Mourning Wood (CBT, Sounding)

This story was intended as the proper debut of my dryad character Magnolia, who was previously seen in "Tree Plugger". That previous fic was completed before this one, though, being based on an RP from the BB Fanatics Discord server; this one is also the product of an RP, but it took quite a bit longer to complete thanks to scheduling difficulties on the part of both myself and my co-writer. We only managed to get it finished last night, but I'm glad we managed to do so in the end. :)

The scenario that befalls poor Calix here is one of my personal favorite CBT fantasies, and major kudos go to my fellow author/roleplayer for helping me bring it to life and also granting the blessing for me to post the story on this blog. We hope you enjoy our finished work as much as we did writing it!

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Mourning Wood

By Skaea and Jango Harrison

Contains: F/M and */M ballbusting, urethral sounding, and graphic testicular harm. NSFW.

Word Count: 6,559
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It was just after dawn in the remote wooden valley. As the sun rose slowly over the thick vegetation, a young man began to stir in his lonely abode near the heart of the forest. He would wake with the sun every day to begin his hunt for food, water, and any necessary materials that he required.

Calix was no newcomer to the wilderness, and his routine was simple. Find resources, create the tools he needed for survival, and stay out of trouble. The tall and immensely muscular woodsman made himself breakfast as he did every morning without incident, and it was a half-hour afterward when he headed out. Before he ventured into the woods, however, he looked back at his cabin and sighed deeply. A recent storm had damaged his home, leaving a sizable hole in the roof. Today would be more laborious than normal; he would need to collect everything he normally does as well as a fell a tree to repair his small home.

Despite being only in his mid-twenties, the lumberjack was already over six feet in height, powerfully built, and incredibly strong. His chest was large and broad with a healthy coating of brown hair, starkly contrasted by his cleanly shaven face, almost boyish in appearance. He wore a pair of plain blue briefs underneath his blue jeans, and his shirt was a typical red and white plaid with the sleeves kept rolled up and buttoned. After slinging his axe over his shoulder, the broad behemoth set out on his daily quests, following the usual route through the forest that he had traveled for years.

Calix looked around with a slightly disappointed expression, shaking his head after a few moments. The trees around the usual path were nowhere near big enough to provide the needed lumber to fix his cabin, and the ones that had been blown down by the storm were no doubt too small as well. It was time he tried something very, very risky: go off the beaten path in a quite literal sense.

He was aware of the numerous signs that were placed throughout the few regions of the woods that were inhabited by man: “TRUST NOT BEYOND WHAT IS KNOWN”. “PLUNDER THE BACKWOODS AT YOUR OWN PERIL”. “REAP WHAT YOU SOW, SUFFER WHAT YOU DESTROY”. “ONLY YOU CAN PREVENT DEFORESTATION”. And so on and so forth. But at the moment, the need to fix his cabin superseded his obedience of all of these warnings, and it was not like he was going to be harvesting from the more remote areas of the forest for more than one day.

What was the worst that could happen? That was the thought that crossed his mind just before he took a sharp turn away from the path and headed into the forbidden parts of the dark woods.

The forest was a beautiful place to be, with towering redwoods forming a magnificent canopy, beneath them was a veritable garden of beautiful plants, trees, and shrubs. It was a woodsman’s heaven, a whole variety of natural wonders to make use of… which is why there were countermeasures that apparently existed in this particular stretch of woods… not that Calix was aware of it just yet.

After taking a bit of time to gather a fair amount of fruits and vegetables, hunt some small game, and generally square away the supplies he needed, Calix took on the task of finding a suitable tree to reduce to planks. He settled on a moderately sized redwood, not quite as tall as the towering sequoias off to the north but still enormous regardless. He planted his feet solidly upon the earth and swung his axe at the thick trunk, taking away a small chunk of the wood.

The CRACK of the axe hitting the tree trunk was inconsequential to the handsome young lumberjack, but it seemed to resound throughout every tree in the radius of a mile. The splintering of wood could be felt clear as day by the numerous roots connecting the trees together.

