<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ffff00">âVicountess? Awful formal for a slave arenât you?â</span>He laughed again and put his sword away.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ffff00">âWell, miss Sumeragi of Etana, Iâm Caldraengnor Mikhavaseer, son of Trikavilamenn Mikhavaseer of Whitalfelser, but Iâm not as formal as you Etanans, so you can just call me Cal for short.â</span>He hopped down from the barrel.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ffff00">âIâve heard stories about Etanans. Your people donât exactly have a pristine reputation abroad, although you seem honourable enough.â</span>He smirked.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ffff00">âMuch as I would enjoy the use of that body, I need money, and you cost me a fair bit. Alright, Iâll take you to your home so long as I get double what you cost me as reward.â</span>He carried a large pack over his back into which he deposited the sturdy leather cord.  After securing it on his back once more, he set off towards the north end of the sprawling city.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#ffff00">âHope you can keep up, and that there spearhead you got is good enough of a weapon. I donât have money to go buying you a whole fresh suit of combat gear.â</span><br/><br/>-------------------------------<br/><br/>((Yes, Dryads have trouble merging with dead plants; depending how dead the plant is can affect the results â a fresh cut tree would be difficult to merge with, a rotten trunk would be impossible â but ultimately cutting down a tree generally flushes out any Dryads inside, and, of course, kills any Dryad attached to the tree as well.))<br/><br/>The hunter scrambled faster up the branches when he saw the nymph start to sink into the trunk. She was a little more than halfway in when he managed to grab hold of one leg.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#00bf00">âAh-ha! I got you now.â</span>He held the dagger in his teeth and used both hands to tug at Lyniseâs leg, grunting from the effort as he slowly dragged her back out of the tree.<span class="fixed-color" style="color:#00bf00">âYou arenât going to escape me that easily.â</span>His voice was strained from the work of extracting the dryad, and muffled by the dagger.