Chapter One
It was a beautiful sunny morning in the Mycelia Forest, with a constant soft fog that covered it. This is no ordinary forest. The trees were replaced by colossal mushrooms that seemed to reach into the sky, some being as tall as redwood giants even. Even the creatures were unique to this forest, appearing as if mushrooms had taken over their bodies. The fungal creatures lived their everyday lives in peace eating from the little mushrooms that grew on the floor of the forest.Nestled in the far western part of the Mycelia Forest stood a large city known as Fogbloom. The city itself is built upon a series of platforms and interconnected walkways, each leading to a series of houses or shops built on the massive stems on the colossal tree-like mushrooms, almost as if they were treehouses. The few paths on the ground were made out of cobblestone, leading to just a handful of workshops that were on ground level. In the center of the city stood a somewhat large statue of a goddess known as Morwenna. She stood in the center of a rather large stone basin full of water, and more water was pouring from the statue's eyes.
The city was alive with energy at all hours. The three taverns in the city always had a handful of people buying drinks and telling stories in them. The blacksmiths would swap shifts every so often so that business would keep going. There were always at least five druids working in the fields or botanical gardens harvesting crops, watering them, or caring for them in some type of way or another. The general stores were always having to update their stocks as traveling merchants would wander into their stores looking to sell some of their wares they carried in with them. Most of the new stock came from Vixenwood or Moonlight Hollow, but every once in a while a traveling merchant would show up from Mangrove Marsh or Willowcrest.
It was in one of these houses at the highest part of the city where I lived. It had the best view of the city. It felt like I could see everyone and everything in the land of Vixenwood. Off in the distance over the tree-like mushrooms, I could see the top part of the castle of Vixenwood where the king lived. I had so many dreams of visiting Vixenwood, especially for their annual Lunar Festival. I had heard from several traveling merchants that it was their favorite time of the year. For a week straight, there would be a festival in honor of the moon, with many different games and challenges anyone could participate in.
It was in this city, though, that nothing felt right. Sure, the view from my house was amazing, and learning how to be a druid was definitely one of my passions, but I don't remember a time where I ever actually felt happy here. I don't remember a time where anyone ever actually felt happy here. Fogbloom's leader, Balkas, wasn't really fit to be leader. Anything he ruled for the city was more to cover his own ass instead of supporting his citizens. Recently a group of bandits had holed up in a nearby cave and started making demands that we start giving them some supplies, and instead of having someone deal with it, Balkas would rather just give them the food and water supplies. His excuse was,"I want to avoid any wars." But these are bandits, and there's a lot of them in that cave as well. They could decide at any minute to just attack Fogbloom if they're no longer satisfied with what they're receiving. So far they haven't asked for anything more than just the rations they've been getting, but every time a hunting party comes back, they'll tell the city that the bandit camp is growing in size and population.Balkas has also been bad at ignoring what the citizens' requests for the city. An elderly vixarian woman was having problems getting to and from the garden and had requested the city do something about it, and they essentially all but ignored her. I've taken it upon myself to help her get down the walkways and to the ground level garden where she spends her days, and then I go back at the end of the day and help her back to her house before heading home myself.
I was sitting on my bed, watching the sun go down while I thought to myself about nothing in particular. I slowly undid the braids in my red hair, letting my hair fall over my shoulders and down to my waists. When the sun finally went down I turned my attention to my room. It wasn't very large, but it had everything that I needed. My bed sat against the wall neatly made. The window was right above the bed, making it easy for me to look out at the surrounding land. There was a desk across the room that sat up against the wall with a matching chair that sat pushed up to it. On the desk there was a stack of journals. They were journals I carried with me to take notes with if I traveled anywhere. Each journal was dedicated to a different thing, one being dedicated to animals in the Mycelia Forest, one being for plants and herbs that lived in the gardens and forest, one being for druidic rituals that we partake in, and more. My favorite druidic ritual they teach us is mycomorphisis. We only use it as a last resort ritual. To explain, the ritual itself is to help give almost dead animals who were abused most of their life a second chance. The animal will become a mushroom version itself known as a fungoid during the ritual, and it will only keep its good memories.
There was a soft knock on the door before my older sister popped her head into view. She had a serious look in her golden brown eyes, the same look she had when she had bad news. It must have been something about what Balkas ruled, because she only ever really gets that look when it's one of his insane rulings.
