Chapter 175 – Gardens

The core forest of the Dryad realm was no different from any other small town out there in the world if only looking quite strange with all the living tree trunks serving as homes and wide interwoven roots and branches replacing roads and bridges.

There was however one big difference.

There were no males.

Gorgeous looking Dryads with sexual bodies barely covered by such skimpy dresses, that Ladies from the night street back in Greenville town, would look dressed like nuns in comparison, skipped from tree to tree. Happy laughter and delight filled the streets of this heaven-like town that males could only dream of ever glimpsing at.

There were of course a few other minor differences like the absence of work inside the town as the only work Dryads performed was taking care of the entire Labyrinth, and the absence of cooked food as they had no need of sustenance in the usual sense. Dryads are spiritual beings of nature and could get all needed sustenance directly from the soil.

However, the entire core forest was filled with fruits and vegetables that allowed Noah to live there without worrying about food.

Noah followed after Dahlia passing through the streets toward the giant tree in the distance that toped over this entire forest town, standing right in its center.

This was the Palace Tree where the Queen and the mother of all Dryads in the Great Tree Labyrinth resided. This also was not their destination. After some time they turned to the side from the palace going around it until they reached an area where trees were a lot different from all the trees in the Labyrinth.

Long thick trunks with bark smooth as silk, branches that swirled around the trunk like a spiral staircase, and a lush crown on top of them stood at great distance from each other. At the very top their branches interwoven with each other made a wooden fence-like roof above the whole area. On the edges of the area, this branch roof went down to the earth creating a spherical-shaped wall. With sunlight streaming through their crown in beams, shining at the colorful floor full of flowers filling everything in between these colossal trees, this area looked like a greenhouse in the shape of a colossal dome standing on the natural pillars.

Gardens.

This was an area where different saplings of plants were birthed and grown. An area where the smallest of plant spiritual beings were kept under the protection of the most powerful of Dryads. All mighty guards of the gardens were forever on guard and were always in their true forms. This was where Noah saw the true shapes of Dryads for the first time when he came here two weeks ago.

Dahlia and her sister morphed into plant-like shapes when they helped Noah purify the garden around Threadweaver mansion. However, coming here Noah understood that this was far from what they really looked like.

A colossal mass of roots, branches, and sharp vines covered in a multitude of flowers and thorns spread like the hem of a dress under the forms of humanoid-like creatures that only distantly resembled womanly shapes from their waist up. Very distantly.

Their hair and their limbs looked like a mass of interwoven vines and branches just like the dress-like lower part, and only their bodies from the waist to the head somehow reminded Noah of the shape of mostly naked, green-skinned women. These women were dressed in bark-like sexy yet sturdy-looking armors with wide open areas at their bellies and deep neckline cuts, making it seem as if they wore brassiers or extremely skimpy dresses of belly dancers.

This was only the part that made them similar. However, every Dryad standing guard in Gardens was unique.

Some of them had thick mist seeping from between their mixed vines and branches, covering them in a perpetual fog.

Some had rocks and earth swirling around their limbs like small rumbling rivers.

Some had flickers of fire sparking from between their vines, seeming like they were smoldering from within.

Some had lots of small rustling leaves that kept producing quiet noise as if they were swaying on the wind that Noah could not feel, but quite visible constant blurry swirls proved its existence.

Some had metallic glints in their bodies, their limbs full of thorns and scythe-like forms looking as sharp as the best weapons crafted by humans. Every leaf reminded Noah of either sharp knives or steel needles.

Each had a unique characteristic and each had unique flowers that grew from their plant-like bodies. The name of each Dryad could easily be guessed from these flowers.

These dangerous-looking giants were the High Dryads. Second most powerful beings after the Queen and Protectors of the Gardens.

Just imagining any of these giant-like creatures freely teleporting through every wood, branch, and root within the forest, appearing at any random side from you, made Noah go weak in the knees. Within the forest, they were immortal weapons of mass murder that you would never wish to have as an enemy.

Coming to the Gardens entrance Noah gazed up at the High Dryad blocking his way and bowed. After that the vine-like body blocking his way parted, creating a path and Dahlia led the way entering the dark path before Noah.

When they passed through a tunnel in the dress-like lower part of High Dryad the path behind them closed, blocking the exit. At the same time, childish laughter came from behind the roots as a few small sapling-like-looking beings the size of Noah's palm ran away.

Noah smiled looking at the small plant beings that reminded him of carrots on legs with a flower instead of leaves on the top of their heads. They may not have looked like human children, but in their behavior, they were no different from any human kid. Small lumps of perpetual laughter and screams, that seemed to be in constant motion as they ran around playing in the massive garden under the dome.

Noah looked at them for a few moments with a gentle smile on his lips, but soon his good mood vaporized again as his gaze fell on the shape reminding him of a cocoon. As he moved his eyes through the whole area, these cocoons filled the entire place laying on all branches and at every giant root.

Dahlia kept walking leading Noah to the center of the Gardens, where he soon saw the gorgeous woman in a virident flowery dress.

