"Wait," shouted the genderless voice, noticing that Kai had started slowly backing away from the tree, his golden eyes locked onto the trunk with hostility as he searched for any weakness'. "I said I was sorry for scaring you. Please don't leave or look at me like that."

The voice switched between male and female, seemingly in an attempt to reassure and appeal to the young dragon but all it managed to do was unnerve Kai even more.

Kai was exhausted, both mentally and physically yet he pushed himself to focus. He was moving slowly, mainly because he had realised that the snake-like vines encountered earlier were under the control of the voice. To ensure he didn't walk into any traps, Kai made sure that he would be able to respond appropriately with every step he made.

A gentle breeze blew, rustling the evergreens and causing small drifts of snow to stir, swirling in a memorising way.

"If you leave now, the humans will find you," said the voice in a foreboding manner. "This land is their territory, and only those they approve of can leave. If you have wronged them, as a monster, only death or enslavement awaits you."

Kai was almost to the edge of the snow-free circle yet when he heard the words, he flinched and released a deep growl as his eyes narrowed.

The creature that was speaking shouldn't know that he had any interactions with humans, especially if his assumptions were correct and the tree generated the voice.

His mind wouldn't even entertain the possibility that it could know what was going on hundred's, if not thousand's, of meters away let alone on the slopes of the mountain.

"No, don't get angry," pleaded the voice, seemingly able to understand Kai's emotions. "I know because the forest speaks to me. Many armed humans are searching for something. They speak of a lizard with wings, and that has an elemental affinity for fire. You look like a lizard with wings and can spit fire, so I assumed it was you."

"Why should I trust you," hissed Kai, the sound causing the already fridged air to seem much colder as he cycled his energy, ready to attack or flee at any time.

The warmth that Kai had gained while close to the tree was gradually leaving him, his ability to think and move to slow rapidly.

Dragons, while not as weak to the elements as other reptiles, were still cold-blooded and could not regulate their body temperature efficiently.

Earlier, from using his abilities and movement, he had generated enough heat to reduce the effects for a limited period, but now he had been stationary, even for a brief moment, his body temperature was rapidly falling.

His drained pools of spirit energy, which hadn't yet recovered, were also another major factor the predicament Kai found himself. However, the symptoms were all so gradual, affecting his mind, which he hadn't consciously realised what was happening and thus, Kai didn't fully understand the danger he was in.

"Ah, you're a male," the voice finally settled on sounding like a female. "You should trust me because I won't gain anything from hurting you. Though my kind may be extremely possessive, those that follow the balanced path can't absorb others without damaging the cultivation of our cores. There would be no gain from hurting you."

"Your kind?" Kai had stopped. He felt confident that he wasn't in any immediate danger now he had gained some distance and so was using the opportunity to gather more information.

The voice paused for a moment, confusion seeping into the seductive voice. "I'm a dryad that follows the path of nurture. Do you not know of us?"

"No," responded Kai in a blunt, no-nonsense tone. The memories he had gained had no information on dryads or anything like them.

"Dryads of the nurturing path create areas of safety for beasts and, in rare cases monsters, protecting them from predators and sheltering them. They do this so that they can absorb the waste spirit essence released."

"Those of the blood path lure victims to kill and absorb. You can tell what path a Dryad takes by the colour of their fruit, white for nurture, red for blood. There are a few others, but these are the only two that are common here" responded the Dyrad with enthusiasm, as if it found great enjoyment from explaining its origins. "They use the reds to protect their important spirit herbs and mines, while us whites are used for our fruit and to nurture the weak beasts so they can be harvested for their fur and cores."

"You talk a lot," grumbled Kai, not sure how much he should trust the information he was getting. Everything hurt. Even his bones produced a dull ache that steadily grew alongside the uncomfortableness rising in his core.

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His mind told him he needed to stop and rest, recover his spirit energy and resolve the memories he had gained or he would be in serious trouble, but his instinct told him that he was in danger.

What was even stranger is that Kai felt it wasn't due to the dryad or humans.

Something else was causing the strange feeling, he just couldn't put his claw on what it was.

"It also helps that I don't have many sentient beings to talk to," chuckled the dryad, not acknowledging the inner turmoil Kai was facing even though it could sense it. "My mother follows the blood path, and I was lucky enough that my seed was deposited outside her influence, or she would have devoured me. The humans also cull any creature more dangerous than a phantom fox through the slaves, the Woads. They might be intelligent but the Woads hate Dryads because we maintain natures balance, and phantom foxes hunt the subjects of the white dryads, so we aren't on good terms."