Somewhere in a distant forest glade, the tapping of a woodpecker could be heard breaking the silence with a gentle, quiet rhythm. That was until a knot on one of the magnolias nearby opened its eyes, its expression screwed up in sudden pain…

The large and somewhat absent-minded man was focused on getting the tree on its side as it was the only thing standing between him and a good nap back home. His axe flew through the air again and again, each collision with the wood creating a larger divot. Sweat began to roll down his face as he slowly made progress on the hearty giant, making his cutout nearly large enough for him to push the tree over from the opposite side. Finally, with a great creaking noise, the tree began to topple. However, while Calix was safely out of the way of the great trunk, several other trees weren’t… the falling redwood seemed as though it would kick off a domino effect of sorts, with the lumberjack just a little too close for comfort.

As the tree slowly broke away from its base, it fell with a resounding thud against its nearest neighbor. The incredible force caused both trees to end up flat on their sides on the forest floor. Calix sighed, not having thought of the direction the tree would be falling. At least he now had two trees to chop up and lug back home.

Little did he know, however, that the destruction of these trees had attracted some undesirable attention. A pair of intense green eyes had taken notice of him from behind a clump of bushes. A few hundred feet away from him, a vine with a flower bud upon its tip had started growing. Unaware of the danger, Calix stood atop one of the downed trees as he began hacking away at the large trunk. He started working the tree into plank-sized chunks to make transport to his home easier, paying no attention to his surroundings.

Closer, closer, closer… The vine began to creep up behind him, its bud opening into a colorful flower. Just a little closer and it would be able to deliver its payload. The figure observing him hoped he wouldn’t turn around and notice what was happening before it made its move.

Just then, the towering figure made quick work of the first, smaller tree by reducing it to five manageable sections. He took a moment to breathe and wiped the sweat from his brow. The vine retreated for the moment, its owner whispering curse words so low-pitched that he wouldn’t have been able to hear it. Then it reared back again, its bud opening up again… until the wind changed and its sweet scent washed over him.

Just as the youth was about to begin working on the second tree, a rather alluring scent washed over him and his surroundings. He turned around to locate its source, quickly zeroing in on the flower behind him.

That was when the pollen cloud hit him. Sprayed from the flower, it was not allergenic, but instead it seemed to induce a kind of drowsiness on him, like a tranquilizer of some sort…

Calix snorted loudly as he was hit by the small cloud of pollen. With a justly angry yell, he was about to crush it with his axe before its effects took hold, and he suddenly lost his balance and fell over onto his back. “Wha… What… Why can’t I stand up…?” he mumbled sleepily to himself as he tried and failed to sit up. There was another flower creeping up towards him at that point, and before he could cause more problems by swinging his axe at that one, it sprayed him too. The sleepiness effect was both quick and overwhelming. The light faded quickly for the furry male as the tranquilizing nature of the pollen was too intense to resist. He was out like a light in a matter of seconds.

A figure peeked out of the bushes, observing the prone man with green eyes widened in shock. Part of it was due to alarm at the forest being hurt unnecessarily, the rest out of surprise that the attack had succeeded.

“Perfect…” said the figure’s voice, feminine and wily. “Now to make sure he gets his due.”

After some amount of time, Calix awoke with a low groan. His vision was blurry for a few moments as the disorienting effects of the pollen began to wear off. Once he realized that he couldn’t move, he began to roughly pull at his restraints. “Who’s here? I demand that you show yourself!”

Then he looked down and let out a small scream. To his mounting horror, he had realized that he was embedded in the trunk of a large tree, much like the ones that he’d cut down earlier. The only things that weren’t stuck in the wood were his head – and his very exposed privates, dangling from the bark of the tree. How was this even possible? And did that magnolia over there just move…?

