“Right this way.”

Myke took a step in the direction the small green finger was pointing. He had to squeeze between two trees and avoid multiple branches.

“How far do we have to go?” He looked in the HUD at the long winding line until here.

The deeper they got into the forest the harder it got for him to move.

“We are almost there.”

At the thought of how they will walk back without the forest spirit, the hair stood up on the back of his neck.

The radar was glowing in red and he knew the only reason they could walk safely until now was the little green girl in his arms.

“We have to find a safe place where the damn goblins wouldn’t find her.”

“Do you think they will try to capture her again after all we did to them?”

“No way, but a dryad has a long life span. The place should be safe for millennia.”

“I see.”

“Just behind these two trees.” The small green finger pointed again.

Myke walked past the trees and exclaimed in delight.

“This is very nice!” He looked at the pond before him with big excited eyes. “It seems some beavers blocked the stream a long time ago.”

“Please plant this tree spirit over there.” She was pointing at a small hill nearby the pond.

Myke’s eyebrows rose a notch. “Are we supposed to plant you?”

The dryad moved to get off Myke, so he put her on the ground.

Liana giggled. “Leave it to me!” she took the dryads hand and walked her to the hill.

Myke gasped. The dryad was suddenly holding a glowing magic bean.

“But she had no mana left.” He muttered.

She placed carefully the bean on the ground and Liana touched her shoulders.

Myke saw the mana flow from Liana through the dryad and into the bean.

At the next moment, the bean started to grow. Its roots reached soon the water and in no time a big century-old looking oak was standing on the hill.

Liana fell to her knees breathing heavily.

The dryad placed her left hand on her forehead. “Thank you!”

“Liana, are you ok?”

“Yes, just give me a moment.”

He looked at the dryad. “Will you be safe here?”

“Yes, this spirit is safe now. Thank you for everything human.”

“Oh, my name is Myke. What is your name?”

The dryad's head hung. “This spirit still doesn’t have a name.” She looked at Myke and her eyes widened. “This spirit will be eternally grateful for all you did." She paused for a bit and took a deep breath. " It will be a great honor for this spirit to have Myke as a godfather!”

Myke’s mouth gaped open. “Who, me? Will it be ok if I give you a name?”

Liana gasped. “Myke wait!” She looked at him with wide-opened eyes.

“Naming a powerful magic creature has more to it then you may think.”

“How so?”

“It is a great honor to become a godfather for a powerful magical being like a dryad. Most of the great mages are dreaming about this their whole life.”

Myke frowned. “What is the big deal about this? I don’t get it.”

Liana took a deep breath. “You see, being a godfather of a magical being is a big deal. Your souls will be connected for life.”

“How is this even possible?”

“Naming is damn powerful magic. You will give her your magic essence and she will give you hers. She will evolve but so will you. The naming creates an eternal bond between your souls in the Soul Network.”

Myke muttered. “So, this is how it is. In many mythologies, the name has great power.”

The dryad spoke to Myke with a lowered head. “This spirit can see the true virtue of Myke. This spirit will be honored to have such an amazing godfather.”

He looked at the Dryad and lowered his head. “It will be an honor for me to become your godfather”.

Liana was on her feet again. “This is great! I can’t believe I will witness this!“ She rushed to Myke. „Ok, Myke stand here.” She pointed a spot in front of the dryad.

“And you stand here.” She arranged both of them to face each other.

“Place your hands on her shoulders.” She took a deep breath. “Now Myke chant the first part of the spell.”

“With the power within me, I shall give you a name.”

Myke’s hands started glowing. This spell was much different than the firebolt spell Myke was used to. It was in the natural language and required the acceptance of the other party to be activated.

“This spirit accepts you as her godfather.”

The dryad started glowing in dim green light.

“From now on you shall be known as Dryas.”

Myke started also to glow in the same dim green light. He felt how a magic connection between them established.

“I accept this name. From now on I shall be known as Dryas the queen of the dryads.”

Myke heard Liana exclaiming loud from the side.

