The group ate the meal together, some in silence, others with some light chatting. There was a comfortable familiarity to the group that Dantes sensed had been developed over many years. He himself felt like an interloper, but considering he’d been kidnapped and brought there he didn’t feel much awkwardness about it. He ate his own food quietly, listening to the others' conversations and trying to absorb what he could about them.

Jacopo sat next to him, nibbling some meat off of a small piece of bone. He seemed unconcerned by the possibility that they might be killed, but Dantes took that as a vote of confidence from him. He felt he had everyone’s support except for Murk, and if what Fizz had told him was true, then he should be covered there as well.

He popped a handful of berries into his mouth and looked up at the sky. The full moon was high and the light of it that shone down on seemed to fill him. He felt as if he was vibrating with a kind of energetic anticipation.

The others had gone silent, as if they were feeling the same way, and they all stood, almost as one.

Dantes found that he was on his feet as well, Jacopo taking his customary place on his shoulder. He walked toward the lake reaching the edge of it and found that he was facing Berkilak, the reflection of the moon above sitting between them in the water. He could feel, implicitly, in the same way that his druid abilities had been implicit, that he needed to step into the lake. The other druids were around him as he moved, and he stepped into it.

The water was cool, and he found himself slowly submerging until he was about waist deep, nearing a third of the way to the center. He took a few more steps and pushed himself forward, floating on his back.

The other druids all took their places surrounding him, each one of them placing a hand on him.

They were going to submerge him. He felt at peace with the idea, overwhelmed by the energy that surrounded him, and seemed to suffuse the lake itself.

Before they pushed, he felt his full attention snap back, and his mind trying to overrun the instincts he was acting on..

No

He started to struggle, but before he could all of the other druid’s hands pushed him down at once. He didn’t just sink down, he was falling through the water. Moving far more quickly toward the bottom than seemed logically possible. He sank for far longer than his mind told him he should have given the shallowness of the pool, and it became more and more of a struggle to hold his breath. He tried to move his limbs and fight, but they were leaden. His chest began to feel as if it would burst. He tried to will Jacopo to leave him, to send him a message to swim out if he could, but he heard no response and had no idea if he’d been heard or not. He could hold his breath for nearly four minutes, but he hadn’t exactly been keeping time before he began to sink. He held on for a bit longer, and then let the final bit of air from his lungs. He felt a moment of relief that came with letting that last breath out, then his lungs began to fill with water.

Oddly, the panic he’d been feeling began to subside as the water filled him. He felt the same sensation he’d been feeling when he’d been looking up at the moon. Energy began to fill him, then something else. A flood of sights, sounds, and sensations began to assault him. He could feel warm mud oozing across his skin, taste crimson blood dripping down his throat as he bit into a fresh kill, see across a massive and desolate desert made of ice, hear the loud chirps of a baby bird begging for food, and smell the dank dampness of a cave filled with fungus. These sensations shifted rapidly across his perceptions as he felt a part of himself begin to expand to start to encompass it. Growing just fast enough to keep him from filling up and bursting.

All of the sensations he was feeling ended abruptly, and he found himself surrounded completely by darkness and an absence of all sensation. In front of him appeared a great white bear, then next to that was a mighty gator, then a boar, a pair of falcons, a raccoon, a strange multicolored lizard, and finally a wolf. One by one they were each bathed in golden light, starting with the bear. The light spread until it touched all of the great beasts except for the wolf that sat there wreathed in black. The other animals looked at it, fixing it with their full attention. The wolf grimaced and bared its teeth, leaning forward with its tail raised, then it shook its snout and sat back on its hind legs, curling its tail. It let out a howl, and it too was bathed in golden light.

Dantes felt strong roots reach out from below him, and begin pushing him back toward the surface. His ascent was as rapid as his fall, and when he broke the surface he was launched forward, landing on the grass next to the lake. He coughed up water for what felt like an eternity, only just conscious enough to notice Jacopo next to him doing the same thing. He could hear a chorus of voices, and sense a cavalcade of emotions from all around him and he moved his hands to cover his ears, but the sounds didn’t stop.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

He felt a powerful hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Traizen looking down at him, smiling. “Sleep, brother. Sleep.”

This time, he didn’t fight it.

…

Dantes awoke facing the sky, the moon and stars shining down brightly upon him. He hadn’t noticed before, but there seemed to be far more stars in the sky than he’d ever seen over Rendhold. He could even make out some that seemed to be different colors and depths that he’d never noticed before. He could hear what sounded like a party going on near him, and sat up slowly, his head pounding, and the taste of copper in his mouth.

