Lantana

Chapter 10: The Journey

It had been a few days into their travels. Lantana was well at ease with the fact that the advisor was in charge, and she told everyone that she needed to go on a trip and was taking the general and Violet with her for service and protection. Her story was enough to fool everyone, so unlike last time, they were able to exit the empire peacefully. With Gabriel's extended map, they knew they had to work their way to the Southern coast. To do this, they had to travel though the vast forest that covered most of the land. As he had proclaimed, the quickest way there was through a fairy village and a griffin camp. Both Lantana and Violet knew that fairies were vicious little creatures, but they didn't seem like that much of a threat. The griffins on the other hand, with their razor sharp claws and almost impenetrable hide, that would be a pretty massive problem. With their luck, they would be able to ease their way around the griffins without disturbing them and set off safely again. As there was no need to smuggle food, and they were well prepared, everything was going pretty smoothly. That was until about a week into their travels.

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"Because we need to make all of this food last, we can probably make a soup tonight with sole wild berries and herbs. Does that sound alright?" Lantana asked

Her two companions both have a nod.

"I'll go out and collect things? Does anybody want to come with me?" She asked.

"I'll come," Violet replied. "Need something to do. So that means you'll have to set up camp Gabriel. Is that all right?"

"Yes. Now you two go off," he said

Violet quickly picked up a hand woven basket, and they set off into the wilderness. They had set up camp near a small, but steady stream, and Lantana suggested that they follow the stream as the berries and other vegetation would grow bigger near the water. Violet obviously obliged and they walked alongside it. Every so often, Lantana would point out an edible plant or berry. They had a decent collection of plants and Lantana was about to suggest that they return to camp when she spotted something different. She quickly rushed over to it and couldn't believe her eyes.

"Violet! Come look at this!" She called out.

Violet hurried over, and proceeded to ask, "Is that wild horseradish?"

"Yes! It doesn't grow in these parts! It'll taste amazing tonight!"

"Yes! That's amazing! Let's dig it up now!" Violet answered.

"Yes of course! We have to be careful though," Lantana's voice turned serious. "We don't want to damage the roots when digging it up. Carefully dig it out, and then we can clean it in the river,"

Violet obliged and went to one of the numerous plants while Lantana went to the other. She carefully dug with her fingers around the plant. Once it had been extracted, she took it over the stream and cleaned all the dirt off the plant, and her fingers. She put it in the basket that Violet had brought and went back to another one of the plants. Violet and Lantana diligently worked until all of the horseradish had been dug up. Then, they returned to their camp. Along the way, they chatted about what they would add to the soup and what to save. It was... peaceful... especially putting the last weeks Lantana had been having into perspective. The stream was running merrily, and there was a scent of what Lantana described as earth. Soil, plants, and something sweet were all mixed into the air. Since the horseradish had grown so big, and there was so much of it, they were going to use quite a bit that night to treat themselves but they would put the rest of it away for storage after. When they returned to camp though, they were met with a nasty surprise. Lantana and Violet were in high spirits, but as they neared where they had settled down for the day, they heard a heart-wrenching roar. Lantana stopped walking and felt as if ice had started seeping through her body. She looked over to Violet and saw that her friend also looked shaken.