"Mushrooms? Wait... Are those... Stone Mushrooms!?", Mattes asked seeing the mushrooms Feyra was showing them.
Najenda seemed to be surprised too while Flore was unable to contain his excitement.
"We lived near the Uncrossable Mountain Range. These Stone Mushrooms were rare but for special occasions we had them. I'm excited to know how you'll make them.", he said patting his belly.
Those mushrooms were also known as a delicacy across the world. In restaurants one had to pay quite a lot for them and in restaurants that weren't near mountains or rocky places the price of these mushrooms would be even higher that often times only nobels got to taste them.
Feyra fetched some water in the pot and first washed the mushrooms before changing the water and asking Mattes to start a fire.
They did as Feyra said and soon Feyra was cooking the mushrooms with some herbs and tasting what other seasoning she would need.
This mushroom soup may taste more like an herbal soup but thanks to Mattes and his group Feyra had access to salt and pepper too.
"How does it taste?", Flore was asking, his mouth watering.
"The mushrooms need to cook a little more.", Feyra said and continued to stir the soup and occasionally tasted if enough salt was on the soup.
Not long after and everyone had a bowl of soup in front of them.
"Wow. This looks great.", Mattes said and took his spoon to taste the soup. His mouth standing agape, he was too stunned to speak.
Najenda was a little concerned seeing Mattes react like he did and was a little more careful. "I know you added herbs but are you also sure they aren't going to poison us in the amount you added?"
"No need to worry. I know the amount of herbs I need to add to not poison someone.", Feyra assured them and also took a sip from the soup. If the soup had been poisoned by the wrong amount of one herb then it could truly become dangerous for the group but not as much for Feyra. Yet she had been careful to think of that and put all her skills to use. While cooking she always told herself it would be for a medical salve that needed the precise amount of herbs and ingredients.
Flore had been digging in the soup without ever worrying about it being poisoned or tasting bad. He had a taste first and after that he started digging in.
"I want more! This tastes even better than most gourmets' soup with stone mushrooms.", he said and held his bowl to Feyra who gladly gave him more.
"So... Why does Mattes not speak anymore then? Is he too stunned to speak from the taste?", Najenda asked before also taking a spoon of the soup and understanding Mattes' reaction.
Feyra was pleased seeing everyone enjoyed the soup and she also got to finally eat the mushrooms she had wanted to eat the day before.
Finally I get to eat these tasty mushrooms. Ah my mouth is watering. I can barely contain my excitement.
She quickly took her spoon and also started digging in like Flore.
It's so yummy. The taste is indeed herbal but also gives a feeling of something grown in the mountains. The texture isn't as slippery and weird as other mushrooms. Overall this is one of the best soups I've ever had.
The pot of soup was soon emptied and everyone was patting their bellies and complaining they were too full. Only Feyra didn't feel as full as everyone else and Flore kind of didn't know what to say. He didn't seem to experience the feeling as well but seemed to think about something.
Feyra did all the dishes and later everyone sat at the campfire. Najenda suggested that Feyra should stay with them for the night so she could make the salve in the morning and return to the dragon the next day.
She agreed to the idea and everyone got their blankets out leaning against the stones being tired.
Feyra stayed up a little longer gazing at the stars.
It's truly wonderful that such places like this can exist. Places in which life can exist. Of all these stars out there just how many can have life on them? Are we living on one of the few ones or are there other species living on these stars with other conditions?
I wonder about it... But I guess I'll only get the answer if I either go there myself or meet someone who knows about it. Alas... I should go to bed too.
The next morning Feyra woke up as the second and went to wash her face with some water.
"So have you noticed it?", Najenda asked sitting next to her washing clothes.
"You mean that Flore has a disease?", Feyra asked and Najenda nodded.
"I'm glad that Flore is with us here and is able to enjoy the world like this. I had someone in my family with the same disease. He was my uncle...", Najenda started to tell the story and mentioned that her uncle had been a very nice guy who loved to pamper his niece.
"When I was seven years old he took his leave from us. It hit me and my cousin very hard. In that time we held together and learned about this disease he had. It is truly cruel... His never ending hunger brought him to the place beyond.", Najenda took a break looking ahead into the vast landscape in front of her.
"Do you believe in the Cycle of Reincarnation?"
Feyra was a little shocked hearing of the Cycle of Reincarnation from her. Thinking about it she noticed that she had never truly thought about the Cycle nor did she have any strong feelings towards it.