Though he wasn’t able to see the rest of his body, the feeling of a breeze brushing across his nether regions made him blush slightly. “Where are my clothes?! And why the fuck am I trapped in a tree?!”

The magnolia rustled again. And then a figure seemed to melt out of the trunk, feminine and beautiful. Her long hair was dark green and decorated with magnolia flowers, while her skin was as green as a flower stem, her eyes being of a hue closer to lime. Except for flower garlands tastefully covering her explicit regions, she was entirely naked.

A dryad. A spirit of the forest. She stepped forward, coming up just inches from her prisoner – whose genitals were precisely at her eye level – and smiled up at him.

“Well, well, well… It seems that someone is abusing my favorite grove without rhyme or reason,” she cooed.

Seeing such a beautiful feminine creature was rather confusing at first, and that turned to embarrassment as he realized how exposed he was in front of her. He willed himself not to become erect her sight. “That’s not true, ma’am. I was taking those trees back to repair my home that was damaged in a storm.”

“Of all the trees in the woods you could have cut down,” she growled, eyeing his trapped genitals like a snake about to strike, “what could have possibly led you to destroy two of the precious four-hundred-year-old redwoods from this part of our habitat?! Confess the truth, and perhaps I’ll be merciful.”

Calix began to panic in earnest. “Well… I had only meant to cut down one, but I was mistaken on the way it would fall, so it knocked down a second one. I chose those specific trees because I wanted to make sure that the repair would be nice and sturdy.”

“Nice and sturdy? Nice and sturdy?!” She sharply jabbed at his egg-sized left nut, which was powerless to escape. “Do you know how many squirrels, birds, and other canopy dwellers you displaced by cutting down those redwoods? Did you eve read the signs we put up wherever you dwelled about not doing your work beyond what we gave you?! It seems that what I, Magnolia Pericarp, have planned for you would be all the more fitting now that I know you didn’t care for them or the lives of the plants you defiled!”

Calix let out a loud groan and attempted to curl up to protect his privates, but he could do nothing but whimper as his ball was forced to take the full impact of the blow. “What the hell?! I have to fix my house or I could get sick or animals could get in and steal my food. You have hundreds of trees here, so removing two won’t hurt anything!”

“Even two will lead to dire consequences, though. It may be just two now, but soon, like the rest of the humans who have invaded the homes of my sisters, you will tear down three, then four, then ten, then a hundred! Just like what happened with my old home. It’s you humans’ fault that the glade where I once lived is now a superstore parking lot!” She then whistled, and a rush of wings could be heard overhead. “Let’s see if I can bring unto you how I feel each time your axe fells one of my charges, shall we?”

“It’s not like that! I’m not even close to those people, and all I was doing was repairing my home like anyone else would!” The flustered lumberjack growled and struggled even more to try and break free from the tree’s mighty hold. He was incredibly strong, but even he wasn’t able to free himself, nor were his balls as strong as he dreamed they would be. “This is all just a big misunderstanding!”

The bird flew down from the canopy, perching on her shoulder. Its red crest, black-and-white coloring, and straight, pointed bill were instantly recognizable. Was it one of the dryad’s companions?

“Not when you clearly ignored the countless warnings we gave you and harvested our life from beyond the zone we allotted you,” Magnolia spat in response. “Tell you what, if you promise to leave the redwoods alone, or to at least make up for the damage you have inflicted upon this stretch of woods, you will be spared. If not, however…” She mimed a throat-slash gesture, a wicked grin on her face.

Calix grumbled under his breath, still annoyed that he was being detained and threatened by someone so much weaker than he was. “Fine…I won’t bother your dumb trees again. I’ll just go find some somewhere else.”

Her eyes widened. And then they narrowed. “You answer me without feeling a hint of remorse for your actions? You dare dismiss my precious plants?! Fine, let Tereus decide for you!” She stepped forward, reaching forward with a single finger, and slipped it under his massive cock, lifting it up until it touched the bark of the tree, pointing straight up into the air. Noticing her waving a hand over his balls, bathing them in a strange green glow, he also suddenly felt something sticky oozing from the bark behind it, before hardening fast, the skin of his penis stuck to the trunk.

