Druids once called it “webbing.” After the talent of spiders to skirt on the outsides of objects and connect fine points into works of art. The druid uses their skills to unobtrusively probe the finer, surface details of others’ minds to pick up on useful facts. For many, it would be a hometown, or the name of a child, or a hobby. Something that would innocently help build a rapport with the one you were speaking with. It was not something many druids did. It was largely seen as offensive these days. But Gideon did not find it problematic.

  Gideon had been probing these visitors since they crossed into the grove and they each had one single detail connecting them. The same single detail. Evidently this Matthew Carpenter was a very horrid man.

  Even the shaman, who seemed to be his wife, had what she called love for the man, but Gideon knew the look of fear and confusion in an aura.

  Though Gideon’s physical body was leading them, spiritually, Gideon was sitting in the short grass in the heart of the grove with a deep, forest green aura surrounding his body. The infinite darkness of the Verdant Stage spread out around him in every direction. To his left, a massive bear with a golden aura lumbered through the forest, away from the group. Good choice, friend.

  Above, a silver-lined falcon circled and cried.

  Quiet now, Zephyr, I’m trying to work. The raptor looked down to Gideon then banked to land, hovering in the darkness.

  Sporadic sprouts and seedlings dotted the shadows, but otherwise, the only other figure was a golden stag and the vague colorful splotch that signaled the position of the visitors. The forest refused to communicate with him unless it was too young to know the Overgrowth had destroyed the druids here.

  Suddenly, one of the color splashes, brighter than the rest, broke off after the stag.

  We're just a little too close. No problem, we’ll find him. Take care of him, please! Gideon urged. The brightness of the man’s color spoke volumes. He would have to be a fanged folk, the only lineage that still has that feral, instinctual logic so close to the surface. He would be fine, Gideon hoped.

  The druid’s attention turned back to the group. The aura of the shaman woman was pulsing with the heartbeat of a near-anxiety attack. He knew this sight. The nomads who had tried to visit the grove after the disaster all reacted the same way. The bloodied ground beneath him was talking to them. Mourning.

  C’mon girlie, you can do it, he whispered to her, and her bright orange aura stabilized. For now. Gideon watched it for a moment to confirm she had calmed before turning to the murky, purple thing beside her.

  There was a rush of metaphorical wind in his imaginary interpretation of the Verdant Stage as the druid moved to scope out the brink of Matthew Carpenter’s mind. Pain, anger, broken home. Same old, same old. Every slimeball this side of Crossroads had the same story. Not all of them had such a talented wife, but all of them were awful people.

  But Gideon noticed something else about Matthew. When the druid probed the Shaman, she reacted. The Fanged folk, the small, loud woman, and the brutish softie, as well. This purple mud of a human hardly turned his direction. It was a little hurtful.

  Also, though, a little promising. If Matthew ignored him, then Gideon could possibly go deeper. With a second gust, Gideon approached the aura of the man, and greeted Matthew with a tendril of Green Magic. There was no reaction.

  What an egomaniac. Can not even answer a probe of his own mind?

  And so Gideon did something that druids did not often do. He reached out and touched the aura. Curious to see what kind of lock this man was protecting himself with. He was startled when it swelled and swirled, taking Gideon in.

  In front of Gideon, suddenly, was an office. Matthew, manifest fully, was pacing back and forth over the body of a well-dressed man with only half of a head and a hole burnt in his chest. A woman that looked only vaguely like Kaitlyn with no aura and red eyes stood off to the side grinning smugly.

  Matthew was muttering, and Gideon only made out some of it: “Just need you to burn it… You’re my weapon… I’ll give you a kid if you need it… I want this more, though… More than a kid, and more than you… I need this… I want this… I don’t need you when I have this…”

  What a mess. No wonder everyone hated him. After a moment more of morbid-curiosity driven eavesdropping, Gideon decided to move, to intercept the group.

  As Gideon led Sarah, Benji, Kaitlyn, and the dour, seething Matthew to the center of the grove, he kept a careful watch over Kait’s Verdant personage. The earth was affecting her profoundly, and Gideon was beginning to worry about her.

  That bright yellow in her core when he first saw her aura? He had waived it off as a trick of the light, or a unique flare for her. Not uncommon after all. But after getting up close, he could tell what she was, beyond a doubt. Auras changing colors is nearly impossible. A slow process when it is healthy, marked by layers of changing ideas or thoughts, and an instantaneous one when unhealthy, caused by traumatic injury to the mind and persona. The most common way to shift one’s aura, though, was to become a parent.

  Though calling Kait a mother may be a bit of a stretch. This thing was barely there, after all. She had probably had some morning sickness and her trousers were maybe a little tighter. But that would be about it. It would take quite some time before the baby’s own aura began to establish itself.

  “How far is the mother tree?” the large one, Benji, asked. “I’m truly worried about Jack.”

