Black Magic part 19

After hours of trudging through the tall undergrowth, we came to a border where you can clearly see the plant life become smaller and back to normal heights again. I looked around at the large expanse in front of us. It was a large poppy field. The red flowers gave off a heavy fragrance, that when it filled our lungs, it tasted sweet and made your head spin.
“This is the Great Poppylock’s fields. They work hard everyday  to make these plants rise and bloom and protect their homes from oncoming intruders at night. Some travelers come from all across Lanamaris to retrieve this rare poppy for medical uses,” Tori said, her wisdom making me more intrigued.
“They look like normal poppies to me,” Damien said subjectively. I just gave him a look.
“What?” he said, acting as if he didn’t say anything.
“Okay, children, we must press forward,” Tori interrupted to end a quarrel before it started.
“How are we going to get through these fields without setting off any alarms?” I asked, worried about getting in trouble.
“The Poppylocks don’t have alarms on during the day. They are mighty creatures who don’t call for much protection when they are awake. So, no need to fret child. We can easily pass through these fields without trouble arising. Our only problem, though, is on how we are going to keep ourselves from passing out.”
“What do you mean by that?” Damien asked.
“Well, these poppies give off a strong fragrance that can seep into you and knock you out very quickly. That’s why they grow these plants. To knock out intruders while their people may sleep in peace without disturbance.” I thought about all of this. I looked around at the undergrowth the surrounded us. ‘Maybe we can use something here to block out the smell of the poppies,’ I thought openly, inviting Damien into my mind.
‘I agree. I think we can use that strong smelling plant over there. We can plug up our noses with it for awhile,’ he responded.  I thought it over with him before we suggested it to Tori. She doubted the idea at first until she realized what plant we were talking about.
“Wow! That’s an alenam plant! They can block out any smells! Good thinking!” she said, as she went over and sniffed it. “Oh yes, that’s it alright. Very strong. Let’s hope it doesn’t get rid of your sense of smell completely!” I just shrugged that thought off and took a long leaf from the plant and rolled it up real small. Then, I stuck it into one nostril and did the same with the other. Damien watched me until I had finished, before he got a leaf and did the same.
“Okay, I think we are ready,” I managed, sounding nasally.  Tori suppressed a  little hissing sound, as she nodded and started to walk ahead of us.
‘Was she laughing at me?’ I thought to Damien.
‘I think so,’ he responded, trying to hide a chuckle. I glared at him before I pushed him along, to continue on our journey.
We had only gone a few feet into the Poppylock fields when all of a sudden a little red creature jumped out and attacked us. “Who you?” he demanded. His black beady eyes staring blankly at us.  I looked him over. Black puffs of fur covered his large ears and long claws tucked in close to his hands. He pointed one of them at us, demanding again for an answer. It was long and yellow and little bugs crawled in and over it. I could see a sharp edge to it, though, and knew that it could kill anyone in a second.  “Who you?!” he demanded the third time, growing angrier.
“We are just travelers, passing through to reach the Howlman’s breach,” Tori said, seeming to hold a stature about her. For a cat, she was quite threatening.
“Howlman?” the creature questioned. He then scratched the small bald spot on his head, thinking about what he should do.
“This is our lady Rose. She must be delivered there safely,” Tori said, indicating to me. The Poppylock looked at me with widened eyes. He then bowed and let us continue on. Whatever Tori had said, made up his mind for him. I wanted to ask Tori about this, but decided to wait until we reached our destination.
Again we were back on our journey. We had finally passed the Poppylock fields and moved on through the Missing memories land. Where all of those forgotten memories could be harvested and given back to you for a small fee. The witches who made this so, used a magic that I had very strongly disagreed to learn. It involved gutting the heart of a faery out and feeding it to the Shadow God. I nearly got sick when I saw them begin the ritual. Damien, though, watched with little uneasiness. He seemed to enjoy this population more than the other little cities we passed through. I just shook my head sadly as his eyes held excitement when he watched them extract the heart from a faery. ‘You’re such a guy,’ I told him through our minds. He just laughed,  rolling his eyes at me.
When we had gone through there, we moved on into the Butterlamdania’s peak. The towns were located on one giant hill that seemed to touch the sky. Butterflies could be seen flying all around. Stealing sweet nectar from flowers planted in window pots or landing on shoulders and showing off their wings to these strangers. Tori had told me that the people of this land had a special gift of speaking to butterflies and retrieving a modified sugar from them that they used to make their own sweets and pies. Which would be sold in markets all around Lanamaris. I found this land to be peaceful with its open skies and colorful flowers that were blooming all throughout Butterlamdania. Even the people welcomed us with gracious arms.
After, traveling for so long, we reached the Forest of the Unclaimed. It was a dark and dense forest and Tori warned us of the creatures that existed here. She said that the people that own this land are strong magical beings, that use the dark art for their own purposes. But, most of them choose not to start wars and keep their magic hidden by scrounging off the travelers who pass through. I prayed over and over again in my mind in hopes that we wouldn’t run into them.
“You know, this forest is known for the mysterious Lypsia. They are very powerful creatures who dislike anyone they meet. To kill one would make you the riches in all of Lanamaris. But, no one has ever escaped from them alive,” Tori said, causing my throat to well up with terror.
I cautiously moved along through the forest, jumping at every noise I heard and keeping my eyes open to my surroundings. Damien seemed to  be affected by my edginess. Each time I heard a noise, I jumped and clung to his arm. He wore a look of annoyance each time. But, I had a feeling that it wasn’t just me that seemed to get on his nerves. Tori would talk on and on and treat us like we were little children and I think that seemed to bother him a lot. I was so curious as to what he was feeling that I walked right into his mind, but hanging close to the outer edge so he wouldn’t feel my presence there.
‘Why do we have to be here?’ he kept thinking. ‘I have  a really bad feeling about this place and most of all, that cat.’ He glanced at Tori with a look of disgust. Without thinking, I interrupted his thoughts.
‘Tori has done nothing to cause a distrust between you two. Also, you seemed to like her when you first met her,’ I defended.
‘Yeah, that’s before she started talking to us and brought us here! How do you think she knows so much of this place? How does she know where to lead us to? Huh? Have you thought of that, Jimena?’ he snapped back. ‘Plus, you need to learn how to stay out of my mind. Some things aren’t meant for you to hear.’ I was hit with a pang of overwhelming guilt. I retreated from his mind apologizing. He gave me a look afterwards, that I wouldn’t let myself see. He sighed, and then stopped me.
“Jimena, I’m sorry for snapping. It’s just this world. I can’t accept it. I can’t be like you and want to explore every part of it. It’s full of magic and dark forces that I wish to not be part of. It makes me think of my brother and the darkness he mentioned to me before he left. It’s like I’m walking into its trap,” he said, sighing and taking my hand in his. He looked down at it and stayed  like that for a few minutes thinking. “Jimena, there are so many thoughts running through my head and I wish to share them with you…..but not yet.”
“It’s okay Damien, I understand. You are hurting still and I’m not going to push further,” I said, smiling slightly and then taking my hand out of his. “We should get going now,” I said, continuing back on our path, trying to catch up with Tori.