Beneath the glistening silvery sky the arch-druidess, akin now to a goddess with her kingdom of destruction and rebirth, leaned forward from her briar-knotted throne. Those slate grey eyes narrowed as the words of deceleration and threat echoed over the shattered concrete and twisted spires, slowly becoming consumed in fresh green saplings that longed to claim the earth anew for their own. "Come out!" the words demanded, as if from another embodiment of justice, "Come out!"

This is my paradise, Philomel thought, the years of despair and horror at seeing what these beasts had done to the world clear in the stern lines of her face. This is my world now, stranger. You have no right to be here.

Slowly, raising her chin, she stood up from her throne, jaw tight, fists closed, heart beared. As she did the earth parted before her, and those many creatures of the earth who had aided her quest - the deer, the flatworms, the moles, the foxes and more, chittered and showed their heads from their small plotlands of feeding and foraging. As their sheperedess took a step from amongst the broken glass and tumbled towers to be seen clearly by whatever mysterious entity dared to step into her realm, the creatures bawked and cheered and called, some twisting and racing towards her as she continued to scan the skies and land for her probable foe.

As she sought, then locked gaze on the shadowy figure in the middle distance, Philomel raised her hand. The seedlings around her bloomed suddenly, arching towards her to weave together rapidly, the vines warping and wrapping and stretching before they settled about her shoulders. A further fine wrapped itself about her horns, snapping off to create a green gilded crown and cloak.

"Who dares come into my kingdom?" she answered. "This is my realm now, reclaimed by the right of the trees and woodland creatures. The species here poisoned the land - I took it back from them. I am lord and lady both here. What right have you to trespass?"