"Hey, Livrani. Can I come in?" She asked softly.
I scooted over on my bed and patted the now cleared spot twice, signaling for her to sit down. She strolled into my room and plopped down gracefully. She threw her left arm over my shoulders and let out a little huff before she began. "I've been thinking...Maybe we should move?"
I looked up at her in confusion. "Why? Like...Move houses? What's wrong with the one we have now?"
She frowned."Well, you know how things are in the city now. Balkas is ordering us to give part of our food supply to those bandits nearby. Coward can't even stand up for his own people. It's just to cover his own ass. The bandits are growing in number by the day, so who knows how long it is before they start demanding more, again."
She was right. Bandits are notorious for demanding more and more as time goes on, though I've never heard of a bandit camp growing to such a size and capacity before. Normally a group of bandits sits at about ten members at most. The group of bandits nearby is nearing a hundred members now. In the past, they only demanded very little food supplies each month, so it wasn't very noticeable when we first started sending them food. But every few months they ask for more and more because they'll have gotten some more members and won't have enough rations for everyone in their camp.
"Where would we even go if we move?" I asked her.
"Well, we could try Moonlight Hollow. That village is very, very small and I'm sure they'd be glad to have some extra hands with work. And there's also Lily Grove and Mangrove Marsh, too if you would rather have more people around." She explained with a soft smile.
I pursed my lips, thinking deeply about each option she gave me. Moonlight Hollow is so small that I don't even think it would count as a village. They have maybe twenty people that live there. It's more like a small community than it is a village. All of them are elves, too, so I highly doubt that they would accept us with open arms as we're satyrs. The village was also in the center of an enchanted forest. For some reason it was permanently midnight there, and somehow all the plants were bioluminescent. If we chose to move there at some point, that would probably be the most preferable place, as it would give me more plants and animal life to study and care for. Mangrove Marsh was in the heart of a swamp. Their houses were built similarly to Fogblooms, up in the trees and off of the ground. Instead of there being a few buildings on the ground, though, there were buildings on little dock-like structures holding them above the wet marsh floor. Lily Grove was a town that resided in the middle of a valley full of flowers. It was the larger civilization out of the three. There are many flowers in that valley that can't be found anywhere else. I heard that the bees make some really good honey from those flowers as well, and Lily Grove will sell the honey to other places.
"Are you sure we have to leave, though?" I asked. This has been the only place I've ever known. I've never even been outside of the Mycelia Forest before, and neither has she. We both recently just became adults and haven't had the time to go explore because we've been working so hard to keep up with crop production for both the city and the ever growing bandit camp.
"Well, it's either that or we won't ever get to go anywhere. We'll be too busy slaving away just to have it taken from us all."
She was right again, and there was no arguing with it. Part of me just couldn't comprehend living somewhere else, I suppose. We've lived in this house since we were born, so the thought of living somewhere else was more like a dream than anything else.
"I'll give you some time to think over it. It is a big decision after all and there won't be any turning back when we leave. Unless Balkas dies or resigns or something like that, which we both know isn't going to happen any time soon." She said as she pulled her arm off my shoulders and leaned forward, placing her elbows on her legs and supporting her head in her hands now. "I never thought that this would be something I would have to suggest, you know."
"What about Mrs. Kenome?" I asked
"The vixarian woman you help every day? We won't be able to take her unfortunately if we leave." she said.
"Well, as morbid as this is going to sound then...Can we wait until she dies so we can attend her funeral? I would hate to just leave her here with nobody to help her to the park. She doesn't have a lot of time left."
Selniana smiled at me now. "Alright. But let me know where it is you want to go so I can get a plan set up soon when you figure it out. I'm going to bed. I'll see you in the morning. Remember, we have to be up earlier than normal since we're giving more of our supplies to those thugs."
"Yeah, yeah. I'm not a child anymore, Selniana. I know."
With that, she stepped out of my room, leaving me in the silence once more. I just sat there for several minutes, thinking over everything that had been said. I went back to looking out the window again. The sun had finally set and the stars covered the skies. The full moon was starting to rise into the sky, the light illuminating my room through the window. Eventually, I laid down on my bed and slowly drifted off to sleep.
