Battling the guilt

Chief Bran had told us it would take about a week to get the caravans prepared for the trek to the druids grove, the Emerald Heart. In this time i explored the woods surrounding Maya, practised my archery and spent a lot of time strengthening the bond with my wolfhound companion which i had decided to call Gallant.
 
The week went by and then we were on our way to the Emerald Heart, which was in the deepest parts of the Tal'ahm woods. The trek took a few days so my companions and i talked about various things to pass the time. We even discussed Gurvel's preference for milk, he loved milk so much that even if the milk was sour he would not be able to tell the difference. Also Arthom kept getting annoyed by Gurval whenever Gurval shouted Arthom's name to get his attention. The funny thing was Gurval did not seem to notice the annoyance on Arthom's face and would continue to call out to him throughout the trek. At one point Ko Rava made a slight joke about Arthom's size and Arthom retaliated by casting a spell which caused fleas to crawl all over her. Syrus gave Ko Rava some ointment to help with the flea bites and i offered her a drink from my flask to distract her from the pain. Myself and Zyanya reprimanded Arthom for picking on Ko like that since Ko was a kid, plus i felt protective of my Leishu companion. That being said I should probably stop occasionally offering her alcohol.
 
As we were getting closer to the Emerald Heart the forest canopy was getting thicker limiting the sunlight that was streaming through. Growing up surrounded by trees I felt at ease in these surroundings. For some reason Gurvel forgot where we were going and asked Arthom if he knew. Not satisfied with Arthom's answer he asked me and I responded that we were going to Arthom's homeland of the Emerald Heart where Arthom's friends were. Gurvel shouted out to Arthom that he was surprised Arthom had friends which got me wondering if Arthom's friends were as grumpy as he was.
 
We arrived at the Emerald Heart and my first thought was how beautiful it was. The walls and roofs of the dwellings were made out of thick tree roots. Small trees sprouted from the rooftop and their various branches stretched towards the sky. Also small streams of water wound around some of the dwellings. We were greeted by Arthom's master Illyana Slatara and ss she lead us towards the centre of the grove she spoke briefly about the inhabitants. Some were druids who were primal shifters and the other druids were dreamwalkers who had the important task of keeping the nightmares at bay. She also talked briefly about some of the druids worshipped the almighty god Skipan. Gurval made an offhand comment about how silly Skipan sounded, which prompted Arthom to tell off Gurvel about being disrespectful of his fellow druids beliefs in his home. Ko Rava commented further and then Arthom started arguing with her. Ko Rava and Gurval always seemed to get on Arthom's nerves. Illyana then slammed her staff on the ground and the sound of a high pitched bird screech filled the air. I got the impression Master Illyana was someone you did not want to anger.
 
She then introduced to the dreamwalker called Master Tevitavi, who had an idea of how my companions and i could help with the problems they were experiencing in this grove. He suggested that Ailill put us to sleep and then our dreams would lure the creatures that were causing the nightmares. Then once the creatures were focused on our dreams the dreamwalkers would vanquish them. I was a bit apprehensive at the idea of being used as bait, but then Ailill assured us he would wake us up if it got too dangerous. After some contemplation my companions and I agreed go ahead with the plan. They took us to an empty dwelling in the grove and then Ailill proceeded to put us to sleep. As i started to fall asleep i saw Gallant come sit next to me to protect me from any harm while i slept.
 
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Shortly after i found myself standing on sunny grassland. There was a city in the distance and just ahead of me was Syrus. What looked like a large Phoenix loomed above Syrus and i heard it say to Syrus 'I know you will find your way'. Whatever the Phoenix had said to him seemed to make him sad, so i went over to comfort Syrus and placed my hand on his shoulder. He flinched at my touch telling me not to touch him and asked what i was doing here. I told him i did not know why i was here and or who had sent me here. Next minute we heard a loud wolf howl and the head of the Phoenix changed into a wolf. Pale moonlight seemed to blend in with the bright sunlight around it. It looked to me and asked why i had left my tribe and the people who knew me best. I responded that I needed to discover who I was outside of my tribe. It proceeded to say i was nothing without my tribe and i was cruel to leave my betrothed. The guilt that i had been feeling at leaving my tribe then clouded my thoughts, the same guilt that left me at a loss for words everytime i tried to write a letter to my family.
 
The wolf head and its bird body started to twist at weird angles and then it turned into an enormous, grotesque, gangly looking bird with elongated talons, sunken black eyes and a long sharp beak. A rusty crown sat atop it's head and i wondered if this was one of the nightmare creatures that were plauging the Emerald Heart. The creature then swiped its talons at us but luckily we were able to dodge the attack. I then shot an arrow into the creature's chest and moonlight started streaming out of the wound, Syrus also wounded it with an arrow. The creature then attempted to slam its crown at Syrus who flew out of the way, and a second later he dived down slashing the crown in half. Bright white light streamed out of the crown engulfing the creature and then the creature was gone. I felt as though a heavy burden was lifted off my shoulders and was glad to have fought alongside my Solen companion instead of against him. I gave him a high five and this time he did not flinch. A Phoenix and Wolf then appeared in the sky standing side by side. I sensed a strong godly aura surrounding them both and felt that it was almighty Skipan looking down at me. I had a feeling the Phoenix was Syrus's god and thought if both our gods could stand side by side without any animosity there was hope for Syrus and i.
 
I woke up to a chaotic scene and there were with sounds of a commotion outside. I could see Mura and Ailill fighting a bunch of small, sickly looking baby dragons. The small dragons had no eyes and thick green dust trailed in the air after them. I turned to my side and saw Gallant had also locked his jaws on one of the small dragons and was thrashing it about on the ground. In the commotion some of the dust got into Ko Rava eyes which caused her aim to be off and she accidentally shot Syrus in the chest with her arcane bolt. Luckily Gurval was able to heal him and then i shot an arrow at one of the dragons with my bow which killed it instantly. My companions and I vanquished the remaining baby dragons and afterwards I noticed someone else had been in the room with us. She looked similar to an elf except for the small fangs and bloodshot eyes. I could see she was avoiding us so i did not make any attempts to talk to her.
 
After the commotion in the grove had died down Master Illyana informed us that those creatures were children of the nightmare dragons. Thanks to our help the nightmare dragons had been defeated and balance had now been restored in the Emerald Heart. She also mentioned that the druids who were trapped in the prolonged sleep were waking up. I was glad that we were able to help the druids, now we just needed to solve the problem of those pesky Leylines.