"I believe it exists but... I guess this question is hard to answer for me. In my life I've seen countless people go. Yet whenever someone was near their end they spoke of other places like heaven and hell rather than the Cycle of Reincarnation. I don't even know a lot about it.", she answered to Najenda who nodded.
"It's fine. I suppose for a Fallen Angel this is harder to answer anyway. Your life is different from ours. You can live for thousands if not millions of years."
Feyra smiled before they went back to a more serious topic.
"My cousin later decided we should become adventurers and go on a journey. We did so and went northwest where we then met Flore. He was almost thrown out of his home because he always had this never ending hunger. His family couldn't afford to give him all that food and so we decide to take him with us. If at least he can survive and live a life I'm happy.", Najenda said continuing to wash the clothes.
"I know that for this disease a person would need to keep specific plans and diets or so. It was a little vague from the book I read.", Feyra answered sitting on the ground and looking to Najenda.
"Yes, where we are there isn't a lot of knowledge on this disease. People often say that it hasn't been researched properly but who knows...", Najenda stopped mid sentence and thought for a while before shaking her head.
"From what I remember, what was written in this book, the author mentioned that they also were unable to get a lot of information on this disease. However, they also continued their research and tried finding more people to understand it better. I suppose at the time the book came out the knowledge was very limited. I hope for the best for Flore.", Feyra said smiling.
By the time Najenda and Feyra returned, Flore and Mattes were also awake.
Mattes looked at Feyra and then to Najenda.
"Najenda told me a bit about you. You're a good cousin. Please continue on like this."
Mattes was a little confused before guessing what Najenda had spoken about.
"Oh and could you please make a fire again? I need to prepare the salve."
A little bit later Feyra had a fire and a pot with water again. This time she locked at various herbs and counted the amount of leaves she needed before she started to put them in the pot.
The amount of water in the pot was far lower than for the soup but this would help with creating the salve.
Step by step she put in various leaves. Some helped against pain while others helped with recovery. Others helped the immune system to ward off other diseases and illnesses and another one was purely added for the smell.
Not long after the salve was done and Feyra was putting it into a small container.
"I suppose this is where our paths go different. We will go ahead to the village and you take care of that dragon. It was nice to meet you.", Mattes said waving his hand.
"It was an honour too meeting you. And should you need anything just let a letter pigeon search for a peculiar traveler with leather armour, a chainmail skirt and a peculiar hair colour.", Feyra said before the group departed.
She took the pot and the small container back to the dragon.
"I suppose you found someone who could help you.", Aphel said seeing Feyra. He seemed to be a little annoyed Feyra hadn't come back to stay with him.
"Yes I met someone who gave me a few things. I got a pot, some bandages, sticks and salve. Now don't be like this and let me help you.", she answered in the draconic language and after a while the dragon stopped acting like a cat who was mad their owner had been gone for a bit.
Feyra first applied some salve on the tail of the dragon and bandaged it.
After that she went to the wing and put some salve on the wounds there too before bandaging it too and then using the sticks and more bandages to secure the bones and help them stay in place to heal.
"Thank you.", Aphel said before slightly rubbing his nose on Feyra's arm.
He seemed to already feel some relief of the pain thanks to the salve and seemed also more at ease now that his wounds were treated.
Feyra stayed with the dragon for another week in which she monitored how the wounds healed and she switched the bandages occasionally.
"I suppose now you can start flying home. The wounds aren't fully healed yet but the sticks should be able to support your bones to fly. That way you would get out of danger.", she said looking at Aphel's wing.
Aphel had his tail slightly raised and a little curled at the end signaling he was happy.
"Thank you again. I'll take my leave then and rest more once I return to the Dragon's Lair. How was your name, Fallen Angel?", Aphel asked her, standing up.
"My name is Feyra."
"Feyra. Good. I'll remember and tell the others of your deeds. We shall never forget you and your kindness. For now I'll say goodbye and may we meet again.", Aphel said spreading his wings and roaring before he took off into the sky flying towards the northeast where the Dragon's Lair was said to be.
"I hope we meet again too.", Feyra said waving behind Aphel.
These creatures are truly like big cats with scales. But they're also mighty and majestic creatures.
It's not every day you meet a dragon. I hope Aphel is coming home safely and that the other dragons won't get in danger.
Didn't he mention a Caster injured him? I've never heard of a Caster before but I feel this isn't as easy to resolve...
Feyra packed her stuff and went further on the path to get to her next destination: ahead should be a village in which she wanted to stay for a few days and see if she could help anyone.