Earlier that day
Soft, elegant pilrs of moonlight drifted down from the sky, dang through a b of leaves before settling on the ground below. An owl hooted in the distance, and several bats hurriedly flew from perch to perch as they hunted for food. As time passed, the moon began to fade, and the sky slowly transitioned from a f veil of darko the vibrant pastels of dawn.
A sea e swept across the horizon, the earliest rays of sunlight dang off a river of m dew. Birds began to wake, squirrels prepared to scurry, and flowers eagerly awaited their ce to bloom. Of all the magnifit creatures to feel the sun’s warmth, however, the first was the enormous tree that stood he ter of Primrose Acres.
This tree wasn’t hy just for its size, although at nearly sixty feet tall, it certainly towered over everything else in the subdivision. It was strikingly unique pared to every other tree nearby; the generic Chicago suburb had previously favored the simple Oak, but this tree was a magnifit Cherry Blossom. Its healthy opy of lush, green leaves were almost entirely eclipsed by the brilliant pink flowers that bloomed atop them. Petals from these flowers tinuously broke free and floated to the ground, f a apron on the surrounding nd.
The massive trunk of this tree split into several powerful branches, eae tinuing to fractal off before ending with a bouquet of leaves and flowers. Most unusual of all was how frequently this tree blossomed. Traditional Cherry Blossom trees usually grew their signature pink flowers in te spring, the cyormally sting only a few weeks. This particur tree, however, tio flower for almost the entire year. Even now, at the start of August, its brilliant pink blooms still tio grow and scatter oumn winds.
The Cherry Blossoms pt was also rather curious. To an outside observer, it would appear that a simple, two-story house had been built partially around it, but the truth was quite the opposite. The house pre-dated the tree by several decades, but four years ago, the tree had sprung up ht. Aire front er of the house had beeroyed, repced by the impressively rge trunk of this tree, and many of its branches had pushed through the walls and roof of the house. In only a few mihe tree had gone from ent to being the biggest thing in the neighborhood.
With the light of dawn now breaking, the various creatures that called this particur tree home began to wake. They rose from their s, crawled free from their burrows and, in Alicia’s case, walked out of the trunk itself. The bark behind her left no trace of the departure, as the two entities were one and the same.
Stepping out of the tree, Alicia stretched her arms high before attempting to wake the rest of her body. The joints of her lithe figure occasionally snapped and popped, though the sounds resembled the creaking of an aree rather than those of any human. She ran her fihrough her hair, pulling free a few loose petals from the flowers that grew there, ahem fall to the ground.
“Good m!” she said happily, greeting the world as it woke.
She took off down her front wn, slowly drawing lines with her feet in the b of leaves and flower petals beh her. She felt the powerful roots of her Heart Tree thrummih her, giving her life, and she smiled in its presence.
Her m walk eaceful, as always. She meandered dowreet, cheg in on her neighbors while slowly making her way to a nearby river.
Stopping at the house door, she wandered into the yard and crouched down. “How was yht? You still have enough post little buddy?” she asked. The intricate fungal work didn’t aowledge her in any way, but she could tell that it had everything it o tihriving. “Just make sure you don’t get too close to me, alright? Us neighbors have to respect the property lines.”
Her stop was across the street, and awo houses down. “Oh, look how big yetting! I remember when you were only a little colle of sticks, but your leaves are looking so healthy now!” The oak sapling in front of her was now close to her height, which made her incredibly proud. She’d rep several years ago and leased it was taking so well.
“Have your neighbors been behaving themselves? We both know how aggressive those rose bushes be.” The sapling tio say nothing. “No, that’s a good point, they have every right to be here. Still, make sure you py nice, alright?”
A few paces ter, at the edge of the neighb property, sat the rose bushes iion. “You hear that? If you don’t behave yourself I’ll have to take drastic measures, and nobody wants that.”
Wandering back to the street, she directed her attention to the asphalt underh her and paused to exami.
Well, what was left of it.
Huge ses of the previously paved road had been pletely upehrough years of hard work. Large roots, as well as dense colles of weeds and vines, had broken through aored nature’s grasp on the ground around Alicia’s house. In the weeks following the ge, she’d ofte like the crete and asphalt were suffog her, but her efforts over the years had mao alleviate that feeling.
At the end of the street, crossing several blocks and many of the wns, sat a small river. This was another of Alicia’s creations, something she’d rerouted to give herself easier access to fresh water. She sat down on its banks, dipping her legs in the babbling brook, and sighed in relief.
Closing her eyes, she smiled as the warmth of the m sun washed over her. Its light lingered on her skin, but she could also feel the sun’s rays on the leaves of her Heart Tree. Not only did it feel amazing, but as a Dryad, the light itself was literally breakfast. Even without cheg her Status, she could feel her SP gradually refilling, and every chloropst in her body sang with joy as warmth flooded through her.
In the riverbed, small roots began to extend from Alicia’s feet, digging into the ground as she absorbed the water from the soil. She leaned back, closed her eyes, a herself get lost in the sun.
