Sonder wondered what things the druids considered to be living creatures.

She had already guessed that all plants were, but some must have stood higher in rank than other plants.

What about the grass beneath her feet?

Even druids trod upon it, as did all creatures. Some might soar through the skies, but ultimately, all must touch the ground sometimes.

She considered stones and rocks similarly. Were they seen as lesser?

And what of the dead trees or snapped twigs?

Would they be the equivalent of a corpse strung up, still almost looking like a person? Or a severed arm or leg just lying by the wayside?

She shuddered when she thought about it, although it wasn't very different from her own situation.

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Then she stopped and thought about it again, and a silly thought crossed her mind.

Shortly after Vell's departure, she ventured outside, kneeling where soil, grass, and rocks met.

With gentle fingers, she touched each, careful not to disturb them. Awkwardly, she murmured, "I value you, and I'm sorry for what Vell has done to you and your kind. Forgive us if we treat you poorly. We simply don't know better."

Then she patted them as gently as she could.

There was neither wind blowing nor feet stamping or water rushing, but it seemed that the grass moved and a few pebbles tumbled over each other.

It was only the dirt that didn't somehow move on its own. It seemed to her that she failed to impress it, but she couldn't help walking on it as it was everywhere.

The very ground she walked on all her life was one of these three, or a combination of them, and she didn't have any way not to.

Perhaps Vell could have.

As a powerful and renowned mage, he might have had the ability to fly indefinitely, sparing the earth his touch, and Sonder believed these elements would appreciate such a gesture.

When she looked around, she saw many things that should have been considered dead things in the world of nature.

Fallen leaves, pine cones, fruit, broken twigs. The one thing she didn’t see was animals—the only truly living things that most would have truly considered alive in a forest, and they were nowhere to be seen.