The mammoth youth was incapable of stopping the dryad from fondling his man meat, though that embarrassment was quickly replaced with fear once his cock was seemingly fused with the tree. He grunted and flexed every muscle in his body in another feeble attempt to free himself. “Just let me go! I’m not the first person to chop down a tree here and it’s not like I’m going to be the last!”

“Look. Some of my sisters have told me that people who have harvested the plants they protect at least make an effort to replace them. At least they have the capacity to care. A capacity which you’ve clearly demonstrated to lack.”

The bird fluttered off of her shoulder and perched on the trunk of the tree… its talons directly below his dangling scrotum, the back of which was now apparently secured to the tree as well by hardened sap. Its beak was pointed directly at one of his balls, the one she’d poked earlier to be specific.

“Oh come on, I never said that I didn’t care!” he protested. “My home was fucked by a storm earlier this week. I have to get it fixed, so that’s why I took those trees. It’s not like I could’ve just left a massive hole in my house.”

“You. Could. Have. ASKED!” At the last word, the bird proceeded to jab its beak into Calix’s left testicle.

“AAAAIIIIIEEEEEE!” Sweat began to run down the stud’s face as an unbearable pain shot through his body like lightning. It was amazing that it wasn’t outright impaled, or was it something else that was rendering it invulnerable? He nevertheless squirmed and squealed as his meaty testicle recovered from the bird’s peck, but it kept strong and refused to burst. “T-those are fuckin’ delicate! I’m sorry, I honestly didn’t know I had to ask anyone to cut down a little tree! Just let me go and I promise I’ll never do it again!”

“A little tree?! You dare to call a centuries-old sequoia little?! If you had just made an invocation to the grove like several of those signs have clearly indicated, I could have been more receptive. But nooooo, you’re just like the other callous humans who defile my sisters’ homes and families. We give you a branch, you take half the woods and then some! And for that, your punishment is to experience the same agony that I did when your actions destroyed my brethren!”

The bird aimed its beak at his nut once again, the two of them pausing only to listen to whatever pleas for mercy he had remaining.

The poor man squealed and did everything he could to burst from the tree even though he knew that struggling was completely useless. He couldn’t just sit still and take such abuse. “You’ve made your point! Please just let me go, please! I-I can’t take much more of this shit!” he wailed pathetically, still squirming hopelessly as he begged for relief.

She rubbed her chin as though in thought. But then she smiled without a hint of sympathy. “Don’t you worry. I enchanted your genitals before you got started. They’re now much, much tougher – but not any less sensitive. I don’t want to cause you permanent harm – but drawn-out suffering? That, good sir, is a whole different story. Sic ‘em, Tereus!”

Before Calix could react, Tereus had thrust his head forward, jabbing his beak into the meaty and now far less breakable testicle he’d pecked earlier. A mere instant later, he withdrew it… and then an instant after THAT, he struck AGAIN. Repeat ad nauseum, because that’s how his kind worked…

Calix’s head began spinning as the intensity of his torture was cranked to the next level. He bellowed out in agony while the little devil tried to destroy his healthy orbs. “This is completely unnecessary! Please, I’ll do ANYTHING! JUST LET ME GOOOOOOOO!!!” The poor man shrieked and begged to no avail. He felt as though his balls were being pierced with a hot needle every single time the bird attacked.

“Fat chance, human. I haven’t heard an apology from you regarding the destruction of my home.” While the bird continued mercilessly jabbing at his left nut, its pace increasing with each second, she reached out and pressed down on his right with the pad of her thumb. “Besides… I’m enjoying this waaaaay too much!”

“EEEEEP! I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! Please, I promise I’ll never even come around this part of the woods again, I swear on my life!” Poor Calix replied in a higher pitched voice.

