Manning

The sylva had finally decided to hatch. Actually, is hatch the right word? Who really cares the point was that just before the sun rose, nearly three weeks since the sylva’s arrival, I could feel waves of energy peeling off my pear tree. All the birds who usually chirped in harmony to welcome the sun were silent, and even the squirrels were gathering in the trees around the clearing to watch.

“Manning, do you feel it? The sylva is about to bloom!”

Ahh, bloom. That makes more sense than hatch for sure. Ash was sprinting through the thick brush of our forest on her way to the clearing and I watched as roots and other plants bent out of the way of her feet, as not to trip her up.

All in all, I would say that the blooming was pretty anti-climactic. A lot of the critters in the forest gathered to watch from a distance and bask in the energy, and Ash was sitting in front of the tree watching. Even the hybrid was there to watch, curled up in Ash’s lap. As the sun finally peaked over the horizon, the nature mana-like energy that was pouring off increased in intensity. It kept on filling the clearing until the sunlight finally peaked over the canopy and hit the tree.

As the sunlight glimmered off the silver-ish bark of the pear tree, a small white bud appeared. The energy that had been pouring into the clearing slowly gathered back at the tree and seemed to concentrate around the flower bud. Rapidly the bud swelled in size until blooming into a five-pedaled silver and white flower. The petals fell away as the base of the flower swelled in size, still engorging itself with the energy that had been pouring out from the tree for the last few hours and grew into a pear.

That was it. All that waiting and watching for a rapidly growing pear. It wasn't even one of the fruits either as was rapidly made apparent. An incision appeared in the pear and two tiny little hands appeared from within the pear to slowly peal it apart before a tiny head poked out to look out at the awaiting party. Apparently the sylva was shy because it instantly snapped its head back in after seeing all the animals staring at the tree and pulled the pear's incision shut behind it.

All in all, I thought it was both anti-climactic and over-dramatic at the same time, but everyone else there seemed to feel moved. The critters all had their eyes closed, heads swaying in the non-existent breeze, and Ash had silent tears running down her face. Even the trees surrounding the clearing seemed to have leaned towards the pear-tree.

Ash spent several minutes trying to coax the sylva out of hiding, but the sylva would do little but peak out of the small hole in her pear. I don't know how long she would have spent there if she hadn't picked up the hybrid who was investigating the fallen petals. As Ash lifted up the little hedgehog the sylva's arm popped out and made a grabbing motion. Ash took the petal from the hybrid and gave it to the sylva's grasping arm, which promptly disappeared back into hiding.

A few minutes later the sylva finally emerged and I got a good look at her. I assumed it was a her based entirely on the fact that it had fashioned itself a dress from the large white petal. Her head reminded me of a wild onion, both because of the shape and the fact that her skin complexion was a very pale white. She had two light-green eyes that took up a large portion of her face, small ears that pointed backwards, and frosted-looking white wings that would look just as in-place on a moth.

The sylva fluttered around the tree a little bit, before sitting on a branch and investigating the bug-like wings on her back. I supposed those must be new based on the look of awe she had admiring them.

"Hello little sylva, my name is Ash. I am the dryad of this forest."

With the sylva emerged, and the silence broken, most of the forest critters went back to their... well whatever they do in the forest. The sylva cocked her head at the sound of Ash's voice before flying over and sitting down on the hybrid's head. From head to foot the sylva was probably about the size of a human's hand, but based on the non-reaction of the hybrid, weighted very little.

Ash raised the hedgehog up to eye level to talk to the sylva, but the sylva didn't seemed to be in the mood to talk back. She was far too busy playing with the hybrid's quills. When the sylva finally deigned to acknowledge Ash, who was pouting at this point, she just cocked her head before bopping Ash's nose with both hands and flying away.

"Just give her a second to acclimate Ash. She's been cooped up in a tree for weeks and probably just wants to fly around."

After a sigh of resignation, Ash replied, "Yeah, you're probably right Manning. Still, I just want to talk to her and make her understand who is the boss here."

Everywhere the sylva flew the grasses and leaves seemed to get a bit greener, and the flowers more vibrant. I could see quickly how having them live in the forest could be a boon as the sylva zipped around the forest. As much as I wanted to watch and observe the new resident, something else pulled my attention away quickly. I quickly told Ash what was happening before re-directing my attention towards the town.

Although the sun was just rising, I already had a guest. He was not a new guest, but also not a visitor that I'd had in a long time. I watched as he stood at the edge of the forest staring up into the canopy before finally taking a step in.

He was my first visitor, the elf known as Gladil. I could only hoped he was not here to avenge his friend's death.