A Gift from Dead Gods, 12.

Fyanha looked at the huge man, her eyebrow rising, “You call me sorceress. How do you know?” Nathaniel laughed, a loud booming laugh. Then he smiled at her, “You throw magic around like it’s nothing, yet you don’t gather it. Your power comes from somewhere else, so..” Luno shrugged and turned away, “I will get our packs, you handle these people.” Fyanha nodded, then fixed the two still standing on the treetrunk with a cold stare. “Begin by telling me who you are, and why you are here.”
“As I said, I am Nathaniel. Formerly a master thief and a former sorceror. This is-” “Former sorceror?”, Fyanha interupted. He nodded, “Yes. Do you think this is the shape of a master thief? Mages captured me, changed me. I’m a lot stronger and faster now, but I want my magic back.” He sighed and Fyanha nodded, her gaze softening. “As I was saying, this is Nera, one of the elves studying here from the dryads.” He picked her off his shoulder and put her on the treetrunk, then jumped off. Fyanha looked at Nera, “You’re a druid then? Why were you in there?” Nera looked at her, eyes questioning. Still, she said nothing. Fyanha frowned and ignited her hand, “You want to start talking, druid. I can send you to the same place as your masters without a second thought.”
The tiny elf giggled, “I don’t think they’d like that very much. See, I was sent here because the elders of my village thought I had potential.” Fyanha nodded, “Go on.” “Well, my ‘potential’ came from my gift, not any bond with nature like the dryads have.” The girl climbed down from the trunk, “Do you want me to show you?” Interested, Fyanha followed the other elf girl. Nera closed her eyes and spread her arms. She started grinning and opened her eyes, “You left a dryad alive.. Good.”
Luno chose that time to come back, their packs slung over his armored shoulders. “Alive?” He dropped the packs and grabbed one of his swords. “Where?” Fyanha shook her head at him and gestured that he should follow. He shrugged and put away his sword. Nera had found her dryad and dropped to her haunches near her head, extending her hands. “Now my dear, this will hurt.” She placed her palms at the temples of the dryad.
The dryad whimpered, trying with all the power she had left to crawl away, as if Nera's hands burned her. The tiny elf was still grinning, “Don’t try to escape. Soon it’ll be over.” Slowly the dryads movements became less focused. She seemed to be rotting quickly. Green light flowed around her temples, swirling around the elven hands on her temples and draining away into the elf. With a final cry, the dryad stopped moving and the lights died away.
Nera turned to face them. “See? That’s why dryads don’t like me.” Nathaniel had stood watching, wide-eyed. “You told me you were in there because you misbehaved!” Nera shrugged, “Okay, so I misbehaved two young dryads into non-sentience.” Fyanha was grinning widely at the younger elf. She turned to Luno, “Champion, I like her. Can we keep her?”