Hidden Magic

Chapter Thirty-Nine

"I haven't always been the best with animals, but the mid-term finals rely on me having a significant interaction with one of the creatures the professor hasn't helped us with yet, he gave us a list of options, but apart from the little I've read in the textbook, I don't know what half of these are. I figured with you being in Dagda branch you might be able to help me?" I was feeling nervous, unsure how he would react, not only that but a little embarrassed that I had to ask in the first place.

Kaiden looks at me with a raised eyebrow, no doubt finding my red cheeks and softly spoken words amusing. "Oh, so just because I am Dagda branch I have to be good with animals huh? Did you think that those from Dagda branch are good with animals just because Professor David is from Dagda branch?" My eyes widen and I stare at him in horror, oh sira, I had done exactly that, I was so stupid, why didn't I think this over more, maybe even ask him if he liked animals, great way to have a relationship, I knew nothing about Kaiden apparently, oh sira, what if he wanted to break up with me after this, I don't know if I could handle that.

My spiralling thoughts skid to an abrupt halt as warm hands cup my cheeks, I look at Kaiden in shock as he stares down at me with a wide smile. "Calm down, I was just messing with you. For your information though, those of us chosen for Dagda branch generally do have a good connection with animals, if only because we have a strong connection with nature. But I also am a very big animal person, I have multiple pets that I keep in my rooms, but let's not talk about how many cats I may or may not have. I am helping you with your zoology midterms." Now I wasn't the only one with red cheeks, but I was okay with that now that I knew I hadn't offended him.

"Okay, so let's look at your list, you're probably looking for a tougher one to do rather than an easy one, so you get a higher grade, right? Do you know what a Dryad is?" I tilted my head at him, completely confused, having no idea at all what that was. "Okay, I can see by your face that you don't, so human folklore calls them nature spirits, but in truth when a tree surpasses a thousand's years, its essence transforms into a dryad, and that tree is its home, so you can only find dryads in old growth trees, and because it is getting closer to winter, with snow probably only a few days, they are very hard to rouse, but I'll show you a trick on how to summon one out of the warmth of the tree." I follow him as he leads me towards the forest surrounding the academy, I growl in annoyance as I catch a flash of blonde hair in the corner of my vision.

"What's wrong?" Kaiden looks at me with confusion, which was fair given the angry noise I just released when I was following him, I glance around for a moment, unable to help myself, even if I know I won't see what I want to.

"Nothing, nothing is wrong, let's just go." He looks at me with a raised eyebrow, his feet staying firmly in place, letting me know that we weren't moving until I explained myself. "Okay, for the past few weeks, I could swear I see blonde hair in the corner of my eye, a shadow watching me, I don't feel threatened or anything, but I could swear it's that stranger from Arynni branch, but as soon as I think I might see him, he's gone when I look, it's just annoying, because I know he is watching me, but for some reason he just doesn't want to see me, he doesn't approach me, and he knows who I am, well I know what he looks like and not much else, it's just a little annoying that's all." I huff, panting after my long rant, obviously it had been bugging me more than I had thought it was.

It felt really good to tell someone, to maybe find out if I wasn't just imagining him after all, that he really was watching me. "Well, I'll keep an eye out for him. I don't know why he is being a coward and keeping his distance, but we'll sort him out eventually or we'll send him off." He grabs my hand and lightly tags me along so we continue walking. "So, you won't really find dryads in the human world, they've cut down many of their oldest trees, so they're generally only found in the mirror world pockets we inhabit that still have traces of old world magic, clean from the humans pollution. Dryad's prefer warm weather when all the flowers are blooming, and spring is in full swing, they tend to retreat from the cold weather, hiding in their trees, but do you know that best way to get a dryad out of her tree into cold weather?" He looks at me expectantly as if he believes I should know the answer, when I hardly know anything about them, luckily he smirks at me with excitement and gives me the answer before too long. "Flattery. Think of them like plants, or any remotely sentiment being, they love compliments, best way to get them out, is to show them flattery." He concentrates on the ground, growing a beautiful colorful flower, much better than anything I've managed to grow so far.