13
“Hey!” I shouted as I helped Chris to a seated position. “What about our deal?”
Her voice echoed back to us, growing more faint with every word. “I’m free! I’m free!”
I glared at where she’d gone, but something twitched close beside me. The movement came from the ground, and I noticed that the wooden link that had held the dryad had been torn asunder from both ends. The root, too, had shrunk and now more closely resembled a short rope.
I picked it up and tucked it into my pocket before I scoured the mist again. “You promised!”
Her words floated faintly back to us. “I’m free! I’m-ahhhh!”
The long scream became louder with every treble, and a moment later her body flew backwards out of the fog, and she slammed to the ground close beside us. A puff of air knocked from her lu