Kai's extremely sensitive senses picked up the faint hum of human voices, and he turned his head in the direction of the sound, his mind seemingly slow and sluggish.

"If you promise to stay with me, I will protect you," said the Dryad with a friendly, almost caring voice. "If not forever, at least for a few years. I'm sure you will want to stay longer after you give it a try anyway."

"Why?" responded Kai with mistrust. The information in his mind had yet to sort itself, but he knew that he shouldn't be too trusting of another. From the newly gained memories, it seemed like the mortal species loved to betray each other at the drop of a hat. They seemed to revile in plots and deception, and so, while he didn't fully understand it, the young dragon's guard was raised. "Why would you protect me, someone, which you have just met?"

The dyad paused for a few moments. "I want to absorb the excess spirit energy you are giving off. It's so pure and tasty. It is equivalent to ten rabbits. Also, I am sure I will be able to reach the next stage of my cultivation much quicker. With that, my fruits will be stage four, and I won't need to produce as many for those dumb humans."

"Oh, you need to promise not to kill any more of my rabbits as well. I know you need to eat meat, being a carnivore and all, but I already have an answer to that. Many disrupt the balance and must be eliminated. If the balance is destroyed and my environment ruined, I will be in danger, and so, I need a protector."

The more Kai listened, the more human voices he could pick out while the occasional glint of light flicked through the trees. However, even though his mind was resolute, he found that he could barely muster any energy and instead, his eyelids felt like mountains.

The dryad continued. "And you can be the balance; if you kill too many predators, you can focus on the rabbits for a bit. As long as you listen to me, we both will have more than enough nourishment and will grow strong together."

Kai stretched his wings subconsciously as he increased the rate at which he was cycling his spirit energy before starting to move in the opposite direction of the humans.

"I can also help you repair your wing," said the Dryad in a pleading voice, feeling that Kai was getting ready to fight or flee. "My fruit is well known for restoring body parts, and humans even use it to regrow limbs. It will be slow as if I don't meet my quota the humans will dig me up and send me to one of their pleasure districts but I am sure it will work."

Kai halted, seriously contemplating the dryad's offer for the first time.

Even though he had never flown, he felt a deep attachment to his wings and the desire to soar amongst the clouds. One of his life's biggest regrets was letting his wing get damaged.

For some reason, it didn't recover like the rest of his body and had left him feeling less than whole.

The dryad sounded disgusted, its mind on what would happen if it didn't obey the humans. "I mean, yes the seed of sentient beings, especially cultivators, is rich in spirit energy but who would want to be dependent on another's desires. Not only that, but a human's spirit energy is the lowest. It almost refuses to merge with others."

The dryad seemed oblivious to the fact that it was naturally attempting to seduce the young dragon.

"Plus I would have to waste a lot of energy fulfilling their desires, which from what I have heard, can be extremely twisted. I heard once that one female human wanted to-"

"Why should I trust you?" interrupted Kai, not interested in the dryad's blabbering.

"Because I am a nurture dryad," responded the dryad as if she was speaking a well-known fact that would put all Kai's fears to rest.

"And..." Kai, even though his thinking was slowed, wasn't entirely without sense. If the dryad didn't give him a good reason, he would walk.

"Because I want to make it so that you never want to leave. You have good energy and, from how the humans are hunting you, you are not one of their informants. Also, if you prove yourself enough, I might be even able to get you to take my core and plant me somewhere safer, and we can live together for the rest of our lives. I hear the wild zone is free of humans and that means I won't have to give away any of my precious fruit for free."

"That doesn't explain why I should trust you," hissed Kai. "More like why you need me."

"No," chuckled the dryad. "I suppose not, but you are worth something to me, and your energy is tasty. I want you, and if you agree, I will protect you as if you were my roots."

"If I gave you up to the humans, I would get nothing. Another reason is that I haven't been able to get a protector."

"It is a sacred role in which I would never let my previous protector come to harm, especially one as outstanding as you. I need a protector from the other dryads, especially my mother. If Mother gains more influence, I can use your special fire stuff to keep her away and, worst case, destroy her core. It's a win-win deal for us."

Kai's head tilted. The dryad wasn't trying to reassure him in any way and was stating all the benefits that it would gain if he stayed but, for some reason, even though the dryad seemed utterly selfish, this reassured Kai more than empty promises ever could.

The creature he was dealing was was utterly self-absorbed and, at least from its own words, extremely possessive.

Something the young dragon could take advantage of.