Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves: The Druid's Call by E.K. Johnston

Author:E.K. Johnston [Johnston, E.K.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Random House Worlds
Published: 2023-02-28T00:00:00+00:00

Even the Neverwinter Wood could be wracked by storms. The weather was strange and warm, but above and beyond the forest, normal skies brought rain and snow in accordance with the seasons. A deluge would fall in the north of the forest, and the southern creeks would swell days later in response. It was the way of things in the woods—as ferocious as the world outside, but fierce in different ways.

She kept an eye on the sky, waiting for the storms to come. When she lived in the attic, sometimes clouds would block her window and rain would fall. Other times, the window would be laced with frost and snow would cover the ground. That did not happen here, and after a time, she stopped being quite so watchful.

The first sign was that the forest grew quiet.

The bird calls ceased, and even the insects were still. It was as if everything were holding its breath, waiting for something to happen. She stuck her head out of the shelter, trying to see what was wrong. The forest animals usually gave some sort of signal if there was danger, like a predator or an angry wild boar, but now they, too, were silent.

She crawled out of the shelter and stood up. She was still so small, though she burst at the seams of her clothes. When the flood came, it swept her away as easily as if she were a dry pine branch leaning against a washed-out hill.

Her first instinct was to kick. She flailed wildly, trying to keep her head above the rushing water. She had taught herself a little bit of swimming, but this wasn’t a simple float or bath in the friendly and familiar creek. This was a raging torrent that pulled her inexorably on, and fighting it sapped her energy much faster than she expected. Before long, even keeping her head above water was almost more than she could handle.

A flash of white caught her eye, and she tried to look up into the bright blue sky. The leaves on the trees made it hard to focus, splitting light around them, and the water demanded her attention, but soon enough she locked eyes on something familiar. The owl was above her, gliding on peaceful wings that belied the frothy waters in which she struggled. It couldn’t help her. Even if the water were calm, its wings were too soft and would quickly become waterlogged. In the face of the rushing flood, the owl could only watch and wait.

She knew she didn’t have much time. Each breath was a struggle; each fight to break the surface was one step closer to being her last. She felt the rage of the water all around her, but she couldn’t focus enough to do anything like she had when she watched the owl hunt. Her mind was in a panic, unable to draw on memory or any instinct beyond the fight to breathe. She watched the owl fly away and wanted to scream, but she knew that if she did, it would only hasten her end.

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