Page 66 of Mytho Investigations: Side Stories

“Where are the ogres?”

“There isn’t much to do in winter, and I told Melody that I intended to bring you here and would like some privacy.”

Jordan stifled a groan. No doubt all the ogres thought they were using the grove to hook up, because that’s what they did, especially when they were hoping to get pregnant.

Edra set the basket on the grass and opened the picnic blanket with a flourish.

Jordan cast his gaze around. Was this the spot?

It had been night, and he'd wanted to get it over and done with. Edra had been affected by the flowers and pollen the nymphs used as part of their breeding cycle, or whatever it was, and had been stoned.

Edra put his hand on Jordan’s lower back and pointed at a tree that was only knee high. “That’s the one.”

“How can you tell?”

“Because it’s a nymph tree, and there are only a few types they can bind with.”

Jordan kept his voice low in case the nymphs were listening. “How do you know that is our tree?”

“Because I can tell that tree is inhabited.”

To Jordan, it looked like another small tree, one that might grow up into a big tree one day. “So the nymph isn't an actual baby? How does this work?”

“She’s not a baby in the way you think of one.” Edra frowned, as though trying to find a way to describe what Jordan was going to find. “Like gods, they are beings who are hooked into magic. Unlike gods, they are very much bound to the physical.”

“So born an adult?”

“No, because that would imply she is at full strength, and she's not. She needs the protection of her sisters.”

“Sisters or mothers?” Because if the nymphs created the pollen, didn’t that make them the mother?

Edra made that face again, as if it was all too hard to explain to a human, because there weren’t the right words, and Jordan’s Tarikian wasn’t passable even in casual conversation, so it did not extend to in-depth discussions on any topic. His Dragon was no better.

“Technically, but they are always referred to as sisters. And I’m not about to question a demigod, are you?”

“No, I’m good.” And he was only there because Edra thought it important that he meet the demigod he was related to. Even when they'd been in the grove, he hadn’t put much thought into what happened after they were done. Maybe he thought it would be Edra fathering the nymph, not him, because Edra was mytho.

Edra gave him a little push towards the tree. “Then you should introduce yourself.”

“What? How am I supposed to do that? What do I even say?”

Edra guided him closer, and Jordan suspected the nymphs were watching all of this, so he didn’t put up any resistance.

Shit. Had he already offended them? Or done something wrong?

When he got within a yard of the tree, it gave a tremble and seemed to grow and bloom. He went to take a step back, but Edra was there, keeping him in place. He blinked, and there was a woman, a nymph, standing front of him. She was five feet tall, and like the other nymphs, her skin appeared to be made of wood; unlike the others, one leg seemed to be part sapling.

“She can’t come closer, as she can’t leave her tree. She is bound to it and the earth until her power grows,” Edra murmured.

Right, demigods appeared fully grown but weak in power. But just because she was weak didn’t mean the others were. “What’s the right greeting?”

“Usually, hello.” Edra smiled.

Jordan turned to glance at him. “That’s it?”

Edra gave him another nudge. “Greet your daughter. I’ll set up the picnic.”

The calming pressure of Edra’s hand left his back, and then he was standing there facing the demigod. His daughter.