Falkner awoke on a bed and was so hungry he could eat a herd of behemoths. he didn't get his bearings until someone was pouring broth down his throat spilling it in alarm

“You're awake!” a beautiful young woman said to him with orange skin and red hair, amber eyes, warning a simple wool dress but she made it seem elegant then she made him galp down the rest

“what happened?” Falkner asked

“Some fairies told us about two humans lost in the woods so we followed your footsteps and found you and your wife slumped to together halved starved and so we tried to nurse you back to health” she said everything so cheerfully

“She's not my wife she’s my step sister” over next to Falkner five feet away in another bed she was awake. being fed broth by a male fall dryad in a wool shirt and breeches she smiled at him then went back to downing her broth

“Is there anything else to eat?”

Falkner asked

“We have venison and dried fruit”

“Anything please” she left to get his food. The house or hut had log walls and bark tiles; it was standard for dryads. I remember reading about them back home. Each dryad had the skin and magic of the four seasons and loved to live simple lives over in the corner of the room. his kite shield, armor, and clothes. Then he noticed he had only undergarments on. pulling the blanket over his chest they undressed me and Nyssa! When she came back with dried venison, dried fruit and some more broth Falkner greedily took it from her and started eating stuffing as much into his mouth as possible, chewing very little and in five minutes it was all gone. How are we going to proceed? Nyssa was also done with her meal. I'm still so weak. I don’t want to get out of bed. How could things turn so badly? How could we run out of food just before we reach the mountain? we should have grabbed more but that troll was almost upon us he was shaken out of his thoughts by a gasp the dryads had their hands covering their mouths

“Your eyes are on fire” she said

“Oh that happens sometimes” Nyssa said cheerfully

“you can use fire magic” he exclaimed

“Can you leave us alone?” Falkner asked. they left with a look of wonder closing the door behind them

“Now what?” Nyssa asked

“I don’t know” Falkner said getting out of bed with shaky legs hobbling over to the corner and got dressed than to look out the window and seeing a circle of trees as a wall rain barrels were hollowed out tree stumps to catch water dryads of all four seasons were going about their day lugging logs for their log houses their were all one or two stories tall but a lot of them were long like twenty five feet long. others were playing the flute, their soft music filled the air. others were chatting in the dirt street. In fact there were trees in the streets not many but still quite a few.

hobbling outside to feel the chilly wind on his face running his hand through his hair which has grown long. I need a haircut leaning against the door frame for support. That’s the least of my worries. laying back down before he collapsed. It was well into the afternoon until he had to go get lunch with Nyssa right behind him. a pair of dryads came back with sacks in their arms

“Come, there are some lamb chops we have prepared for you and dried fruit, there's plenty of it,” she said, leading them back into their house. cooking lunch and preparing the lamb chops. It was roasting in no time. Nyssa and Falkner were eating the dried fruit in bed. I'm still so hungry. How many days of walking without food did I go? I can’t remember soon they were eating lamb chops around a small table

“me and my husband has never met someone who uses magic in fifteen years” she said

“that’s because I’m a godling” Falkner said flatly they seemed surprised

“and the gods are dead that is why everyone's magic is weak”

“they're not dead humans just abandon them not the other way around humans just think they are” he said surprised I thought most people knew that they must be in denial Falkner thought to himself

“is it possible we could buy some supplies we have a little money” Nyssa said Falkner looked at her she must have picked up the chest of coin in the scramble instead of food it’s a good thing that worked out

“it’s possible” she said “but not likely”

“and clothes these ones aren't very clean” Nyssa said Falkner looked at her

“I not serious cheer up” at least she’s back to normal already

“I guess we could get the whole town to pitch in you might get enough to reach the other side of the mountains if you're lucky”

“if you could we will be out of your hair in no time” Nyssa said

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“very well and keep your money we have no need of it there's almost no one to trade with it” he said

“But what about the other dryads?” Falkner asked

“we all barter with each other” he went on after they ate Falkner and Nyssa went out into the streets to get the feel for the town and what it had to offer after walking about for a few minutes he had to sit down by the side of the street if it could be called that the mighty lord Falkner son of a god and one of the most powerful nobles in the whole kingdom sat in a muddy street like a beggar kind of pathetic really. Nyssa sat by him and a fairy sat down on his shoulder, green skin, red lips she was stunning in her dress like flexible stained glass

“hello” she said in a high pitched voice

“hello” Falkner said awkwardly “did you get the dryads to come get us?” Falkner asked

“yep”

“thank you” Nyssa said

“just doing my job” other fairies flow around them giggling they did that a lot then they flew off towards the long house