  “We will be arriving right about now,” Gideon said as they came up to a curtain of thick hanging vines. With a wave, the vines moved aside to reveal a small, emerald clearing carpeted with thick, plush grass. It was nearly a perfect circle within the dense forest, apart from the huge mother tree directly across from their point of entrance. A small, shaky shed stood off to the side that Gideon used as his shelter.

  “So,” Gideon began as his guests looked around the small area. “This is the heart of the forest. Make yourselves comfortable. I’m gonna find your friend.”

  Without even a cursory glance to his guests, Gideon approached the mother tree, simultaneously moving into the Verdant Stage. As the shadows fell on the world, the mother tree remained lit, but instead of by the sun, by a bright lime aura.

  Hey there Gideon! The mother tree cheerfully called. It had the voice of a young woman, sounding much younger than the tree appeared.

  Good afternoon, m’dear. I need a little help.

  What can I do? Who are your friends?

  Just some visitors looking for some druid magic. Not a worry. Except one of their friends hopped off the trail back at the edge of the grove. Can you help me find him?

  Easy! With that simple word, there was a pulse to the shadows, then the darkness began to fill with the dim lights of the grove’s auras. All plants and animals that refused to communicate with Gideon, but would at least acknowledge the tree. The tree was doing its best to describe the forest in this splash of colors. It was not perfect, but it was enough.

  To the southeast was the lumbering bear. Above was the circling falcon. And then, the stag standing alone amidst a handful of the emerald sprouts too young to ignore Gideon.

  With a heavy sigh, the druid turned, returning to the waking world as he did. “Bad news I’m afraid,” he said softly.

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  The group did not react. They had steeled themselves for this when Gideon had first mentioned the prospects of danger.

  “We are gonna have to move quickly if we are going to get your friend,” Gideon said pragmatically as he hefted his shillelagh. “So here’s what we’ll do. Matty-boy, your lock pick is in my shack. Above the mattress is a crate with vials. You’ll see a small one with a green cork, just four little seeds. Go and fetch that while I find Jack.”

  “Right, we appreciate it,” Matthew said solemnly.

  “As for the expecting mum, I think it best if she comes with me. Safest way, after all.” Kaitlyn took a step forward. Then froze.

  Gideon looked across the four. Benji, still misty-eyed from the talk about Jack was looking around, seeming to run calculations on the words just spoken. Sarah’s eyes were wide with shock. Matthew was dumbstruck, and quickly turning red.

  Dammit Gideon, he thought to himself. Always check and see if it’s a secret first. You know better. Rookie mistake.

  “We’re going to have to talk about this,” Matthew said in a frightfully foreboding way as he pushed past Kaitlyn toward Gideon’s shack.

  “Matt, wait,” she called.

  “Go.”

  “I’ll soften him up,” Sarah whispered. “Go with Gideon. But yeah, we will have to talk about this later.”

  Kait looked at Gideon with sad eyes, and then up to a still confused looking Benji. Gideon set a calming hand on her shoulder and led her to the edge of the forest. “I’m very sorry,” he whispered.

  Gideon forced aside the vegetation immediately ahead of them as the pair moved in the direction of the stag. It was a long and quiet walk. Gideon was relieved. He hated talking to people after such awkward situations.

  Especially when they were his fault.

  Kaitlyn eventually broke the silence. “So, Gideon. Why did you stay after the Overgrowth killed the druids here?”

  Gideon took a deep breath. “Well, sometimes we stick with something painful because it’s the right thing to do.”

  Kait laughed. “Truly.”

  “Why do you think staying with Matt is the right thing to do? Apart from the child, of course?”

  “I don’t know. I just feel like he needs someone to calm him down.”

  “Well, what about you? Who will calm you down?” Gideon could tell that Kaitlyn was frightened by her own emotions. He had never met a shaman so perplexed by the feelings around her. Usually, red magic users impressed their own feelings onto the land around them, but this girl seemed to allow herself to be impressed upon. Her magic was probably stronger for it.

  “I have never had trouble keeping myself calm, but Matthew? He is a time bomb.”

  “Surely. Quiet now, dear. We’re nearly there.” Up ahead, the density of the grove gave way, if only slightly. It was not like the clearing where the mother tree stood. Weeds and bushes still sprouted from its center, but momentarily, the trees were fewer. In the center stood a huge, muscular stag, its neck bent toward the ground, the muscles thumping as the creature fed.

  “Kraag,” Kait said lightly, her voice trembling as Gideon stepped into the clearing.

  The small sapling trees that dotted the area were bending slightly under the weight of a crimson splatter. As the druid approached, the stag lifted its head and turned to look at Gideon. Light lichenous vines dangled from its massive antlers.

  “Leave it,” Gideon said, holding his hand out to the stag’s mouth. The creature, like a trained dog, spat a wad of half chewed paper into his waiting hand. “Now, where did you get this from?”

  The beast turned to point with a hoof at a leather pouch, soaked with the same crimson color. Gideon knelt to pick it up and showed it to Kaitlyn.

