Jaheria painfully cut her check as she sprinted through the forest at a breakneck speed. Breathing heavily, but skillfully, she twirled around a tree and jumped over a fallen log, losing no momentum.
Nature was as familiar to her as the forest itself and she knew how it worked. She heard an arrow sing through the air just above her head, landing with a thud into a nearby tree.
Without stopping, Jaheria slid under a huge root and rolled into a run, she could hear the voices of her pursuers in the distance calling out to her.
She was satisfied she had completed her quest; she had successfully put an end to the loggers work, destroying the equipment which threatened to destroy all of trademeet's lush forests. This marked the eighth task she had performed for the town as the appointed town druid.
But, as she reminded herself as another arrow skipped across the leaves, narrowly missing her feet, it wasn't over yet.
Still a few miles from the town, Jaheria knew she could not hope to outrun the angry loggers. She would have to hide or fight. Not such an impossible task for a druid as skilled as her. Her attackers would not stop until they had her, their whole logging operation had been destroyed stealthily by her cunning attacks, costing them dearly.
In full sprint, Jaheria removed her staff from its holstered position on her back and in one deft, swift movement, suddenly bought it to the floor and jumped. Using her momentum and the leverage from the staff, Jaheria vaulted up high and grabbed a branch from a giant oak.
Spinning once, and then throwing herself higher still, Jaheria landed with great dexterity on a higher branch. There she waited and hoped that the rogue loggers had not seen her climb the tree. She looked down the several meters and waited for them to walk into her path.
She was breathing heavily and tried to steady herself on the relatively thin branch. She heard voices approaching her position. She held her breath in anticipation.
"Did you see where she went?" One asked, gruffly
"No idea here. Murry?"
"Nope."
Jaheria couldn't see them yet, but judging from their noises, she guessed they would be under her in a moment. She searched her experienced mind for a spell that would assist her, as she would prefer to get away clean without a fight.
Quietly and quickly she muttered a small chant under her breath and her skin became like that of a tree instantly, blending her into the tree perfectly.
Satisfied that the barkskin would create a convincing camouflage, Jaheria relaxed and took in her surroundings. She noticed a squirrel looking quite confused at the scene presented to it. Despite the danger, Jaheria could not help but laugh at the small rodent's expression. It reminded her of her old traveling partner, Minsc's pet hamster. She wondered how the ranger was these days.
She patted the squirrel gently, always appreciating nature when it found her.
The confused voices below her were getting louder, and suddenly four men came into view, armed fully with swords, bows and spears. Jaheria looked down at the open plain, quite still.
One of the men looked up, seemingly directly at her but Jaheria, confident that her spell would hold true, did not react.
With a shrug, the man turned to the rest of his party.
"No sign of her, Boss." He said, putting away his sword. The larger rogue he was talking to did not seem convinced, however. "Search for her tracks. She can't have gotten far." He directed to the rest
The three other men nodded and complied, each scouting around the area just under Jaheria, still within her sight.
Jaheria suddenly realized that the men would not give up their hunt. She could see no way around it.
"This is dumb, Lemar" said the man who was called Murry. "Just find her, idiot." Lemar replied as he poked through the leaves looking for any sign of any tracks.
"She's long gone." Murry said with a resigned shrug as he kicked through a pile himself. "What do you think we do now, with the logging equipment gone?" He asked. When no reply came, he continued, "Think we should head back to Athkatla? Maybe Neverwinter?"
After hearing no reply, he span back in frustration to his fellow logger. "Lemar?" He called, upon seeing his friend perfectly still. He'd seen this before. Lemar was held by magic.
He barely had time to draw his sword before he felt his legs being tugged and grabbed by roots appearing from the ground. He hacked vainly at the green vines as it crept up his body.
Jaheria grinned at the sight below her. The three remaining men were being held fast by her entangle spell and she found herself enjoying the sight of nature fighting back.
Sensing her barkskin had worn off and seeing that the four loggers were almost completely covered by the tangled vines, Jaheria leaped down the tree, landing with a thud to the floor and revealing herself to the startled men.
She walked among them as they struggled with their vines, like an officer inspecting her troops. She stopped at the man she had previously immobilized with a hold spell. With a light prod, she toppled him to the floor. He stayed rigid in place as he fell to the floor like a statue. She smirked maliciously.
The others were now gagged with their binding roots. They were trying to speak, though truthfully, Jaheria didn't care what they had to say.
She walked to the one the others had identified as their leader.
"I am the druid of this place." She said proudly as she waved her staff threateningly in the frightened rogue's face. "While I am here, no harm will come of this place."