I woke up to my sister shaking my shoulder quickly. I pushed myself up into a sitting position and looked at her, blinking myself awake. She gave me an apologetic smile and stood up. She was wearing the typical druid outfit, a mossy green tunic that had little mushrooms on the shoulders and a pair of earthy brown pants. Around her waist was a belt with little pouches attached to them, carrying different types of herbs and items any well practiced druid would carry. She wore boots fashioned from cured mushroom caps that were lined with moss to help with traction. She had her golden circlet on as well, with little mushrooms decorating it. Her dark red hair was tied up in a neatly braided bun that sat on top of her head. Every type of druid has a different outfit style that matches what their expertise relates to, ours being mushrooms, spores, and fungi of all types. I personally think that our outfits are some of the best, because they're the most colorful and most on point for their designs. Every time I put my druidic outfit on, I always feel a sense of pride.
"Sorry for waking you. I just wanted to make sure that you weren't late. Get ready, soon. I'll be waiting down stairs for you." She said softly.
And with that, she disappeared from my room. I let out a wide yawn and a large stretch before springing off my bed and to my feet. I crossed my room to my wardrobe and pulled the doors open. My druid outfit hung neatly on one of the hangers, and I smiled to myself when I saw it. I swiftly took it off the hanger and changed clothes as fast as I could. There was a mirror that stood beside the wardrobe that stood up. I took a look at myself and couldn't help but smile more. I grabbed my mushroom circlet and belt from the table and put them on swiftly. The circlet went on my head and around my ram horns perfectly, matching the exact shape of my head. The leather pants I wore were stretchy, yet skin tight on my satyr legs. They were some of the most comfortable clothes I had ever worn in my life.
I turned to my bed now and pulled my druid boots on swiftly, lacing them up tightly to make sure they stayed on for the whole day. I glanced over to the corner of my room to find my mushroom quarterstaff sitting carefully leaned up against the wall. I stood up and stretched again once more before walking back to my wardrobe to grab the mushroom cloak that was hung up neatly. I pulled it off the hanger and flung it around my shoulders, then clasped it to make sure it would stay put. The cloak itself is beautiful, looking almost like a living canopy of mushrooms hanging from my back in all different colors ranging from blues and purples to greens and browns. It was a long cloak, too, stopping at just above my ankles. I pulled a sash over my shoulders and grabbed my mushroom quarterstaff, clipping it to the sash in one swift movement. I took another look at myself in the mirror again. I pulled the hood of my cloak over my head and ram horns, gave myself a soft smile, and then walked out of my room and down the stairs that lead to the living room of our house.
The living room is a warm and inviting place. We tried to make it match the mushroom forests as much as possible. The tapestries that hung on the wall were woven from spider silk, adorned with intricate patterns that depicted natural landmarks of the mushroom forest around us. A plush rug made from the soft tufts of moss and lichen spanned the living room, with earthy hues of greens and browns. There is a collection of handcrafted furniture made by me and Selniana. The sofa was created from one of the tree-like mushrooms that resided in the forest, with plush purple and blue mushroom themed pillows that are stuffed with moss and lichen. On either side of the mushroom sofa sat two circular chairs that looked like mushrooms in the forest, with seats resembling oversized mushroom caps. In the center of the room in front of the sofa sat a mushroom crafted coffee table that stood low to the ground. It was a deep earthy brown in color. In one corner of the room stood a series of bookshelves that were full of books of all kinds. Above the sofa hung a series of mushroom shaped lanterns that glowed in different colors ranging from blues and purples to greens, yellows,and browns.
Selniana was leaning against the wall with a book in her hand. When she heard my hoofsteps coming down the stairs, she glanced up at me and smiled, then went to put the book back on the bookshelf and grab her quarterstaff, attaching it to a strap that is on her back.
"Alright, let's head to the fields." She said softly as she glided to the door.
I followed her out the door quietly and locked it before we started our way down the wooden walkway. We walked down a couple flights of stairs and came up to a wooden door that had a mushroom emblem on it. Selniana knocked once quickly. We stood there for a few moments, waiting on Mrs. Kenome to open the door. After a few moments, a disheveled elderly fox woman opened the door. She blinked at us slowly a couple times before saying anything.
"It's rather early to be stopping by, don't you think?" She asked with a small smile.
"Yeah, but unfortunately we're having to get up earlier now because of the bandits. We have to work more hours now just to give them more supplies." Selniana explained, annoyance coloring her tone just slightly.
