The Black Lake Mirrors The Heavens

Lex knew intellectually how to break horses. Whether it's in an alehouse or the smithy he apprenticed in, people talked about horses. While Lex never made enough money to buy one himself, Lex had heard about them all his life. So he took all the horse tack he could carry, a saddle, breastplate, syrups, halters, bridles, and rains. Anything they could find that could help, he took.

When they were ready and dressed in their deft enchanted inquisitor armor, Equinacum and Lex left the Inn. They traveled fast through the forest at incredible speeds. She led the way while he followed behind at a steady pace. The trees rushed past them as they followed a winding trail through the forest.

"Capt. Franco said, you couldn't love; what does that mean? Do you think the captain is a romantic?" Lex asked.

He didn't know why he brought up the captain. Maybe he was still a little angry at the captain for trading Lex's life for the mission. Lex understood it; he might have done the same. But that didn't mean he had to like it or the captain for making such a quick decision. If the captain didn't die, the Lex would give the man a hard time one day.

Equinacum giggled. "We call him the inquisitor because he keeps coming back to life when he's killed. Mother says he used to be her lover. I don't see it; there wasn't much between them sexually or otherwise back there. He could have been embarrassed, but that's not what I felt. As far as passion and lusts go, Capt. Franco was dead inside." Equinacum said.

"He said none of you can love. What did he mean by that?" Lex asked.

She leaped over a ditch, turned left, and sprinted over logs while he followed. For a moment, she said nothing, and all he could hear were the sounds of nature and the soft thud of their feet. "We don't love. It's that simple. We are manifestations of passion and lust. Some of us can go out of our way to favor another, we can make trades that are unfavorable to ourselves, and we can even act almost human. But it's all an illusion. We are creatures of lust and passion; we are made of and what we desire. Don't tell me, have you fallen for me? Do you love me? Is that why you're lust for me tastes so sweet?" Equinacum asked.

Lex felt a bit flustered at her sudden attention. Getting his thoughts in order was difficult. Demons didn't love; they fed upon emotions. Could something that couldn't truly care about him be trusted? Or could they care and not love. He felt more confused than ever. Lex punched a nearby tree and watched it shatter. Bark, wood chips, and sap blasted through the forest as the tree began to fall.

"That was foolish of you," Equinacum said.

"What the hell? Why would you do that to my wife?" Lex stopped and turned to see a moss-covered man with bark-covered skin. Lex felt the heat from the man, qi condensation 7th to 9th stage. A dryad fell out of the tree Lex had just punched. Half of her body was gone, and she was losing fluids quickly.

"I'm sorry, I thought she was just another tree." Lex took a step back as vines shot out the ground where he had been.

The old man hugged the dryad to his body. "It's ok. I'll make you better, I promise." Barbed brown roots flowed out of her body and crept over his arms. He either didn't see them or refused to stop the dryad. Finally, she screeched like no animal he'd ever heard and pulled the wizard into herself. "No, don't do this. You love me, Willow, you love me." Lex heard a horrible crunching sound as the druid's body was broken to fit inside the dryad. The wizard's screams of agony quickly turned into gurgles.

She pulled his body into herself as more roots ripped into him, drinking his blood. A red tinge appeared, overtaking her once green complexion, and the tree that he destroyed continued to fall.

"Lex, can you taste the passion, the lust for life, and despair. Humans anthropomorphize that which isn't human. If the druid had accepted her as dryad instead of a woman, this might not have happened to him. She might even care for him in her own way. But, without her tree, she had no choice but to become predatory. In the state between life and death, the meal she chose didn't matter. No one is above their nature." Equinacum said.

The dryad quickly came to her senses and realized what she had done. She gripped her face and howled to the heavens. Bloody tears ran down her cheeks, and she glared at Lex. He felt it, a familiar connection in the form of a karmic bond. From the moment he bonded with Zhan, he'd become more sensitive to destiny. Lex drew Gram; if left alive, this dryad would stop at nothing to destroy him.

He fell into his own nature, and instincts unlike anything he's ever felt overtook him. It made him feel like his next decision was correct. He cut off its head and caught it in midair while roots shot from it. A corona of swirling blue cascaded around him, freezing the head solid. Lex tossed it on the ground and watched it shatter.

There was a shift at the edge of his senses; he turned quickly to where the dryad's body had been. His eyes widened; it had already tunneled halfway underground. Lex shook as he desperately resisted the urge to destroy everything between him and the dryad. If it escaped, they would have a reckoning one day. It would happen when he could least afford it. It would attack until the karma he'd sown today was paid.

He turned to Equinacum, who only watched the scene play out. She could have stopped the dryad from escaping or warned him but chose not to. Naturally, some would see that as a betrayal.

"Why didn't you stop her?" Lex said in a deceptively calm voice.

"To teach you a lesson. You attacked the dryad as you would a human. I suspect you won't act that way again. Dryads are particularly violent when their trees or mate are endangered. You destroyed both; she will do whatever she can to destroy you. This lesson will break any notion of treating nonhumans as humans. She will be a thorn in your side and the side of this land for decades to come. Only when she is ready will she strike even if it could take centuries." Equinacum said.

The karmic bond had formed, and one day she would come. Lex shook his head. He may not survive the year, let alone decades. If the dryad wanted to get her revenge, she'd need to get in line. He wouldn't worry about her until things settle down here.

They returned to the run making good time is across the forest.

After hours of traveling, they arrived at their destination in time to see a show. Naiads danced over the clear reflective water of the black river. The lake itself appeared at night as a great black mirror reflecting everything above it, including the full moon. Fireflies flitted up and spun, creating cyclones of light, river monsters sprung up from the mirrored surface, snatching colonies of bugs from the air, and all the while, the naiads kissed, danced, and made love in the moonlight. Their delicate feet stood upon the river's surface as if it were a dance floor, and they only fell beneath the waves when they needed to escape one another.

Equinacum moaned in happiness at the naiads displays. Soon, he heard the galloping of hooves, and a chill fell upon the river. The naiads giggled and danced more brazenly than before, twirling, dipping, and leaping as a herd of nightmares arrived. He could feel them; each was a bonfire, all their own. Their manes were bright blues, pinks, greens, and reds with hair so fine they appeared as flames dancing in the breeze. They bit, fought, pranced, and kicked at one another. Some even allowed the naiads to mount them to ride them around the river's edge. Finally, a couple of the more adventurous nightmares partnered up and began mating under the moonlight.

Another moan escaped his demon friend; this one was longer and more profound than the one before. The image of naiads, nightmares, and a lake that mirrored the heavens would undoubtedly make an excellent painting. As a favor to Equinacum, he hadn't made any moves to disturb the nightmares. But he had his own agenda.

Lex waited to make his move until the nightmares settled and were grazing. Then he searched for the right one. Minutes later, Lex narrowed down his search to the stallions. Finally, Lex found the one he wanted and positioned himself in its grazing path, and waited. It was a stallion but not just any stallion; this one had mated five times.

The stallion had all the characteristics that made it an ideal target. After mating so many times, it was tired. Its red mane was the longest and wildest; to him, that made it the most aesthetically pleasing. It was already making its way to Lex's hiding place.

It was tired and hungry. So when it finally came within a few meters of the bush Lex hid behind, it didn't notice him. The stallion's flame had weakened, so Lex tossed a lasso around its neck.

The second he pulled the lasso tight, the stallion knew it was caught; it shrieked and bellowed, warning the rest of the herd. The naiads shrieked as the nightmares quickly fled from the river's edge. The stallion glared at him, and Lex knew this was going to be a fight.