Sirius sat in the small room opposite of Whisper of Nature. He looked down at the floorboards and nervously tapped his foot. The longer he waited, the more he worried about his destiny. He was almost entirely sure he will live to see tomorrow, it's just the circumstances of that were wildly unknown. The glare of the druid made him even more uncomfortable.

  "Ugh, what do you want from me?" asked Sirius in tired voice.

  "Die," hissed Whisper of Nature.

  "Will do, sir," Sirius answered with sarcasm and sighed. "At least you have the family to care about... And a home to return to."

  "What are you on about?" he sounded genuinely confused.

  "Kingdom didn't like how I was born and waned to kill me. Druids see me as an outsider and chase me away. Republic on the east? I don't know, maybe I will get imprisoned and tortured for intel. No place in this world will welcome me."

  "You are welcome in Plain Veins," said Silver Song.

  "It is up to Elders to decide... Oh no, did we forget your Life at the site?" Sirius asked with fear.

  "We did, yes..." she covered her mouth with a back of her hand.

  "Humph! No respect for the heritage whatsoever," grunted Whisper of Nature.

  "Well, maybe if we weren't attacked from the back, we wouldn't leave our stuff there! I hope you didn't scatter it around, old man," Sirius accused him in the most teasing tone he could muster.

  "Old!?" Whisper of Nature tried getting up in an outrage, but his aching knee was encased in heavy stone and didn't bend so easily. "I am not that old..."

  Sirius watched Whisper of Nature wince in pain under strict gazes of guards. "Sorry about the leg... And the head..."

  "I'm fine."

  "I didn't want to kill you. Really. You want me gone, but I am not a bloodthirsty beast like the Church paints me."

  Whisper of Nature sat in silence, rubbing the stone shell on his leg. Then he said grumpily, "It's fine. A small dislocation is nothing for me. Your move with pebbles was smart."

  Sirius scoffed. "Thank you. I made them myself. Your manipulation of wood is something incredible, I must say."

  "It's what our Path of Nature is about," he shrugged. "And now I understand why you are known as Yellow Snow. Ice is your second nature."

  "Wh-who told you that!?" Sirius was baffled. He glanced at the guards who were struggling to hide their stifled laughs. "Mountain Wrangler!"

  "Shepherd's kid, yeah..." he smiled.

  They both got distracted by Silver Song's bell-like giggles that filled the room with joy. She laughed at them, surprised to see their fierce conflict turn into friendly talks. "I told you he is a nice person, dad!"

  "Don't think you got away, daughter!" Whisper of Nature said strictly.

  "Why not?" refuted Silver Song. "You saw me turn that bald man's magic against him! Doesn't it prove me worthy?"

  "You should see what she is capable of, old man," said Sirius with a smile. "I barely had time to fix all the holes in the walls she made."

  "Hey, it was only one time!"

  "With just her Eyes?" Whisper of Nature asked in surprise.

  "Don't you feel the world vibrate with each word she speaks?" answered Sirius with another question.

  "I managed to finalise Mana Pool inside my chest, where my lungs reside," she pointed at the upper side of her body. "It pulled mana from my lungs and crystals dissipated. It grew so large my Spirit aches a little..."

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  "Pulled mana from crystals in lungs..." whispered Sirius with realisation. He held his head in his hands, "UGH! I forgot to account for that mana! You did great in dealing with that excess, but... UGHHH! I should have lowered the saturation rate, you could get hurt."

  "Don't blame yourself. Your instructions helped a lot, yes," she said with a smile and put her hand on Sirius' back, making him flinch.

  Whisper of Nature listened them banter about the ritual details. They enthusiastically talked about the condensation process, Silver Song described her feelings and Sirius explained how the structure affected efficiency of the organ.

  "And then that bald man," said Sirius, "how did he manage to create that bracelet? It didn't look like diagrams I am familiar with."

  "He is from the southern tribes, closer to the sea," explained Whisper of Nature. "They are using tattoos made of crystals to aid them in battles. Most of them are passed down like our Paths."

  "And they work?..."

  "Are you blind? He used that in front of you!"

  "Fair..."

