Spirit of the Forest
Chapter 4

Cyri’s peaceful dreaming was interrupted when he heard someone climbing up the ladder.

His eyes snapped open at the sound. At first, he was worried that Dominque had found him. She had always found him, no matter what she always did. Cyri was on the alert because his nightmare yesterday had made him a bit paranoid.

It was much to his wonder when a blue-haired girl appeared from the trap-door. Saying that she was a girl wasn’t the best way to describe her.

Her skin was light blue while her hair was dark blue. Whenever she moved, her skin rippled, almost like it was made of water. Her hair did the same thing, but was less visible compared to her skin.

She’s a nymph. He realized A water nymph…

The nymph smiled when she turned around and saw him awake. “Oh, hello Cyri! Good to see you’re up!”

Cyri blinked, confused on how she knew his name. “How-”

“Romelia told me!” she said, “And by the way, I’m Tanisha! Romelia’s best friend!”

Cyri nodded. That (kind of) made sense to him. “So where-”

“You hungry? Romelia says that I make the best beef stew! Well, unless you don’t eat meat… In that case then, I guess I could make a radish stew. But it would take awhile to get all the ingredients. I wonder…”

Cyri let Tanisha’s voice fade away as his back started to hurt again. Tanisha must have seen it because smiled at him with nothing but sympathy.

“You’re back hurt, huh?” All he could do was nod. “I’ve got just the thing to help!”

Rummaging through the wooden chest at the foot of the bed, she pulled out a small wooden cup. It looked like it was made out of old oak with a mug and had a small green leaf on the top to keep whatever was inside from spilling out.

She pulled it out with a happy hum and turned to him with a smile. She pulled off the leaf, grabbing a wooden spoon from the counter. “My chicken noodle soup! Made with a type of herb that helps with pain!” Tanisha sat by Cyri’s head.

“Open up,” she said, scooping up some of the liquid. Cyri did as he was told and opened his mouth.

Tanisha slowly poured the soup in so he wouldn’t choke. As it flowed over his tongue, he could taste the chicken clearly. It was tangy, with a hint of mint, and was flavored with different seasonings that he couldn’t identify. He did however, taste Rosemary and Thyme.

The pain in his back slowly faded away as she continued to feed him the soup. He had to admit, it was pretty good. Probably the best chicken noodle soup he ever had.

Once he was full- and the pain was gone- the nymph put the wooden bowl away after putting the lid on it.

“All better?”

Cyri nodded. “Yes. Thank you Tanisha.”

As he sat up, the blonde decided to ask her something. “Where did Romelia go by the way? I haven’t seen her at all today.”

“Oh,” she said, “Romelia went to go visit her father. So she should be back soon.”

Cyri blinked again in surprise. “Father?”

“Yeah, he’s the king of this forest, so I guess that would make Romelia a princess. Romelia never says anything about it though. I wonder if she hates the idea of being one… Or maybe she just doesn’t-”

“Woah, woah, whoa,” he said interrupting the nymph from rambling more, “Romelia’s father is king of the forest?!”

“Duh! I just said that! Man, you really don’t listen do you? Well anyway-”

“That doesn’t make any sense though! I thought only white deer were-”

“Romelia’s technically adopted, Cyri. Now will you stop yelling? It will attract unwanted attention, and it’s already hard enough to mask the smell of your blood.”

Cyri blinked. “Wait, what are you talking about?”

“Well, you were bleeding badly and there’s carnivores around. So I had to use a spell that-”

“That’s not what I’m talking about!” Cyri snapped. “Why is Romelia adopted? Where are her parents?”

Tanisha sighed, “I actually don’t know. Me and Ryna found her stuffed into an owl-knot hole. And before you ask, Ryna is Romelia’s mother and Ordello’s partner. Now please don’t shout anymore.”

Cyri blinked, sitting back down. He was wondering when he stood up- especially with his back. “Uh, yeah. Sorry Tanisha.”

“Oh, it’s okay, Cyri! Now, I’m sure Romelia will be back soon, and you’ll need more rest, so why don’t you go back to sleep? I’m sure that you’re tired enough. Especially since you stood up when you shouldn’t have.”

Cyri nodded in agreement. He felt like he could fall asleep at any moment! Soon enough, Tanisha’s soft voice lulled Cyri onto a blissful sleep.