PART V: A FORMAL REQUEST
Before anyone could say more, Xera held up their hand to keep everyone silent. “Juniper, just to be sure we all understand, you would be open to joining with a Symbiote to unlock your powers, in exchange for helping us find more of them?”
“This is what you all mean by ‘joining’? Join with the creatures? Little One, is that what you did to unlock your powers?”
Callie nodded. “Uh huh. It doesn’t hurt. It just feels a little weird and you’re dizzy for about half a day when you wake up.”
“Well, that sounds … fascinating. This doesn’t kill them, does it? I couldn’t abide helping you find more if that was the result.”
“Absolutely not,” Thorn said. “They are too precious.”
“Oh, good,” Juniper said with levity. “Then that sounds like a very fair and exciting trade, and it would help you kill more Demons, right?”
“It would very much help,” Xera said quickly.
“You have no idea how much it would help,” Galin added.
Turning to their fellow Fairy, Xera asked, “Would a joining work with a Dryad, Tasi? You know more about Symbiotes than anyone. Please tell us it would work.”
Healer Tasi shrugged. “It should. Dryads are highly magical, but their head is basically like any other Fae, and obviously she has a class as well. She might not want to use the trees as portals for a day or two, just to be sure it’s settled into place, though. I could look into it more; see if there is any historical record of a joining with a Dryad. But it would take a couple weeks and could … raise questions. But I don’t think there’d be any risk if it didn’t work. The Symbiote would just crawl back out.”
“We do have two Sylvan Symbiotes remaining,” Thorn said. “They were for the two recruits that never arrived.”
“Recruit, Mistress Juniper, would you two mind giving us a moment? Don’t go far.” Xera asked, directing Callie and the Dryad to let the officers have some space to talk in private.
Callie stepped a few meters away, Juniper close behind, still sipping happily on her wine.
“Is there a problem?” Juniper asked.
“Let me find out, shhh.” Callie concentrated and carefully listened in on the ad hoc group of senior officers as they chatted.
“If we are down a Symbiote, the bastards are going to want to know where it went,” Galin hissed. “When you tell them, they’ll want to know why!”
“And if it is found out we are getting dozens, or even hundreds of new Symbiotes because a Dryad can lead us to them, Dryads are going to be rounded up as worm hunters across the land,” Thorn added. “They can’t be forcefully taken away from their Heartwood trees for long without killing them.”
“We need a legitimate way to give her a Symbiote that won’t raise questions,” Xera said. “And we absolutely have to keep her tracking ability quiet. It can’t leave this camp. It shouldn’t even leave this group. Any ideas?”
There was a pause as everyone reflected on the issue.
“We could say one died,” Celeste suggested.
Thorn shook his head. “No, that will just bring a different kind of scrutiny that we don’t want here, although I guess that’s at least an option.”
“I wouldn’t be able to justify it as an experiment,” Xera pondered out loud. “It’s too rare of one.”
“What about swapping it for a standard worm, saying the initial scrys were wrong?” Tasi suggested. “Then give Juniper the Sylvan one.”
“They would never believe that,” Thorn said. “The Scryer audits along the way are too detailed and numerous.”
As Callie overheard the private discussion, she contemplated the ramifications of Juniper’s ability to so-easily track the Symbiotes, and what Thorn had said. He was right, if word leaked out, other Dryads could be tricked or forced into tracking down more Symbiotes. There was simply too much money involved, and that sounded deadly for the Dryads. Secrecy was a must. What had Xera said? They needed a way to legitimately give Juniper a Symbiote? Callie had a sudden idea.
“Juniper, I think I know of a way to make this work,” Callie whispered. “But you need to say exactly what I tell you.”
“Of course, Little One. What must I do?”
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Callie led Juniper back to the group of officers, still heavily engaged in their whispered conversation. Carefully, Callie cleared her throat.
“Recruit?” Xera asked, more confused than annoyed by the interruption.
