*Look, there’s a seed in there…*
Cranny couldn’t contain his frustration, *But how?*
Danny looked around and spotted a cluster of three flowers, blooming on another branch. His vision enhanced by the Mana Aspect, he saw what he had missed before. Each flower had a faint dark spot in the center.
*Danny, what is that?*
Danny didn’t reply and sent mana out and into the closest flower. The flower’s dark spot greedily accepted the mana, and Danny fed it more.
*Cranny, note how much mana I use,* Danny commanded.
Cranny didn’t remark on Danny’s tone, saying, *Sure. We are at ten percent, fifteen, twenty, twenty five…*
Shortly after Cranny reached over sixty percent, the flower shriveled up into a bulb. Danny was worried at first, but then, the bulb started swelling until it took on the familiar shape and color of the tree’s fruit.
*It’s been staring us in the face the whole time…* Cranny said in disbelief. He added, *That’s no joke either as that was over half of the mana you can store.*
Danny was confused, *But why didn’t we see it when we… Wait, we have never been near a flower while in Mana Aspect.*
Grabbing the fruit, Danny rushed back to the stairwell.
Willow was reading with her back to the entryway so that she could see the book’s text clearly with the light.
Danny paused upon realizing that she still had that book. Coughing into his hand, it took three tries, each louder than the next, before the princess heard him.
Startled at being caught, Willow fell backwards down a few steps before catching herself up against the wall. Standing up and refusing to look him in the eye, Willow complained, “What took you so long, Danny?”
Danny didn't see where the book had landed in the fall, but it had somehow ‘magically’ disappeared. Ignoring that for now, Danny handed her the sacred tree fruit.
Danny boasted, “There are a few dangerous beasts in there but nothing I couldn’t avoid easily. It might be a bit longer before I am sure it is completely safe.”
Taking a bite into the fruit, Princess Willow swallowed before asking, “How did beasts survive down here all this t... What? Why are you staring like that?”
Danny snatched the fruit out of her hands and reached inside where she had just bitten, only to pull out a seed.
Willow’s eyes widened as she pointed at the seed, “Is that what I think it is?”
Danny just nodded at her, while grinning.
The princess squealed and tackled Danny to the ground. From on top of him, Willow studied the seed in her hand one more time before leaning down to kiss him soundly.
***
“Do you think they are waiting outside?” Danny whispered as if they might hear him.
The princess just gave Danny a levelled look for asking a such a stupid question.
Raising his hands in defeat, Danny sighed, “Sorry I asked.”
In his Mana Aspect, Danny opened the door he had sealed to the outside.
A wall of elven soldiers awaited them on the other side. Each had a bow drawn, prepared to fire.
“Danny, release my daughter immediately; then, turn yourself over to my guards,” the queen’s voice brokered no arguments.
Willow huffed, “Mother, I am fine, and Danny found some sacred tree seeds...”
The queen’s head comically popped around the corner, her look suspicious. She immediately zeroed in on the seed in Willow’s hands, “Is it true? Oh please let it be!”
The queen rushed forward to embrace her daughter and to look at the seed herself. Reaching over to grab one, the queen held up the plain but large brown seed, remarking, “It’s magnificent!”
Cranny grumbled, *Do you think her husband knows about her and that seed?*
The queen led her daughter toward the entryway but stopped when she saw Danny wasn’t following her, “Danny?”
“Sorry for going on my own and dragging the princess with me.”
The queen took one of Danny’s arms in her own and led him out of the archdruid’s vault, “Danny, it is more than alright. You have just given us a little more time to figure out how to create the seeds ourselves. Unless there was a record or instructions down there to help us?”
Danny smiled and found the gathering of armed guards hadn’t disturbed the flowers which Cranny had created earlier. Selecting the closest flower, Danny filled it with the same amount of mana he had used below, almost draining his slightly restored reserves dry in the process.
The flower shriveled up and from the bud grew a fruit. Danny reached down and removed the fruit. Taking a bite into its sweet flesh, he dug in the resulting hole to remove the seed hidden within.
There was a collective gasp, and the queen took the seed from him as if it was the first one she had seen.
Looking between the seed and Danny multiple times, the queen threw her arms around his neck, “Thank you, thank you, Danny,” said the queen as she cried into his shoulder.
Danny awkwardly patted the queen’s back. This seemed to bring the queen back to her senses, and she straightened up quickly, composing herself.
Turning to the nearest guard, the queen commanded, “Tell the elder council all is well and to meet us on the northeast outskirts of the city.”
The guard saluted and rushed off.
“Where were the elders? I figured they be here waiting,” Danny asked.
The queen looked embarrassed, “My apologies for doubting you Danny, but I feared your rogue actions might signal a threat to our people and...”
Danny raised a hand, interrupting her, “I would have done the same. Now, if you will excuse me a second, we don’t want anyone wandering down there. I had to dodge a few dangerous things that I am uncertain I neutralized.”
Danny turned back to the sanctuary’s opening, raising a hand. The door over the entrance to the vault came together, sealing it off.
