Lucretius - Wildfire Druid

Backstory
Lucretius the First Wildfire Druid

The glow of the lichen-light faded as the spell concluded. Gradually, the glow of the moonlight dominated and set in and the tiger lilies nestled on the sides of the river began to grow and bloom. Quicker than expected, the grove was suffused by the smell of the sweet flowers. “Sometimes itʼs as easy as just explaining the obvious.” Lucretius quipped, “Donʼt draw from the roots that are touching the chicory vine.”

He drew in a great breath to smell and taste the night air and was met with the honey-dewʼd aroma of the lilies in bloom... and then smoke with a faint hint of fresh wood ash... (to Lucretius recalling the next few moments are like recalling a fevered dream, some parts are crisp while other parts elude him.) FIRE. The rush was immediate, this strength in the air, enough to cut through the tiger lilies in bloom. This was no campfire, the forest was being consumed! Quicker than thought Lucretius took the form of a frogmouth and flew towards the scent, the startled rush being replaced with grim determination. Forest fires were necessary to the health of a forest but his grove was masterfully planned and warded against such things. He arched his back and gave his wings all of his effort as he worked to rise above the smoke and get a better view. The act of flying high, going fast, and trying not to take in the smoke was too much, and before he could breakthrough the billowing heat and ash, he took in a lungful of searing air. The spasms wracked his body as the need to cough took away his concentration and form, his now-human body crashing through singed and searing boughs as he fell to the forest floor and came face-to-face with the fire.

The heat fought him for the available air, itʼs greedy nature ready to pull it from his lungs. The rushing sound of a fire on the move filled his ears and he almost didnʼt notice the chanting. He scrabbled to his feet set off towards the sound and the prospect of an unagonizing breath. If there was chanting then there was fresh air nearby. Barely able to see and with the rest of his senses succumbing to the effects of the fire, Lucretius barreled through. His determination to save the forest now replaced with something more immediate and personal. He had to think of himself first. The forest had defenses but they were slow in the way of the plants, he was the only quick answer that the forest had. He had to think of himself and his safety now. The forest needed him alive. It was a self important thought and he knew the absurdity of it as soon as the thought arrived, but at the same time what would the forest do without him? The tiger lilies didnʼt even know not to mingle with chicory vine!

There was blistering heat and brightness, then a shower of sparks as Lucretius crashed through the burning brambles beyond the path of the fire, into the ashen and cindered remains of its meal. Fresh air filled his lungs as blue spots began to appear in his vision, the signs of unconsciousness just on the cusp of his abilities. Now his senses rushed back and the reality set in, he was on fire! His cloak burned through he cast it to the ground and tumbled again on the floor hoping to smother what flames clung to him. The pain was unheard of, nothing had been so true in all of his life. Now the chanting reached his ears again, clearer than before and filled with intent.

Lucretius looked up from his place on the ground, the world akimbo, and he saw sandaled feet attached to white and gold robes. One sneering human face came into view as the interloper bent down to examine the crisped form of Lucretius, “We flushed a druid,” the voice heavy with glee, “Iʼll tidy him up.” The figure raised a hand and let loose a bolt of fire into Luʼs body, but the blast was nothing compared to his already searing flesh. The fire would take him before the mages ever did.

“Thatʼs precisely right”, the voice said in his mind, “they do not know our power, but they came here trying to control me! Feel my touch and rise, we are nature unbound!” A flash of pain so intense that it defied Luʼs perception danced along every nerve of his body, and then it faded. All his pain faded and Lucretius knew that his time had come. The fire had taken its toll and the mages would go free... “Wear my mantle and rise! Iʼll not grant you the comfort of death just yet!” Another flash of unspeakable pain and Luʼs eyes shot open. He looked down at his charred arms and body, the armor smoldering from the doused flames, the skin of his flesh a blackened pudding along bone, but the pain left and with it the damage. Before his eyes the skin hardened and healed the searing of the flames becoming a warm cloak to wreath his body. He stood.

