What's next?

Seedlings

You took the long way back to your castle; parading around in the king's cartridge and collecting a list of issues from each town or village as you went and giving out Coronation gifts so that the towns could celebrate your coronation without expense to themselves. This was standard practice for a new king even if it cost the kingdom money it made the people happy. You could see that visible stone markers had already started to be placed along the border of the Whispering Wood.

You arrived back to your castle with your new staff and were welcomed warmly by your mother. The staff were terrified by even a dragon as small as Perscitia but found her quite friendly. She moved her hord out of the courtyard into an empty building. Later this would be adapted to what became known as The Dragon Keep. A few days after moving in you heard a whisper on the wind in the dead of night "Come into the wood."

You left Sofia in your bed and got dressed in sensable trousers and a jacket modified for your wings. You snuck out of your castle, you would have to punish your guards for not spotting such an obvious person moving around the castle late at night. You went unarmed into the woods as instructed.

Wind and whispers lead you to a grove in which lay the Dryad, Whisper. She looked heavily pregnant and was in labour.

"Arrrghhhaa!" She screamed. "The argg, seedling are coming."

"I'm here, I will help however I can." You replied.

About half an hour of screaming and soothing later you saw the first thing emerging from Whisper's birth canal. You gently helped the baby out. It looked very similar to Whisper with green skin and with roots instead of feet but had blue scales instead of bark in patches and a tail, no wings she was also female. "AAAAAAAAAAAAARR, Plant ah, her!" Whisper screamed.

There was no umbilical cord so you quickly dug a hole in the soft earth and placed her little root legs in. She crawled to the side as her mother screamed again. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"

This repeated 5 more times and by now dawn had broken. There were 6 seedlings in total, 3 male and 3 female each able to crawl despite being newborn. Whisper was pannting hard and barely conscious. You were exhausted. "Take one male and one female and raise them as your children." Whisper whispered weakly. "They can grow feet to walk on stone if needed." She explained.

As she said that a deer jumped through the grove and came to cower by Whisper. "What is it, my friend," Whisper asked the deer.

The deer barked (yes they make a barking sound look it up) and Whisper seemed to understand it. She looked at you in fear. "Take the seedling and flee wicked men are coming!" She instructed panicked.

"I am a worrier and the King, I will not run from my subjects, they will be punished for breaking the law." You declared in a noble tone.

"But you have no weapon." Whisper argued.

Before you could respond An arrow came flying cutting your cheak as it passed then stuck into a tree. The seedlings all started crying and huddled at Whispers legs (her feet being underground as normal).

Woosh

Three arrows were released along with now audible shouts and cries from the men. The deer dropped dead and a man shouted: "I got it!"

Woosh

Two more arrows You heard a cry and saw one of the seedlings struck, a boy. He fell instantly. You then felt a sharp searing pain as the other arrow struck you in the leg. "AH!"You screamed.

"NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Cried Whisper in grief and agony and vines and thorns started growing out the ground surrounding you