“Right. Um … Commandant, Juniper has something she wanted to ask,” Callie said, shrinking slightly as Galin gave her a harsh glare.
“Yes?” Xera said, looking at the Dryad.
“Oh! My turn. Of course. I would like to formally request …” Juniper got a confused look. “Forgive me, my head is a little fuzzy. What was I supposed to request?”
Callie groaned and rolled her eyes as the fact she was prompting the Dryad became so obvious. Quickly, she whispered the words into Juniper’s ear.
“Oh yes. I would like to request, per our agreement that you would aid me in defending my domain, that you give me one of those adorable little creatures and help me learn to use my powers. It would be of great help. Was that right, Little One?”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
If not for the background noises of the party, you could have heard a pin drop. In fact, with her Gnome hearing, Callie probably would have. The officers all slowly turned their gaze from Juniper to the little Gnome.
Quickly, Callie groaned and pointed to her ears with each of her hands, and then made a “come on” motion, practically begging Xera to get the hint. It took a moment, but Xera finally perked up.
“Oh dear,” they said, speaking a little too obviously monotone and fake, but playing along. “It does appear that Mistress Juniper is correct. We did promise to aid her in defense of her lands. Oh my. I suppose we have little choice but to give her a Symbiote and train her in the ways of a Sylvan.”
Thorn jumped in, also finally picking up on the technicality. “Yes. It must be that way. After all, our superiors would not want us to violate our sworn agreements.”
Celeste giggled in an un-Majorlike way before voicing her agreement as she sussed out what was happening, with Tasi happily echoing the Major. Finally, Legate Galin, the last to deduce what Callie was playing at, caught on. “Yes. The Little One … I mean, the Dryad is correct. We must always honor our agreements. Should Command ask, I will simply advise we had no choice but to do as we were requested.” He looked at Xera, nodding quickly, as if asking if he got his response correct.
“Then I am afraid it must be this way,” Thorn said, winking at Callie. “We shall honor our obligations to our gracious host, as part of our agreement to use her lands.”
“Tasi, get with Eirlys. I will rely on you both to work with Juniper to arrange for her joining and training regimen,” Xera ordered. “She may have unique needs as a Dryad , and duties to the lands she protects as Warden, that you will need to account for, but I am confident you will all find a way to make it work.”
“As two of the Sylvan students did not arrive,” Thorn said, “I am sure the sole remaining one will appreciate having another to train with.”
“Recruit,” Xera warned Callie, “the information about Juniper’s ability must be kept absolute secret and within this group. You can imagine what could happen to Dryads if the word got out. Not even your housemates may know, understand?”
Callie nodded sharply. “Absolutely.”
“Then it is settled,” Xera said, clapping their hands. “We have a plan.” Xera dismissed everyone, bowing their head slightly to Juniper, who giggled as she bowed hers before returning to happily sipping her wine.
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The informal Command gathering began to break up. Tasi guided Juniper off for further discussion. Callie was about to return to her group when Legate Galin gruffly called out a simple, “Wait.”
Callie slowly turned, swallowing hard. “Sir?”
Galin opened his mouth to say something, but stopped and looked away. “Come with me,” he finally said, as he turned and walked out of the tent and into the darkness of the camp.
Nervously, Callie looked at Major Celeste, who returned an affirming nod, whispering, “It’s fine. Go.” With trepidation, Callie followed the Legate into the night.
Gallin was facing away as Callie approached. He seemed to be lost in thought, and didn’t acknowledge her presence. She finally asked, “You wanted to see me, Sir?”
For a long moment he didn’t say anything. Callie was about to ask again when he finally spoke, still facing into the darkness. “Four-hundred twenty-seven soldiers died on the front lines last week, Little One. It was one of the worst weeks in almost two years, and it was also the first death of a graduate from this camp. I just received the report this afternoon.”
Callie just stood silent, sensing Galin had more he needed to say.