He saw that the other druids had resumed their meal, adding something that gave off the smell of alcohol to the mix. He sensed that Jacopo was there as well, and as he struggled to his feet he could hear Jacopo talking.

“The streets are filled with food that two-legs think themselves too good for, and there are thousands of good places to hide and burrow.”

As Dantes got closer he noticed that Jacopo was standing on a raised stone, talking to an enraptured audience of Druids and their companions.

“Sounds better than I expected,” said Beast in a low droning voice.

“Good places to hide for him, but not one so big as you,” chided Lorna.

“I think it sounds perfect,” responded Mor-gan-may’s raccoon.

He could understand animals he hadn’t received a blessing for. This visit was turning the profit he’d hoped already. “That’s not surprising,” interrupted Dantes. “There are quite a few of your kind living in the outer regions of Rendhold.”

“Welcome back brother!” said Traizen. “Jacopo was just telling us of your exploits.”

Dantes quickly sent for an explanation from Jacopo who sent back a brief collection of recent memories that indicated to Dantes exactly what he feared. Jacopo had told them everything.

He smiled, trying to play off the pit that now rested in his stomach. “Well, I hope it wasn’t too boring.”

“It was very-”

“-interesting. We had not expected-”

“- so much violence-”

“-but it seemed necessary-”

“-at least, mostly necessary.” said the twins.

“Aye, blowing up a bunch of elves,’ Coal shook his head wistfully, “reminds me of my childhood.”

“Not all elves are-”

“-like that. Besides-”

“-Jacopo shot a dwarf as well-”

Coal snorted. “He shot a royal. They’re not real dwarves. They're prissy babes that trim their beards and wear silk.”

Dantes nodded politely. He’d heard the ‘no true dwarves’ argument more than once. It was a favorite of every dwarf to indulge in why he was a real dwarf, but another dwarf wasn’t.

“You’re a criminal,” noted Murk with a note of distaste. “A thief and a murderer.”

Dantes looked at the man. He’d finally put on pants at some point, but he was covered in mud, and reeked of wet fur.

“Yes, I am.”

“Since when do you care about laws?” asked Fizz, beating Dantes to the question. “All the beasts in the woods steal, kill, ambush, trap, and betray. That’s what nature is. Seems to me he’s just following the laws of the Mother more closely than the laws of men.”

Murk clearly didn’t have a response to that, and compensated by snorting and looking away.

“He’s just moody because he didn’t even realize that a Mother’s Reach growing in the center of a city wasn’t normal,” said Traizen.

Dantes felt a temptation to underestimate Murk, but resisted it. A lack of experience with other people, and an unfamiliarity with life outside of his own hadn’t kept him from nearly killing Dantes the previous day, even after he’d thrown everything he’d had at him. No, he’d need to stay wary.

“So, there’s no punishment for doing a blood ritual?”

Traizen shook his head. “It was not as if you could’ve known what would happen. I only wish we could’ve sensed you before you’d left your prison, but we were blocked somehow. Had we known before we initiated you, it may have been a problem, and if it is not something you’ve resolved before we next meet there will be consequences, but for now I am simply happy to welcome a brother.”

Dantes looked back up at the moon, and felt a kind of energy from it leading to a nearby tree. The other druids and their companions all went silent as well, as if drawn to the same energy. Dantes got the impression that it was time for everyone to return to their own loci.

“We will meet on the next full moon,” said Traizen, looking over at the others.

Dantes nodded looking over at everyone. “Bring something to trade, and I’ll bring samples of what I expect some of you might want from me.” He winked at Mor-gan-may. “And don’t worry, I’ll make sure to visit an herbalist as well.”

She returned the wink, her tail curling a bit, and the racoon on her shoulder gave Jacopo a bow which he ignored.

They started to drift apart, when Traizen stopped Dantes. “Brother, look at your arm.”

Dantes blinked, looking at his right arm that was covered in marks before switching to his left where he noticed that he now had a number of gold leaves on his arm, one for each person in the glade including Berkilak, and another one that was wilted and gray.

“When one of us is nearby, those leaves will fill. When one of us is in danger, you will be able to sense it, though you may not be able to respond to it.”

“What about this one?” asked Dantes pointing at the gray and wilted leaf.

Traizen’s expression darkened. “That one won’t tell anything anymore. Don’t concern yourself with it.”

Dantes was curious, but he felt the pull from the tree and was more than ready for his time with the druids to come to an end. He moved to the tree and placed a hand on it. He could feel what he needed to do, Jacopo moved up his arm to place his hand on the tree as well, and then they both pushed forward, sinking into it.