She walked around the clearing, addressing everyone present.
"As shown today, nature will always prevail against the arrogance of bitter, small fools like you." She continued.
"If you, or any of your nature-destroying kin ever return to this forest. My forest. You will be cut down." The druid stopped at one of the men and hit him hard in the gut with the point of her staff. His muffled cries were barely heard.
"Am I understood?" She demanded.
The three men nodded quickly in unison. Satisfied with the answer and aware that her enchantment would dispel soon, she darted off into the woods, leaving the men to their natural prisons.
As she neared her resident city, Jaheria slowed to a brisk walk. Her first stop would be to the town mayor to inform him that she had completed the task he had set for her, and then she would head back to her secluded druid shack on the outskirts of the forest where she lived alone.
She considered that for a moment. She had always told herself that she was happy she was alone, that she could now live her life to protect nature as she had always intended. The thought led her to Khalid, her late husband, killed at the hands of the evil mage, Irenicus. Jaheria rarely wept for her old love, for she was a strong woman and knew that her grief would bring nothing.
She thought less and less of Archon and her old companions each day. The memories of the adventures they shared were disappearing from her mind, but she handled it as she always did, with a shrug and a look to the future.
Jaheria trudged softly towards the city, now in full view. She could see the gate ahead and she was looking forward to heading to the tavern to rest before heading back.
Suddenly she heard commotion. She heard the cries of townspeople. They shouted hateful words.
Instinctively, the druid crouched, fearing another attack on the usually peaceful town. She ran further to the edge of the tree line in an attempt to see more of the situation.
Then she saw a sight that disgusted her. Citizens gathered around a pyre at the town center, a woman that she could not see clearly was tied to the stake. An execution.
Hatred and disappointment of her people filled her and Jaheria ran forward towards the brutal scene as the spokesman put a torch to the dry wood, filling the area with smoke.
Just before the smoke covered the woman's face, Jaheria saw her and nearly stopped her run, stunned at the recognition.
It was Viconia, a Drow who Jaheria used to travel with. This was not the first time Jaheria had saved her from certain death, and although the spiteful dark-elf probably deserved death, Jaheria could not allow this kind of punishment to anyone, let alone an old companion.
"Stop!" She called out, striding forward into the scene and pushing through the crowd. "End this madness!" She called to the executioner, who looked surprised.
Jaheria trusted that she had enough favour with the town that she could hope to stop the murder. She climbed up to the platform and began kicking at the pyre to stop the fire. She heard weak coughing from the smoke.
"Druid Jaheria!" The spokesperson grabbed at Jaheria, who did not falter. "This woman is Drow. An evil dark elf!"
"I know very much who she is, Parks." Jaheria replied, still putting out the fire with her hands and feet. "And I know her heritage and the ways of her people. But this woman deserves not a bitter execution."
The smoldering logs were put out of the fire, and Viconia rolled her head, dazed by the smoke. Jaheria began untying her.
"Jaheria, I cannot allow you to set this filth Drow free." Jaheria spun at the familiar voice, the voice of the mayor.
"Mayor, you cannot be serious! You would allow the murder of this woman because of the color of her skin?" Jaheria asked, stunned at the usually compassionate man.
"Allow? My lady druid, I ordered it." He added with a sneer at Viconia, now regaining consciousness. "I cannot allow such animals to walk through my city."
Jaheria paused, stunned by his words for a moment but then worked again at the binds to untie her old companion. Guards moved to stop her, but the mayor held up a hand to stop them.
"Jaheria, you have saved my town many times against evil. As such, if you allow this Drow to go free I will not stop you." He said loudly, obviously inviting the crowd to the conversation. Jaheria seemed not to notice as she continued to untie Viconia.
"But, you will be exiled from this place. Never to return." He added. Cheers came from the crowd. The citizens Jaheria once called friends and allies. With disbelief she turned to her old herd, then back to the mayor. "I have made my choice." She said with a scowl, and freed Viconia.
Truthfully, it was no choice. Jaheria would never allow such a brutal execution to occur. The half-elf knew that she and Viconia had not always seen eye to eye, even fighting on more than one occasion, but they had been through many adventures together, and she owed her.
With a disdainful look at the townsfolk, she scooped up Viconia and held her as she steadied her feet. The two women walked out of Trademeet with not a word. Not to the confused townfolk, not to each other.
Jaheria wanted only to leave the wretched city. She wondered where she would go next. Where was her home? Suddenly she realized. She would return to the harpers. With Viconia, she would return to Athkatla.