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The Dryads' Tower
For twenty long years, no
druid has inhabited the tower in the dryad's valley, leaving them vulnerable
to humans who'd cut down their trees. Finally, though, a mage who can protect
their sacred grove has arrived seeking the magical knowledge the tower
contains. Navaar isn't a druid but they've waited long enough. No children
have been born to them in too long because a dryad's tree consort, after all,
cannot sire her children. A human male is needed for that. The mage Navaar
is perfect, for the night they captured and seduced him, three of the dryads
became pregnant. Yes, Navaar is a worthy successor to the druid who left them
so long ago. But then Navaar rescues a druidess from a Blood mage who'd
wanted the tower for himself. Dylana, daughter of the durid who'd last
inhabited the tower and a dryad mother, has returned to the place of her
birth; and she wants the tower for herself, and no man, even if he is a
powerful -- and enticing -- sex mage, is going to keep her from claiming it.
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The Dryad's Tower
Eldest dropped out of a nearby tree
before the dust had settled. “Help me,” she commanded as she hurried to one of
the pack horse’s sides and yanked a canvas off what Navaar had thought to be
bundles of supplies.
The fiery auburn hair of the woman
hunched over the saddle’s high cantle cascaded down over the withers of the
rangy gray mare.
“She’s tied to the saddle.”
Striding to where the blood mage’s
body lay, Navaar yanked his dagger from its throat and wiped the blood on its
cloak.
More dryads leaped lightly from the
trees.
“Do not touch the body,” Navaar
commanded as he rose. When he reached the gray horse, he sliced through the
bonds holding the woman to the saddle.
Iron chains clanked as she fell into
his arms.
Her head lolled against his arm and
her hair fell back off her face. Her body was hot with fever.
“It’s Dylana!” a dryad gasped.
“Are you sure?” another asked.
“It’s Dylana,” Eldest confirmed. She
poked the chains on the woman’s wrists. “They’ve bound her with iron.”
The unconscious woman moaned.
Eldest yanked at the chains. “These
are killing her.” She glared at Navaar. “Get them off!”
Spinning, Navaar walked a few steps
away from the horses, laid the woman on a bed of moss, and concentrated on her
manacles. When they burst open, welts, blisters, and angry red lines -- which
covered the backs of her hands, wrists, and forearm -- appeared.
He glanced at her face once more just
to confirm what he already knew. Her delicate features were those of a dryad.
How had the blood mage captured one, and why was she in this condition? Iron
didn’t affect dryads like this. He looked up at Eldest.
“Is she from this grove?”
She nodded. “In a matter of speaking,
yes; but, though she looks like one of us, she’s not a true dryad. Her father
was the tower’s last druid. Dylana is the daughter we gave him. When Lara
mated with the druid, she did not go to her consort afterward. Because she
didn’t receive her oak’s essence, the child she conceived is not a true dryad.
She will live and die a human.” Her face hardened. “If I had time, I’d call
down the eleven curses of the dryad’s hell on that mage, but we must tend to
Dylana. She must have been wearing iron for many days.”
Lifting the manacles, Navaar tossed
them away.
Dryads scattered as their ugly
clanking echoed around the small clearing.
Yellowish, malodorous pus oozed from
open wounds on the woman’s wrists.
Gagging, the younger dryads turned
away.
Cursing fluently, an action which had
every other dryad gaping at her, Eldest jerked the mistletoe garland from her
head, smashed the berries in her hand, and rubbed them onto the woman’s open
sores.
Still unconscious, the woman screamed.
Spasms shook her.
“Hold her, Navaar, tightly.”
Following Eldest’s orders, Navaar
gathered the woman in his arms and held against his chest.
Eldest rubbed more mistletoe berries
into her wounds.
As tears streamed down her cheeks, the
woman opened unfocused blue eyes and stared into Navaar’s face. “No! I will
never tell you! I won’t tell you!” She stiffened and then went limp.
“We must get her back to your tower.
These wounds must be washed with the pure water flowing from beneath it.”
Eldest looked up into his face. “Do you have any skill with wounds? Do you
know how to help her?”
Navaar shifted the woman in his arms
and rose to his feet, grunting as he did so. She was a tiny woman, but heavier
than she looked.
“I’ll have to figure out what poison
the mage put on the manacles.”
Eldest shook her head. “No poison. It
was the iron itself. Her father was a druid of the old bloodline. Iron is
deadly to them which why the key and the lock of the tower were made of silver
and no found no iron in the tower.”
