Chapter 4
Four
Martin
The sun and breeze felt good against my branches and leaves.
The soil caressing and feeding my roots eased my stress, lulling me into a gentle sway.
Dryads had to come back to the ground they’d been planted in.
We could set down roots elsewhere, but it wasn’t the same and didn’t provide enough nourishment.
Dryad parents went out of their way to pick the plot they planted their seedlings, knowing it would be their lifelong home.
We could harvest that soil and take it with us in buckets for short times away, but inevitably, we always needed to return.
Tenzen Huxley had planted me himself. While I believed that part was true, I doubted the reason behind it was truthful.
Just as Huxley had told Hikaru that his creator spirit, Inari, had abandoned him, Huxley had told me I’d also been a foundling.
He hadn’t gone so far as to say my parents abandoned me.
He’d simply said he didn’t know what happened to them.
I’d always believed him. Looking back, that now seemed foolish.
At the time, I’d had no reason to doubt his words.
Like everyone else, I’d trusted our founder and director.
We’d all been fools, but we’d been collective ones.
At least our regrets had company. I wasn’t certain that made things better, but there was comfort to be found there.
My plot of land was toward the west end of the compound. While still below ground level, the area was open, allowing me to stretch above the ground and to the sky. To anyone wandering by, it would look like an oak tree canopy sprawled across the ground, my trunk hidden.
I didn’t mind. Given how cold Minnesota winters were, it was nice to have a bit more shelter.
Today wasn’t cold at all. It was sunny and warm.
The breeze sliding across the landscape gently ruffled my leaves.
A couple of squirrels had found their fun in my branches.
In the fall, I obliged the little critters and produced acorns just for them.
These acorns wouldn’t produce another dryad.
That would take a special acorn indeed. One I’d yet to produce.
“Thought I’d find you here,” Elvira said.
The ghost spent more time with me while I was in my tree form than when I was bipedal.
Since I couldn’t communicate in this form, our conversations were typically one-sided, just the way Elvira evidently liked.
I’d been offended when I was younger. Older and hopefully a bit wiser and more tolerant, I understood that speaking with me like this placed Elvira at ease, and that was something to cherish, not lament.
I curved a single branch, running some of my leaves through Elvira’s ghostly form. I wasn’t sure why, but she’d told me once the action was soothing. My leaves didn’t register her coldness as acutely as my humanoid flesh.
Elvira sighed while passing her hand through my leaves.
“Thank you, Martin.” She settled in, leaning against my trunk.
I had no idea if she truly enjoyed sitting or if it was a leftover remnant of when she was alive—something she remembered to do and couldn’t quite quit the habit.
“I was going to speak with Keir first, but he was on the phone, debriefing Ella. She successfully located the pixie who was reported missing. Unfortunately, she found others. All of them were caged, some more faded than others. Ella didn’t find any deceased pixies on the property.
She’s in the process of interrogating the ogres involved. ”
Disappointed pain pulsated through my sap.
It was an age-old story, one the Magical Usage Council had been fighting for centuries.
Pixie dust was instantaneously addicting to ogres.
Pixies were captured and held in captivity.
Only, pixies didn’t do well in such an environment.
Their colors faded and if they weren’t found in time, they died.
The Ogre Consulate worked with us, trying to rehabilitate addicted ogres. It was an uphill battle. Fairy law allowed the Ogre Consulate to oversee the process, only stepping in when rehabilitation failed. It was a depressing situation.
Having given the reason she’d sought me out instead of Keir, Elvira quieted, simply passing the time in my shaded canopy.
Finally, Elvira said, “He’s not what I expected.
The will-o’-the-wisp,” she added just to make certain we were on the same page.
“He was not easily intimidated.” Elvira sounded distinctly disappointed by that fact. “I thought he’d be greedier.”
I silently huffed. I’d yet to meet a will-o’-the-wisp that wasn’t greedy and could hardly believe Grayson was different from the others.
