The Wood Wizard's expression didn't flicker. He didn't blink, didn't growl, and didn't show a hint of the feral intensity Maddy was used to from the forest's denizens. Instead, he adjusted his grip on his staff, his movements as fluid and practiced as any master of the Arcane Academy.
"I am not... wildlife."
He intoned, his voice raspy, as if the words were being forced through layers of dry bark and compacted soil.
"I am... an adventurer. The Leader… of the… Prome…ather…"
Maddy's hand faltered. The predatory hunger that had been driving her for the last hour suddenly cooled, replaced by a sharp, hollow ache in her chest. She looked at his robes—the way they were expertly cinched, the way he stood with a defensive caster's stance and the truth hit her.
"Just like the Green Men… he wasn't a creature born of the forest; he was a relic of one. He was a man who had died, only to be woven back together by the forest's parasitic mana…"
Lucy explained deeper,
