Druids Clan: 2

They hadn’t gotten very far when Aule broached the topic of his friend’s magic. 

“Wait,” Aule started, “Can I ask you a question?”

The calm Haedian stopped walking and nodded to the large grey Empyrian. Griffith gave his friend a look that told him not to bother, but Aule was curious. Oeric didn’t say anything, but he was also curious. 

“Griffith’s magic has an affinity to plants, but earlier,” Aule paused to think about how he should describe what he saw, “It was like the plants didn’t accept the magic or it was repelled.”

The Haedian sighed, “Yes, it probably has to do with an illness that has appeared in our plants.”

The Haedian went on to describe and explain all the things that have happened to their plants since they opened their world to the topside reoseans. Their guide told them it was expected that foreign problems would start to appear with the new travelers, they just hadn’t expected it to be so aggressive. 

“But that’s where I was taking you,” the guide added, “I saw the magic and thought maybe you might be able to help.”

Aule and Griffith nodded. Griffith was already thinking of things that might help. He was an old being and had seen many things so he hoped his experience would help them. Oeric, on the other hand, held on to one phrase the Haedian said. 

“Do you think we started this?” Oeric asked with slight aggression in his tone. 

“I’m not saying you three specifically,” The Haedian explained calmly, “But the topsiders in general, yes. It’s unavoidable. For as long as we’ve been shutting ourselves away, bacteria down here and up there have evolved differently. So it’s only natural that when you’re introduced to our ecosystems things will change. Likewise in the other direction too. I wouldn’t be surprised if someone got sick from something we have immunity to, but you don’t.”

“So now that’s a threat of sickness?” Oeric bristled at the thought, missing what their guide was getting at. Griffith quickly managed the conversation in another direction, hoping they could get back on track. 

Oeric, admittedly, wasn’t the smartest around. He relied mostly on his emotions, however chaotic they may be. His friends knew this about him and tried their best to avoid his fire. Aule quickly came to his side to offer his reassurances that everything would be fine. Aule and Griffith both told him nothing about what the Haedian was saying was personal, but Oeric still felt it was. 

There was a bit of a standoff for a few seconds before the Haedian ushered them to follow him. Aule and Griffith cast the odd glance at Oeric to analyze his mood, and for the most part, it looked like Oeric had dropped the topic. 

Eventually, the group approached a large section of plants that had wilted with big black streaks over the leaves and stems. There were other groups of Haedians around them that would give the three Empyrians hard, disapproving looks. Oeric felt his temper rise and his friends quickly tried to calm him down. 

Their guide, noticing the friction between them all, acknowledged that there were more aggressive Haedians who would outwardly show their distaste for the topsiders. However, the Haedian urged Oeric to try to ignore them. 

Oeric growled, “I can burn it.”

“No, no,” Aule quickly tried to de-escalate the situation. 

Oeric rolled his shoulders, and growled again, “I’m trying to ignore them, but I mean more like collect the infected plants and I’ll burn them away.”

Aule and Griffith relaxed slightly. 

“Do you know if that will work?” Griffith asked the Haedian. 

“This sickness is very new to us,” The Haedian started, “We haven’t tried many things.”

“Let’s try it then,” Aule said. 

Griffith thought for a moment before voicing his concern, “What if all we do is release it into the air making it hard to contain?”

The three friends all looked at each other trying to think of a way to test their theory. Nothing was coming to mind, so they tried something else first. They decided that fire magic would be a last resort. 

“I’ll start collecting some water for when you want to try the fire.” Their guide said as they wandered away before the friends could stop him. 

“Ah well, what do you want to try first?” Aule said. 

“I’ll just try some cleanse magic,” Griffith answered as he settled in front of a patch of blackened plants. 

A few minutes passed as Aule and Oeric watched Griffith’s spell blanket over the patch of black. Some of the Haedians that were glaring at them earlier approached the group to watch. They all watched as the pale blue magic pushed against the edges of black with bated breath. They also collectively groaned when the magic snapped away. The audience of Haedians grumbled and then wandered away.

“Why don’t we try both?” Aule offered. “Oeric burns and Griffith cleanses the air.”

Oeric and Griffith looked at each other for a moment. They shrugged but decided it was worth a shot. 

Oeric took Griffith’s spot in front of the blackened plants. After a moment, the three friends watched the plants light up and burn quickly. Aule used the moisture in the air to keep the fire from spreading. Griffith’s magic gave the smoke a blue tint to show it was trying to work. 

When the fire died down, the plant was gone completely making it hard to tell if their plan worked. Something none of the friends thought of was how extensive the illness might be. Their method might burn a good portion of the Druids’ domain. However, before they could think of it, their guide made a reappearance. 

“Oh!” The haedian exclaimed, “It worked!”

The three friends smiled and reminded the Haedian that it was just a test. The haedian waved them off and said he was going to bring the idea to Auris, their leader, to get his opinion. The Empyrians couldn’t say anything to keep the haedian from getting their hopes up, so they just followed along. 

[1018]