Chapter 1
“Close Your Eyes”
Sarantos stretched his legs out on the grass and leaned back into a soft pile of featherwhite and inhaled deeply until he felt the fresh air fill his lungs. He exhaled slowly and smiled. The fuzzy plant that became his pillow was a well-loved flower that when laid upon, released a gentle nirvana-like smell that always made the plant one of his all time favorites.
“Good morning, Sarantos,” Mika said, as she quietly entered the clearing where he was enjoying the warm sun of late spring.
“Good morning, Mika. Why not come and join me for a while. I was just reminiscing about the past year and can hardly believe it’s been a year already since we rescued Leigh from the evil clutches of that she-vampire. I hope that devil is enjoying her time as a beautiful moss. At least she’s finally given her life a worthwhile significance.”
Mika chuckled, “That is a lesson well learned! Yes, I’m proud of Leigh. She has come such a long way on her physical healing, but the emotional and spiritual damage was so brutal and to the very core of her essence I’m afraid. My friend, it’ll still take her a while longer before her eyes light up like they used too. I’m sorry, Sarantos. Hang in there!”
“I know. Her scars are so deep that it breaks my heart when I look into those beautiful eyes. But, I have to say, Mika, for the most part it feels amazing when we’re together. After the drawn-out struggles to get her back, I feel truly blessed. I just feel alive when I’m with her. I’m amazed at her strength. Watching her return from that ‘dark place’ has touched my soul in a deep and profound way. It’s hard to explain. It’s difficult to put into words.”
“I can sense it, so you don’t have to explain your emotions … they are a part of me too,” Mika purred.
“Thanks, my dear friend. I never thought I could love her deeper than I did, but sharing the experience of her spirit rising slowly back to the light left me in awe of her.”
“I have to say in all honesty she has also touched everyone around her in the same way. We’re all affected by her perserverence. She is loved by many.”
The big cat stretched out her four paws causing her long legs to brush against the featherwhite instantly sending tufts of the fluffy flower billowing around both of them. Mika raised her head and her nose twitched as she sniffed the air. She yawned so huge her front fangs could be seen clearly. If she wasn’t his friend he would be worried, those fangs were the size of his index finger.
She looked over at him and said, “I smell dreeber mixed in with the featherwhite. There must be some buried under the pillows.”
“I smell them too!”
He loved dreeber with its tiny purple flowers and peppery leaves.
Mika sat up and her body bounced in excitement, “They’re rare, my friend, and here we lie in a pool of them. Oh what luck.”
The two of them began to carefully lift the tufts. The expression on Mika was priceless. He was sure his face was rather silly looking too as they kept uncovering the many beds of the rare flower.
His grin was goofy, but he couldn’t help it. He said, “Brad will be so happy with these. He uses them for potions of healing, movement, sleep, babble and a number of other things, not to mention he loves cooking with them. They change each recipe into something exotic and different, each time they’re used, even if it’s the same recipe!”
Their smell was unique indeed and would never be lost even if one tried to forget.
“Well, Leigh must be up and we need to get this prize back to the house quickly, for Brad. Did you eat yet, my friend?”
“Yes.”
***
Leigh was already downstairs when they arrived back home. She was laughing in conversation with Wallis and Adela while enjoying a steaming cup of coffee with fresh eggs. Brad was scurrying about the kitchen getting breakfast for everyone.
“Something smells good.” He said as the two of them entered the kitchen area.
Brad turned and handed him a basket of fresh-cut homemade biscuits and motioned for him to place it on the table without noticing the flowers in his hand or those that were hanging out of his pockets.
“Bout’ time you two wanderers decided to come home for breakfast,” Brad said while pouring out a couple more cups of coffee.
He smiled at his friend and put the basket on the table in front of where he was about to sit down. He leaned over and kissed Leigh, “Good morning, my beautiful lady.”
She smiled up at him and his heart skipped a beat … damn he loved her so much.
“Good morning, Sarantos. I haven’t forgotten you dearest Mika; come and let me pet you to also wish you a good morning. It appears you and Mika have been busy my love,” Leigh said while using one hand to take the dreeber from him while the other one kept intimate contact with the long, soft fur of Mika.
Wallis frowned in curiosity. His head tilted to the left as he pulled some of the flowers from Sarantos’s pocket. He held it up to his nose and grinned, “Well, bless me. What do we have here? This is a surprise indeed. The exotic dreeber this close to our home? This is good news. Is there more, Sarantos?”
Adela leaned toward the wizard and smelled the bright blue flowers in his hand. “Yes, very rare they are indeed. Dreeber is such a fragrant flower with tasty leaves. Their rich powerful benefits have yet to be fully discovered, that’s for sure. Wherever did you find them?”
Brad was so busy preparing breakfast that the conversation was lost on him. As he turned and set down a plate of food for him and Sarantos, he pulled over a chair to join them at the table. Then just as he lifted his fork to his mouth he saw the flowers and dropped the eggs clumsily back onto his plate.
“Thanks for the eggs, my friend,” Sarantos grinned while handing him some of the flowers from his pocket. Brad stared for a few minutes and looked at the wizard.
“Are these what I think they are?” The look of shock and awe on his face was priceless.
The wizard just returned the quizzical look back to Brad, so Sarantos finally answered, “Yes, they are Brad, and to answer Adela, we found them in the ‘wolf clearing.’ When Mika stretched out her body, she caused the featherwhite to move into the air. Their fluffy tufts stirred up the odor and exposed the vibrant plant.” He faced Brad again and said, “We’ll go collect some more after breakfast and I’ll help you bring some back to get your own plot started.” He patted Brad on the back, “There’s many patches, my friend, many many patches as far as the eye an see.”
Adela was still smelling the flower and said, “You’ll want to go at dusk, that’s the best time for harvesting this precious flower. They spread out when in the right environment.”
“Wow … that’s really a bit of luck.” Brad sipped his coffee while nodding his head in approval.
“Yes, a bit of luck,” Wallis said while pulling on his beard.
***
It was a beautiful sunset as he stood next to Brad, Leigh and Mika staring into the ‘wolves’ clearing’.
Brad spoke up, “Mika, you beautiful cat, I don’t think I’ve thanked you enough for this treasure. So, thank you a billion times over.” He threw his arms around her neck and kissed the top of her head.
Leigh started laughing, “Well, dearest Mika, it would appear you need to go about stretching and sniffing once again, as it looks like the lovely featherwhite has filled in their fluffy pillow heads around the whole glen and covered up the dreeber.”
The giant cat slowly walked into the clearing and sniffed about before stretching and pawing at a rather large six by six foot area. There underneath the glorious white fluffy heads that were moving along the wind were the incredible rich blue blooms, as the featherwhite petals worked diligently to restore the dreeber to their previously hidden state. The combinations of smells were intoxicating and the beauty that held their senses was mesmerizing.
Brad looked at Sarantos and let out a yelp before he fled into the midst of the flowers.
They continued gathering and playing about until they had enough to start two gardens. Brad wanted some for the underground city, as well.
Leigh walked about and collected seeds from the featherwhite plants and placed them in several pouches she’d brought along...