Chapter 20

Chapter20

Daphne had never huntedwith someone before, and despite the danger, there was a certain playful excitement to it. As she raced through the forest, her fleet feet always finding purchase, he kept pace. A bigger, lumbering shape that nonetheless had a grace to his motions.

Poor Nelly couldn’t keep up, but they didn’t dare slow. Circe couldn’t be allowed to escape.

The trees helped her by rustling to show her the path taken by the witch. A good thing, since Baptiste growled, “She’s masked her scent.”

But Circe couldn’t hide her flight. The forest knew what she’d done in Palusville and understood if allowed to go free, she’d spew her poison again.

Mutants tried to guard Circe’s retreat, their misshapen bodies plummeting suddenly from trees and bursting from the ground. They even popped out from behind wide trunks.

Daphne barely paused. She slashed with her daggers and kept going. Baptiste roared as he swung and handled those who dared get too close. A distant pop let her know Nelly remained on their heels.

The forest thinned as the rocky ground began to rise, the slope of it turning steep and forcing her to crane, looking upward in time to see a floating Circe alight atop the bluff. The witch stood with arms outstretched while a brisk gust of wind whipped around her, whirling through her hair. She shot a few lightning bolts into the sky and Daphne didn’t understand why until she heard something caw in the distance.

“Too late,” Circe cackled, catching sight of Daphne who had begun to ascend. “Here comes my ride.”

While a fast climber, Daphne knew she would never reach the witch in time because the second cry from the animal she’d called sounded much closer. She couldn’t let her get away. Not after all she’d done. Not considering all she’d do.

I have to stop her.

The trees atop the bluff, few and scraggly as they were, swayed in the breeze that tugged at Circe’s hair. They gave Daphne an idea. The Mother might not be present, but Daphne was. A dryad who’d once been a sapling but became something more. A fighter. A survivor. A Paladin in charge of Earth’s defense.

And people in charge were supposed to give orders.

Daphne braced herself on a ledge, opened her arms wide, and shouted, “Brothers and sisters of the seed and root. I command you in the Mother’s name. I beseech you on behalf of those the witch tortured. Help me to stop a grave evil.”

The forest all around went still as the trees listened.

A suddenly nervous Circe sputtered, “There’s nothing you can do.”

“Is that so? Let’s find out shall we.” Daphne smiled as she said, “Mulch her.”

The boughs closest to Circe reached out with spindly tips that tangled in her hair. Circe exclaimed and slapped at them, huffing, “I don’t think so. Burn, you fucking twigs.”

The witch ignited the limbs touching her, their dry bark making them burst into bright flames, but that didn’t stop the trees from fighting. Roots shot up from the ground and wrapped around the witch’s ankles, yanking her down before she could scream. More wiggling tendrils emerged to whip around her body, binding her arms tight, covering her mouth, immobilizing her, and stifling what remained of her magic.

Daphne didn’t startle when a tree at her back slid a branch around her waist and lifted, elongating and bending that it might deposit the dryad atop the bluff to stand by the bound witch. Daphne knelt by Circe, whose wide eyes could do nothing but blink in fear. Good. It had been a long time in coming. At the same time, Daphne knew better than to think the witch would repent. Some evils would never change.

And so she whispered, “We are all part of the Earth and when we die, we return to it.” Nourishing the next generation.

The roots tightened, cutting through flesh, snapping bone until all that remained were bloody bits. The ground then swallowed them. By the time Daphne stood, all that remained of Circe was a damp spot in the dirt.

“Remind me to not piss you off,” Baptiste murmured in his deep beast voice as he clambered over the edge to join her.

“Then you’d better feed me. I’m starving after all that work.” Daphne whirled to smile at him just as something big swooped overhead. Before she could look up to see, a gunshot cracked and the giant bird came tumbling down. A glance below showed Nelly lowering her gun.

“About time I got to kill something,” Nelly complained. “Now, if we’re done fighting bad guys, I could use a beer, a pizza, and a shower, in that order.”

Daphne clapped her hands. “That sounds like an excellent plan.”

However, Baptiste grunted and through their bond, she sensed why. She put a hand on his hairy arm. “You should join your pack and make sure the forest is cleansed of threats. I’ll see you at dawn.”

A toothy grin and a pat on her butt were his thanks before he bounded off, practically leaping from the bluff to the ground. As he ran into the woods, his shape shifted from two-legged to four, and he howled, a cry answered by the other wolves in the forest.

Daphne joined Nelly and said, “Nice shot,” before she kicked at the feathered creature large enough to carry a person in flight. “What is it?”

“Rukh. Kind of rare, meaning we should probably get rid of it before someone notifies the Cryptid Preservation Society and gives me shit for taking it down. Think you can get your tree friends to mulch it like Circe?”

“Seems like a waste.” Daphne pursed her lips. “How’s it taste barbecued?”

Delicious as it turned out. Baptiste and his Pack found them on the back patio of the pack compound, using the massive firepit to cook the bird on a spit. Only part of what they’d done while they waited for the night to end. The injured had been taken care of and the dead readied for burial. Meanwhile, the children had slept through the entire affair.

Despite the events of the night, there was jubilance as the Pack and their new Alpha expanded the barbecued bird to include eggs, fruit, and pancakes. The children woke and joined them, adding laughter and exuberance to the mix. It was the biggest party Daphne had ever attended and intimidating as well, hence why she snuck off and climbed the nearest tree, a lilac that told her she should come back in the spring to smell her blooms.

Her disappearance didn’t go unnoticed. Baptiste tracked her movements and kept an eye out as the Pack approached and apologized for their actions. He tolerated it only for a little bit before he suddenly stood and declared, “I’m going to bed.” Which apparently meant she was supposed to go with him, seeing as how he headed for her tree. She slipped out of its welcoming branches only to gasp as he tossed her over his shoulder and began stomping for the main house.

“I can walk,” she remarked.

“Yeah, but the whole caveman act is a tradition among the newly mated.”

“About the mating thing…”

“I’m sorry I didn’t ask or warn you first. In my defense, I didn’t know that would happen without a bite.”

“Fair enough. What does it mean, though?”

“We’re basically married,” he stated.

Daphne stiffened in his arms. Married?