“She was a Paladin we had trained to Silver Tier almost a year ago, and she had subsequently ranked to Gold, probably close to Platinum. She waded through dozens, maybe hundreds, of Demons to reach a family of six trapped in their home, forming an escape route for them. As they retreated, she held the horde back, keeping the family safe, slaying dozens more … before finally being overwhelmed. Her name was Utora, a Gnoll, and she was … amazing.”
Callie wasn’t sure how to respond. Finally she settled on a simple, “I’m sorry.”
“One well-trained soldier with a Symbiote is easily worth ten soldiers without one, Recruit. One advanced soldier with a Symbiote could be worth … twenty … thirty … or even more. Symbiotes are rare, though, and expensive, and some people are questioning the funding we need to buy them and train so few recipients. There are some in the upper ranks that think it’s just cheaper and easier to throw more unjoined bodies at the problem, rather than incur the … expense … of training joined soldiers.” Those last words were tinged with anger and spite.
Galin turned. There were actually tears forming in his eyes. He knelt down to get closer to eye level with Callie. “If Juniper can easily lead us to more Symbiotes…” he started to say, turning his head to look up at the tree where she had indicated one was sitting. He paused, the words seeming to get caught in his throat, as the threatening tear finally formed and fell down his cheek. “Your little stunt of bringing her to the party,” he finally started to say, “your crazy Gnome mischief and twisting of words to find a way, may save hundreds, if not thousands of lives; soldier and civilian alike.” He locked eyes with Callie, and his already softening expression simply seemed to melt. Legate Galin pulled Callie into a tight hug. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”
Callie had no idea how to react to Galin’s emotional embrace. Up until this moment, the only views of the Legate she had were of a stiff, military officer with a rather grumpy demeanor. Now, he was here in tears, gushing in thanks. In a way, Callie had to admit, it was actually nice to see there was more to him than first appearances, and his reaction was certainly a testament to how much he truly valued the lives of everyone the war touched.
Callie was also still trying to comprehend Galin’s revelation that her simple act of trying to do something nice for Juniper had somehow spiraled into something so significantly important to the war as a whole. Potentially saving hundreds of lives? Or even more? Needing to do something, hesitantly she stiffly returned Galin’s hug, trying to figure out what to say that was appropriate. Finally, she settled on “I’m just happy to help, sir.” The response had the benefit of being true.
The awkward moment continued for a few more seconds before Galin released Callie and started to stand. “I … um … apologize for my emotional outburst. It was inappropriate.”
Callie looked at the Legate, holding his eyes in her own. She grabbed his hands to prevent him from standing and shook her head. “Something important happened, sir. It’s ok to be emotional about it. No judgment by me.”
Galin paused a moment, before saying “I appreciate your understanding. Still, why don’t you return to the party. A good evening to you.”
“To you as well, sir.” Callie said, releasing Galin and turning. But after two steps she stopped, turning back. “Legate, would it be okay for me to make a recommendation?”
“What would that be, Recruit?”
“I think one of you needs to sit down and have a very long conversation with Juniper. She doesn’t understand how the world works, and what a big deal this actually might be. I just don’t think she’s been exposed to anything outside this area, so she’s more naïve and isolated than anything. Without knowing why she shouldn’t, it’s very likely she could let something slip.” Callie didn’t go on to mention that she was just as naïve as the Dryad was about the world outside the walls.
The officer nodded. “You make a good point. I’ll discuss with the Commandant what might be best. I appreciate the advice.”
“Good night, sir,” Callie said as she turned again. Inside the tent, she could see a sea of faces, many she recognized. At the far side, she saw Tazrok standing, towering above everyone with a bright smile on his face, laughing at something or with someone. When she considered all the things that had happened today, it was nice just to see a moment of normal. No Demons, no sparring with a Lamia, no skill reveals, no crazy games of musical chairs at dinner. Just one of her friends being happy around more of her friends.