"Ah, yes. That's right. That stupid Balkas doesn't know anything about what he's doing." The vixarian said. "Well, if you can, just give me one moment to get out of these pajamas and grab the blanket and basket and we'll be on the way. Come, take a seat. It'll be just a moment."
Selniana and I stepped through the door frame and into a welcoming home. The room we stood in had a wondrous variation of furniture that brought a lot of personality into the home. The tapestries on the walls depicted images of stories she would tell both me and Selniana when we were younglings, each one being a story of when she was young herself having wonderful adventures. There were also pictures of her loved ones. One picture was of her and a male vixarian. She had told me before it was her late husband, Drios. I had never gotten the chance to meet him, but the stories she told me about him made it feel like he was the best person anyone could ever meet.
The shelves that hung from the walls were adorned with little heirlooms, pictures, and a little wooden statue of a goddess that I didn't know of. The statue was of a woman with nine fox tails and fox ears. The statue had her hands in front of her pressed together, almost as if she were praying. There were a couple of daggers that also sat on the shelves as well. They were from her time as an assassin, having worked for the old leader of Fogbloom before Balkas was introduced. Before I was born, Mrs. Kenome would be ordered to hunt down serial killers that resided in the city. Thankfully, it's a much more peaceful time than it was compared to back then.
My sister and I sat down on one of the couches that sat in the middle of the room. She kicked her feet up on the table and leaned back into the couch and began to hum a song from our childhood as we waited on Mrs. Kenome. I just looked around the room, studying each detail as I do every time I'm invited into her house. I loved remembering the stories she would tell us when we were kids, and looking at the tapestries and the heirlooms would remind me of such. This house was almost like a second home for me and Selniana. We would come here after our druid studies and Mrs Kenome would give us cookies she baked during the day. She was essentially the mother we never had. After our mother had been murdered, she let us come in whenever we wanted for however long we wanted.
After sitting in the dimly lit room for several moments, Mrs. Kenome finally came out of one of the rooms with a large red blanket folded over one of her arms, a woven basket in one hand, and an intricately made wooden cane in the other. Selniana and I both stood up at the same time. I crossed over to the elderly woman and offered to take her arm and help her hobble out of the house. Finally, we were on our way to the garden. Slowly, we descended from the walkways arm in arm. Selniana was leading the way, glancing back at us to make sure that we weren't falling too far behind. Every once in a while, a neighbor would call out from their windows to greet Mrs. Kenome and would ask how she was holding up. She would always answer the same way each time, that she was doing as good as she ever was. As we went on, more and more people started coming from their houses now to head to work most likely. Each of them greeted us with smiles. Some even commented on how we're so great for helping the elderly get around, then turn around and complain about how my generation isn't this helpful for anyone anymore. We normally tune it out, but I know it bothered Selniana a lot, because it wasn't true. It's just some bullshit that Balkas would spout every once in a while when the bandits came into the city demanding more resources because there wasn't enough for them.
"Thank you again, youngins. I'll be here if you need to find me," She said.
"Of course. We'll be back soon." I said before Selniana and I turned to head to the farmlands.
It didn't take us long to reach the farmlands as all of the agricultural themed areas were in the same general area. Even the botanical garden where we grew medicinal herbs was relatively close to the farmlands. By the time we got there, most of the other druids were already there working on harvesting and watering the crops. I joined in with harvesting them and Selniana joined in with watering and replanting what was harvested. We worked like that for the entire day, singing while harvesting and replanting, cracking jokes when one of the other druids got clumsy and tripped over something, and similar.
The farmlands were pretty massive, so naturally we would work from sun up to sun down. I carried a woven basket in my arms, harvesting crops and placing them in the basket after I wiped most of the dirt off. When my basket got too full, I would head to the nearest farming wagon to deposit what crops I just harvested and then repeat the process. My sister would do something similar while she was planting more and watering them. When she would run out of seeds, she would head to a different farming wagon that held supplies and would grab as many seeds as she could carry and stuff them in one of the pouches on her belt before returning to her original spot to continue planting more seeds.
Finally, when the sun started to go down, we were able to go home. Selniana looked more tired than a sloth, and I felt like I might collapse from exhaustion at any minute. We made our way back to the garden, though, where Mrs. Kenome was still sitting. She saw us walking towards her, and she gave a huge smile to us.
"How are my hardest workers doing?" She asked in a playful tone.