The look from the mages mirrored the scene. Their faces slack as the cindered corpse of the druid rose and healed before their eyes. To those that saw, the chanting stopped. An anger welled up inside Lucretius, colder than heʼd expected but fueled by the flame just the same, “They must die, their arrogance is too great”, The voice intoned. “They must die”, Lucretius mirrored.

“Set me loose. With my hunger and your will we are unmatched!”

Lucretius willed Nature to give form to his new companion, to change its form as heʼd asked Nature to do of his own so many times before, and Nature answered. His eyes set squarely on the mages casting fire into the forest before him, a vein of fiery plasma erupted in their midst, his wildfire companion taking shape. In the instant mages were knocked from their feet and subsumed in flame. “WE WILL BURN THEIR ARROGANCE FROM THEM! They do not shape the flame, the flame will shape THEM!” No longer could Lucretius tell where his inner voice ended and the new voice began, but now he saw its shape, fury personified. The last of his energy spent, Lucretius let his muscles slacken. His eyes began to close but not before seeing the wildfire spirit rend and tear through the mages. Teeth and claws of spark, the beast waylaid the over-confident mages. As his eyes closed and unconsciousness set in he glimpsed the spirit rampaging through the bodies of those who would attempt to tame the flame. Assured that with the dreams that would come, so too would the deaths of the usurpers in the grove.

———————

Dawnʼs light pushed through the dreams, the cacophony of crackling flame and burning embers, and Lucretius opened his eyes. Where the night before a wall of flame marched forward now stood a line between the untouched forest and the consumed wood. Somehow the fire had ceased its advance after he had lost consciousness.

The charred remains of the smug mage lay closest to him, the robes and flesh gone and only blackened bone displayed in a macabre dance where it finally fell. Lu remembered the pain of the flame from the night before and surveyed himself to see what scars remained, but his gaze was only met with fresh and lively skin. In fact, he felt good... better even than before the events of the night. He felt sated. As he looked over the cindered corpses of the half-dozen mages all of his anger subsided and he relished in his justification.

“This is what is right.” If a voice produced of flame snapping in the wind could sound joyful, the wildfire spiritʼs voice did. “This is new to me, these feelings you have. I think we shall keep them.”

Lucretius, looked at the carnage around him, “You didnʼt leave much to investigate,” he picked up a bone only for it to crumble between his fingers. “We know they were probably Angelian wizards, but their orders and their tracks went up in your fight. We donʼt really know much.”

“We know they are dead and that the forest lives, that is enough for now.” Was there a hint of remorse? Lucretius would have to find out.

“So youʼll stay with me to find out?” Lucretiusʼ gaze now settling on a lone sapling elm that had been spared the fireʼs wrath.

“Iʼm not ready to leave. We did good work. You have the power to give me a will of my own and that is foreign to my kind, but powerful.” If Lu could see the spirit he was sure itʼs brow would be furrowed with the statement, “Besides, with me you get the gift of flames. We make each other more powerful than we are separately. There is no reason for me to leave or for you to reject me.”

“Donʼt be hasty or put words in my mouth. I didnʼt say Iʼd reject you, but sharing head-space is different and new, even a bit mad.” Now he walked to the young shoot of a tree, “Why did this one survive amongst them all?”

“This came after.” The voice a whisper, “The All-Mother protected you last night, you should have succumbed to my flame but she stepped in and joined us. When I saw this growing I knew my job was done and released myself back to oblivion, as is our way, but this kept me tethered to you. I think she wants you to have it.”

Lucretius bent down to test the shoot and feel itʼs life. His fingers tracing the new trunk to root, the wood took a new shape beneath his palm. The roots withered, the leaves fell clean, and what remained rested in his hand, the finest wand of elm, gifted from the All-Mother. At the first touch his armor began to smolder again and Lu knew he could give form to his companion once again. The magic of the wand a link between the compatriots.

“The forest wonʼt be safe until we find out why these mages came.” Once again, Lu couldnʼt tell if the voice was his own of that of the spirit, but he soon realized it didnʼt matter...