The Golden Gift

Chapter Thirteen, New Sight And Insight

Hunter's Perspective

I awoke to the delicious scent of some sort of sautéed meet with a meal. I quickly sat up, which I came to regret as my head got fuzzy. I think I have some sort of issue, I always get dizzy when I'm up too fast. "Look who's awake from their nap. Come on then, sit beside me on the couch." A warm, welcoming voice called to me from across the room. I rubbed my tired eyes and looked over, pulling off the cozy blankets. Daryl handed me a warm plate full of yummy goodies, including sautéed steak cutlets, some greens, mashed potatoes, and a little cheese and crackers sandwich. I thought it was cute that he added it. I munched on that first while leaning on the affectionate demon. "Eager to learn after you're done with this meal?" He asked and I nodded, my mouth full of cheese and cracker bits. I looked over at the fireplace that was crackling and bright. It gave me memories of when I was younger. When I had no duties and I played by the fire all day in the cold winter days. It came to me so easily while I stared at the blazing, glowing fire. Before I knew it, my plate was empty and my stomach was very full. What a great meal.

"Thank you so much sir." I said with a smile as he took my dish from my hands. "It's no problem kid, I love spoiling people who need it." He hummed and set aside the dishes, helping me up from the cozy little couch. He put out the fire and stretched, groaning when he popped his back. "Now let's see... which book..? Oh yes, yes, the potions book. Right this way, little prince of the isles." He said with a certain amount of humor. He offered his hand and I stared at it for a moment. Oh, what's the harm? He's not scary. I took his hand and walked beside the stylish demon to the potion brewery. "I think you'll love some of the advanced potions, they get pretty wild." He said with a toothy grin. His shiny white fangs looked like they could easily tear through flesh. Yet I wasn't scared of such a gentle beast. "Daryl?" I said to get his attention. He looked at me with his gaze softened. "Yes my prince?" He asked and I smiled warmly. "Well for one, why are you calling me a prince?" I asked and he rubbed my hand.

"Because you're the closest thing to a prince our kingdom has. And I think of you as a prince, even if you aren't considered one." He explained to me. I liked the way he talked to me like I was adult. I know it's strange, but most adults belittle me and ignore me. So I like that he talks to me with mutual respect. "what's your other question?" He asked and I cleared my throat. "Oh, I was just going to ask if maybe sometime you could tell me more about your past." I asked nicely. "Oh sure thing buddy, maybe in a bit alright?" He said and I nodded. "Whenever you want." I told him and leaned on his arm. He stopped at a doorway and I peered inside. The potion brewery was empty, every cauldron scrubbed clean and every bottle in its place neatly. "Perfect. I've got the book, so let's find an easy potion to start off with." He said and opened up the large book full of knowledge, flipping through the soft pages until he stopped at a particular potion page. "Here we go. It's a skin crawler spell." He said and looked over at me. I started to read the details of the spell, but he summarized it aloud.

"Basically, if you make the potion right, you can "skin crawl", like a form of possession. But it has a lot of difficult to acquire ingredients, and precise brewing, that's why it's in this mastery book. Sooo... Let's get started!" He exclaimed and pulled me away from the book, dragging me to the ingredients pantry. "Now let's see, hold this tray would you?" He asked and handed me a firm wooden tray. I held it close to myself and stood beside him as he piled little jars onto the tray. "Hmm, I'm missing something." He said as he paused to look around. He finished setting a glass jar full of herbs onto the tray and sighed. "It's a shadow walker scale, very hard to get because of where they shed." He told me and I joined in the search. We focused on the skins, scales, and sheds section and shoved aside different jars. "Here we go, I found it." He hummed and grabbed it, placing it in the tray. The jar held a cluster of glimmering black scales that had a shadowy film over them. They were so beautiful and dark.