"Not even going to sugarcoat it, I am sore as hell," Selniana said. "I'm used to long hours, but holy shit I've never had to work this long.I'm just ready to go to sleep already."
"How was your day, Mrs. Kenome?" I asked.
Her red fox ears perked up at the question. "Oh, Livrani. I know how much you love the fungoid raccoons that hide around here. They've gotten so big now!"
I smiled. "I'm glad you got to see them again."
"There were only two of them this time. Maybe tomorrow I'll get to see them again." She said hopefully as she started to get to her feet and collect her belongings.
I offered to take some of her stuff, but she insisted on carrying it herself back home. I linked my arm with hers again, and we began walking back to her house slowly. Selniana led the way again just like she did earlier this morning, glancing back every so often to make sure that we were still close behind her. She offered to take the blanket or the basket off Mrs. Kenome's hands, but once again, Mrs. Kenome insisted on carrying her own items herself. I stayed quiet as we walked, listening to Mrs. Kenome talk about all the animals that showed up in the garden today and what books she read while relaxing under the shade of the tree-like mushrooms and what she ate for lunch today. She was always very detailed in what she spoke about, which is why she is also such a good story teller. She knows what details to give and which ones to leave out.
"I do hope that we can all sit in the garden soon when you two aren't so busy and just enjoy life for a bit. You two are some of the hardest workers I've ever met in my life. You should be proud of yourselves for that." She said softly.
"We are, indeed." Selniana said with a smile as she glanced over her shoulder at us. "Though Livrani makes a better druid than I do. She has a natural born talent for this."
I felt myself blush just slightly. "Nah, I think we're both pretty good at what we do. But thanks."
Selniana laughed. "Have you seen how easy it was for you to start talking to plants? And animals for that matter? A lot of us have to learn those skills. You picked it up like it was nothing. You also learned how to practice mycomorphisis pretty fast, too. I remember hearing the elder druids say something about how they never seen anyone learn that ritual this fast. You're probably the best damn druid that's existed in a long while, and you're still only learning, which says a lot. Animals and plants don't shy away from you at all. Most people have to earn the trust of animals, even us druids, though it's naturally easier for us to gain it."
"She's right, y'know," Mrs. Kenome chimed in."You have a natural talent for this sort of thing."
"Well, thanks guys. I appreciate it." I said with a smile.
"Any time, little sis. How about I treat us to supper really quick?" Selniana suggested as we neared one of the taverns in the city known as The Misty Mug Tavern.
Mrs. Kenome said," That sounds lovely, dear, but you don't have to pay for it. Let me handle it. You two have worked all day. It's on me."
"Are you sure? I can handle it just fine," Selniana responded with.
"Of course, Selniana. Don't worry about it one bit."
"Alright then. If you say so. Follow me, then."
Selniana led us into a large well-decorated tavern, where beautiful enchanting music could be heard playing and beautiful paintings of different types of landscapes hung on the walls. We took our places in line behind other people who were waiting to be seated. Tonight seemed to be particularly busy for them, but none of us minded waiting a few extra minutes to be seated. When it was our turn in the line, a nice elven woman with silvery-white hair smiled at us and gestured for us to follow her. She led us through the packed tavern to an open booth that was closer to the back. She placed down menus for us to look through and promised that she would return momentarily to get our orders. I glanced down at the menu for a moment, reading through everything carefully. There were a lot of mushroom themed food items on the list.
"Have you two ever had portobello mushroom steak?" Mrs. Kenome asked us.
Selniana shook her head once. "I don't think we have. What is it?"
"It's this mushroom they cook that tastes exactly like steak. It's just a mushroom steak. There's also one they serve here that tastes like chicken. It's called chicken of the woods on the menu. It's a mushroom sandwhich. That one is really good, too. Probably my favorite." she said with a smile.
I started scanning the menu once more. I knew every type of mushroom that was on this list, yet I haven't tried any of them before. All of the food items sounded so delicious, too. There were mushrooms that tasted very similar to lobster known as the lion's mane mushroom. The lion's mane mushroom was in a stew, which sounded particularly delisious at the moment. There was also another mushroom known as shrimp mushroom that tasted very similar to shrimp. They even had dessert mushrooms that tasted like maple syrup known as candy caps.
"Well, I know what I'm getting. That steak mushroom just sounds too good to pass up." Selniana said.
