Chapter fourteen: The Sacred Horseshoe

Needless to say, when a tree told us that we had been favoured by a goddess neither of us knew, Ryan and I were a little surprised.

"Who..." I started, but Ryan stepped on my toe to make me stop talking. I yelped and turned to glare at him but then realised it was probably wiser not to show we had no clue who our saviour was.

"Excuse me please," I corrected myself and gave a small smile, though this did not make the dryad look any less serious than she had been all the time. "But who are you?"

"I am a Hamadryad, or simply a dryad, in your language. I serve the goddess Cybele, ruler of the fertile earth and wild animals, who has allowed you to linger here tonight."

Ryan and I shared a sidelong glance, both of us seemed very confused. I'd never heard of this goddess and I couldn't help but notice that Ryan had shifted uneasily at the words 'ruler of the fertile earth'. Something Percy had told me about an evil earth goddess flickered across my mind. The second great war? I would have to ask Ryan about it.

For now, there wasn't a lot we could do. We had only one bag of provisions left, no shelter and no idea where we were or how we'd gotten here. Because of this I was fairly certain that we were no longer at Camp Half-Blood. This forest was different and the dryad talking to us in that formal manner was proof of it.

Yet I knew all we could do was accept the strange goddess' shelter for now and hope that things would look brighter in the morning.
Ryan seemed to be thinking along the same lines.

"We're grateful to the Lady Cybele and thank her for the chance to stay here tonight," he told the dryad, imitating her formal way of speaking. It was so weird hearing Mr Sarcastic talk like that, that I almost laughed.

The dryad seemed pleased, though, with Ryan's tone. She nodded at the two of us and with a wave of her hand, made two sleeping bags, two bowls of fruit and a jug of clear water appear.

I stared at the tree spirit in amazement, this was way more than we could've hoped for.

"Thank you!" I told her, and she inclined her head.

"Guests of our goddess are treated with respect here," she informed us, before turning around and drifting back to her tree. I got the feeling that she didn't like being separated from it for too long.

"Goodnight" Ryan called after her, but she'd already submerged into the trunk.

"Well" I said, as both of us sat down. "That was...different."

But Ryan didn't seem too concerned. He shrugged and pulled one of the bowls of fruit toward him.
"Things like this happen on quests. Some gods want to help you, others try to pulverize you. You'd know that if you had any experience."

Somehow that remark hurt a lot. I was sick of people always pointing out how inexperienced I was. How was I going to learn anything if not by doing it? You always had to start somewhere! And for me, this was my start. Well, at least I hoped it wouldn't be my end...

"When was your first quest then?" I asked Ryan, my voice a little cold, but that was all right. He should know he couldn't just talk to me however he pleased.

Ryan took a bite from an apple before answering me, and I noticed he had a silver tooth right at the back of his mouth, in the top row. I wondered how that had happened, though I didn't want to ask.

"I was nine," he began, turning the apple in his hand, catching the moonlight on its shining green surface. "I'd been at camp for a year, and all I'd ever wanted was a quest, even back then. So one day, this minor god turned up and I remember thinking he was a bit mad. He kept babbling on about how he'd left his sacred horseshoe at a mortal cinema and that he couldn't possibly go back and get it because the cashier was actually a nymph who was stalking him. So he wanted one of us to go fetch it for him."

"So you went?"

Ryan chuckled. "It wasn't my quest, I just tagged along. It wasn't very hard, not all of them are. We just went in there, one of us started a conversation with the nymph, 'cause she'd taken the horseshoe and hung it on the wall, you see, and when she was distracted enough I stole it and we cleared the hell out of there."

"Wasn't the nymph mad?" I wanted to know, picturing a miniature Ryan running away from a screaming teenage nymph.

"Yeah, she was." Ryan said with another laugh. It suits him, I thought.

"She cursed us, actually. Can't go near hazelnut trees to this day without sneezing my brains out."

I snickered. Ryan raised his eyebrows at me, but for once he didn't look irritated. Maybe we could get along after all. I tried to keep the conversation up, as I wasn't tired yet and the thought of lying in this forest at night, no matter whose guests we were, scared me a little.

"So whose quest was it if not yours?"

The question was supposed to be light, but instantly Ryan's face closed up. The stony, distant look returned to his eyes and his lips pressed a little tighter together. I knew I'd asked the wrong thing, and I mentally cursed myself. Things had been going so well.

"My friend's," he told me curtly, taking of his jacket, slipping into one of the sleeping bags the hamadryad had given us. I noticed he hadn't removed his sword from his side.

"Do I know him?" I wanted to know, my voice careful in case it annoyed Ryan even more. This friend was obviously a touchy subject.

"No. You don't know her." Ryan replied, turning over so that he was facing away from me.

"Oh." I mumbled, unsure what else to say. Quickly, I took off my jumper and my belt, laying both next to the other sleeping bag into which I crawled gratefully. It was extremely comfortable, and slowly I could feel sleep overcoming me.

The forest was dark around us, but the stars and the moon provided enough light to keep it from getting too spooky. It was actually sort of like the camping trips I used to go on with my parents.

We'd been lying in silence for a while before I heard Ryan's voice whisper softly, so softly I couldn't be sure he'd meant for me to hear it:

"You can't know her because she's dead."

Oh.

Hiya lovely readers :)

So this isn't a v long chapter but I think it fits nicely in the story :)
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Rights to Uncle Rick comme toujours