Tucking that particular piece of
knowledge away in his mind, Navaar carried the woman to Hlmm’s side. “Down,”
he commanded.
Snorting, the horse lowered himself to
the ground and Navaar settled into his saddle.
Then, after a nudge of his master’s
knees, the horse rose slowly to his feet.
“Can you trust someone to stay here
and watch the mage’s body?” Navaar asked Eldest. “I don’t think any men will
stumble over it, but it’s best if no animal touch it either.”
Eldest looked around. “Lessa, keep the
scavengers away.”
“But Eldest…”
“The oldest dryad glared at her
youngest niece. “You will do as you are told.”
Lips pursed in a pout, Lessa dipped
her head. “Yes, Eldest.”
“And you will stay here until I send
someone to get you.”
Her pout became more pronounced. “Yes,
Eldest.”
The older dryad stared at the younger.
“And if you do not do as I tell you, you will not be joined with your consort
at Midsummer.”
Shock appeared on Lessa’s face. With a
slight shiver, she bobbed her head in acquiescence. “No dryads or animals will
touch it, Eldest, I promise.”
“See you do or you’ll spend another
winter huddled in the mistletoe instead of curled among the limbs of your
consort.”
After another bob of her head, Lessa
scurried over to the dead blood mage and plopped down on the ground about
three feet from his body and started shooing flies away.
His lips twitching, Navaar nodded to
Eldest. “Can someone lead those other two horse to the tower? The dead mage
is sure to have books of magic in their packs.”
“It will be done. Now get Dylana to
the tower. I will join you there with other herbs and tinctures.”
Once the other horses were secured,
Navaar kneed his mount forward into a fast walk and looked down into the
woman’s -- no, Dylana’s -- wan face. He was now able to note the subtle
differences between her features and those of the dryads. Her lips were
fuller, her nose broader, her chin less pointy. As a matter of fact, her
entire face was rounder. And, though her eyes were now closed, he easily
recalled their vivid blueness, blue the exact shade as the deep lakes in the
high mountains above the fortress where he’d grown up. Thick, dark lashes
rimmed those eyes while the well-shaped auburn brows above them contrasted
sharply with her wan complexion.
But her hair!
He finger-combed some stray locks from
her forehead. He'd never seen any hair so unabashedly red. During his travels,
he met both men and women with hair ranging in color from a carroty orange to
burnished copper to terra cotta to dark auburn. But Dylana’s hair was more a
combination of all of those hues plus a few more. Her long hair was rich and
thick and seemed to have a life of its own as it tumbled and curled around
both of them.
A picture of a thick lock of her hair
wrapped around his cock appeared in Navaar’s mind. He wanted her more than
he’d wanted any particular woman in a long time.
She moaned again and opened her eyes.
“No. I will not!”
She thrashed weakly as her paleness
gave way to a feverish flush.
As he stared into her sightless blue
eyes, Navaar kneed Hlmm into a heavy lope. She might not share any magical
secrets with him, but she would share his bed.
Available from
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Reviews
The Dryads' Tower Reviews
My god, this reviewer could
hardly breathe while reading THE DRYAD’S TOWER. It was so hot and explosive it
was a miracle the computer didn’t catch on fire from the heat being generated.
It was scorching hot, full of interesting and enticing characters and the
storyline went at a fast pace that left the reader breathless. Ms. Mays
delivers a tempting story that will leave you gasping for more as the last
page is read. This reviewer could barely breathe as Ms. May delves into the
world of Dryads, mages and magic. It was a wonderfully told and this reviewer
could barely leave the computer chair as I wanted to know what would happen
next for Dylana and Navaar. Run to grab this sinful book and be prepared to
find yourself longing for a sex mage of your own as you read THE DRYAD’S
TOWER. It is one wildly entertaining ride from start to finish!
Four and a half hearts
Dawn
http://www.loveromancesandmore.com/reviews/0408/dryadstower_dawn.htm
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What a delightful story about
dryads, druids and mages. The Dryad’s Tower grabs you from page one and gets
better throughout the book. Judy Mays weaves a book of fairy tale magic.
Navaar is a fantastic hero and learns about love. Dylana also learns two can
be stronger than one. This is a great book if you want a light read with
erotic action.
http://www.twolipsreviews.com/content/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2570&Itemid=36
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