Mrs. Kenome and Selniana were talking back and forth about the food items as I continued to look through the menu. After several minutes of waiting, our elven waitress came back with a small smile on her face and a note pad with an ink quill in her hand. We all turned our attention to her immediately.
"What would you guys like for tonight?" She asked softly, just loud enough for us to hear her over the loud chatter in the background.
Selniana went first."Yeah can I get that mushroom steak? And the shimmermist sparkling water for my drink."
"I want the chicken of the woods sandwhich with the twilight tonic for my drink." Mrs. Kenome said.
"Oh, you're getting drunk tonight," Selniana said with a laugh.
We all laughed at that statement, the elven waitress included. The she turned her piercing blue eyes to me, smiling the same way she has been the entire time.
"What can I get for you?" She asked me.
"How about the lion's mane stew? That one sounds really good. And for my drink, I'll have the mistberry juice." I said to her while closing the menu and pushing it towards her.
She took note of all of our orders, then grabbed all of the menus before telling us she would return shortly for with our drinks and food. When she left, I immediately started looking around at all the decorations. There were more pictures in the room we sat in, all depicting some type of landscape. I recognized some of the areas from books I've read about the other cities and villages that resided in the lands of Vixenwood. One picture depicted a grove with an ancient willow tree. In the willow tree sat a beautiful willow dryad, smilng down from the canopy above. This picture was painted in the Willowcrest forest, and whoever painted it did a very good job. Another painting showed a bioluminescent forest with tress that towered into the sky. The plants all over the forest floor were depicted as glowing a blue-green color. There were two female satyrs sitting on a small boulder, as well, one appealing to play a lyre and another appearing to play a pan flute. This would be a depiction of the Moonlight Hollow forest. A third painting depicted a mountain looking terrain and a silvery looking river that flowed through it, leading into magnificent waterfalls that appeared to be crashing down into another much larger river. In the background, there was a city painted as well, although it was painted somewhat small to represent how far these waterfalls were from the city itself. This would be a painting of Silver Brook and the Silver Brook falls, if I remembered right. All three paintings were beautifully crafted. They were so beautiful that a small part of me wondered if they were possibly enchanted in some type of way.
The waiteress came back after a few minutes with a cart of all of our food. She placed down each plate in front of us carefully, then our drinks next. She smiled once more, then left after saying,"If you need anything, just call out 'Xilwenys' and I'll be with you lovely people shotly."
The food looked absolutely amazing. In front of Selniana was a large juicy looking steak seasoned with a variety of herbs and a mysterious sauce on it. Beside the mushroom steak was a small mound of creamy mashed potatoes and a medley of roasted vegetables on the other side of the steak. In front of Mrs. Kenome sat a sandwich with lettuce, tamato slices, and pickles, with the patty sitting right in the middle of the sandwich. Beside the sandwich were a nice portion of sweet potato fries, which were golden-brown and perfectly seasoned. Finally, in front of me sat a bowl of s very delicious looking stew, with the broth a nice shade of brown with little chunks of vegetables and mushroom floating around in it. The smell was heaty and fragrant, infused with the warmth of the herbs and spices they chose to use for this stew.
We began digging in immediately without saying anything to one another. As good as the food looked, it somehow tasted even better. The mushoom tasted a lot like lobster or crab with a slight buttery taste. The vegetables seemed to have soaked up the flavor of the stew, giving them a sweet rich flavor. Each bite sent warmth through my body. This was definitely something I would come back for.
"When do you guys get your next day off from the fields?" Mrs. Kenome asked thtough bites of her chicken mushrooms sandwich.
"Hopefully soon. I think we have a few more days worth of harvesting and then the rest is just planting and watering the crops, which that's not a hard task. Then in a few weeks we have to repeat the process again." I said
"I'm hoping we're done by tomorrow, though. We got a lot more work in today, so that helped a little." Selniana said after taking a bite of her food.
"Do you know when the botanical garden will be finished growing?" Mrs. Kenome asked, clearly just trying to make small talk while we are.
I took a sip of my mistberry juice, which tasted as good as the food did. There was a delicate sweetness to it with a bust of fruity goodness. It tasted of ripe summer berries with a hint of honey mixed in with it.
"I think that one we'll be moving on to tomorrow, actually. The herbs and medicinal mushroooms in the botanical garden are already done growing. We just need to finish getting all the crops picked and we'll be good to go." Selniana said.