“But you will.” She scowled, jabbing at his right nut hard with her thumb. But that was nothing compared to what the other testicle was going through… Tereus’ beak was now hitting the hapless left testicle, dead center, at ten times per second. And counting. It was like the needle assaulting his poor man-egg was mounted on the business end of a jackhammer! “That’s the thing about humans,” the dryad snarled. “They never keep their promises. Fortunately, UNLIKE the forests they frequently attack, they’re also quick and easy to break!”

Calix was in so much pain that he wished his nuts had been unaltered so they could just burst already. He twitched and his eyes watered, but there was simply nothing he could do.

And then, miraculously, there was a brief pause in the bird’s assault. Calix took this opportunity to plead for his life – or his manhood. Maybe both. “Is there anything I can do to make this right? I can’t stand this torture much longer!”

Magnolia glared at him with total contempt, before letting her companion once again drill his beak into his left nut every other second. He paused each time, giving him only a moment to reel in pain, before unleashing a flurry of twenty pecks in the next second. “The damage has already been done,” the dryad growled. “Just accept the consequences, before I decide to prolong your suffering! After all, I’ve got aaaaaaall day…”

All Calix could do was loudly lament his predicament, feeling as though thousands of needles were skewering his testicle. For a full minute, the abuse from his manhood sent lightning bolts up his spine and to all of his extremities embedded into the wood.

And then, mercifully, the agony stopped once again. His owner shook her head with a chuckle of pity. “Alright, I think that’s enough… for THIS testicle.” As she said this, she rubbed a fingertip up the underside of his cock, which was still glued to the wood above his tormented nuts.

Though he was sure that his time stuck to the tree was far from over, Calix couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief, having been given a momentary pause to collect himself. “Please…just let me go. You and your little bird have had your fun, haven’t you?” he whimpered.

“Oh nonono, not at all. I’m going to make you FEEL what we go through whenever you attack us. You’re going to regret having ever taken an axe to any of the trees in these woods by the time I’m done with you!” The dryad grinned cruelly, her familiar scooting over and aiming its beak at his RIGHT testicle…

“B-But I ALREADY do! Don’t you understand how sensitive these things are? I can promise you that I regret messing with your trees and I promise to never do it again!” Calix replies, looking nervously at the evil thing preparing to send him into a flurry of fits.

The look of doubt and contempt on her face made it clear that she wasn’t buying it. Without a word, she nodded towards Tereus… who instantly started hammering Calix’s OTHER testicle – which had been largely untouched up to this point – with a rapid-fire series of painful stabs. The poor man was promptly reduced to a babbling and tormented sack of squirming man meat; his eyes began to water and his thick cock throbbed as it reached peak arousal.

Mags actually had to cover her ears; the poor man’s screams really did carry! But she wasn’t about to let up with her torment, not until she was absolutely certain that he wouldn’t hurt even ONE LEAF in the forest ever again. Having started at maximum intensity, Tereus’ beak was now stabbing so hard into the hapless nut that it was actually drawing drops of blood, though not enough to outright pierce it… yet.

Calix wasn’t sure how much more he could take of this, but all his body could do was either pass out or cum, and one of those was already near as his swollen head began to glisten with precum. It’s quite a feeling to be this close to an orgasm while your jewels are slowly destroyed by a vicious forest bird.

The dryad now saw what was going on, and decided to “help” him out a little. Reaching forth with a single finger, she proceeded to stroke up and down his hapless cock, teasing it to bursting point while her familiar continued tormenting him. At the same time, unnoticed by Calix, a thin, narrow vine was creeping down the tree trunk towards him…

A few moments later, with a loud moan, several thick ropes of cum erupted from the hefty nine incher that was cemented to the tree of torture. The relief was only momentary, of course, as his nads were still being violently skewered. And then, without warning, the vine seemed to strike, passing his ear and aiming for the slit of his penis. The dryad smiled evilly as it wormed its way in, down his urethra and inching towards his prostate. The poor man, on the other hand, was rendered speechless as he felt his cock swell as the vine forced its way deep inside of him. He squeaked and squealed as his super sensitive cock was filled to its maximum by the rough vine.

