm trying, alright!"

I giggled.

Tyler looked over at me with a warm smile.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said. "It's just… I'm glad you still smile."

"Of course I do. I hike like, three hundred days a year. If I was miserable and had to deal with this bullshit, I'd be plant strangling things left and right."

"Yep…" he muttered. "Still a psychopath."

Ryn, the lurvine he was riding, and buckled and Tyler tumbled and almost fell off. He caught himself, and everyone laughed.

He snapped his eyes on Aiden.

Aiden shrugged. "Don't look at me. That's all him."

I rode forward and scratched Ryn's snout.

"Suck up," Tyler grumbled. And so it went.

Most of the trip was like that.

Along the way, we hunted a few beasts and cleansed the meat for the henko herd as we ate our steaks and talked.

I didn't interact too much with the new people.

There was a time for that, but it was just too overwhelming—and I think people knew that. A bunch of them would come by just to say hi and introduce themselves, and I'd welcome them, but they ignored me otherwise.

Kyro sat on my shoulder most of the time. I turned to him and said, "When'd we get close enough that you could use me like a chair?"

He took a drink. "It's not like I wanted to do this. It just had to be done."

I didn't have the energy to refuse, so I just let him do it. And soon, it was comfortable. Though, I didn't appreciate people staring at him because they were looking at my face by proximity. It was annoying.

Luckily, the henkos made the trip fast, and soon we were back, and Aiden was saying, "I'm taking volunteers to get the rest of the supplies. So if we could pack a bunch of meat, that would be great."

I furrowed my brows. "Since when?"

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"Since now. I mean… you do want the help, right?"

"Uh… yeah."

"And I'm the person who needs to go, right?"

I nodded reluctantly.

Aiden laughed. "You don't have to do everything anymore. Though…" He looked at the mass of people milling around Wraithwood Village, touring the building that Cassain and the rest had built and the tree homes. "You still got a challenge ahead of you."

I narrowed my eyes. "You just want to escape orientation, don't you?"

"Bingo!" Aiden chimed. "No take-backsies."

I laughed tiredly. "Alright. Have the lurvine do the hunting, and I'll cleanse up." He nodded and left.

Then I looked around. There was a lot to do, and if I wanted to get it done, I needed to buck up and become a better leader.

"Lithco," I said.

A man in 19th-century attire materialized beside me. "Yes, My Queen?"

I smiled slightly. "Diamond request: Teach me how to be a good leader."