Cranny whined, *I don’t want to go grow trees. I want to go play in the archdruid’s workshop.*
Danny smiled sadly, *Me too, but Diadem can’t afford to wait.*
CHAPTER 24
The edge of the city was normally a quiet place, but this day the peace was disrupted by the argument of two dozen robed, wrinkly elves.
They were all huddled around a table in the middle of the clearing between the last buildings and the forest’s edge.
“...we should grow homes first! Too many have had to resort living in fabricated housing. What are we, humans?”
“You just want to grow a home so you can get away from that noblewoman who has been trying to get her hooks in you for the last three decades.”
Elder Breeze looked nervously at the queen and princess who stood not far off. The two royals had wanted to be present but understood that the council needed privacy to discuss important matters. The head elder waved his hands in attempt to get the council’s attention before finally resorting to yelling, “Silence!”
The gathered druids all quieted down, while crankily glaring at their elected head. Not a single one looked the least bit contrite for their behavior.
Staring them each down, the elder calmly explained, “For almost two millennia we have been unable to increase our grove, and the second we do I can’t get you bunch of squabbling crows to shut up. The queen has declared more housing, and that is what we are going to do.”
Pausing to make sure no one was going to interrupt him, Elder Breeze continued, “Now, Danny here has come to watch us in order to learn how we druids use our ritual magic to grow our trees.”
The elders all bowed or nodded at Danny, where he currently stood next to Elder Breeze, in recognition.
Elder Breeze explained, “Now everyone, we will be growing this house here...”
An elder on the far side grumbled, “That’s not very big; if I was going to...”
Elder Breeze spoke over the interrupting elder, “We will be growing this tree here, and in fact, we will keep growing this tree for all the rest of these seeds.
”
Danny looked down at the diagram that showed a single family home. It had room for over a dozen elves to live in, and that was with everyone having their own room.
Elder Breeze directed the group through the growing spell and the runes they would use. The elders read over the runes a few times, easily memorizing them.
Elder Breeze, with the seed, stood in the center, the other elders gathered in a wide circle around him. The head elder planted the seed and backed up quickly as they began chanting in unison.
Nothing happened for a second, and then, a sapling shot out of the ground. Rising high up into the sky, it began to expand outward.
Even though they had shared the runes used in the spell, Danny still chose to watch through his Mana Aspect. This allowed him to see how the magic all flowed and combined to create the wonder appearing before his eyes.
After what felt like fifteen minutes, the tree was finished. Claps and cheers came from where the royalty waited nearby. A crowd of elven citizens had decided to brave the cold air and find out what was happening. Soon, they were all excited to watch their city grow larger and to join in with cheering the druids on.
The elder council took a moment to rest, their heavy breathing noticeable in the frigid air. Bolstered by the crowd, the elders moved over to start again on the second tree. Danny switched to his Nature Aspect and watched as the new tree drew minerals and water from deep within the earth to fuel its rapid growth. The elders couldn’t rely on just the nutrients in the immediate vicinity but needed to draw what else they required directly from deeper down in the earth.
Danny had finally learned, or been allowed to see, the rune for compartmentalizing the lights, heat, and air barriers. It was a containment rune specifically keyed toward ascendant physiology.
The elders now looked physically exhausted, and Danny took pity on them by growing chairs out of one of the roots of the tree they had just grown.
The elders thanked him, and Danny pulled out a seed he had secreted away. Having seen the plans, Danny knew where the next house was to go, and he planted the seed there.
Having not had enough time to recover his spent mana, Danny, still in Nature Aspect, extended his roots to the two new trees and tapped into their mana flows. He made sure not to tax the still maturing plants, only using the excess mana regeneration.
Danny slowly began growing the next tree. With the excess flow from the first two trees, he couldn’t go as fast as the elder council, but he had the third tree up in a little less than an hour.
Tapping into the third tree, Danny shouted, “Elder Breeze, the next seed.”
The elder rushed over to plant a fourth seed, and Danny repeated the process. By that evening, Danny had over two dozen new homes grown as had been planned.
Coming out of his seemingly mindless focus, he found the entire city had gathered to view the new homes. A great feast had been prepared in the middle of one of the cluster of new trees.
Willow appeared out of the last tree he had grown and ran over on her lithe legs while rubbing her arms to ward off the cold air. Reaching him, she quickly reached out to hug him. Releasing his Nature Aspect, Danny hugged her back.
The princess pulled away enough to see his face, “Stop working, and come eat, Danny. It’s cold over here, and everyone wants to meet the you.”
Danny stretched his stiff muscles and let her take his hand as they walked toward the long tables of food and the cheering crowds. A few of the druids with Flame Affinity had erected a large area of warmth supplemented by fire pits set up between long tables.
***
Finally getting to eat took a while, as Danny felt every elf in the city wished to either meet or thank him, personally. The secret of the dwindling mana supply either wasn’t as much of a secret among the elves as the queen had thought or someone had spilled the beans on recent events.
Either way, it didn’t matter to Danny. He just wanted to sit down and try some of the delicious smelling food.
