she stared at him. " Summer school. I'm not at home. "

"Alright, smart-alec. Enough of that."

As they approached the colorless murk of the wyldwood, something moved in the shadows to our left. Puck spun with blinding speed, whipping out his dagger, as a spindly form stumbled through the trees and collapsed a few feet away. It was a girl, slender and graceful, with moss-green skin and hair like withered vines. A dryad. The tree woman shuddered and gasped, clawing herself upright. One long-fingered hand clutched her throat as if she were being strangled. "Help...me," she gasped at Puck, her brown eyes wide with terror. "My tree..."

She can't really do much, because she's literally dying and feels like another burst might be coming.

Lise stared at the dryad. " wh-whats wrong with your tree? " she could tell how nervous and a bit scared by the stutter in her voice.

Puck caught her as she fell. She sagged against him, her head lolling back on her shoulders. "Hey," he said, shaking her a little. "Stay with me now. Wheres your tree? Did someone cut it down?"

The dryad gasped for air. "P-poisoned," she whispered, before her eyes rolled up and her body turned to wood in his arms. With the sound of snapping twigs, the dryad curled in on herself until she resembled little more than a bundle of dry branches.

She just quietly watches.

" Poisoned? " she looked at Puck.

Puck sighed, bowing his head, and gathered the lifeless dryad into his arms. She was thin and brittle now, fragile as spun glass, but not one twig snapped or broke off as he carried her away. With utmost care, he laid the body at the foot of a giant tree, murmured a few words and stepped back. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, huge roots unfurled from the ground, wrapping around the dryad to draw her down into the earth. In seconds, she had disappeared.

Isiea stays silent for a while. Then, for no apparent reason, she walks away silently.

she stared at the empty spot where the dryad once was.