Seed Of Speed

Celita was shocked that a human could speak their tongue so easily, but she snapped out of it quickly. She watched the young man land his golem on a nearby limb, as he said he would, but there was no way she would trust a human. The moment he landed and dismounted, she kicked off the tree as she shifted into her humanoid form in midair.

Diego had just left go of Zedava when a hand was at his throat and pinned him up against the trunk. A stunning woman with pale white skin and angular, emerald green eyes was owner of the hand at his neck. Tiny black scales sprouted at the base of her hairline and her ears were tipped with green barbs. He could feel the woman's nails digging into skin, drawing blood, but before it could get too out of hand, something pulled her off of him... or rather someone.

Zedava, upon seeing her aunt attack Diego after he had been so nice to her, got angry and stretched out a hand towards her aunt's back. A section of the branch behind Celita rippled then a wooden hand grew out of the spot and grabbed her, dragging her off Diego.

"Aunt Celita, stop! He hasn't done anything wrong!" Zedava yelled with a stamp of her foot.

Celita broke the wood apart with her b.a.r.e hands and bolted at Diego again as she shouted back, "Your existence can't be relieved!"

Diego could tell his welcome was officially up, so after Zedava freed him from Celita's clutches, he jumped on Tadrith's back. Unfortunately for his trusted mount, the moment Celita saw him trying to escape, she summoned up a giant green spine and threw it with incredible power at the head of the griffin. There was no time to dodge the attack and the head was destroyed, rendering to golem useless without repair.

With no other option, Diego activated his [Speed Clone] ability and the five other Diegos pulled out their spears while the main body stored away the golem's broken remains. In his weakened state, he was no match for the woman, even with six bodies. She knocked each of them away with a hard strike as she homed in on the main body, but that also translated into three hard hits to his body that he did not have the strength to shrug-off anymore before he dismissed all of his clones.

Before Celita could grab him again, a pair of wooden hands grabbed her by the arms and held her back. Another set formed and grabbed her ankles then Zedava ran over to Diego. Blood stained his lips, but he was already healing the damage she caused. She looked him over then saw the wounds to his neck.

"Aunt Celita's claws are poisonous, let me heal you!" Zedava said.

"Zedava, stop! That's a human! His people will burn the village and hunt you down for your power! He's bewitched you!"

(Seriously... can I not catch a break in this world?) Diego complained silently as he leaned back against the tree.

::Welcome to the whimsy of Fate, isn't it grand? Actually, this might be an incredible boon for you as well as them. Did you see how easily she wields 'Plant' magic? She's likely a Savaty Priestess, child of the Zivot Tree, which is why the other wants to kill you just for knowing about her. Your God Seed and their Zivot Tree can nourish each other if you spend a long time close by. Ask if the Grand Mother's flower is golden, that will mean she has met another with a God Seed in her lifetime. If it is, that knowledge alone should be enough for Celita to bring you back to the village alive::

(If not?)

::Be ready to fly?::

"Jedava, your Grand Mother, is her flower golden?" Diego asked which made Celita turn rigid.

"How did you know about Grand Mother?" Jedava asked, stopping her healing.

"It's a little complicated to explain..."

Celita broke free of the wooden hands by shifting size, but before she turned back into a giant lizard, she shifted back to her beast-human form. Zedava jumped up and hopped between her and Diego opening her arms as big as she could.

"NO! Aunt Celita, Diego is a good human! He won't hurt us!" Zedava yelled.

"We are going back to the village, now! The three of us," Celita said, glaring down at Diego.

"Really?!? Oh, yay! Let me heal him, and we can go!" Zedava said with a happy smile.

"No, I used a paralytic venom, so he isn't in danger for now. There is no way I'll bring a human to our village under his own power. He's our prisoner until the Grand Mother decides what to do with him since he knows too much!" Celita said.

"But Diego won't hurt us!" Zedava said, stamping her foot.

(Am I poisoned?) Diego asked silently.

::The regenerative powers of the Seed of Speed metabolized the toxin almost instantly, so I didn't bother mentioning it::

"Zedava, it's okay. I'm willing to meet your Grand Mother," Diego said.

Zedava turned around and gave him a concerned look, but Celita used the moment to set around the child. She grabbed Diego by the collar of his red robes and pulled him to his feet.

"I'll be pushing for your execution," Celita growled while narrowing her eyes.

Diego could not help but chuckle and say, "Has anyone told you that you are beautiful when your angry?"

Unfortunately for him, a fist to the side of his head was the last thing Diego knew as Celita punched him hard in the jaw.

"Aunt Celita! He didn't even do anything! He said you were pretty!" Zedava w.h.i.n.ed, as she lightly pounded on Celita's back with her tiny fists.

Celita snorted loudly as she tossed Diego over her shoulder and said, "Humans use flowery words to hide their misdeeds. How many times have Rozama and I told you to stay away from them?!? Do you want to end up like Radosta?"

"But he's not like that!" Zedava continued to defend Diego, despite rarely talking back to her aunt.

"Listen to yourself, Zedava!" Celita said as she placed a hand on the monkey-girl's head and knelt down to be eye-level with her. "You always mind Rozama and me, and the second a human appears, you stop? He has messed with your mind, bent it so that you want to trust him, but that doesn't change what he is, a human! We need to go back to the village, so Rozama can undo whatever he's done to you."

"But…" Zedava said, as tears started forming in her eyes

"It was a trick, Zedava! A mean trick… I promise, I am only looking out for your safety," Celita said gently then gave the girl a hug. After Zedava returned the hug with a squeeze of her own, Celita stood up and said, "Let's go home."