The Duke and the Dryad (Elemental Series) (21 page)

“Not the frog riddle again,” said Wolfe, looking at Sir Braden and shaking his head.

“Quiet, and listen carefully,” scolded Juturna.

“The frog knows the forest’s horrible pain,” he repeated, “and he calls to the goddess of the sky to bring forth rain.”

“That’s it,” said Rae, pushing up, looking around. “Druids, gather in a circle and hold hands,” she called. “Everyone – please join us. We need to concentrate.”

“On what?” asked Sir Norman, following suit.

“On not being burned to death before we figure out what the hell is going on,” added Sir Braden.

“Everyone, just do as she says,” instructed Wolfe, joining in the circle.

Rae stood atop the crystal, leaning on her father for support. Then, slowly, she raised her arms above her head, threw back her head and closed her eyes.

“Guardians of the rivers, I beseech you to come to our aid,” she called out. “Raise your waters up the banks and help to douse the fires that consume the earth.”

Wolfe looked up and noticed the flames now coming closer to the stone circle. Within a matter of minutes, they could all be consumed.

“I hope to hell this works soon,” he mumbled to Sir Braden, next to him. “If not, I think we’re all going to burn in the fires of hell, whether we like it or not.”

“Hush, and concentrate,” came Juturna’s voice from next to him. She held up her hands, over her head like Rae was doing, and since Wolfe was holding her hand, he had no choice but to do the same. Feeling foolish holding one hand over his head and not the other, he raised his hand that held onto Sir Braden’s
, yanking it upward.

“God’s eyes!” Sir Braden gasped. “Are you forgetting that is my wounded arm?”

“Don’t complain,” he whispered back. “If this doesn’t work, you’re not going to feel any pain – once your dead.”

“Start believing in your girlfriend, and stop your idiotic babbling,” said Juturna.

Wolfe was taken by surprise by the woman’s brash words, but decided she was right. He believed in Rae and he should be a leader and support her, no matter how absurd this whole thing seemed.

The horses whinnied in fright from behind him as the flames came closer, and he was afraid they would take off through the burning forest. But then, as if Rae knew what he was thinking, she called out another incantation.

“Epona, goddess of the horses, calm their fears. Druantia, goddess of the druids, bring forth the rain that is needed to put out the fires and save your earth from dying.”

Not much seemed to be happening, and if he wasn’t mistaken, even Rae seemed doubtful that any of this was going to work.

“Druids, start your chanting, so the gods may hear us,” she called out. They did as instructed, and Juturna chanted too, looking over to Wolfe and nodding her head. Her eyes told him that he’d better join in.

He did, as foolish as he felt, and looked over to Sir Braden and nodded as well. When the man gave him an odd look and he shook his head in refusal, Wolfe raised the man’s wounded arm even higher.

“Ow,” he called out.

“
’Tis Om, now ow,” Wolfe corrected him. “Now start chanting.” Sir Braden bit the side of his cheek and followed orders.

Then Rae dropped her arms and opened her eyes. She looked up to the skies, but no rain fell. “I’ve failed you all,” she said sadly.

No one said a word. Then her father spouted one last piece of nonsense.

“Your mother is
standing with arms opened wide . . . now take her advice, as she’s at your side.”

Rae sighed and turned to look over her shoulder, and to her surprise and delight, she saw the spirit form of her deceased mother, standing next to her with a smile upon her face.

“Mother?” she asked, not being able to believe it was true.

“Rae-Nyst, I am with you always. And the goddess and guardians cannot hear your plea for help because of the intensity of the fire.”

“I don’t know what to do, M
other. I’ve tried everything.”

“Not everything, dear.”

“I don’t understand,” she said.

Then her father broke in. “The woman of fire could control the flames, while the women of the skies and water could help bring the rain.”

“You sound as if you’re speaking of the other elementals,” she said.

“That’s right, darling, he is,” agreed her mother. “Now call out to your friends, and they will hear your plea for help.”

“But I haven’t seen them since childhood,” she said. “I have felt no connection to them for years.”

“T
hen I will help you,” she said with a smile. “Together, we may be able to call to their spirit forms to help save the forest. Don’t let everyone down, Rae-Nyst.” Her mother motioned with her hand to Wolfe, the druids, and everyone holding hands and chanting within the stone circle. Everyone had faith in her, though she seemed to have lost faith in herself.

“All right, mother, let’s
do it.”

Once again, sh
e raised her hands upward, closed her eyes and threw back her head. And with every ounce of her being, she cried out to the other three elementals – her friends that she hadn’t had contact with in years.

“I call out to you, Brynn-Riletta, elemental of fire, to help us control the flames that are consuming my earth. And I call to you,
Ebba-Tyne, elemental of water, to send me your help to contact the guardians of the rivers to wash their waves upon the burning flames. And last of all, I call to you, Portia-Maer, elemental of the air. We beseech you to send forth upon the air, the rain which will douse the fires and cleanse this earth of all that is consuming it right now.”

Then, the sky started to rumble, and a cry of happiness went up from within the stone circle.

“Keep chanting,” came the chief druid’s order.

“Believe in R
ae-Nyst,” called out Juturna.

“I believe in you, Rae,” shouted Wolfe. “You can do it. Where is that earthly little sprite that creates magic
k wherever she goes? I love you, darling.”

That is all she needed to hear. With
Wolfe’s proclamation in front of everyone, it gave her the newfound strength she needed. She called to the forest, the trees, and the plants. Then she called to every living animal within it to come to her aid if they could, or if naught else, to escape the fire. She heard the howl of Zev in the distance, and knew he was telling her that the animals had heard her.