Two hours passed before she finally opened her eyes. She’d been awake the whole time, but ever sihe ge, time seemed to pass differently for her. Up in the sky, the clouds had shifted dramatically, and she k was time to head home. Unfortunately, even though she didn’t need food or water anymore, she still had bills to pay. After grabbing the watering ext to her and filling it, she took off once more.
She took a different route back, letting herself wander down a side street to che some of her other projects. This street had been hit especially hard the night of the ge, and most of the houses had beeroyed. Thankfully, she’d mao inspire the local pnt life to overtake the rubble, and when she had the time, she tried to move some of the destru to the local dump. Garbage trucks didn’t run here anymore, which she appreciated, but it certainly made ing up a little frustrating.
As she wandered from house to house, humming small tuo herself, she made sure to water the many flowers that had started living here ever sihat fateful night. Once she made it home, she lovingly pced a hand on her Heart Tree before stepping i again. The wood bent to her will a her glide higher before she emerged oher side, now ihe remains of her old bedroom.
She’d been asleep the night of the ge, her bed pushed into the outer er of her room, which had thankfully minimized the damage her Heart Tree had caused when it sprouted. The bed had beeroyed, but as she didn't anymore, she hardly minded. What remained were a few personal effects, old clothes she hadn’t touched in years, and her puter desk.
In her past life, it had been hard to spend even a few minutes away from the i. It had allowed her to stay in touch with distant friends, it let her discuss her favorite books with other enthusiastis, and given her unlimited access to all her favorite shows. Now? Now she spent as little time as possible online, and mostly only used the puter to work. She’d been lucky enough to find a remote job with a new gover office, ohat monitored pliance for the many new Racial guidelines being codified every day.
She pulled up her chair, crossed her legs, and turned on her puter. As she started opening the various programs she needed, she caught a quice of her search history from the previous few days.
How do dungeons work
How do dungeons form
ew dungeons appear
How dangerous are dungeons
The dryad shook her head. “Now’s not the time to worry about that, Alicia.” She relutly logged into her work software and punched in.
She checked in with her boss, read through all the new emails, and finally reached out to her first t. Her job ofteailed expining pliance viotions, and helping business owners find the resoureeded t their establishments up to code. Unfortunately, this ofte dealing with irate cheapskates trying to cut costs by avoiding adding Races to their workforce.
“Sir, while your employees did have the keys to the building, that’s not the issue. The two workers iioh sidered Fey, and uidelines clearly state that all Fey creatures are magically pelled to avoid iron at all costs. They weren’t stuside because of a locked door, they were stuside because the push bars are made of iron, effectively blog their exit.”
The voi the other end of the line was not amused.
“No, you don’t necessarily have to ge the meism. If another entrance is Fey accessible, then you leave these doors alone.”
“…”
“Yes, I uand how this might be an ued cost, but it will help bring your establishment up to code. Plus, you’ll be able to attract more Fey employees and ers!”
“…”
“Yes, I suppose you could let those employees go. If you wao do that, I’d also reend hiring a wyer, as I now have recorded proof that you’re attempting to fire someone based entirely on their Race, and the courts aren’t going to like that.”
“…”
“Sir, if yoing to raise your voice, it’s going to be difficult to have a productive versation.”
“…”
“Well, personally, I think the cheapest route would be to install a new door. It sounds like you’ve mispced your ORdbook, but I email you another copy if you like. It tains a slew of helpful information to assist you in updating your busio be more Race friendly.”
“…”
“I’m happy we could e to an uanding, thank you for your time.”
Alicia hung up the phohen pced her headset ba her desk. “Ugh, st call of the day, finally!” She leaned back, stretg out her stiff back again before turning off her puter. She walked back to her Heart Tree, melded into it once more, and floated back to the ground. She paused before leaving, however, as something caught her attention.
The roots of her Heart Tree extended underh a huge swath of nd, though she’d never measured just how expansive her root system was. She teo assume the roots covered at least three times the area of her opy, which was already massive. Due to her e, she could feel just about everything that moved hose roots. She was aware of the family of moles that lived a few blocks down, she knew about the many ant ies that had sprouted up retly, and she had long ago memorized the position of the ground in her neighborhood.
Nature teo move slowly, which is why Alicia had been caught off guard by the sudden seismic activity several weeks ago. In the middle of the night, rge colles of her roots had gone from being safely immersed in the ground, to being exposed to open air. While she didn’t uand how, a rge series of caves and caverns had appeared underh Primrose Acres, and she was fairly sure it was a dungeon.
She knew nothing about dungeons, and she didn’t care to find out more. The delving lifestyle had never appealed to her, and even if it had, she doubted she would be able to spend much time away from her Heart Tree.
A shiver ran through her as she felt footsteps on her roots. Monsters roaming the dungeon without purpose, aimlessly shuffling bad forth as they looked for eo eh. They didn’t seem to fight each other, which she appreciated, but she was scared of what they represented. What would happen when delvers learned about this pce? What would happen if the monsters started wandering outside the dungeon?
The feeling faded, the monsters now off in a different room that she wasn’t ected with, and she sighed in relief. She was safe, for now at least, but she couldn’t keep waiting forever.
Which was unfortunate, because waiting came so naturally to her.