“you didn’t apologize” Nyssa noted

“Well they still made me fall out of that tree and made an imaginary celestial iron sword” Fackner said gruffly standing up on stiff legs “we need to stay here at least a few days” Falkner said exploring the town. dryads were walking in the street and gave him a few looks but mostly they kept to themselves. There were even a few humans, maybe a dozen or so that he'd seen once about an hour walking he had to turn back to…...I don’t think they told us their names. So back at their house went back to bed laying there was frustrating with nothing to do but wait to get better. Nyssa came in and collapsed on her bed and a fairy came in through the window and landed on the bedpost she looked at Falkner as if he was a puzzle to be solved

“Are you really a godling?” surprised

“Where did you hear that from?” Falkner asked

“Two dryads are talking about two godlings how we should help them on their journey there in the center of town. Now gathering supplies from everyone is pitching in a little so you can leave”

“really!” Nyssa gasped

“We may leave sooner than we thought” Falkner said, turning his head to look at Nyssa

“in four days if possible” Nyssa said the fairy flew onto Nyssa’s shoulder. They stayed in bed for hours while the fairy asked them questions. Soon she left and they ate dinner then went to bed immediately.

In the morning of the fifth day getting the supplies they needed was slower than he’d like but couldn’t complain after all they were free. They ate breakfast and got dressed. Nyssa wore a blue tunic and leggings and Falkner wore his coat and breeches. They left to find in the middle of town a good sized pile of supplies, mostly dried venison and fruit but also some carrots. Enough of at least two weeks Putting down there things down on the pile

“how are we going to carry it all, we need it all” Nyssa said

“I don’t know” Falkner said “excuse me can you tell us who could sell us a moa?” Falkner asked a passing dryad man of summer

“yes come with me the stable is this way” he said we followed him out of town to a large clearing where sheep and deer were raised and three moa

“What do you want for one moa?” Falkner asked

“I don’t own them, talk to the one who owns them” we won’t have much to offer. maybe we steal them but no they gave us the supplies we need. we will work something out. With that he walked away back into town. There was no one in sight and no building in sight either so they walked about twenty feet until he noticed there was a large platform in a tree with large pulleys attached to wooden platforms. they went over and stood on it and immediately got pulled up slowly. Once they reached the deck a winter dryad in light clothing greeted them as the platform fell back down. As they stepped off

“What can I do for you?” he asked

“we need a moa” Nyssa answered

“What do you have?” he asked

“not much” Nyssa admitted

“we have swords” Falkner said “what else” they looked at each other we have armor but we will need that we have

“We can give you two swords” Nyssa said

“and they've seen battle but in great condition”

“All right, one moa for two swords” he said, surprised at how easy it was for him to agree. “We will go get them” Falkner said drawing it and handing it to the dryad

“What are we going to use as a weapon?” Nyssa whispered

“Fire and ice and besides what good are they if we can’t leave this town” Falkner whispered back as he inspected it. The pale sunlight making the fine steel look almost silver.

“Swords are rare here” he said

“and I do like them so the condition is fine enough, very well come with me and we will get your moa” he said

“Why is it up a tree?” Nyssa said

“because we need to see if monsters are coming to eat our flocks”

“That's a good idea,” Falkner admitted. they slowly dropped down from the platform “how does it work?” Nyssa asked “a combination of weights pulleys and my assistant” he replied casually they walked off the platform to the moas but not the three big ones instead they were lead to a pastor in the clearing of smaller ones they stood just over six feet tall head to toe they looked too small for riding and too slim but for carrying things it could work. With a black head and feet it’s tan feathers looked clean and shiny showing its health. Its size was disappointing but we will make it work

”this is her” the stable man said

“what’s this?” Nyssa said clearly offended

“We brought you two rare items and we got this undersized moa?” he looked angry at us

“what are you doing we aren't in a position to argue” Falkner whispered leading her away from him

“he has agreed to take just two swords and who cares anyway once we have the power we seek we won’t need it”

“it could never replace Stormbreaker”

“Is this what it's about? we need this deal” she seemed to calm down

“you're right It’s just ever since Stormbreaker died I promised to myself I won’t ride another unless it was just as good a breed as him”

“don’t worry you won’t be able to ride him, they went back and he gave us the bride. made out of crude rope to lead it away, they soon went back to town and tied the supplies to our new moa to see how much she could carry. It was almost all of it. grabbed their bags and stuffed as much as they could into them

“We leave at first light,” Falkner said firmly.

In the morning after eating one last meal with their hosts. They thanked them, then they put on their armor and helmets. took their packs on their backs and kite shields on their new moa and took their journey towards mount Iroswell and to claim Aeris’s power a new god will be born.