It was far! Whatever scale to measure the Great Dryad used was not the same as his. They ended up with a day’s worth of walking, but not once, not even once did he ask ‘Are we there yet?’ – he managed to restrain himself. If there was a better system it would have rewarded him the title of The Most Patient Man; he was sure of it.

Something rustled in the tree canopy, but he didn’t think too much about it; there were plenty of animals in this forest. Or at least used to be, he realised how quiet it was all of a sudden.

There was another rustle and an enchanted arrow pierced right through his top hat.

“Ambush!” He realised.

Lamia warriors surrounded him, shielding his body with theirs. Multiple arrows flew in his direction, but it was not the lamias who ended up soaking the damage. It was Great Dryad, then it wanted it could be surprisingly quick; the arrows ended up wedged into its wooden body.

“Elves!” It roared accusingly.

The elves, by the looks of it, didn’t care for the Dryad and kept peppering it with arrows. Some were fire enchanted and the Dryad caught fire. It moved towards the elf-infested trees flailing and roaring in anger.

“Go help him.” He commanded the lamia.

“But-sss.”

“Just go, I will be fine.”

Lamia slithered towards the attackers. The Great Dryad managed to topple a tree and from it elves tumbled to the ground like overripe berries from a shaken bush. The lamia slithered after the elves. Others still in the trees decided to make a runner too.

He ran towards the broken tree, there the Dryad was resting on its knees, still burning.

“Don’t die, not like this.” He took the jacket part of the suit and began beating the flames. It was surprisingly effective.

The Great Dryad was charred but alive.

“Will you be alright?” He asked with worry.

“Thanks. I will heal. [Heal]” Green motes of light surrounded its body and the charred flesh began to revert to its original state.

“Amazing!” He was envious of the magic.

The lamias were back.

“The elves-sss escaped.”

“A camouflage skill, sss-similar to what we possess-sss but for the forest.” The friendly lamia explained.

“If I didn’t fear the ‘fog’ affecting the spiders, I would have taken them.”

“Fog, it’s close.” The Dryad butted in and casually continued towards the forest.

“Do we sss-still follow?”

“Yes.”

This time Dryad’s ‘close’ was actually close, and they emerged out of the overgrowth into a less forested area, it was not unlike a grove or a park. The most defining feature of the area was a red glow coming from all the lines and shapes ‘painted’ on the ground; it was more like a powder which emitted this magical glow.

“What is this? Magic?”

“Fog, urgh!” The Dryad told with a heavy voice as if in great pain.

“Well, it doesn’t affect me. How about you?”

“We’re fine-sss.”

“Do I just destroy the lines?” He asked.

The Great Dryad didn’t reply, it just stood there with both hands on the side of its head. Once again it collapsed on its knees.

“That doesn’t look good. Quickly delete the lines.” He began kicking the powder away and lamias did the same but with their tails.

There were a lot of lines to delete, but he wasn’t even halfway through then they stopped glowing.

The Dryad stood up. “Fog is no more. We go back.”

“Is that it?” It was almost too easy, anticlimactic even.

“Forest is still angry, but not with you.”

“That’s good. I guess we go back and then to the elves.”

“Yes, elves.”

…

The trip back was a long one, and the trip to the elf settlement will be even longer. He was back on his mount, riding proudly knowing that he made a new ally. Well apparently the minor dryads did kick a fuss for a short while then he was gone, but spiders obeyed his command not to harm them and just put them in webs. Anyways, the dryads weren’t ‘angry’ anymore and were just obediently following The Great Dryad and him towards where the elves lived.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

What was interesting was that more and more dryads joined them during their trip. Now there were just as many dryads as there were spiders.

“I’m glad I made the right choice to make friends and not enemies.” He reflected on the numbers.

“We had weapon’sss, we would have won anyway, but yes-sss.”

And finally, he was almost there, the last few trees blocked the sight from elf settlement. He didn’t expect to reach it without surprises, but here he was.

“Let’s go and say hello.”

He moved past the trees and into the clearing. However, he wasn’t met with the familiar sight, no, where there was once an encampment now was a whole fortress. A huge wall at least three times bigger than he remembered surrounded the elves. There were multiple towers on top of the wall, full of elven archers. Moreover, he could make at least ten war machines, he was no expert but judging from massive arrows slotted in the machines they were called ballista.

Of course, he couldn't just waltz in and say hello. If they saw him, they would shout at him. Or would they?

“I am going… To talk alone, just stay behind.”

Lamia grasped him by the shoulder. “No-sss.”

“I’ll be okay. I trust that they’re civil enough not to shoot the messenger.”

…

Then the elf scouts returned they had reported something disturbing.

“How can it be, the magical circle was warded with spells and illusions! They shouldn’t have found it at all.”

This was a common but powerful elven trick; to ward a place so it can never be found, the intruder would just swerve around it in circles.

“This is impossible! Are you sure?”

“Yes, high chief. Also, the evil monster had a Great Dryad with him?” He reported as if still unsure.

