The fresh, floral scent of his wonder has gained a light layer of ozone, and even before he moved to peer out one of the lodge’s windows, Halle knew he’d be seeing another lightning storm flashing across Lysithean skies. He’d need to patrol the forest. With a sigh he took a hooded cloak off the hooks by the the heavy wood door and stepped through into a strong gust of wind.

Spring in his forest meant rain anyway, so often as not, these magical storms merged with the normal weather into something that felt fiercer and more unending. It was hard on his wonder, and all those that occupied it. The spinners and their lacey webs were almost nowhere to be seen since the storms started, to the point that Halle had felt compelled to search out their dens and make sure they hadn’t been wiped out. Thankfully the flowering spiders seemed to have entered some kind of sudden hibernation. Their size and colors were paler than usual for the season, but their numbers appeared unaffected. Similar cases were found throughout the endemic life found throughout the flowering forest of Halle.

It was a relief to see that the life that had returned, that was his to oversee, had the means to survive and thrive, even in these circumstances. (The factor of a potential world eating creature that was perhaps not a metaphor, was something he was trying not to think too deeply about at the moment.) Since he’d become a knight, the type of wildlife had expanded greatly in both type and size. Case in point, the small, delicate deer-like creatures prancing in the rain, just outside the treeline. They were lovely, adorable pests that seemed purpose-built to be underfoot.

Blessings indeed.

One began following him as soon as Halle noticed a thin stream of smoke above the forest and headed toward the potential danger. Several others soon joined. Sighing, he wondered if he could teach them some level of survival instinct that was at least on par with the local spiders. Petrichor, ozone, and yes…there it was. The smoke of Halle’s forest was more fragrant than the average of forest fire, almost pleasant in its way, but fire was fire, no matter how nice the smell. As he picked up his step, the Blessings began to prance excited circles around him.

“No…no you guys should really not run into fire, okay!” Looking at their cutely vacant and happy gazes as they ran toward danger, Halle couldn’t help but be reminded of Lisse and Almere. A sort of exasperated fondness filled him at the thought.

Fortunately the fire was nearly house by the time they got there, it’d just been a single tree. Blackened and smooth, it’s sap turned into some sort of prismatic glass, Halle guess that it had been hit by one of the odd lightning strikes. Lines of heat radiated out from the tree’s center where something glowed. Curious, but not wanting to risk the burns, Halle rifled through his space for a pair of heavy duty work gloves. Even so, he could still smell them burning when he fished out what looked like a small ring box from the tree’s heart. Hurriedly he opened it up, and seeing its contents, tossed the box aside.

It was small and thankfully intact, cool to the touch even, once he was willing to risk taking off the gloves. Not a reading at all, though. An earring, made of some kind of wood? Shaped like a bluebell and it was his, just as much as the signet. Just as much as his shield. Without much thought, Halle was removing a small stud from his left ear, replacing it with the new bit of old he’d chanced upon.

The sound of thunder soon filled the woods, the ground vibrating notably underfoot, anticipation filled Halle and boy he hoped it wasn’t another epic lightning strike on its way. And then there it was, a different sort of storm entirely, bursting out from the brush, huge and triumphant as it announced its return to the forest. A boar, roughly the size of a pony and proud of every pound, the flowers of its tusks brilliant and blooming against the strobing lights of the lightning overhead. It trumpeted its might and protection to all within the wonder. Halle stared, bemused. The blessings frolicked forward to bump their tiny heads against its seething mass in hello.

“Hey, Tulip. It’s been uh…awhile.”