CHAPTER 21

Edmund

I still can't wrap my head around the fact that Bianca is a dryad. That is just… incredible.

Dryads have always been the most captivating of all supernatural creatures, exactly because they are so elusive. They refuse to show themselves even to other supernatural creatures, and their powers are beyond belief. However, it takes a dryad a long time to learn all those powers and to be able to control them properly. Bianca still has a long time to go before she can wield them the way a true dryad would, but that would all come in due time. I'm sure of it. This is simply one of those things that can't be forced, no matter what one does.

I could feel something special about her. I thought it was simply the fact that I was attracted to her, and that was why I was drawn to her, but now I realize what it was all along. She is a supernatural being, just like me. Only, she is even more special. She just doesn't know her own strength yet.

I've seen her doubt herself so many times. It always saddened me to see that. Hopefully, now she will recognize herself for the brave warrior that she has always been destined to be.

We find our way back to the old factory, and she seems to be glowing, unable to stop looking at her fingers, which keep sprouting branches and leaves, only to withdraw back into her.

"How do you feel?" I ask her.

She slows down her pace, her gaze still fixated on her fingers.

"I don't know," she admits. "This makes no sense."

"Does it have to make any sense?" I chuckle.

She lifts her gaze to meet mine. Her eyes seem even brighter now, a shade of blue I have never seen before in anyone.

"You know, I was always hoping to find out something about my past, something that would shed some light on who I am," she says longingly. "Now that I know who I am… that is, what I am, this only created even more questions in my mind about where I came from."

"Like what?"

"Like, did my parents just leave me there, for the shifters to find me?" she wonders. I can hear the melancholy in her voice, her yearning for answers.

"Why would you think that?" I ask her.

"Why else would a baby be by the side of the road?"

"Are you sure that was the truth?"

Her eyes widen at this question. It becomes instantly clear that she never questioned this explanation. She took it for granted that she was found in that way, but was she really?

"I wouldn't put it past the shifters to have done something to your parents, then took you in and waited for you to figure out you were a dryad," I wonder.

"But how would I have known that on my own?"

I shrug. "Maybe they're looking for the well as well. The well would have awakened your true self, but only once you were ready for it. Like I said, Nature knows what it's doing. It knows when to awaken whom, and how long a secret must be kept. This was obviously the right moment for your awakening." I smile. "I'm glad I was there, by your side."

"Me, too," she smiles back. She looks down at her fingers again. They seem even greener now. But it is the most beautiful shade of green. "Do you think my other powers will come soon?"

"That depends." I don't want to lie to her. "It could happen in a few days, few months, even a few years."

"Years?" she frowns.

"Mhm," he nods. "It's not just something you can do when you feel like it. I mean, it will become like that later on. But the first time, something needs to awaken it first."

"Like what?"

"I don't know," I admit. "To be honest, I never had to teach a dryad how to use her powers."

"Glad I'm the first one," she grins.

"The only one," I correct her.

I don't know if she ignores my comment willingly or because she really didn't hear me, but she steers our conversation back to her powers.

"I'm afraid that I won't know what to do," she confesses, her voice down to a whisper.

"You will," I say, without a shred of a doubt. "Us supernatural creatures are close to Nature, close to who we truly are. Humans have nothing special about them. They were special, a long time ago, but they chose to turn their back to these special powers they possessed, and of course, Mother Nature took them away. Now, they are… ordinary. Nothing special. Just living their ordinary lives, and that's all. We, on the other hand, are different. You think you won't know what to do but trust me… you will. The knowledge will come to you. The skills to do so as well. You will be ready in that perfect moment when readiness is demanded of you."

She listens, then seems to ponder on my words. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely positive," I nod. "Don't doubt yourself."

"That's all I've ever done," she reveals. "I never thought I was good enough for anything."

"This proves exactly the opposite," I tell her, gesturing at her fingers. "You are absolutely marvelous."

"Do you really think so?"

I fear that maybe I've crossed that line which we haven't spoken about. This probably isn't the best moment to start that topic. Maybe when the well is found, and we can all go back home. Maybe she would want to join me. But that is something I have to ease her into. I can't just throw it at her like this, out of the blue.

I can't stop smiling. My heart is full. Although the well is still to be unearthed, but there is something about this newfound knowledge that assures me my deepest desires could come true. Now I only have to see if she–

"Edmund?" Her voice interrupts my train of thought, as she grabs me by the lower arm.

I can see exactly what she is looking at. There is a war raging on. The shifters managed to find our hide away somehow, and they forced all the vampires out. Now, the two sides were fighting, with vampires losing the battle.

I can see Kano, fighting with all his might. All the other vampires are trying to stay on their feet, but the shifters have them outnumbered. Even with us added, there are still many more of them. Still, retreat is not an option. There is no such word in a vampire's dictionary. We fight for what we believe. We fight for what we consider ours.

This time, I know we have come on their territory, but that is because a long time ago, they appropriated something that did not belong to them. It belonged to others, to us among those others. Now, we are here to take that well back, whether they like it or not.

We take it back, or we die trying. We have come with that thought in mind. If that means we leave our hearts on this land, so be it.

"What do we do?" Bianca asks, her voice trembling. Her grip on my arm is becoming stronger.

I can see she's afraid, but at the same time, I know she won't back down. I have never seen a coward in her. I saw many things, but never that. I noticed fear in those beautiful blue eyes many times, but even in fear, one can still be courageous. Just by choosing to stay here, with us, she has chosen courage. She has chosen to stand and fight. That alone is enough to show me what kind of a woman she is, the kind any creature, supernatural or ordinary, would be proud to have by his side as a partner for life.

I silently vow to make her mine forever, if we survive this. But first, there is something that she needs to know, something she needs to do. The shackles of the past are heavy. They are very difficult to break. I need to know where she stands on this.

I understand how difficult it must be to turn her back on everything, even with the shifters thinking her a traitor. This is a choice she herself must make, to show everyone, most importantly to herself, where she stands.

I turn to her. "This is your chance to prove your loyalty," I tell her, feeling like something is gripping me by the throat harder and harder with each said word. "If you fight me… if you fight the other vampires, the shifters might take you back. They might be convinced that your loyalty lies with them and not with us."

She immediately grabs me by the hands. Her fingers sprout branches, intertwining them with my fingers, keeping us connected. She doesn't want to let go. Neither do I.

"I would never do that," she tells me. "You are the one my loyalty lies with. I know they took me in and protected me, but they didn't trust me when I needed them the most. They became my enemy when I haven't done anything wrong. I can't have my loyalty lie with them, because they don't deserve it. You do."

"Bianca…" I say only her name, not really able to choose the right words, but I can see that she is able to read my mind. She knows exactly what I want to say, but still choose to keep it silent.

She quickly presses her lips to mine, then pulls away. Her cheeks are flared. Her hair is flying around her face, her locks framing it to perfection. She looks like a goddess, a warrior in her own right. I have absolutely no doubt that she will know exactly what to do in order to awaken all of her powers and use them on her enemies.

"Are you ready?" I ask.

It doesn't take her even a single second to nod. I can see she is ready. She was born for this moment, only she didn't know it.