As Sam walked, the Dryad could only watch helplessly as he stomped off in a fury. She shook her head sadly and sighed, deciding against warning him that he was about to walk into a Arachnee's web.
The insect-like creature waited anxiously for him to step closer then just as he entered her range she descended from her perch and flung a net-like web around him, binding him to the spot he stood. She instantly sprang into action, pulling out yards and yards of long thread with which to use to bind him and carry him off to her nest to extract his seed then consume him when he stopped giving it. That was her intention, at least...
Just then, what appeared to be a large fist made of earth reached up and slammed into the spider-woman, knocking her into the distance. Whatever it was, however, did not desire to save him. No, it merely wanted to be the one to finish him off itself. The hand grasped his body painfully, the fingers digging into his flesh. If he looked to his right he would see a small creature about four foot tall wearing a thick hooded robe of some kind. It had intricate patterns on it, beautiful and elegant in its design while at the same time imposing as it denoted someone of some importance wore these clothes. Under the hood lurked two large round eyes that glistened like sapphires in the dim moonlight while her pointed ears jutted out to either side and pushed back the robe slightly from her face. She had an expressionless and emotionless face, yet if he looked deep into her eyes he would be able to see hints of anger or perhaps even fury in those eyes.
"Gnome, stop it," Dryad called out, "Please don't kill him, he meant me no harm."
Gnome merely kept her eyes on the human, boring into him like daggers.
"Gnome, please," the woman repeated, "put him down."
Gnome shook her head slowly from side to side, showing that she had no intention of letting him off easy for his harsh words. She had been listening to the entire conversation and had become fed up with his insolence. She tightened her grip on him, threatening to crush his bones from the mere force.
"GNOME!" the Dryad sent a branch down, striking the earthy fist which held Sam, but it had no effect, "If you refuse to listen to me, then leave my forest! I will not have you shed blood in my presence."
The Gnome blinked, slowly turning to face the Dryad with her expressionless face then looked up at the human. She relaxed her grip slightly, but didn't let him go.
"Gnome, listen, how about you test him and see if he is worthy to be your contractor?" the Dryad suggested.
Gnome's head turned back toward the Dryad.
"You do not need to mate with him to form a contract," she reassured the small earth spirit, "It is a spiritual bond of sorts, but there is more than one way to forage such a contract."
Her eyes did not seem to be convinced, and waited to hear what the human would say to all of this.