Page 14 of The Witch & the Dragon

The image shimmered in front of them. “It may be a good idea to get a necromancer or medium to deal with something like this, no?”

“Yes. I believe we have already sensed that some students in your population have the ability. They’ve even been stirring up some things in one of the nearby cemeteries. But I have something else of interest that I wish to have from you.”

“What is it?” Chloe said, after a pause, remembering that some fae would take a “sure” or “of course” as a direct invitation to a deal, sometimes before the person talking to the fae even realized a deal had been made. The dryad showed no sign of deception or annoyance and simply began weaving something, growing it from the curling vines of her hair.

“I wish to copy your magic. This will not steal it. Your intuition is of use to us, extremely useful for long-lived beings, and so I will trade you this.” She lifted her hand, and the vines finished winding tight together, forming a compact, green star with one hole in a single point and a thick vine poking through that hole. “A pendant of True Sight,” the dryad said. “The others, by the way, can’t hear us. We’re still in the tree, experiencing the vision right now.” With a grin, the dryad’s huge eyes twinkled as she reached with her other hand to grasp Chloe’s. “Copying magic may be a little… painful. But it is not harmful.”

Wondering if she was being tricked and desperately hoping not to be, Chloe eventually nodded to the dryad. “Okay. Please don’t make me regret this.”

“Oh no. It is a treasure for one of your type of intuition to come along.” The dryad squeezed her hand, and tiny vine-like needles flared around the dryad’s wrist before spiking into Chloe’s skin. She gasped, feeling a little woozy at the sight of four slender vines stabbing into her like green needles, but thankfully, the vines didn’t travel any farther up. A blueish glow resonated around the vines, and Chloe endured the pain as best as she could before the vines detached, leaving four red pinpricks on the top of her wrist.

The dryad’s black eyes now glimmered with that eerie blue. “Now I have your magic, willingly copied.” The needle-vines retracted into her own wrist fully. “And now you may have this.”

“What exactly… does it do?”

“This will enhance your visions and intuition. It is not quite as reliable as the Veil of Baba Yaga – I am not of that same power level.” The dryad gave a little sniff of disdain. Apparently, she didn’t think much of Baba Yaga. “It won’t allow you to pick and choose your visions and intuition, of course. Just that you can quite reliably experience a vision if you choose to channel your magic into it. That’s the core of how it works. You charge it with your own magic, and it will flare out in either a vision or a stab of intuition. In short, you no longer need to wait around to experience this. You can summon your magic on demand.

“I would suggest to you, human, that you tell that irritating Z’Hana woman that I have granted you a pendant of minor luck – that it will help with your intuition. Minor luck is fairly common, and if they distrust your word and mine and examine it for themselves, they will see that it indeed has power relating to intuition. But they will not be able to know precisely what it does until they see someone like you channeling it.”

Trembling, Chloe asked the dryad to tie the necklace around her, and she did so deftly without hesitation. “Test it when you are alone.”

“Why would you give me something like this? Isn’t it powerful?”

“I needed your power,” the dryad said simply. “You have had oracles and time travelers. None of them have had such strong intuition, though, and that appears to be what you have. This power – it will be shared with those who mean something to me. It is only fitting that you get this gift in return.”

“I… Thank you,” Chloe said, feeling slightly overwhelmed. “That’s more than I ever expected. You won’t believe how frustrated I was with my powers being so unreliable.”

“There is a danger in this.” The dryad’s gaze now pulled on Chloe like black holes. “Be very careful how much you channel your magic into this. It has no mind – it simply needs a set amount of power to be able to trigger the gifts. Be very aware when your magic reserves are low. Otherwise, you may slip into a sleep from which you will never awake.”

Okay.

That sounded more like the ominous type of fae gift that Chloe had come to expect from the supernatural. “How many times could I use it in a single day?” May as well ask.

“About three times. For your strength level, at first. Perhaps more, once you are more trained, so do be careful. And do feel free to lie to the teachers. They will steal your gift. They are like vultures, stripping the meat and stealing what’s not theirs.”

The contempt in the dryad’s leafy expression left Chloe little doubt as to what the dryad exactly thought of the Academy and its tendency to collect and hoard artifacts. She probably wouldn’t be happy with the Lostwithiel Academy, which boasted the largest collection of all the academies and often loaned out its collection with carefully arranged contracts.

Around them, the vision faded, and the tree spat them both out into the glade to the anxious and wary faces of those who had been left behind. It took Chloe a moment to register the different stances and expressions of concern from the others. Tiran looked like he was on the verge of pouncing at the dryad while Z’Hana stood there with arms folded, glaring. Eleanor, in the meanwhile, seemed oddly calm, as if there was nothing to worry about. She would be the one to rewind the clock if something happened, after all.

The dryad examined the crowd with a rather sly smile upon their strange, plant-like face. “See? Your little student is unharmed. She also now has received my blessing, the pendant of True Sight.” The dryad indicated the five-point star with the hole, now woven around Chloe’s neck with the thin vines used for the chain.

“True Sight…” Z’Hana scowled in a way that made her seem highly doubtful of the dryad’s explanation of the gift, which was fair. “Do explain what that does.”

The dryad did, deliberately glossing over the extra abilities she’d mentioned. The dryad’s hand squeezed Chloe’s shoulder hard before letting go and retreating into her tree. “The visit is over. Do not return here unless you are invited, either by me or by the others who live on these lands. Otherwise, you may not find this glade as welcoming as before.”

“Let’s go,” Z’Hana muttered, and Chloe hastened with the others away from the dryad and the serene land until the glade fell out of sight, and the trees around them became less thick, less tangled, and they stepped carefully around the sinkholes that appeared deceptively like solid land. Tiran hovered protectively by Chloe’s side, asking if she was okay and if she didn’t think the dryad had tampered with her memories and more.

Ah. That was a slightly terrifying thing to consider. An entity that could manipulate your brain entirely. Surely, none of her memories had, in fact, been altered. But, really, how could she be certain? But no. No – the dryad wanted to use her intuition and vision work. They looked together into the potential future of the swamp and the forest. And now, she had access to a pendant that would apparently allow her to have visions or intuitive surges at will.

From what little Chloe knew about the fae and their mysterious, wild ways, she suspected that at least the dryad had been as forthright as you might hope for.

When completely out of the woods and standing by the car, the others gathered around, and Eleanor inquired politely about the new artifact. “Do explain more about how what you’ve been given works.”

Now, I must lie.

Sweat broke out on her palms, and she rubbed them together. “The dryad said that my intuition would be stronger if I wore the necklace. That was why she wanted me in the first place – she wanted to, uh… copy the power.”

Z’Hana hissed and grasped Chloe’s wrists. She examined both and noted the small pinpricks on one of them. “So, the dryad wanted to make herself stronger. Do you still have your power? Some exchanges can include you sacrificing one’s power entirely.”

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