“A Great Dryad you say?” The chief sounded surprised. “Not one of ours then. What happened to it?”

“Well, it was going towards the circle so we attacked it with fire arrows.”

“Good, the rebel is likely dead. We did expect some of the dryads to rebel anyway. Also, that explains how the illusion was circumvented. But why would the Greater Dryad betray us?”

They had no reason to go against the elves.

“Never mind that. Even if the circle is broken the lesser dryads would still fight the evil spiders.” He calmed himself.

There was no way the dryads would tolerate twisted man eating spiders!

The chief poked his head outside the window. There outside and on the walls were squads of archers, some were his, others were sent by the new allies. Before he might have worried about the security of this settlement, but not anymore.

“If the corrupting spider king wants to come he can, we are ready. Tell the scouts to return behind walls and the guards to be extra vigilant.”

“Yes, High Chief.” The scout ran off to convey the instruction.

A few days later an errand girl ran into the great hall looking for him. He didn’t even listen to what she had to say, since judging from the commotion outside, he already knew what it was. Predictably so, The Spider King had appeared.

“The twisted monster was here to claim our innocent lives!” he frowned in anger.

“Venerable elders!” He had to be loud to wake them. “Erect the shield!”

The geriatric elders moved like torpid tortoises after a long winter, ever so slowly towards the round table where they were meant to join hands in an ancient elven ritual.

The High Chief didn’t need to stay here and wait for it. Instead, he ran to the highest tower, he had to judge the evil force and devise the best plan to weather their attack.

He was climbing the thousand steps as fast as he could. The elves outside sounded awfully rowdy and overly disturbed, The Chief resisted the temptation to peek out of the small window as he passed it; no need to waste precious time.

By the last step, he emerged into the canopy of the tower, there other prominent members of the Elves were already waiting including the other two High Chiefs.

A dome of mana finally blinked into existence shielding the entire elf settlement from any tainted magic the Spider King might possess.

“Thanks for standing up against this force of evil. ”He appreciated the two thanking for their solidarity with a warm smile.

However, the two had deep frowns and faces full of regret, and even anger.

“Can you explain this, High Chief?” One of the two pointed into the distance.

What was there to explain, the evil was here. The two knew what they signed for so he too began to frown at this unexpected cowardice coming from his allies. Regardless, he went towards the fence and looked.

Yes, there were more than they had expected, an entire legion. But this was not why his allies were so worried. He understood their worry now.

“The Dryads. Why are the Dryads standing behind the King Of Spiders?” The High Chief asked himself.

“We would like to know as well.”

“Impossible!” This word has been invading his mind ever more frequently. “The Dryads are the children of the forest this makes no sense.”

“To ally with a monster. Something must have happened.”

“But what?”

“Brainwashing! He brainwashed them with tainted magic. Must have corrupted the circle we have erected.”

“To turn it against us. Is it even possible?”

“This is a great evil, we have underestimated how crafty this monster is.”

“Look, he is approaching the walls. Alone!”

All three High Chiefs strained their eyes to look.

“Why does he look so strange? You described the leader of the monsters differently?”

Indeed, while the high chief recognised the King of Spiders from his authority alone, he did come dressed differently; wearing a blue suit made of leaves and an equally blue funny hat.

“He is mocking us. Our customs.” The High Chief accused.

“I find it quite fashionable.” Chief number two had a different perception.

“Do not be bedazzled by its cheap tricks. The monster is plotting something. I know!”

“I think it is trying to speak.” Chief number three observed.

“Maybe, cast a spell? Should we attack while it’s still alone?”

The elves hesitated to strike first since no one could hear what was shouted at them due to magic shielding the settlement. The monster seemed to realise this and turned back to the legion obviously issuing a ghastly demand of sorts.

The horde of dryads stepped into the clearing, the archers on the wall visibly tensed. They were as confused as the high chiefs, if it were spiders they would have loosened their arrows already.

“We might need to wipe the dryads first.”

“Do you want to turn the Forest Spirit against you?”

“If you kill its children, it will strike at you when it reincarnates.”

The two gave wise advice, however, “What choice do we have?”

“We can send some scouts to break the corrupted circle and end this monster’s hold on the dryads.”

“Yes, let's do that. Scouts!”

The scout leader had already heard the high chief's discussion and was already running.

“Let’s hope the shield will buy us enough time. Aim the ballista at The Spider King.” He issued a decisive command.

The dryads were on the move, they raised their hands into the air sending motes of various colours towards the elven walls.

“What is happening?”

“I am not sure.”

They were elves but even then they didn’t recognise this Dryad spell. The shield flickered and then shattered with a loud bang.

“Impossible!” All three said in unison.

“Hello, I come in peace!” The voice of the Spider King had finally reached them.

The chief panicked before he could even register what was said. “Fire, fire now!” He ordered.

The ballista loosened their enchanted great arrows in unison. The High Chief didn’t order the archers to fire, however, they too were panicked by losing the shield and fired their fire arrows towards the horde of dryads anyway.