Chapter 13 - A hut in the woods

A couple of miles away, in the very same forest, was a very special clearing. This little area had a cozy, wooden hut in it.

It was surrounded by a short wooden fence, mainly to separate the wildlife and the herb garden that was carefully planted and tended to.

The hut itself looked old, but still had that 'welcome home' vibe to it. It looked like it was built from some strange dark wood intermixed with white cedar looking wooden decorations. Small rounded windows were carefully placed to provide the much-needed natural light to its residents.

Suddenly, the dark brown colored wooden door was smacked open and an 8-9 year old blonde pig-tailed girl with a moderately long ear ran out of it giggling happily, while shouting behind him.

"Come on Granny, I don't want to miss the bunnies! You know we can only see them around those funny flowers in the early morning! I really want to hug one today!"

Not long after the cheerful missy ran out and yelled back, a sack of baggy, ragged red clothes walked out. Its aged owner smiled gently towards the energetic, and cheerful missy, and donning the similarly styled red hoodie around its wrinkled face, she gently responded.

"Calm down Lily, there is no need to rush. I'm sure we will not miss them. Now, come back and help your grandma, these old bones are not like they used to be! Carry the basket for me, we have to gather some of those herbs today, or have you forgotten that we need to gather the herbs to brew the potions for tomorrow?"

"Haaaai!" The cheerful lady nodded in response, then hopped back to her grandmother and took the empty basket from her.

Soon, they were both making their way through the foliage. They were familiar with this part of the forest, as this has been their second year living together here. It took almost a whole year for Lilly to overcome the trauma of losing her mother. Her mother was an elf and she was living with her at the outskirts of the nearby elven village. The village did not take her kindly, as most often the case with half-breeds, they hated her very existence. They viewed her as an insult to their race. She had no friends there. However, besides the scornful looks they gave both of them, no harm came to them. Mother and Daughter lived their lives in relative peace, until that night…

Gingerly shaking her head, the elderly lady brushing off the depressing thoughts from her mind. Lily really came a long way since then. While she probably still deeply misses her mother, she seemed to have moved away from the trauma, and finally in these last few days she was even cheerful.

She really wanted to catch one of those white forest rabbits and pet them. Actually, it wouldn't really be such a bad idea, as it would work wonders for her state of mind, but those little critters are almost impossible to catch. As soon as they detect a presence approaching them, they bolt away lightning fast.

"Remember Lily, while we can definitely try to catch some of the Forest Rabbits, don't get your hopes up. Our main goal today is to get your basket full of Devil Cloves and Sweet Sumacs. They are those small, dark red and orange flowers. The first is needed for the potions, while the latter is for your dessert. The more you harvest, the more sweets we can bake." Granny tried to coax Lilly, while they were leisurely strolling towards their destination.

Speaking of, their target area was quite a distance away. That was the main reason they set out so early, as said flowers, only grew in that particular area of this forest. It was near a small hill and the river. The area there was more humid than the rest, and it was also much richer in mana then the rest of the forest. The whole place was emitting a unique variation of mana, that was somewhat similar to Earth Essence, but at the same time, it seemed to contain a unique variation of Life Essence, and something unknown as well.

This world had something that most called 'mana'. Mana was the term for the various essences that built up all life: Fire, Water, Air, Earth, and the 4 higher and very rare Life, Death, Time and Space. You could say that these 8 elements were the 'building blocks' of life. Casting magic was basically just manipulating these essences to your will. For example, if you wanted to cast some form of Fire Magic, you had to have affinity towards said element, so it could flow through you. This flow determined the amount of mana you could work with. Gathering and using this essence would then allow you to shape it to your will.

Shaping and creating the required effect is a whole science in itself, which -for the time being- we do not need to dive into. Most people had affinity to at most 1 of the Essences, and in very rare cases maybe 2. Granny was one of these unique cases, she had affinity towards Earth and the very rare Life Essence. This allowed her to be able to brew potions, and work as an alchemist. She would gather herbs and concoct Healing and Mana potions which then she would sell or exchange at the nearby town to the shopkeepers.

Lily was still very young, most children would not show signs of affinity until they turned 10 years old, regardless of race. Lily was 8 years old this year, but has already started showing signs of affinity towards the Life Essence and showed great interest in Alchemy. This filled Granny with great joy and has started to teach her the tools of the trade from then on.

Walking towards their destination, Granny looked at her Granddaughter filled with joy. She never would have thought that due to a series of events, she will end up with this little angel in her care. At the beginning she was afraid that Lily would not accept her, as in most cases Half-elves hated their human sides. Humanity was a very aggressive race especially compared to the usually reclusive and peaceful elves.

Most Half-Elves were conceived in terrible situations, sometimes in raids, wars, or kidnappings. The end result, these children were usually either parentless or was sold to slavery, giving them a deep scar at the very beginning of their lives.

"Granny, look! We are still not too late! I can see the bunnies over there!" Lily's voice snapped Granny out of her reverie. They were getting closer to their destination, and Lily could finally spot those beloved critters of hers.

With that exclamation Lily immediately bolted towards the group while giggling loudly. Obviously, this attempt did not go unnoticed by said group, who then quickly bolted in random directions as soon as the sound of laughter reached their ears, leaving their 'prey', the thorny dark red colored flower alone.

'This child…' smiled Granny inwardly, watching the scene play out. Once the bunnies were gone, she continued her steps towards the flower.

"Aww… They got away again Granny!" pouting with her lips, Lily looked back at her Grandmother as if she would be able to fix the situation.

"Lily, if you keep on running towards them like a wild animal, while laughing loudly, of course they will notice you miles away. You need to be silent, and you should try sneaking up on them instead!" She tried to console Lily.

"I know.. But I just can't help it!"

"Alright Lily, take that flower, that's the Devil Clove, we need as much as we can find. Also remember that the Sweet Lilacs will have orange colored bell-shaped flowers. They should be around here. Try to fill your basket, okay?"

Lily happily nodded with a simple "Okay!", then started filling her little basket. The area was filled with various types of flowers and herbs, and the 2 flowers she needed to gather were not the most common ones. They were prepared to spend the whole morning here and even prepared a few sandwiches for lunch if needed.

It was important to fill up the basket today, as brewing all the potions would require at least 3 nights, and they already promised the shopkeeper back in town that they will try to get the potions delivered by the end of this week. Considering it's already the second day, they do not have that many days left to spare.

Still even if they were prepared to spend a few hours here, they were still surprised how fast lunchtime came. Luckily, they were almost done with the gathering, so they had some time to spare.

"Come Lily, let's rest a bit, and we will finish after lunch!" Granny shouted towards Lily, who just went past the treeline, towards the small river. She liked to rest next to the water, it was really refreshing.

However, after several minutes there was still no response.

"LILY! WHERE ARE YOU?" Granny got up and was looking around for signs of the missing misscheaver.

After a few more breath's time, Lily's voice came from the direction of the river.

"Granny! Come quickly, here's a weird looking egg! And I think it is just about to hatch!"

Granny was surprised, and quickly made her way towards the voice. What greeted her was something she never expected. Not at this forest at least…

"Impossible! Th-that's a… That's a Dragon Egg!"