"I think I'm just going to go ahead and start harvesting from the botanical garden, to be honest," I said. "That way we can get a head start on it, at the very least while everyone else is working in the fields."
We were almost finished with our food now. I had tipped the bowl to my mouth and started drinking the broth , savoring every flavor that touched my mouth. Mrs. Kenome took the last bite of her sandwich and let out a little burp. She was clearly drunk now, with one of her eyes half shut and swaying from side to side every once in a while. Selniana was just leaning against the seat in the booth with her eyes closed.
The waitress, Xilwenys, came back with a lovely smile and a sheet of paper in her hand. She placed it in the center of the table as she gathered our now empty dishes to place them on a cart that I didn't even realize she had brought with her. She turned her attention back to us once more.
"Alrighty, will there be anything else for you guys before I see you out?" She asked cheerfully.
"N-no,"Mrs. Kenome said, with a little hiccup. "We're all set to-to go."
"Alright, that'll be three gold pieces, then." Xilwenys said.
Mrs. Kenome fished out a little black pouch and opened it with clumsy fingers. She reached in to pull out three small shiny pieces of gold and dropped them in the waitress's waiting hand. The waitress smiled once more as Mrs. Kenome closed the pouch, then turned around and pushed the cart off into the kitchen of the tavern.
"Let's get you home and in bed, Mrs. Kenome," I said as I stood up from the booth, reach for her to help her out as well.
She reached for my hands, and I pulled her to her feet. The blanket and basket she had were stored on the floor under the table, as well as her cane. I pulled the items out and handed the cane to Mrs. Kenome. She insisted on carrying her own items, but I shook my head.
"It's okay. You're pretty drunk and we need to get you home safely without you falling." I said as Selniana took Mrs. Kenome's arm.
With that, we were finally on our way. She, Mrs. Kenome, stumbled her way back to her house, even with her cane and my sister Selniana holding onto her to help keep her as stablized as possible. It took everything I had to keep myself from giggling. She was even going on about a funny story dealing with he late husband, but she kept slurring her words as she spoke and forgetting what part of the story she was talking about.
"Oh my husband was always finding hiself in amusing predicaments," She started with, hiccuping as she spoke," One day we were fishing...He was in the water...We were throwing some of our food in the water. The fish loved the food. He...Wait, where was I in the story?"
Selniana spoke, trying to stifle a laugh as she did so. "Well, I'm sure you'll remember the story in the morning when we come pick you up again."
Eventually, we finally made it to her house. She unlocked the door and Selniana led her into her house straight to he bedroom. I followed her into the welcoming living room and waited there for Selniana to come back, placing the woven basket on the table in the center of the room and the blanket she had brought with on the couch. I glanced around to room at all the tapestries, thinking about all the stories she's told us from when we were kids. My favorite one is probably from the time she got her first serious assignment as an assassin. There's a neighboring kingdom known as Lynxhaven she had to travel to because of the fact that one of the leaders in one of the cities there was becoming a tyrant and someone sent word to her of it, asking for her assistance in his assassination as she was one of the most skilled and well-known assassins in the world at that time. It had taken her weeks to travel to the Kingdom of Lynxhaven to find this man, and thankfully she got there in the nick of time.
Selniana came back into the living room, interrupting me remembering Mrs. Kenome's stories. She shook her head with a smile and followed me out the front door.
"She fell asleep the minute her head hit that pillow." Selniana said with a chuckle.
I smiled at that."Poor lady couldn't even tell us her story."
"Yeah. Speaking of falling asleep, let's get home before I fall asleep."
We made our way back to the two floor house we lived in. It was a welcoming site after a long day of work. We made our way back to the two floor house we lived in. It was a welcoming site after a long day of work. Selniana unlocked the front door and gestured for me to go before her. Without saying a word, I walked straight into our home, up the stairs, and straight into my room. I threw myself onto the bed with a long, loud sigh of happiness. After a long day of work, laying on my bed felt like laying on the soft, fluffy clouds in the skies.
With another heavy sigh, I forced myself to stand up and began taking my clothes, starting with the boots and going up. I tossed all the worn clothes into a nearby basket, then crossed my room to the wardobe to pull out a loose black shirt with a pair of fuzzy black pants. After slipping into those, I immediately collapsed on my bed and curled into a ball. Within minutes I had drifted off into a peaceful sleep full of vivid dreams of the Mycelia Forest.
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