“I’m not saying he’s not greedy at all, just that…
I’m not really certain.” She quieted again before adding, “I think there’s more going on with him.
” I shook my leaves, silently asking Elvira to explain.
“He didn’t know I was there, at least at first. Grayson was silent and he appeared to be struggling.
I’ve seen will-o’-the-wisps in action before.
It’s been a while. I was just a child when Grandpa…
Well, the particulars aren’t important.”
I did not believe that for a moment. Tabitha was the only one who truly knew Elvira’s history, and I sometimes wondered if our medium knew all of it. I got the impression Elvira’s past was hers and hers alone.
“What I do remember is that the will-o’-the-wisp Grandpa used quickly turned into flame. They were different than Grayson. The will-o’-the-wisp Grandpa used was burning flame, not cool like Grayson. Maybe there’s a difference between the two.”
The strain in Elvira’s voice let me know she didn’t really believe that.
“There was barely a blue flicker along his wrists and hands. And even with that, Grayson’s skin paled and there was a fine sheen of sweat on his brow. Something isn’t right, Martin.”
My branches drooped as I considered Elvira’s concerns.
I’d known the ghost for over two hundred years.
Elvira was levelheaded and very observant.
I trusted her opinion and concerns. Had Keir hired a defective will-o’-the-wisp?
Was there even such a thing? Most likely it was possible, and maybe defective wasn’t the right word to use.
Maybe Grayson Delarue didn’t have the juice to do what was needed.
As if reading my mind, Elvira said, “Grayson came highly recommended. I was there when Keir spoke with Tabitha about it. It wouldn’t be like Keir not to thoroughly investigate Grayson before contacting him.”
Per usual, Elvira was right. Keir might be exhausted, but with something like this, he’d still be meticulous. So, if it wasn’t a lack of skill, then what was it? What had Elvira questioning Grayson’s capabilities?
With a huff, Elvira dissipated and reappeared in my canopy. She swung her legs over my branch, crisscrossing them back and forth like a child might. “Perhaps I’m making more of it than is there.”
I shook my branches in the negative, making Elvira laugh.
She patted my branch, her hand sinking into my bark.
“I appreciate your confidence and loyalty. Still, I’ve been known to be wrong before.
” Elvira’s expression blanked. “Very wrong.” Her eyes remained distant until a shiver wracked her body, hazing her edges.
With a shake, she came back to herself. “I suppose time will tell, as it always does.” She stood, a sure sign she was ready to leave.
Before she fully dissipated, Elvira said, “Oh, by the way, I saw Henry headed in Grayson’s direction right before I left. ”
My limbs fell, touching the ground. Wonderful, just what we needed.
I suppose it had been too much to hope that our resident house dweller would keep to himself.
There was no telling what the two of them would get up to together.
Gaia knew Henry and Hikaru had been thick as thieves when the annoying kitsune had been in residence.
Knowing Keir would be busy for the foreseeable future, I took it upon myself to check on Grayson Delarue. He wasn’t difficult to find. If Elvira hadn’t filled me in, I would have been surprised the will-o’-the-wisp was where we’d left him.
The central corridor was halfway appropriately named.
While it was central, it was more of a room than an actual corridor.
The room had doors leading off in nearly every direction, acting like a central hub and often turning into a pass through more than a true room.
Given that others passed through the room several times a day, it didn’t make sense to turn it into anything in particular.
I still had no idea why the area had been designed that way.
Then again, I was often left floundering when I considered the known layout of the Magical Usage Compound.
Had we been at full capacity, or even half capacity, I doubt Keir would have set Grayson up in the room.
There would have been too much activity.
As it was, with our numbers so drastically diminished, the room was hollow and empty.
Much like the rest of the compound, sounds echoed through the disused portions, the sound painful with memories.
Opening a door, my eyes widened, and ire immediately went to the top of my emotions. Grayson lay on the floor, sprawled out like a starfish. I thought him asleep at first. I suppose he still could be if he were one of those individuals who slept with their eyes open.