Meanwhile, the bird had finally stopped attacking Calix’s right nut – and returned to his left, having positioned itself so he could reach either of them without trouble. This alternation would surely give his genitals not an ounce of mercy as it seemed like they would soon become impaled upon his beak at any moment…

“Hmmm…” The dryad rubbed her chin. “I’m going to need to work EXTRA hard to truly break you. Oh, I know – Just a second, I’ll be right back!” She headed off into the bushes and disappeared… while the vine continued slithering its way down Calix’s cock, and while Tereus resumed pecking furiously at his right testicle.

As the demonic familiar began assaulting his right gem with renewed passion, Calix squirmed and groaned as the vine continued making its way down his thick shaft, left alone to his tormentors. Within several agonizing seconds, the vine had made it past his prostate; then its tip seemed to open up then and reveal a narrower length of fiber that worked deeper into the passageway, the vas deferens which looped up and around his bladder before dropping down into his sack… It seemed like the narrow tube was constricting painfully around the insidious tendril. And still Tereus’ assault continued, Calix’ right nut beginning to feel softer and softer… as though his beak was just about to puncture the luckless organ…

The stud felt as though his sensitive genitals were about to explode as the vine continued inching its way deeper and deeper in. The pecking on his already massively swollen spud made the poor man whimper and squeal, though his thick rod remained rock hard even after his previous climax.

There was a brief, merciful pause upon the assault on his right ball. Tereus seemed to be judging the right place to strike, and then he reared his head back. Calix seemed to be focused too much on the tendril now worming its way into his left testicle to notice what was happening until it was too late.

With one well-placed thrust, the bird finally landed a deep stab, its vicious beak piercing through the skin of his scrotum and into the ball meat within!

“EEEEYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”

The poor man wailed miserably as his precious egg finally gave in and ruptured. He jerked and moaned, but he could do nothing to relieve the pain. His eyes began to water as blood began to run in a tiny trickle down the large tree which enslaved him.

All of a sudden, the tendril seemed to withdraw, slithering its way back through his spermatic cord… It was a few more agonizing moments it had finally pulled its way back into the thicker vine, which was still embedded in his member all the way up to the prostate. It started thrusting in and out in little strokes, an arousing sensation which did nothing to ease the agony of the awful bird beginning to explore the still-living innards of his broken left nut, the hard surface of the tip of its beak grazing roughly against the hundreds of hyper-sensitive little tubules within.


“EEEEEYAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEE!!!”

Calix howled as his left nut was slowly ripped into by that blasted bird. He could feel the rigid beak brush against each and every tubule, and there was nothing he could do to escape the searing agony in his loins. The young man jerked and squirmed as much as he could from within his wooden restraints, yet it did nothing to ease his pain even a slight amount.

Tereus took quite a bit of tugging to pull out his beak – and ended up yanking a little chunk of nut guts out in the process. But that was nothing compared to what was about to happen to his other ball – already a mass of wriggling pointed things was beginning to grow inside of it…

It seemed like Calix’s screams could be heard for miles before they faded to agonized moans. He began to drool uncontrollably as his body was wracked with the most intense pain anyone could possibly imagine. He began to shake slightly, or at least as much as the tree would allow, as both of his nuts were slowly reduced to no more than goo.

And then his right nut began to swell, the developing seedling inside fertilized by the copious sperm within. Its roots and stem were actually beginning to grow outwards, pushing painfully upon the innumerable tubules inside and jabbing against the insides of the organ’s walls. Sensing what was happening, Tereus shimmied down the trunk and away from the dryad’s captive… who couldn’t even move while the plant continued to grow INSIDE his hapless nut.

