Page 10 of Dryad, Try Again
“What?” I ask. Turning around, Seth approaches, looking almost as distressed as me. Fortunately, no one else seems to be paying close attention, with the party still going strong.
“Just stay back, Tanner.Auggh…” He groans on the ground and I take a step forward.
“What’s going on?”
Kovi glances at me, and even in the dark, I can tell his eyes are changing shape.
“I’m…I’m a dryad,” he grunts. My breath hitches. “All those years ago…I’m the dryad who hurt you, Tan.Augh...”
Kovi groans, and his shadowy form becomes a massive tangle of wood and vines. My darkest fear manifests before my eyes. The wood and splinters I see in my nightmares takes shape in front of me. He’s exactly like the monster that nearly gouged my eye out.
Because he is. Kovi—the freaking dryad I’ve been afraid of my whole life—runs into the forest. All the blood is gone from my face, and my mouth is bone dry. I can’t even move when a hand touches my shoulder.
“Tanner…Tan…” After a moment, I shake my head. That’s right, Seth is next to me.
“What…huh…Kovi’s a dryad?”
“I’m sorry,” he replies, dolefully. “I…didn’t realize you were the kid he knew.” The bass is still booming, other students are laughing and chatting, but it feels like my whole world has turned upside-down.
“He…told you about me?”
Seth shrugs. “He’s my best friend. He gave me the gist.” He scratches his arm and looks away. “I’ll understand if you don’t want to stay at this party. Do you want me to walk you to your dorm?”
I look back at the woods to see some trees rustling.Is it Kovi? Is it the wind? Is it some other creature?I can’t be sureof anything anymore. Destiny scarred me as a kid, and now it’s brought me back to school with the monster who hurt me. Life continues to deal me a shitty hand.
I shake my head and walk back to the bonfire. “No need. I think I remember the path. I’ll just head back myself.”
Seth looks like he wants to argue, but closes his mouth. I bid him goodbye and head for the road that led me here. Once I walk away from the bonfire, I feel like I can breathe again.So much for my first college party, ever.It was fun while it lasted.
Strolling with my hands in my pockets, my memory resurfaces from when I was a kid. Despite the scar and my phobia of forests, befriending that young kid?a young Kovi?was still magical.
(TWELVE YEARS AGO)
“Boom! Pow!” I laugh as this dude, Cody, and I clink our swords to the metal pole. In our imaginations, it’s a giant metal robot. We’re saving the world as magical knights. Of course, the playground is anything we want it to be.
I’ve enjoyed playing with him almost every day for the past three weeks. He may not go to school with me, but he’s for sure my friend.
“You’re no match for us!” I holler.
“You’re no match for the knights of the fabled forest!” he proclaims. I giggle and watch him sway his branch. He always seems to find two massive pieces of wood, perfect for us to play with. And he always wants to hang out with me. He doesn’t care that I can’t afford a cool cell phone or new video games.
I really like Cody.
“I bet there’s more aliens to fight on the edge of that tree!” he says excitedly.
I nod and beam at him. “Race ya there?”
Without a word, we dash off. We run to the far end of the park, farther away from the parents and other kids. Under the shadows of the trees, we slash invisible foes. I wish other kids would play with their imaginations like us. But I have Cody, so I don’t need other friends.
“Boom! Pow!” he says.
“Pow! Slash slash!” I say.
“Let’s do a spin sword move!” he suggests. He begins to spin his body in a circle with his sword sticking out. I laugh and mirror him. After a minute or so of spinning, he falls down, and I follow suit. We’re laughing in the grass like a couple of hyenas. The world around us is still spinning, but it feels like we’re the only ones on Earth.
“That was awesome!” he says through his laughs.
“Thatwasawesome!” I echo. “You’re…you’re awesome. You’re like my favorite person.”