And then, to her relief, she felt
a drop of rain upon her cheek. She shouted in delight and raised her face to the sky, opening her mouth to catch the raindrops as the sky burst open and rain pelted down around them.

“Can you believe that?” asked Sir Braden, looking up, letting the rain wash his face.

“Aye,” said Wolfe, with a nod of his head. “That I can.”

Wolfe watched Rae talking to some invisible being, which he guessed was her mother, by her words, or perhaps her elemental friends that only she could see. Then, he felt a wisp of air brush past him. Sir Braden squeezed his hand tightly and he looked over to him and scowled.

“I don’t fancy holding your
hand to begin with, Sir Braden,” he told him. “But squeeze it again and I’m going to have to punch you, wounded shoulder or not.”

“Look, don’t you see her?” Sir Braden said, looking at the air in front of him.

“See whom?” he asked, thinking his captain of the guard was starting to sound as addled as Rae’s father.

“She is standing right in front of me,” he said, his eyes f
ocusing on someone invisible that Wolfe couldn’t see.

“She is beautiful,” said Sir Braden. “Her hair is like spun silk and she wears a wreath of flowers around her head.”

“Are you speaking of Rae?” asked Wolfe. “Because, if you are, I don’t like you fancying my girl.”

“Nay,” he said. “This girl is blond. She is someone I’ve never seen before.”

“Then ask her name, you simpkin, and you’ll know.”

“What is your name my beautiful lady?” he asked.

Wolfe heard naught, but obviously Sir Braden did, because he repeated it aloud.

“Portia-Meyer,” he said
softly.

“That’s Rae’s elemental friend of the air,” said Juturna, obviously having
overheard their entire absurd conversation.

“That’s right
,” said Wolfe, “I just heard Rae say that name.”

The rain poured down upon them,
and while they were all getting soaked, they were so relieved, that they didn’t even care. Rae gave the instruction for everyone to get up and go home.

“We are safe now, thanks to the elementals and guardians of the forest,” she said. “The flames hav
e been extinguished, and tho the earth is burned badly, we are in no more danger from the fire. Thank you druids, and everyone here today that had faith in me and joined in the ritual.”

“Thank the gods
that’s over,” grumbled Wolfe getting to his feet. Everyone started to move forward in the pouring rain to either leave by foot or collect their horses. Everyone but Sir Braden, who just sat on the ground, staring into space.

“Sir Braden, you can get up now,” Wolfe told him, but he just kept staring forward, then gasped and jumped to his feet.

“She kissed me!” he cried out. “She kissed me on my wound and now my shoulder no longer hurts.”

“Get your horse, and get back to the castle anon,” said Wolfe. “I think I am going to c
ommit you to bed rest for a sennight. Either that, or mayhap I’ll let Rae’s eccentric father bunk with you. You two should have lots to talk about. And I am sure it’ll be all about frogs.”

Rae spent most the night with Wolfe in his bed, while Sir Braden hadn’t slept much, having been too excited about seeing an elemental. He had kept asking Rae questions about her friend, but Wolfe finally put an end to it, saying she needed to rest and regain her strength.

She
had been too drained to even consider coupling with Wolfe, and when he’d finally fallen asleep, she decided to sneak out to the orchard and sleep upon the earth. She needed to feel the life force of the earth running through her. The devastation from the fire was reflected by her weariness, and also the pain she felt inside for all the forest life that had perished.

“Rae? Are you out here?”

She rolled over on the ground, hearing Wolfe’s voice calling to her.

“Aye,” she answered. “In the orchard.”

She got up and brushed the dirt from her gown, and smiled as Wolfe approached her.

“Why did you leave the bed chamber?” he asked, the hurt showing on his face.

She took his hands in hers, and brought them to her mouth in a kiss to reassure him.

“There is nothing wrong between us, I promise
,” she said. “’Tis just that I prefer sleeping on the earth.”

He frowned.

“To regain my strength,” she told him. “Mayhap sometime you could try it with me.”

He smiled.

“Aye,” he said, seeming to like the idea. “I have never made love in an orchard before. That could be exciting.”

“Wolfe,” she told him, slipping her arm around his waist.
“I need you to realize that I won’t be able to make love for awhile.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I am an elemental, and I get my energy from the earth. It takes a lot of energy each time we couple.”

“But you always seemed to gain energy from coupling
, not lose it.”

“Only because I drew from the forest. But now that my forest – and your forest, she corrected herself for his
sake, is depleted from the fire - we need to give it time to replenish itself.”

“Oh, I see.”

“I was wondering if you’d come with me to the forest today. I need to see the extent of the damage and start replanting to help the earth.”

“Of course,” he said. “Let us break the fast and then we will go.”

* * *

Later, Rae, Wolfe, as well as Juturna, Sir Braden and even Rae’s father
, rode into the forest, stopping just outside of Rae’s burnt hut.

“Oh, this is awful,” said Rae, dismounting, and rushing back and forth, holding her hands to her mouth
at the sight of the horrible destruction.

Wolfe dismounted, following her, knowing the pain she was now feeling.

The forest smoldered from yesterday’s fire, sending up wisps of smoke from the ground floor. The branches of the trees were burnt, the leaves gone as well from a good part of the forest. Everything was black around their feet and the acrid stench of a life snuffed out clung to the air.

“This is worse than I expected,” said Sir Braden, walking over to join them.

“We have work to do,” said Juturna from the top of her horse.

“Th
e forest slumbers in its state . . . the rains saved much but for this, it came too late.” Rae’s father dismounted his horse and came over to join them.