  "It's something they take great pride in. Shame that most of southerners are bandits and pirates."

  "Do I have a chance of settling there?" asked Sirius with hope in his voice.

  "Not a minute one. They are even more tribal and wary of outsiders. Plain druids are one of the friendliest."

  "What are other tribes? Who should I be careful with?"

  "Careful? With everyone. Druids are prideful in their ways. As for the particular tribes..." Whisper of Nature thought for a moment, "Mountain tribes are famous for their martial arts, but are very secluded. Forest tribes will try to kill you if you enter their territory, they are very protective of their land. Plain ones are traders, so they meddle with everyone around. It is hard to trade if you are at odds with your neighbours. There is also a desert nomads on the south-east, but almost nothing is known about them."

  "Wow... Thank you loads! I couldn't get that information from anywhere."

  "Don't sweat it. It's a common knowledge. Though each tribe is unique and all I said is but a stereotype. You should also be careful of World Shapers. They are so powerful they alter the World around them... And mages' graves..." he shuddered. "Terrifying places, avoid them at all costs."

  "Is that an Anomaly?"

  "Yes, some call it like that. I personally knew a man who gathered materials from Metal Forest. Mage's remnant found him. He turned into metal statue over the course of weeks. No one could save him."

  "And once again a spell that worked over time..."

  "Hmm?"

  "Wish of Nature encircled his tribe in a wall. It has some kind of curse that makes the forest hostile as you het closer to the walls."

  "You know he is inside that hall right?" whispered Whisper of Nature.

  "Really? Which one is him?" whispered back Sirius.

  "He sits to the right, the most silent one with skin like bark."

  Sirius nodded and glanced at the guards who stood still and looked at them.

  "I did not offend him, right?" Sirius asked hopefully.

  "No. Wish of Nature is a fair Elder," answered one of the guards quietly. "He is not as rash as you view him."

  Sirius nodded and they all fell silent again. After a couple of minutes of silence, he began tapping his foot again.

  "Oh, World, do you want me to encase your foot in a stone like mine?" suddenly asked Whisper of Nature, making Sirius stop.

  "Sorry. I am just nervous about what will happen to me."

  "I should not have told them to kill you."

  "Oh, really!?" exclaimed Sirius, "I didn't know that killing people is bad!"

  "Those who defy the Path are exiled. Like your mentor, Blasphemer."

  "He studied healing, what did he do wrong?"

  "Oh, he did not just study healing," Whisper of Nature shook his head. "His specialisation was blood magic. He used the blood to do terrifying things, but healing was one of the techniques. He was exiled from my tribe after Friend of the Unkind told us about his magic."

  "So it was your tribe! He was from your tribe!"

  "He was a good healer. Until he delved too deep into forbidden stuff. I knew about his glassy green crystals, he healed my wife many times. But when Friend of the Unkind rattled the secrets to the whole tribe, I could not stop them from banishing him."

  "Blood magic..."

  "Don't you dare follow his steps! I will be the first to come after you!"

  "I just found the name interesting, that's all. But... What happened to your wife?"

  "She..." Whisper of Nature's eye glinted with a tear, "She had the tumors all around her body. Blasphemer's magic was the only remedy. And when he was exiled... We thought it was alright, but after a couple years she began feeling sick. Local healers helped her, and we thought that everything is behind. We planned to expand out family. But then, during pregnancy her condition got much worse. No healers could help her at that point. She died right after giving birth..."

  Sirius sat in silence. Silver Song sniffled in the corner. Whisper of Nature's face got streaked with tears.

  "You never told me that..." said Silver Song.

  "I wanted to save that story for when you are older. But we have the disciple of that healer in front of us, so it came up on its own... I'm sorry you had to learn your mother's fate like that."

  "That is why you are so protective, Whisper of Nature?" asked Sirius with a sad smile, "Your wife succumbed to the incurable disease... And your daughter caught something incurable as well."

  Silver Song' eyes rounded and she covered her mouth in realisation.

  "And then came some strange healer that promised to help. It all was just... too similar. I could not believe that."

  The door opened, inviting everyone in the room to come inside. Sirius gulped. They were about to hear the verdict.