The new High Chief was sitting in his tower and idly nibbling at his fingernails, his eyes were locked at the gates and he was trembling from worry. He saw the gates open and Great Dryad stepped through, as promised the King of Spiders had a quick word with the towering giant, but even then he could only be afraid of what is to come.

The previous High Chief didn’t hide the fact that they had to cut corners and rely on ancient magic and profane rituals to defeat the evil, and… even then they had lost. They had angered Dryads, the guardians of the forests, and the forest spirit itself. He knew that there will be a rightful price to pay, so he was looking at the approaching Great Dryad with dread.

The walking embodiment of nature made its way to the Ancestral Tree unopposed, and of course it did, the elven fighting spirit was already crushed. In tow like ducklings to their mother the lesser dryads followed the giant. Their bodies were restored by healing magic but even from afar he could see the scars of battle; cracked skin and missing limbs, arrows still poking out of their bodies.

“What have we done.” He lamented. “We… Elves. Attacked the guardians of this forest.” He tried to still his shaking hands, yet he could do nothing but worry about what was to come.

“Hey, you.” He directed his looks at the twisted creature faintly resembling a spider. “I am an important servant of The King of Spiders. You will protect me, right?”

The spider chirped in affirmation.

The High Chief let out a sigh of relief. He knew it was wise to offer themselves to the King. Yes, they were slaves now, but they had Kings protection. “Or at least I hope we do.” He looked at the spiders with suspicion.

The Great Dryad disappeared from his vision, it was likely ascending the stairs at this very moment. There was nothing for him to do but wait, and so he did. The Dryad was taking its time to climb a thousand steps, and he even considered meeting it midway through. However, that would be improper. He might be new but he still had to uphold the traditions. He will let the Great Dryad climb the stairs.

And there it was, an imposing frame struggling to enter through the carved entrance. It tried one way and then the other, but it just couldn’t fit. The High Chief didn’t know if to take this as a good sign or bad. Was he saved by a narrow doorway?

"[Mold].” The Great Dryad invoked a spell and the wooden frame flowed like liquid expanding to accommodate its size.

Ah, yes, the elves knew that spell too, or at least the venerable elders did. This was how they made their houses and furniture.

“High Chief?” The dryad asked in a coarse and woody voice.

“Yes, it is I.” He bowed to the protector showing his respect.

“When you know why we are here.”

“To punish us.”

“There is no need. You have punished yourselves enough already.”

“When why are you here?”

The Great Dryad looked in disappointment.

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“You should know.”

Maybe he would if he inherited the High Chief position properly, and if there were elders here. Not only that, but all the scrolls of knowledge and ancient rights were missing.

“Why am I here?” The Great Dryad asked in anger.

“I don’t know.” He bowed in apology. “Please, tell me.”

“…” The dryad didn’t say anything for a good while, it simply stared at the High Chief.

He waited anxiously. Now and then he would give quick glances at the spiders who were meant to protect him. Interestingly the Great Dryad didn’t seem too bothered by their twisted presence.

“Are you perhaps disappointed that we have submitted to the evil King of Spiders?” He made a guess.

“Are you stupid?” The Dryad bellowed in an angry rumble. “I see… undeserving. Old rites forgotten. I see. If Elves are ignorant of proper ways… Let be reminded!”

The Great Dryad raised his fists to touch the ceiling.

“I shall take what was gifted so long ago. [Claim]!”

The Ancestral Tree, its walls, ceiling, floors, everything and all groaned and creaked as if in anger. It began to shake and the substituting High Chief couldn’t stay on his own two feet or he would fall, so he kneeled in front of the giant Dryad.

“What is happening?” He asked with worry.

The Dryad didn’t even care to look at him, its wooden face strained and its eyes glowed like hot embers.

“Once seedling now an ancient tree, I beseech you to listen. Your wardens have failed you and lost their way. Return to nature o’ ancient tree, return to us where you belong. [Claim]!”

The walls began to shift and warp, wooden columns and spikes shot up from the floors, leaves and branches sprung from the ceiling.

“What’s going on?” He looked around for answers but there was only chaos. “Elders?!” He shouted in desperation.

The Great Dryad was radiating energy, cracks formed in its bark all over and were shining green light of Nature magic.

“You are most ancient. Most beloved. Protector once forgotten. Join me o’ ancient tree. Let us grow together. [Claim], [Spirit Seed].”

The giant form of the dryad crumbled into multiple pieces of wood in various shapes and sizes exposing a pulsing sphere of green light.

“No way!” The high chief exclaimed at the size and purity of the soul in front of his eyes. The Great Dryad must have been a millennium old if not more; that explained its power.

The room didn’t stop either shaking or warping, green motes of light began to rain from the ceiling. The oversized soul moved towards the core of the Ancestral Tree. The High Chief was not a venerable elder but he knew what was happening: The Great Dryad was claiming their tree as its new body.

“Impossible!” He could not believe his eyes.

The spiders grabbed him by his arms and began to drag him towards the warped window.

“No!” He tried to shake the spiders away. “I must see it! I must!”

Regardless of his protests they easily overpowered him and jumped out of the window and then quickly descended using a rope. At the same time, green light fired from the hole he had just escaped. The entire Ancestral Tree was both radiating green motes of light and absorbing them. Tiny orbs were rising from the house-trees, decorative bushes, living-wood furniture and even grass plus other plants growing in the entire Elf City; the motes flew hurriedly towards the tree. Surprisingly, even the Lesser Dryads collapsed like puppets with their strings cut and out of their body a tiny soul of an animal flew away, not towards the tree but back into the forest.

The elven weapons, arrows and bows; the elven armour and cloth shone in green light brightly. The magical enchantments broke turning the equipment into dust and then transforming into green motes of light. The houses refused to behave and shifted into a form closer to your average normal trees. The intricate elven furniture sprung branches and grew leaves where it didn’t belong rendering it useless. Everything was changing and growing or just exploding into green-coloured sparks.

Obviously, everyone was panicking and no one knew what was going on. The elves ran outside of warped houses and into the streets. Some were crying, some shouting in anger, and others just stood there frozen in disbelief. However, the spiders seemed surprisingly chill about the whole ordeal, they just stood there and praised the pretty light show with happy chirps and a series of ovations and claps.