Hecta looked around the forest. She had somehow lost her party during the brief skirmish with the dryads. Where was she now? She looked around but could not find any familiar land markings. She looked up at the high sun above her. Its warmth gave her comfort and she could tell that she had plenty of daylight left to get back to the Sovereign. She had to tell Helia, the Sovereign, about the dryad army. There was something evil behind all of it.

She continued through the woods, looking for any signs of her previous travelings. Suddenly, there was a rustle in the bushes. She paused and crouched into an attack position. Her spiked mace hummed with energy, as she got ready for an attack.

A green arm reached out from the bushes, and Hecta brought her mace swinging down. There was instant contact and a thud. She peered through the bushes to see a dryad, its skull crushed.

She then heard a childish laughter to her right, and then another one to her left. Suddenly, it was all around her. It was ringing in her ears and her mind was going insane. She cried out to Helia for help, and fell to her knees. Then, the dryads stepped out of their hiding places and walked calmly towards her, knives in hands.

A wide grin spread across Hecta’s face. She quickly stood up. The dryads all had a look of surprise on their faces. She raised her mace high in the air and the energy erupted into flames. She then pointed it at the dryads around her, and fire erupted from mace. The flames incinerated some and set ablaze to others. She charged into the confusing and dying dryads, wielding her mace with the power of Helia. The dryads fell like dead leaves to the ground all around this warrior.

When the last dryad had fallen, she heaved a sigh of relief and wiped sweat from her brow. The energy in her mace slowly faded away and she continued on her trek into the wilderness, looking for the trail back home.