The Duke and the Dryad (Elemental Series) (20 page)

“You are a stubborn one,” she complained, “just like Lord Wolfe. No one listens to the voice of reason any more.”

“Shhhh,” he said, cocking his head, listening through the trees. “I no longer see the wolf, but I hear something. Voices. Shouting.”

Juturn
a dug in the pocket of her cotehardie and pulled out a crystal orb. She held it up to the sunlight that was now streaming in through the canopy of leaves above her as she looked within. “Just as I thought ’Tis Lord Clive and his men. They are in the forest, and it looks like they are looking for someone.”

“Lord Wolfe and Rae, no doubt,” relayed Sir Braden.
“Now the only question is – where are they?”

* * *

Wolfe hadn’t gone more than fifty paces from the cave when Lord Clive and his men surrounded him. His uncle looked angrier than hell, and his men all held flaming torches in their hands though ’twas not needed as daylight was now upon them.

“Uncle, leave my forest anon,” he warned. He pulled his sword, still sitting atop his horse and held it up to prove he meant what he said.

“Tell me where the girl is, and no one will have to die.”

“Never! I told you, you
can’t have her. And I would die to protect her if I had to, though I’m not going to die today, but rather you are.”

“
Don’t make me laugh, Wolfe. We both know you are already beaten. You can’t take on both me and my men all by yourself and think you can survive. Face it, nephew, you may be
Duke the Destroyer
, but there’s naught you can do to take down all of us.”

“Mayhap not, but we can,” came a voice from behind him.

“Wolfe looked up to see Sir Braden leading a group of his men, swords at the ready through a clearing in the trees. Zev ran alongside of them, stopping near Lord Clive, growling and showing his teeth. Even Juturna sat on a horse at the back of the pack. ’Twas a most wonderful sight indeed.

“Sir Braden,” Wolfe called out, “this is
one time I am pleased you did not obey my orders.”

“Attack!” shouted Lord
Clive to his men, “and burn this place to the ground!”

“Nay!” shouted Wolfe, as he watched in horror as Clive’s warriors set the forest afire.
He could almost feel the pain of each and every living thing, and knew Rae would be feeling it as well.

He saw Juturna look into her crystal and take off
at a good clip through the forest.

He charged forward with his sword aimed right toward his uncle. He managed to unseat him from his ho
rse and jumped off his own steed to follow the man who now made his way on foot through the forest.

The sound of battle rang in his ears from behind him, the smell of burning dry leaves from the forest floor filling his senses. And then, the thing he’d feared most happened. Lord Clive wa
s heading straight for the cave.

“Uncle, stop!” he cried out, as the man now stood just outside the entrance to the cave. The sound of Rae’s father’s voice babbling nonsense from within, tipped off his uncle to the hidden entrance.

“You have her hidden in here, don’t you?” he asked.

Wolfe stopped and held up a hand. “Don’t, uncle, I beg you. Just leave her be. She means no one any harm.”

Lord Clive just shook his head. “Nay, Wolfe, I can’t let you have her. And if you plan on fighting me to the death, then there is only one way to stop this. If I can’t have her, then neither shall you.” He raised his sword, pushed aside the vines at the entrance, and disappeared into the cave.

“Nay!” Wolfe shouted again, rushing up the cr
aggy rocks, heading for the entrance. He had to get there in time to save Rae from being killed by the hands of his evil uncle. He darted up the rocky ledge, pulled aside the vines and hurried inside.

“Rae, watch out,” he called,
then stopped dead in his tracks by what he saw.

Rae, still weak wit
h little energy, sat with her back leaning against a rock next to the water. Lord Clive was lying face down on the ground at her feet, blood covering his body. Wolfe’s dagger was sticking out of his back, just over the man’s heart.

“Rae, are you all right?” He rushed to her and she wrapped her arms around him, crying softly into his chest. He kissed her atop the head, then sheathed his sword and headed over to his uncle. After pulling his dagger from the man’s back, he flipped his body over with the toe of his boot.

His uncle’s eyes were opened wide in surprise, his mouth a gaping cavern in what looked like a portal for his soul to flee his body. Wolfe knew he was dead, but checked for the beating of his heart anyway, just to make sure. Then finding no pulse, he lightly brushed the tips of his fingers over the man’s face to close his eyes.

“Well, it’s over now,
my uncle. You didn’t learn anything in this lifetime, did you?”

“’T
was awful, Wolfe,” came Rae’s weak voice. “I am so glad you are here.”

“I am sorry this had
to happen, Rae. Would that I could have been the one to kill him and save you from having to commit murder, although the man truly deserved everything he got.”

“I didn’t kill him, Wolfe
,” she said with a slight shake to her head.

“You didn’t?” H
e followed her eyes over to the corner of the cave, where her father sat with his arms wrapped around himself, rocking back and forth, humming a haunting tune. He’d almost forgotten about him. “Do you mean to tell me, your father killed him?”

“Aye,” she said. “I was too weak to fight him, an
d as he raised his sword to slay me, my father saved my life by stabbing the man in the heart from behind.”

“I s
ee,” he said, looking at the strange old man and nodding. “So your father got his revenge after all these years after all.”

“I am sorry about your uncle, Wolfe.”

“Don’t be,” he answered with a hard edge to his voice. “I’m not.”

Then Rae cried out, and held her side.

“What’s the matter?” he asked.

“’Tis the fire that rages outside,” she said.
“’Tis draining my energy quickly. I feel each plant and tree crying out for my help, but yet I cannot come to their aid.” She looked up to him with frightened eyes and he could feel within them the seriousness of the situation from the battle in the forest.

