Inferno Ascended

The dryad's thin lips trembled with anger, and Glax thought she was really temperamental.

"Listen! Alekos got hurt, and so did other people. They needed it more than me. But I took... I took a little bit of a potion and I felt so much better... And that's why I'm here... Second reason, actually."

Glax followed the evolution of the dryad's facial expressions to adjust his speech. "The main reason was to see how Lady Aiops was doing, and to say that the problem was solved. I also came to talk about Tychos. He got hurt and your potions were gone…"

The dryad's face changed from sulky to worried. Glax advanced on the subject, telling what had happened to Antusa Melita's grandson. Alexander then went to the dryad, to everyone's surprise, including the nymph.

"Listen, Lady Aiops. We thought about looking for a sorcerer who heals people. But I don't think he can do anything for Tychos. Iatromancers aren't available to everyone, and he may refuse to help Tychos…"

Glax was angry at himself for not having considered the possibility.

He didn't know if they simply had said nothing to him because he too had recently become a krios. But Tychos was just a number for the clan. An outstanding warrior, but old, troublesome, undisciplined, and of low birth. He wasn't as important as Lord Arsenio, or had the money to pay a high level iatromancer. Alexander had subtly suggested a more palpable alternative… And Glax was getting a valuable lesson from his own pupil, who was usually not subtle or seemed very empathetic.

"I don't know what I could do. My knowledge is superficial here on the surface. Many of the herbs that existed in Old Hell have mutated and taken on fresh forms and properties… I know nothing as powerful."

"Do you think the Antusas might know?" Glax asked, remembering that Tychos had high hopes that his grandmother would help him. 

Little Aiops looked at the smoky horizon for a long time, and after a while it seemed she was having disturbing thoughts. Wrinkling her nose to push them away, she turned to the humans who awaited her response.

"Hmp, if they can, it's because they have access to things I don't have. But where are they?"

"It's too far from here," Kal explained. "It's a few weeks away overland, even the shortest way."

Glax didn't know that, but he wasn't surprised. "All right. Now we have to go, and talk to the iatromancer. Even if it's useless we have to try it. We have letters to deliver as well…"

The little dryad looked at the other two men and waved them away. "You two can go, I have something to talk to Lord Glax."

'Oh Hermes, help me!' the Valosian thought, and cast his eyes down with a sigh.

As soon as the two warriors were out of sight, the dryad took him by the hand and led him to the sacred tree. 

This time Glax knew exactly what to do, and touched the tree trunk. Soon, they were in the small garden outside the time and space where she actually dwelled.

"What happened to your weapon blessed by the Olympians?" Aiops asked as she crouched by a bush and pulled a black pot with a lid out of the leaves.

Glax rushed to help her as the object seemed heavy.

"Ah, she was destroyed during the fight. It's not that I'm clumsy. The fight was epic, I must say." He smirked as he put the pot down. He didn't intend to take the blame for being clumsy and suffering the consequences of his hubris with a curse or something. She might be a lonely hamadryad right now, but that could always change.

"I know you are too busy to pay your promise to rescue me from this place. But your loyalty to Tychos tingled my heart. I have a little something for you."

"Ah, no need, Lady Aiops, you see, I did it just for…" Glax politely refused, but she shook her head, denying acknowledgment of his polite refusal. 

"I need you to come back for me, Glax of Valosia! And you are only with these silly weapons, unworthy of your heroism!"

She was truly an iandere. Unable to see that he was mediocre in every cell of his being.

"Please accept. This tunic I spun." She held out the garment with both hands to him.

"?! Lady Aiops! How kind of you! Are you sure?!" Glax gulped. There was no way she could have woven an outfit in about 3 days. That outfit was ready long before. The scarlet fabric had a slight satin sheen, and was clearly a fabric of unrivaled quality, with the hems decorated in a leafy motif. "I don't deserve this!"

"You'll deserve it even more when you take me back to my true home!" She smiled sweetly to remind him of her request.

Glax felt her Adam's apple rise and fall. Weren't dryads attached to their trees? How could he take her to Old Hades? Assuming he could go there, in the first place?

Well, at least he could try to subvert the game by making her confess she had this outfit ready for ANY hero who showed up on her grove, and pretend to be offended.

"Lady Aiops, your little hands spun a tunic in such a short time! And all this finely embroidered part… Just now I touched your delicate little hands, and the excessive use of the needle did not hurt them! How do you manage that?!"

The dryad, as expected, turned red like the ichor fruits hanging from the tree.

"Ah, I... I had started a little earlier..."

Glax held the air in his lungs with a stern expression, dramatically. "Ah! Any man who passed by here would do."

"N-no! That's not it! It's just... Me and Arachne have a lot of spare time! And she… kind of suggested that I spend the time learning to spin, and embroider... I wasn't really going to give it to anyone. No. I swear." Aiops hastened to explain.

"Arac… Who is this?" Glax looked around, confused. The place wasn't so big that he'd lost another nymph.

"Over there." The dryad pointed to the trunk of the sacred tree. "That's Arachne. But she's sleeping now."

The Valosian scratched his head, confused. Was she talking about the tree itself? Or… was she pointing at the shimmering spider's web, illuminated by the glow of the red globes?

"A spider?"

"Not just any spider from Hell, but Lady Arachne, who was once a famous weaver in Lydia! Who knew that the day Hell Ascended, she was right in my tree? That's how our destinies were woven together...Hihihi." She giggled at her own silly pun. "Ah. Her silk is special and this tunic will protect you."

Glax had heard that the Greek gods turned people into stars, but he didn't know that a maiden could turn into a spider.

"Oh, so…" Glax realized Aiops had deflected the subject, but he decided to leave it as it was. "I'm grateful. How does the tunic work?"

"Arachne's silk is very resistant, and almost nothing will penetrate it! Please use it at all times."

'Is it a +5 armor? A +12 armor? How can I test it without dying?' Glax wondered excitedly. He was about to say thanks again and say goodbye, when he realized that the dryad that couldn't grow suddenly frowned.

"What's wrong, Lady Aiops?"

"I felt a strange presence approaching… And whatever it is, it's very close! Glax of Valosia, please defend me!"

He couldn't and didn't intend to refuse the request. Hastily pulling the tunic over his light armor, he asked.

"Stay here. I'm sure you'll be more vulnerable out there."

Aiops nodded. Glax left the dryad's private garden as she cleared the path by touching the bark of the tree. 

He understood then why a dryad was somehow vulnerable. Touching the tree allowed access to her hidden abode. 

But as Tychos made clear and Glax himself saw in his little experiment with the future, they had some powers that served to ward off intruders.

Glax soon didn't notice anything unusual. But he didn't have the same senses as an infernal dryad. He also bet she hadn't confused his friends. with intruders, as she knew them well.

Cautiously Glax searched around the sacred area of ​​the forest. He found the way they went, days ago, to Meleagor's hideout. The poor Aegeon who became a mechanical centaur, and had to be destroyed by Glax and Kal.

Both men had gone to the nasty job of preventing Meleagor, or any other orb, from reanimating the carcass of the mechanical centaur. Remembering the deed was disgusting and made his spine tingle. He definitely hoped not to have any nasty surprises about it again. 

But with the carbine in hand, he tiptoed in that direction, trying not to make too much noise.

Glax had reached the point where only the ashes, grime, and dirty twists of metal remained, now muddy and even more depressing.

Only at the last moment did he hear a noise behind him, before he heard the trigger being unlocked.

"Don't try anything funny, Lord Glax.. I was looking for you."