Dryad Queen whom Noah accidentally met in the Throne hall of the Palace Tree that very first time when he used his dream skills on Dahlia and her sisters in the lower levels of the Labyrinth.

"Your Majesty." Said Noah bowing deeply when he and Dahlia walked over. "I apologize for making you wait for me." He added raising his head after the bow.

"It is alright, Young Noah. You need no apology." Answered the melodious voice that felt like gently reverberating inside Noah's body with her every word, creating a warm and nice feeling inside him. The human form of the Dryad Queen was of dreamy beauty that could mesmerize a man with just a simple blink of her sparkling eyes if thrown in a sensual or flirtatious manner. Her gentle smile would raise the mood even if you were mourning at the loss of the most dear person.

As she watched Noah bow she took a deep breath sighing gently.

"Your company, worth every second of that wait." Said Dryad Queen in a laughing tone making Noah gulp. Standing in her presence for too long felt dangerous, so he ought to make his interaction with her as short as possible. He did not wish to end his life as a hypnotized fool at her feet forever crawling after her as a loyal pet.

"I hope it is indeed so, Your Majesty."

"Hope?" Asked Queen.

"I do seem to notice that lately, by far not all your daughters wish to see me in your domain."

"No matter what they seem like in appearance, I assure you, that no one would so much as act in a threatening manner toward you, while you are my guest. You need not be afraid for your safety."

Noah simply nodded without adding anything.

"What is the reason for today's summon, Your Majesty?" Asked Noah, quickly skipping to the business.

"Always, rash and quick. If only we could stay and have a serene chatter…" Said Dryad Queen gently touching Noah's forearm and sliding her silky fingers over his hand, sending shivers through his whole body. After just a second long touch she turned away looking at the cocoon at their side.

"We have awakened several of them in the last few days." She said letting go of Noah. Her face lost the gentle smile as a serious expression took over her face.

"It's been only two weeks. I thought you said they would need more time, Your Majesty?" Said Noah with an unsure voice.

"Some. Yes. But not all are with the same degree of intoxication." She said with a sad tone, slightly waving her hand.

As if following that move, a part of a cocoon made of intertwined roots and vines covered in leaves, moved like worms, parting aside. Within it lay a voluptuous naked form of a woman, deep asleep in the fetal pose. She looked mostly human, except for several spots where her skin was furry and had an unnatural, for normal human, color. Her ears were long and covered in short fur as well and looked more like they belonged to a cow than a human.

"Those that were captured at a later date were exposed to drugs for a much shorter time. Their memories of what was transpiring to them and their loved ones, however, are a lot more vivid." Said Dryad Queen looking gently at the sleeping woman. She waved her hand once again and roots and vines moved back in place, closing the cocoon and hiding the sleeping woman from view.

"This girl was one of those who was ready to wake up sooner… or so I thought." She said turning to look at Noah with sad eyes. "The pain of memories, however, made her daily life a nightmare. Her mind refused to accept this reality. I decided to return her back to the dream world to protect her sanity. And she was not the only one. There were several worth awakening, yet only a few bore the truth of reality and decided to face their real life. They are now in my Palace under the constant watch of my daughters so that they would not lay hands on themselves." Explained the Dryad Queen.

Noah clenched his fist blinking away tears in his eyes from remembering the horrors that these women were through back in the Red Bull Clan's town. He took them away from there, but that was not salvation. After a long period of intoxication and rapes, the trauma that they bore could not just disappear even though he kidnapped them all from that hell.

As soon as their bodies started to wear off the toxins clouding their minds, they would have to face the reality, where they lost their loved ones, were tortured, impregnated, torn away from their babies, and treated like animals for many months. They would have to live with these memories. But would they wish for that kind of life?

Dahlia, Zinnia, and Aster offered Noah a solution and their mother Queen of Dryads approved of this when she heard of what these women were through.

That night, when he infiltrated the Red Bull Clan after putting everyone to sleep, they transferred all the women and children away from there through the Dream realm and brought them here. The cocoons woven around them sustained their bodies while helping their bodies to overcome the withdrawals from the constant use of forbidden drugs. The Dryads that took care of them in Gardens sustained their minds, by keeping them in constant dreams.

Simply putting them to sleep of course was not a solution. As master dream weavers, Dryads slowly controlled their dreams, mixing truths and realities that these women would have to face once they woke up. Preparing and strengthening their minds in the hope that one day their minds would become strong enough to decide to continue to live.

Normally no living being except for the Dryads themselves would be allowed within the core forest of Dryad Queendom, but for these poor souls, Dryad Queen made an exception asking just one promise from Noah in return that he found strange but manageable. He only hoped he would never have to fulfill it.

This promise implied a very bad future and was more of a backup plan for the entire Dryad race. She asked him to promise that if Dryads would ever be driven away from their home, betrayed by humans, or hunted down. He would save them and relocate them to a safe place just as he did with Bullmen females.

This plea made Noah very uncomfortable when he heard it. What could go so wrong with this country, for him to need to fulfill that promise?