He shook his head wildly as he could do nothing at all to stop his right spunk factory from slowly expanding unevenly as the seed grew inside of it. He started screaming and squealing loudly once again as drool continued to run down his cheek and the tree trunk.

The first of the roots managed to pierce through with a horrible squelching noise, puncturing through the tough wall of the testicle and then wrapping itself around his scrotum. Blood and sperm oozed out from the wound, though not as freely as in the case of the hole in his other nut… It’d be amazing if he could get the sperm out the usual way by this point…

As his only remaining nut ruptured due to the seed within it, Calix hollered loudly and hit his climax. He squirted all up the tree trunk that encased him, the first even managing to hit him on the face.

A second root, and then a third, pierced through his testicle wall, the plant beginning to grow upon the luckless organ and feed upon the sperm within. And then its stem began to push its way through.

Just then, there was a rustling nearby, and a familiar voice spoke. “Alright, I’m baaaaack~! Took me a little while to find the regeneration salve, but now I think it’s time for me to take thAAAAAAAAAAAAH OH GREAT VERDANT SPIRITS, WHAT THE FUCK?!”

The poor soul was unable to speak as his tormentor finally returned, albeit too late to save him from this agony. He glared at her as she returned with what would put all of this to an end.

“Oh gods…” Her skin turned noticeably pale, having realized in her horror that things had gotten way out of hand. “I’m so sorry… I want to help, but this is going to hurt very, very badly… I hope you can forgive me and I’ll make it up to you as much as I can.” She cradled his mangled sack, wincing at the sight of the sprout growing from his right testicle.

He has absolutely no idea how he could ever experience more pain than this, but he shook his head no and tried to form a coherent sentence to tell her to fuck off. All that came out was the mangled cry of a broken man.

“I have to…” She took out a scalpel blade formed from a large thorn, narrow but very sharp. With a guilty and almost nauseated look on her face, she slid the tip into the scrotum and testicle meat right next to the stem, and began cutting an incision into the organ just big enough to pull the seedling out.

Calix’s voice rose in pitch as he felt his manhood be sliced apart. With yet another cry of anguish, he jerked and once again struggled futilely to escape his prison. He wailed and moaned, unable to do anything to make himself feel any better.

It took a minute or so of trimming the roots and making the precise albeit incredibly painful incision, but ultimately, she managed to pull the seedling out, as delicately as possible but still without any painkillers… What had happened while she was away? And had she gone too far?

Upon removing the seedling, she swiftly handed it to Tereus, giving him a very angry look; the bird instantly recognized how she felt, and hurriedly flew off to plant the seedling elsewhere. This left her to open the bottle of healing salve, giving the poor woodsman a look of heartfelt remorse. “I… I’m sorry. I took it too far… I shouldn’t have done all of this. I should’ve just asked…”

There was nothing that she could say to heal the internal wounds Calix had endured. He had chopped down a couple trees, not behead her child in front of her. He glared at her the entire time she made him suffer while removing the seedling from his manhood.

Next moment, he felt the salve making contact with his wounded balls, soothing and refreshingly cool. His wounds began to heal, tissue and skin growing and eventually beginning to seal the injuries shut…

Calix began to relax slowly as his wounds were healed by the salve. He breathed slowly and deeply as he was allowed peace from his previous ailments. His body may have been healing, though constantly screaming, crying, and thrashing caused him to pass out almost immediately after his balls completed the healing process.

A while later, the lumberjack woke up on a bed of soft leaves, his clothing back on and a strange haze in his mind. What had happened before he’d passed out seemed to be a complete mystery, though his balls did ache very, very badly for some reason. Not too far away, next to the tree stumps that remained from the lumber he’d cut down, was a pair of saplings. And sitting on one of the stumps, her face buried in her hands, was a green-skinned woman with white flowers in her hair.

