When Laren gets injured and Tavin has to try to get her safely to a healer, they find themselves being hunted down by raiders in the Queen's wood, trying to make it to a Green Rider waystation. However, the meager first-aid supplies to be found there aren't enough to cure such grave injuries as those Laren has sustained. However, Tavin learns of a mysterious hermit that lives in the wood and might be able to heal Laren. But, this hermit seems to be at one with the forest and, perhaps, nature itself - and simply finding him requires a challenging level of faith that taxes Tavin's suspension of disbelief.
Further complicating matters, although Tavin had been able to hear other people's thoughts from a young age, his Green Rider special ability had not yet revealed itself. This left him quite anxious for it to do so, filled with more than a little bit of self-doubt and quite overwhelmed to find himself being hunted in the wood while trying to rescue his injured lieutenant. It was during this traumatic event that Tavin's ability first truly lashed out, although he had basically no understanding of what it was or how it worked. He soon discovered that his ability to hear other's thoughts was the tip of the iceberg and could do much more than just that... and it could be used to aid others or cause tremendous and savage damage to them.
Tavin and Laren stayed at the waystation for quite a while as Laren healed from her wounds and Tavin and Abram Rust, a queen's forester who stayed at the waystation, cared for her wounds. Although Laren was proud and didn't want to appear weak in front of Tavin - or possibly anyone - she was suffering not only physically and mentally from this recent attack, but also deep-seated mental anguish that had been tormenting her for years and had caused her to keep others at arm's length. In order to heal completely from her recent trauma, however, Laren would need to address her damaged psyche... something that Tavin could assist with, thanks to his new ability and with more than a little guidance from the hermit of the wood. However, he would first need to convince Laren to accept his help.
I enjoyed reading of Laren's backstory and how she came to be friends with Tavin through this traumatic experience. It was a nice, humanizing story that wraps up nicely, in the end, making it nearly just as suitable as an introduction to the world of the Green Riders.
In addition to the text of the story, Kristen Britain also drew about a dozen illustrations for the interior of the book; primarily ink drawings. She doesn't claim to be a professional artist, but there's something very authentic and true about illustrations from the hand of the writer, in my opinion, so brava, Kristen!
I found Spirit of the Wood to be a delightfully entertaining side-chapter in the Green Rider series and was pleased to have the chance to read it. Regardless of whether you've read other books from the Green Rider series, if you're looking for a cozy story to curl up with, this is a good choice.
