The Dryad - Chapter 110

Cocoa POV

As we walked into the clearing left by the fire spirit, Tide started to gather her energy. It seemed that she was getting ready to fight. Though I was not sure if this could be called a fight. This spirit was nothing compared to the strength of Tide. She was barely stronger than a newly formed greater spirit. But she had it coming. You do not go into another’s home and wreck things.

The fire spirit just looked towards us. There was a profound despondency in her eyes and the salt trail of tears was clear on her beautiful face. Her flowing red hair was in complete disarray. She did not seem like she was preparing for a fight in any way. Was she that afraid of Tide that she was not even going to try and save herself?

The fire spirit’s eyes locked onto mine. I shuddered in fear. Was she going to attack me like she did Laurel? Her despair grew looking at me. She redirected her eyes to Tide and her face morphed. Tide must scare the fire spirit just as the fire spirit scares me. No, that was not right, it was not fear in her eyes. Resentment? Something was wrong here, none of this made any sense.

“Tide, we need to talk to her first,” I said, pulling back on Tide’s arm. We were far from the ocean and surrounded by forest. Tide’s strength was reduced and she could no longer completely overpower me.

She turned and looked at me sternly. “Is it not clear enough already that she has burned down so much of Laurel’s woods? What more evidence do we need?”

“She is not burning down the forest now, and if I had to guess, it was her that put out much of the fire that had spread over these woods.” I said, closing my eyes as I looked over the woods once again. The devastating fires just ended. They did not trail off like one would expect. Something had stopped them. I opened my eyes and turned to Tide. “We need to at least hear her out.”

“That is not enough. She needs to be punished.” As Tide said these words I felt the fire spirit look to us and tremble in fear, but still she did not say anything.

Seeing that Tide would not listen, I pulled out a trump card. “I think Laurel has taken care of it. She would not be happy if you just undid all her hard work.”

Tide’s determined face quickly crumbled. In just a few seconds, she went from ready to attack to meekly nodding at my words.

As I turned back to face the fire spirit her face had hardened with anger. She stood up and took a few steps towards us. It seemed something in my words to calm Tide made the fire spirit fume.

“I see how it is. Everyone just hates fire spirits. You plant and water spirits get along so well. You always seem so buddy buddy. But as soon as you see a fire spirit.” Her rage soared as the flames coming off her body spiraled up into the sky. Just when I thought Tide was going to have to stop her from going on a rampage, she collapsed to her knees on the ground and the towering flames nearly went out.

I hurried closer to her but did not risk getting too near her due to the heat still radiating off her body. Steam rose from her cheeks as she cried, “I don’t want to be alone any more. I hate being alone.”

I really wanted to put my arms around her and give her a hug, but I could not do that. At least not until she cooled down. “You don’t have to be alone. I will be here for you,” I said. “If you can calm down the heat a little more, I will sit with you.”

I heard her scoff at me as she said scornfully,”I saw the fear in your eyes when you first looked at me. You don’t want me here any more than she did.” The fire spirit gestured to the east. I had to assume that she meant Laurel with that. “No one wants me.”

“I did stop Tide from dousing you with water.”

The fire spirit shuddered as she looked up at Tide. “That does not change anything.”

“Do you promise not to hurt me?” I said trying to look her in the eyes, but she was refusing to meet mine. Instead she brought her eyes back to the ground and gave a small nod of her head. I could already feel the heat radiating off her falling. I moved closer and sat on a charred log a few feet from her.

We sat there in silence for a little while but her words were still ringing in my ears. I had been scared of her when I first saw her. But I had her promise that she would not harm me and I trusted that.

“I want to be honest with you, like a friend,” I began.

The fire spirit startled when I spoke. At first I thought I surprised her by speaking after such a long silence. But then I saw slight creases of pain around her eyes as she said, “I’ve never had a friend.”

I felt an ache in my heart for this spirit. She must have been lonely for a very long time. But I held back the emotions and pressed on.

“I was afraid of you when I first saw you. If you turned your fires on me I might not be able to escape.” Visions of the charred landscape flashed through my mind. “Just think of how you felt when you saw Tide. This is similar to how dryads feel toward fire spirits. Fire can be a big threat to dryads. You steal our strength.”

“I did not ask for this,” she said with steamy tears in her eyes. “Why does it have to be a choice between you or I?”

“It doesn’t. But we have to have balance,” I consoled.

“Like that is going to work.” Her voice was still filled with despair.

“It will just take some effort,” I said, trying to comfort her.

“But she wants to get rid of me,” she said looking at Tide, who was obviously still not settled on the idea of a fire spirit in Laurel’s woods.

“I guess I would say that she has been protective of Laurel for a long time. But as long as you and Laurel work things out, she will not interfere.”

“But how can I work it out with Laurel? She has cast me out of her woods once already,” the fire spirit cried through her persistent tears. “I know that she hates me. I can’t even blame her.”

“I think I may be able to help with that. Laurel always takes care of her friends. And I am lucky to be counted as one. She will listen to me. Maybe I can help you two find some common ground.” I smiled at the fire spirit. She did not seem that impressed with what I thought was my most charming smile. I guess I would need to try a little harder. “I am Cocoa, the dryad. It is wonderful to meet you. Please let me be your friend.” It seemed like my effort was paying off as I was rewarded with the faintest glimmer of a smile in return. I was starting to feel like I really was meant to come here.

“Cocoa. That’s a nice name. I have never had need of a name,” she said, then paused for a moment. As she sat in silence, my mind was whirling in shock. I know she said that she did not have a friend. But had she never even interacted with people before? She was a greater spirit, so she must be at least a thousand years old. How could she not have a name?

Tide spoke into my stunned silence. “Choosing a name is one of the first rights of becoming a conscious Spirit. The name you choose will become part of you. It gives you great power but limits you at the same time. You should be sure to choose a name that suits you well.” I was a bit surprised at her offering advice so freely. But then I remembered, this was Tide I was dealing with. Mother Sea. Helping was probably her favorite thing to do. Not that some people appreciated that effort.

The fire spirit’s voice shook me out of my private thoughts.

“I guess I can be called Fume.” With that statement, she sat up a little taller and an actual smile, though small, crossed her face. Even tear-streaked and disheveled, she was dazzling. “Yes,” she smiled. “I am Fume.” It seemed as if the world around us agreed with her name as the air swirled around her and her skin shone brightly. She turned her now-beaming face toward me.”Please be my first friend!”