Calix groaned loudly and cupped his privates as he laid still for a couple minutes. “The fuck…” he moaned as he slowly sat up. He couldn’t remember anything that had happened from earlier that day, and especially not why his balls were hurting so badly. He looked at the felled trees and immediately noticed the dryad. “Um… hello?”

“Hi.” She looked down at the saplings, wiping the wetness from her eyes. “Slept well, I take it?”

“I… guess? Who are you, exactly?” He stood up and walked over to her, feeling concerned for her emotional state.

“I’m Magnolia. I’m the dryad responsible for keeping these woods safe.” She looked up at him. “I saw someone cut down some of my trees this morning. I… I got very, very angry, and I reacted badly. I didn’t know what to say that could make up for it, so I replanted the saplings over there.” She pointed at the sprouts in question. “I’m a vindictive asshole… far too much so for my own good.” She sniffled, wiping her eyes again. Not surprisingly, she was secretly worrying that he’d connect the dots, override the amnesiac pollen she’d administered earlier, and blame her for what had happened.

“I could’ve stopped at telling him off, or at least giving him a small penalty for his transgression, but I didn’t. And I’m sorry for that. I didn’t know what I was thinking, and my anger got out of hand before I could stop it…”

Calix took a moment to think over everything he just heard. He was still rather confused, but he didn’t want to push his luck with someone who openly claims to be a vindictive asshole. He sat down beside the dryad and carefully put his arm around her waist. “Well… At least you made up for it, right? There’s not really anything else you can do about it, so try and move on. There’s no reason to stay hung up on it.”

“Well…” She looked over in the direction of the forest path. “I guess it’s only fair that I take the high path. I’m not a perfect dryad, not even close. Perhaps I don’t even deserve to be in charge of these woods like my sisters do…” She sighed. “Where do you live, anyway? I heard something about a damaged cabin sometime this morning, and maybe I can help repair it. It’s only fair that I try and make up for what happened…”

“You don’t have to worry about that.” He shrugged. “It looks like I already chopped down the trees I had come out here for to repair it, so I’ll be alright. Why don’t you just get some rest? It seems like you’ve had a long day.”

She stiffened a little, but then relaxed. “I guess that’s a good idea. Just promise me one thing, though…”

“Sure thing, hun. What is it?” He pulled her closer in an attempt to comfort her.

She reached into the pouch strapped around her waist, and after she pulled her hand back out, she opened it to reveal a sizable handful of small dark brown seeds. “If you ever cut down any more trees in my forest, please plant two for each you take. That way, the forest can regrow, and my home will not be lost.” She poured the seeds into his hand, and closed his fingers around them afterward.

Calix looked down at the seeds in his hand before putting them in his pocket. “Alright, I’ll be sure to do that. Thank you for letting me use your home. Without it, I wouldn’t be able to survive.” Before he stood up, he gently kissed Magnolia’s cheek.

Her cheeks flushed a slightly darker shade of green. She wasn’t sure how to respond, but she smiled back regardless. “Take care of yourself,” she replied. “And maybe we can see each other again soon?”

“Of course, you’re free to visit my cabin anytime you like. And thanks, again.” With that, Calix stood up and tied a rope around one of the two trees he had chopped down, having tied the planks made from the other to it. With Magnolia watching him the whole time, he began dragging all the lumber back to his home, though he was more than strong enough to do so.

She wondered if she should help him out, but after seeing him haul the timber by himself, she decided to let him be on his way. She did however promise to herself to indeed stop by in the future – a prospect that made her smile a little before she vanished into the forest. Soon, all that could be heard in the forest were the sounds of woodland creatures, buzzing insects, rustling leaves. Somewhere, perhaps, there was even the distant tapping sound of a woodpecker making its rounds.

As soon as he heard that distinctive sound, a certain lumberjack briefly froze, has though he believed it to be an ill omen. But after a second or two, he finally relaxed, and then continued on his way, the logs he needed to fix his cabin trailing along behind him.

He was truly thankful that he would never know what exactly had transpired that morning – and really, would he have wanted to?