At the next moment, he was blinded from bright light. He felt his mana being sucked and saw the dryad in front of him growing bigger.

Intense pain struck every fiber of his body. He felt something changing within him.

Trembling from the pain and blinded from the bright light he lost the track of the passing time.

As he got back to his senses, he was kneeling on one knee on the ground and leaning on the other breathing heavily.

The HUD was distorted but rapidly adapting to the changes. What was visible was the empty mana bar.

He heard a sobbing sound and looked at it.

There was Liana on her knees sobbing and bowing to the dryad.

“My queen please accept this vampire as your loyal servant.”

„What happened?“ He muttered and looked at the dryad.

Breathtaking beauty in her twenties with a crown on her head stood before him.

„Thank you, Myke! I knew you were the right choice to be my godfather. “

„Dryas? Is this you?“ Myke‘s mouth and eyes widened.

„Yes, I waited so long to find you, but the waiting was worth it. You exceeded all my expectations, Myke.” She smiled. “With your help, I was able to evolve much more than I imagined.“

Myke could feel the connection with the queen. Through her, he felt a connection to the forest and all the creatures in it too.

„From now on the forest will be your friend and guide. I have to go now to complete the transformation but we will talk when I‘m finished.“

Myke smiled. „Talk to you later Dryas.“ He used his last bits of strength to keep from collapsing.

„One more thing before I go.“ She came closer and handed him a magic bean. „This is our daughter Myke. Protect her and find a suitable place to plant her.“

Myke was speechless and before he could say anything the queen disappeared in the big oak.

With his last strength gone, Myke fell on the ground and let the darkness claim him.

The red dots on the radar were now green and he could feel them watching for his safety.

When he opened his eyes it was already the middle of the day.

He was laying on the ground for a while, there was a lot to process.

The queen wasn’t the only creature that evolved.

Myke could hear the and feel all the creatures in the vicinity and he was able to focus on every one of them.

His body monitoring showed lots of changes and improvements. Bigger and stronger muscles, harder bones, better senses.

But the biggest change was right in front of his eyes on the HUD.

600/600 MP

He continued with the analysis in the background and looked around.

Liana was still bowing and sobbing. She looked at Myke and jumped on her feet right away.

She was looking at him with big eyes.

„What’s up Liana? Do you know when Dryas will out?”

“She is a dryad queen!”

“Yes?”

“Dryad queens are legendary creatures. They may appear once in a thousand years. Some people don’t even believe they exist.” She was talking with a trembling voice.

“So, this is a big deal?”

“Are you kidding me? You are the godfather of a dryad queen.”

“So when is she coming out?”

“We don’t have to wait for her. She may be inside for months. But don’t worry about this, you will be the first to know. You are her godfather for god's sake!”

“Oh good, let’s go then.”

He took his stuff and started walking. Liana looked after him with an opened mouth but then she took quickly her stuff and ran after him.

The forest was his friend. The magic of the forest was now on his disposal and integrated with his HUD. It was now easy for him to find the quickest way to Postgard.

“Hey Liana, the queen gave me this. Told me it is our daughter.”

Myke thought Liana's eyes couldn’t get bigger but now he was proven wrong.

“No way!" She screamed. "Hide it good and protect it! Lots of stupid bastards will readily risk their lives for it!”

Myke put it with shaking hands in his inner pocket and created a carbon fiber barrier around it. Maybe it was the connection with the queen, but he was ready to protect it with his life.

The forest was amazing, and the rest of the journey was like a pleasant walk in the park.

“Liana, I wanted to ask you something for a while now. I saw you multiple times now using magic without chanting and magic circles. How is this possible?”

“And you are the one to ask this question!” She smirked. “These are my magic abilities. Some are vampire race-specific and are inborn and some I acquired later.“

“So these abilities are like an instant spell?”

“Not at all. They are part of me. I can feel them and use them like I use my hands.”

“I see”

They soon reached the end of the Great Forest of Northdryad.

Myke smiled looking at the night lights of Postguard in the distance.