He looked back to her father and
then to her. Wiping down his bloodied dagger in his uncle’s clothing, he then fastened it at his waist. He grabbed his uncle’s dead body under the armpits and dragged him to the mouth of the cave.

“You can’t help the forest, but I think I know someone who can. Now stay here with your father where you’ll be safe until I return.
There is nothing to burn inside the cave, so you don’t have to worry about the fire entering.”

He discarded his uncle’s body by rolling it down the hill and into the midst of the fire. The man’s clothes went up in flame, and he turned away so as to not have to watch the last of his family being
burned and taken from this earth.

He made his way through the burning forest, finding his frightened horse and mounting it quickly. Then he rode to where the men were fighting, and shouted for their attention.

“Stop, I tell you, stop this fighting. Lord Clive is dead, and there is no need to continue this battle.”

“How do we know you’re not lying, just to get us to lay down our arms?” asked one of Lord Clive’s men.

“”Tis the truth, I tell you. Now heed my words.”

“Why should we?” asked one of the men.

“Because I can vouch that he is telling the truth,” came Rae’s voice from behind him.

“Rae! I told you to stay in the cave,” he called out.

She stood there, leaning on her father for support, looking pale and ready to fall over. The flames of the forest now flickered all around her.

“I cannot sit and watch as my home goes up in flames. I would die if I have to, but I must try to protect the forest – every living thing within it – the earth.
I am an elemental of the earth and ’tis my duty to protect it.”

“Let’s go,” shouted one of Lord Clive’s men, and they took off through the forest
, and Wolfe was thankful that the battle was now over.

Sir Braden rode up with Sir Theodore and Sir Norman right behind him.
“We need to get out of here, quickly, before we’re all burned to death,” he called out.

“Come on, Rae,” said Wolfe, reaching down for her hand.

“I cannot leave,” she said, shaking her head slowly.

“We’re not leaving. I’m taking you to someone who I think can help.”

He hoisted Rae up into the saddle in front of him.

“Sir Theodore, take her father on your horse, and all of you follow me.”

“Where are we going, Lord Wolfe?” asked Sir Braden, rubbing his wound.

Wolfe could te
ll the man was drained and needed to rest. Hopefully, they’d all be able to rest soon if his plan worked. And hopefully, he’d be able to save Rae’s home as well.

“We’re going to
the standing stones,” he told them, leading the way through the burning forest.

“This is not time to reprimand the druids, my lord,” answered Sir Braden from behind him.

“I am not going to reprimand them,” came his answer. “Instead, I am going to ask them for their help.”

Rae was surprised that Wolfe had instructed his men to follow them to the henge, and also pleased that it was his idea to ask the druids for help. She was of no help to her forest in this state, and she knew that perhaps he was right. Mayhap there was something they could do. ’Twas worth a try.

They stopped
just outside the stone circle, and Rae was glad that the fire had not reached this far yet. She saw Juturna standing within, looking into her crystal orb. She was speaking to the druids who were restless, moving to and fro, obviously affected greatly by the fire in the forest.

Wolfe dismounted and took Rae into his arms
, carrying her into the henge. “Men, follow me. I want everyone in the stone circle. Bring the horses inside the circle as well.”

“Nay, what are you doing?” Humphrey stepped forward with his arms out, trying to stop them.

“Not now, druid,” said Wolfe, pushing past the man.

“Bring me to the large crystal in
the center,” Rae told him. “If I lay atop it, I may be able to regain some strength. It is part of the earth, and can help me.”

“Of course,” he said, wondering why he hadn’t thought of that earlier.

“You and your men cannot enter the sacred circle,” said Humphrey. The other druids voiced they concern as well.

“In a few minutes everything will be up in f
lames and nothing will be sacred, so what does it matter? Now, the reason I came here is to ask for your help.”

“W
e can’t help you,” said the druid, shaking his head furiously.

“Can’t, or won’t?” Wolfe
asked.

“Please,” said Juturna,
coming to join them. “Please, chief druid, there must be something you can do to save your queen of the forest.”

Humphrey looked up
to Rae and she just nodded. Rae felt the energy of the crystal starting to rejuvenate her slightly.

The druids gathered together and whispered amo
ngst themselves. Then, the druid priest walked back to them and nodded. “All right,” he agreed. “We decided to help you since ’twill be to save the guardian of the forest.”

“Thank you,” Rae called from atop the crystal.

“But we are not certain what we can do to stop a raging fire,” he admitted.

Wolfe looked around at the anxious faces of the druids, and the hopeful looks of his own men as well. They all waited for his answer, though he didn’t have one.

Then Rae’s father walked forward, spouting nonsense as always
.

“The frog knows the forest
’s horrible damage by the fire . . . he calls to the guardian spirits of the rivers to transpire.”

“Enough nonsense about frogs,” snapped Wolfe. “I need an answer to our problem, not a riddle.”

“He is telling you the answer,” said Juturna, “listen closely.”

“Aye,” agreed Rae. “Though I cannot think straight being so drained, my father would know what my mother would hav
e done in this situation. Papa, what should we do?” she asked.

The old man crawled atop the huge crystal,
right next to Rae and patted the girl on the head.

“Your moth
er is with us here, right now . . . and I would honor her with a bow.” He stood atop the crystal and bowed to the air. Wolfe knew now that the man had gone mad and it wasn’t just a tale. He’d never seen someone so addled.

“The frog knows the forest’s horrible pain,” he started.