  “Is this…?” Gideon asked, knowing he did not need to finish the question. Kaitlyn slowly nodded, and the quiet then exploded into a frightening cacophony. The stag whistled as it reared and kicked.

  Crows began screaming as they dove into the small clearing from all directions. Kaitlyn screamed with them as she shielded her head from the sharp beaks and beating wings. The air suddenly became dry and crackling with the shaman’s fear, and Gideon dove in her direction.

  “Move shaman!” he cried out, as static charges began leaping across the birds flocking around them. “Get a hold of that fear and run!”

  Kait kept shrieking as Gideon grabbed her by the shoulders and ran her into the woods. The crows went to give chase but Gideon swung his arms widely, sending thorned vines erupting from the ground and tangling into the murder. The screeches of the flock and the tears of flesh filled the air as Gideon ran his charge back in the direction of his sanctuary.

  “We’re back!” Gideon shouted cheerily as he led Kait back into the clearing. Benji, Sarah, and Matt were all seated on the soft grass in the center. They looked despondently in the druid’s direction. Sarah and Benji lit up when they saw the safe, but shaken, Kaitlyn. Matt, though, grimaced.

  “No Jack?”

  Kaitlyn gave the group a sad look as she walked over to give Benji and Sarah Jack’s leather bag.

  “He shouldn’t have gone after that stupid deer,” Benji blubbered as he began to cry. The three consoled one another as Matthew walked around them to Gideon.

  “Druid! How did you let this happen? Do you know how important Jack is?”

  “For your theft?” Gideon asked. It was impossible to tell if he was being genuine or not. Matthew soured instantly.

  “I would watch the way I speak, Gideon.”

  Gideon looked into Matt’s eyes and waited for a beat. “...Or what?”

  Matthew looked back to his wife. “Kaitlyn, I need you.”

  She looked at her husband sadly. “Matt, we got what we needed, dear. We should just go. Leave Gideon to the grove.”

  “The grove that murdered my friend?”

  “Jack was a friend to all of us,” Sarah barked, growing temperamental. “But you don’t see us getting bloody-eyed at strangers about it.”

  “Gideon is more than a stranger,” Matt hissed, looking back at the druid. “He’s a murderer.”

  “I didn’t kill your friend, Matty. ‘Twas the grove. Gonna have to burn the whole damned grove if it’s vengeance you’re wantin’.”

  Matthew zipped through the clearing to Kaitlyn’s side. “Kaitlyn! We need to burn this place down!”

  “Matt,” Kaitlyn said, looking up with eyes puffy from tears. “Calm down please.”

  “You want me to calm down? After your little escapade got my friend killed in some damn woods that you visited as a little girl? Some nomad pit of stinking tree lovers that can’t even keep their own magic under control enough to keep themselves from being killed? I refuse to just calm down about this. Because this is your fault.”

  “My fault?”

  “You’re soft, Kaitlyn. Now that you have family on your mind you just want this over and done with even though you know we need to do this.”

  “Matthew, what are you talking about? This whole theft thing is your idea. I did not want to come all the way over here.” Kaitlyn was sputtering. The sudden argument unearthing things she had never given voice to. “If this is anyone’s fault, we can blame your father.”

  Suddenly, Matthew’s pupils dilated and his hand whipped across Kaitlyn’s face. “Don’t you talk about him again!” Matthew roared. But his bellowing turned to screams as a thorn-studded vine ripped into his wrist.

  “Quite enough, Matty,” Gideon said, strolling over casually as Benji and Sarah watched in horror. Matthew continued to struggle and scream, and so Gideon rapped his forehead with the weight at the head of his walking stick. “I said enough. You’ve overstayed your welcome, Mister Carpenter. Take the things I gave you and remove yourself from my grove.”

  With a wave, Gideon opened the path back out of the grove the way the party had come, and ordered the vine to sling Matthew in the road’s direction. A splash of blood was slung with him and Matt whimpered in pain.

  Matthew looked at the druid, hatred spilling out of his entire visage. His gaze snapped to Sarah and Benji, who looked at one another and then down to Kaitlyn. The shaman was doubled over, looking smaller than she ever had before, her fingers brushing on her reddened cheek.

  “Sarah. Benji.” Matthew said sharply.

  Benji obeyed immediately and began to walk to the edge of the clearing ahead of Matthew.

  Sarah continued to watch Kaitlyn, and so Matthew barked her name again. And so she began to leave. With his two childhood friends back with him, Matthew began to approach his wife.

  “No, no, Matty,” Gideon said. “You can leave her be.”

  “It’s fine, Gideon,” Kaitlyn said, a sharpness in her voice that Matthew had never heard. It stopped him in his tracks. “I’m going with him. I’m going to steal his treasure with him. Because then I can raise my child without his ghost haunting me.”

  “What are you saying Kait?” Matthew asked, his face softening wholly.

  “I’m saying that once my child is safe, I don’t need to stick with you anymore.” And with those words, Kaitlyn walked around Matthew and moved to join Sarah and Benji on the road out of Gideon’s grove.