Dragon’s Head Village: The Birth of a Friendship, part 4

Hermonia woke early, before any of the adults in the house were stirring. She listened to the sleeping house, hearing little squeaks and snippets of conversation all around her. She couldn’t make out who or what was being said but she found comfort in these conversations.
She slipped from her bed, shivering in the cool of the house after the warmth of her bed. Hermonia slipped into her favorite slippers, lemon yellow and hand-knitted by Mum, her padded feet making no sound as she shrugged into her coat and slipped outside.

The morning air was crisp and cool, a layer of fog covering the flowers and lawn. “Daisy, are you up yet?” Hermonia’s voice was urgent but soft.
Daisy fluttered up from where she had been sleeping, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as she came into view. “Hermonia, its early so early the tree frogs haven’t gone to bed yet. Why are you up?” Her voice was husky with sleep but friendly.

“I know it is early. I’m sorry but I couldn’t sleep anymore. We are supposed to go see the herbalist this morning and I was wondering what you knew about her.”

Daisy could detect the undercurrent of strain and trepidation in Hermonia’s voice. “I don’t know much but what I do know isn’t pleasant. She has two sons, Brock and Flinn and clearly favors Brock. She doesn’t associate with the village much and she is generally thought of as a necessary evil. I also know that she is only a successful herbalist because of the flower fairies. She has a black thumb worse than Arsenic’s and if it weren’t for the flower fairies, everything she attempted to grow would be dead.”

Hermonia looked thoughtfully at Daisy while she spoke, a line of worry began to crease her brow. “Is she going to do horrible things to me?”
Daisy smiled, “Not possible, even if you weren’t going with a member of your family the flower fairies would not allow Elspeth or Brock to harm you.”

Hermonia beamed at this and Daisy watched as another worry flitted behind her eyes. “What is concerning you now?”

“How do I hug a flower fairy without crushing you?” Hermonia’s voice was puzzled and thoughtful, clearly indicating this was a problem she had spent considerable time reflecting upon.

“Well, I’m never actually thought about it myself,” replied Daisy. “No human has ever asked to hug a flower fairy.”

Hermonia’s face screwed up into a pout, clearly not the answer she wanted. “Humph, I will think of something but now I must slip back inside before everyone else begins to wake-up. I will come find you after the visit to the herbalist’s today.”

Hermonia waved and before Daisy could respond she had already slipped back inside the warmth of the house. Daisy smiled and made her way back to her bed. She crawled in between the rose petals and curled up next to her sister Petunia.

Crispin woke early too, before any of the other dragons and he stretched reveling in the solitude. The bigger dragons were asleep outside in their barn but here inside Zovah’s house all was quiet, still, and warm. He had fallen asleep curled up on his favorite cushion by the roaring fire last night. Now this morning, the fire was just glowing embers of pale orange and vibrant yellows. However, the house was still warm and cozy and Crispin was well rested despite his concerns for the activities planned for later this morning.

Crispin strolled around the house and decided to act as expected and promptly pounced on the sleeping Zovah. Zovah grunted with annoyance as Crispin landed on her stomach with all his weight and wings fully extended. He purred and nudged his head beneath Zovah’s hand so that she would pet his head. Zovah, still mostly asleep, petted Crispin unaware that her smallest dragon was up to things she had no clue about. Zovah sleepily decided that it was time to start her day and pushed Crispin onto the floor unceremoniously.

“Time to get busy old boy,” Zovah said as she clambered from her warm and comfortable bed. Crispin roared his displeasure as he threaded himself between Zovah’s legs. He was satisfied with how his morning was progressing and was sure it was a good sign for the morning’s activities.

Dragon's Head Village: The Birth of a Friendship, part 3

In the pre-dawn light, Arsenic shook himself awake and made an effort to be as still and quiet as possible.  Crispin awoke and stretched, his white fur a stark contrast to the multi-colored dragons sleeping all around him.  Crispin, unused to being awake before the sun resisted the temptation to roar is displeasure.  After all, it would be impossible to sneak out of the house if he awoke Zovah and the other dragons.

Flinn had being wake most of the night, excitement had prevented sleep from coming.  As the pale lavender light streaked across the sky, Flinn quickly sprang from his bed and threw on clothes.  He fully expected his brother and Mom to still be sound asleep, snug in their respective beds.  To his surprise, he ran into his mother as he tiptoed from his room.

"And just where do you think you are off to at this hour?". His mother's question catching him off-guard.

"Um," he stammered unable to quickly come up with a practical reason for being up so early.

"Don't bother, just come help me before my company arrives in an hour or so.  I need you to light the stove and put the kettle on to boil.  And while the water is boiling, go pick me a bundle of rosemary and a bundle of lilies."

"Yes, ma'am," came Flinn's immediate reply.  And he slowly made his way to the kitchen, grumbling under his breath all the way about his bad luck running into his mother this morning of all mornings.

His mother, Elsbeth, stared after him and shook her head in dismay.  "That child is my last and I can't wait until he is old enough to kick out of the house.  He isn't Brock and he is hopeless with herbs and potions.".  Her long black hair extended past her knees and had yet to be tied back for the day.  Elsbeth was vain about her hair and she spent the first part of every morning plaiting her hair.  As she shook her head, she headed back into her bedroom.  She sat in front of her mirror, her most prized possession, and assessed herself.

"The wrinkles are becoming more pronounced, I must discover a cream that will make them fade.  The village can't see me age and grow old and feeble.  I am the great and mysterious Elsbeth, never shall I be seen as old."

Little did she know, that Brock had woken up when he heard voices in the hallway.  "What she doesn't realize is that soon the village will fear her no longer and will come to me for all their potion needs." His voice cracked mid-sentence, that curious mix of husky and childlike that most teenage boys experience. Brock was large for his age, fifteen last winter, and had a complexion that matched his personality.  He wasn't liked by others and spent most of his days with his mother as his only company.  He paid no attention to Flinn, ignoring him entirely unless it was to mock him or trip him up.

Flinn slipped into the small kitchen and quickly lit the stove and set the kettle to boil.  He didn't know any other life and didn't expect any kindness from his own family.  Shivering slightly as he went to collect the requested items for his mother, Flinn paused to watch the sun peak over the horizon and light up the morning sky in a brilliant array of colors.  The sublet pinks and pale oranges of the morning sky promised warmer days to come, this realization made Flinn smile.

Flinn quickly gathered the rosemary, the woody stems and strong fragrance reminding him of Crispin, strong and stalwart, unshakable.  The lilies reminded him of Arsenic, delicate and strong.  Requested items gathered, Flinn picked up a rock and attempted to skim it across the stream.  The rock sunk quickly and Flinn laughed muttering, "Someday I will figure out how to make rocks skip like Zovah does."

Flinn walked toward the house slowly, thinking about the day ahead.  His face screwed up in  thought, his brow wrinkled as he tried to figure out how to disappear before his mother came up with some awful chore designed to keep him hidden away from her visitors.

"I know, while she drinks her tea I will grab my fishing gear and head out.  So long as I come home with fish for dinner, I will hopefully avoid getting in too much trouble." He thought to himself and a slow smile flitted across his face momentarily.

Placing the rosemary and lilies in the herb room, Flinn made sure to be as quiet as he could possibly be.  He grabbed his fishing gear without being seen or heard and left the house.  He knew that neither his mother or brother would give him a second thought until much later in the afternoon, and by then he would have met-up with Crispin and Arsenic and finally been introduced to Hermonia.