Warrior of the Moon

23

Serena could hardly believe the numbers that had joined her at the Rill. She could not make out the whole crowd through the trees of Lymeryth, so she had to depend on the statistics she was given by the leaders of each group. About a thousand from Reverie, with a couple hundred joining them from other stretches of Lake Muiress. Three thousand from Harmony River, five thousand from Serenity Lake in Serenity Point, twenty thousand from all along the length of the Reaching Rill, the Realm's largest river. Another five thousand from Lilia's Basin, a lake toward the north, and more from other bodies of water Serena was told as each leader came to greet her, but forgot just as soon.

The tree nymphs had not disappointed her either. They lived far less scattered across the Realm than the water nymphs did. With the latter, the only place they really tried to condense themselves was in Reverie, to be near their queen. Other than that, they tried to spread out, give each other space to enjoy their water as best they could. Tree nymphs had no such boundaries.

Twenty-five thousand tree nymphs had emerged from Lymeryth to fight with her, along with fifteen thousand from Delnoque Woods up near Kraedia and about the same from Crescent Grove that was just northeast of Elvestone. Even the nymphs of Auris Grove, a small forest that lay just beyond the farmland north of Ryadynn, had managed to send her three thousand. There were thousands more from the various groves and copses of trees across the Realm that had heard her beckoning through the magic the tree nymphs possessed.

All in all, it sounded as though nigh on a hundred thousand nymphs had come out to fight for her and the future she sought to carry the Realm into. It was astonishing to see. Tarin's own armies did not even double the figure she had managed to call up, and she still thought that more would join her as she led them into victories. She could understand why they might be hesitant, even if Muiress had given her her blessing. They did not know her yet, did not know what she was willing to do for them besides what she had said. She would have to prove it to earn all of their trust.

She now stood in conference with all the major tree nymph elders and water nymph theti - what they called those who governed the way things ran in their particular forests or bodies of water. Will and Hammel remained with her as well, as her group of attendants flitted amongst the forces, telling them to make themselves comfortable in the Rill or in Lymeryth until it was time to move. A map was laid out before her on the stump of a tree, and they were examining it closely.

There had been a few skirmishes already, as Celestine seemed to have at least small companies of Infernals camped everywhere, along with Infernal bounty hunters like Tank and Garnoc who were out hunting for Serena. They must have been damn surprised to suddenly be surrounded by the essences of the nature around them. Until they died, anyway.

"Twenty thousand are advancing on Ocette, Majesty. A company from the city has already ridden out to meet them," said the thetus of the White Channel, a river that branched off from the Reaching Rill toward the south.

Serena could have sworn the weight of the crown on her head felt heavier in moments like these, when her people were being directly threatened. "Do we still think Elvestone is their ultimate destination?" she asked aloud.

An elder nodded, his emerald eyes grave. She found that she remembered this one from when he introduced himself to her. He had bronze hair that seemed flecked with gold in the sunlight, his skin dark and smooth. None of this was unusual for a tree nymph, but upon telling her that he had met Tarin a few weeks ago and helped him escape Infernals that were coming for him and his Wolves, she had become intensely interested in him. His name was Maeloc, and the nymphs of southern Lymeryth had elected them their elder due to the way he spoke up for them to the general about gaining a Council seat.