His Sacred Tree Form usually provided him with everything he needed, but raw nutrients and minerals had nothing on the elves’ sacred fruit braised ribs. The sweet meat seemed to melt in his mouth. Danny decided that all the best food required as little chewing as possible.
Willow waved him over to a table where the entire royal family, the Basalts, and his Trio were seated.
Danny immediately noted that the General Barrow and Prince Hawke looked tired while there was a noticeable lack of smiles and merriment from the Basalts and his Trio.
Turning to the Ivy on his left, Danny asked, “What’s going on? What has happened?”
Ivy turned from his question to glance at Arya and the queen, the both of whom nodded to her silent question.
“Crossbars is gone,” said Ivy.
Prince Hawke, who was sitting on the other side of Princess Willow to his right, elaborated, “The town held up well against the seemingly endless goblin assault. Then, the goblin shamans found a way into the city and used their dark magic to corrupt some of the townsfolk. The people of Crossbark used the knowledge Lieutenant Cove gained from the first battle to stop the spread of corruption. However, before the army could isolate and put down those affected, half the town was already gone.
My father and I led some of our troops in protecting the rest of the citizens as they escaped to the capital. Diadem’s forces remained to continue the defense of the city, but with the relentless goblin attacks, all they could do was delay the inevitable.”
Danny sat frozen in shock at this news, *I thought we had more time. Could we have stopped them?*
*No Danny, our mana regeneration would have eventually run out, and there is no way we could have cleansed that many people of entropy magic.*
Danny came out of his stupor, saying, “Thank you for assisting the people, Your Royal Highness, General Barrow.” Danny made sure to bow respectfully to each of them.
The prince smiled, nodding to Danny while the Barrow said, “Danny, while the second goblin army has settled down to occupy Crossbark, our scouts report a third army is being raised back at the ancient fortress. This army is even larger than the last and will either move on to the capital, or split to attack the other outlying cities and towns.”
Danny pondered this and asked, “Have I raised enough trees to empower your soldiers and druids, or will I need to create more? This war will not be won without our two countries working together.”
General Barrow looked thoughtful, “I spoke with the druids on that. The trees you have grown are young and will not produce as much mana as the older ones, but if you can keep growing the city, we will be ready that much faster. I would rather attack them with overwhelming force than risk my soldiers by taking them into a battle with only half their potential mana and capabilities.”
With pleading and apologetic eyes, the queen added, “Danny, we had not planned for this many trees to be grown so fast, and my aids are working right now on the expanded city plans. If you could wait and follow those blueprints, we would be most appreciative. The druids will provide you with the additional chants to complete the other types of buildings we will want grown.”
Danny sighed, “Of course, Your Majesty. Since I can split my concentration, I will want to study while doing this. I will go back to the archdruid’s vault to retrieve some reading material. Once I have read through it, I will hand it over to Elder Cardinal. I will ask you not stop me from reading anything and will grant me access to anything from the druid’s library as well. There may be something I can learn that gives us more of an edge in this battle.”
The queen and general shared a brief look, before the queen replied, “My people and their knowledge are at your disposal.”
Danny bowed to her from where he was sitting. Looking to the other side of the table, he saw the mood was brighter.
Arya smiled and silently whispered her thanks to him.
Danny made sure to greet Ivy, Jade, and Brooke individually before greedily grabbing a braised ri
b from his plate. With his first bite, he somehow managed to smear most of the sauce on his face. A smile of contentment crossed his face before thoughts of what he needed to accomplish threatened to drive it away.
“Danny,” asked Ivy, with a concerned look.
Danny turned and smiled reassuringly at her.
Laughing at the mess on his face, Ivy reached up to try and clean the sauce from it, but feeling mischievous, Danny took another huge bite, only smearing more sauce. Ivy pouted at his antics, and Danny surprised himself by leaning forward to try and kiss her. Ivy laughed and pushed back Danny’s head, keeping him at arm’s length.
Danny had mercy on the poor girl and let her be. Pushing his worries to the side, he took another bite and simply basked in the cheerful atmosphere while it lasted.
***
In the middle of a rapidly growing forest of homes, Danny stood in his Sacred Tree Form. He was currently connected to at least half a dozen other trees as Cranny worked the magic to grow them. Two elves stood nearby, ready to assist him with whatever he needed.
Danny was also busy looking through the books that had been brought to him from the druid’s library.
He had already returned to the archdruid’s vault to collect what he could. A lot of her notes and experiments were unsalvageable; nothing but dust remained.
He took the time to look over one of the red squirrels. Cranny told him that, thanks to their photographic memory, they could just look over the runes and their placement, and he would analyze it later, as he had done with the barriers to the vault.
When they had reached the bookshelves, Danny suggested they use the photographic memory the same way. Cranny confirmed that just by Danny looking at a page for long enough, they could go back and review what had been written later. It wasn’t actually a speed cheat, but it was a way to take the texts with them, in case something took them away from the elven capital.
What notes the archdruid had enchanted with preservation runes held a cryptic or fractured knowledge which Danny would need more context to understand. Maybe the tomes on her bookshelf would lead him to the answers he sought.
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