Pick Your Poison

Chapter 7

The sun had barely even risen when Fychon woke up to the chirping of a bird.

A groan escaped from his mouth, because no matter how badly he wanted to stay in bed for a little longer, he knew he had to get up as soon as possible. The prince couldn't wait for him to get back with the seeds of the Physostigma Venenosum much longer.

If Fychon wouldn't be able to find them before dusk tonight, he might as well return to the castle and tell them he failed his mission. And since he wasn't planning in doing that, he got up as soon as he'd managed to open his eyes.

With a growling stomach and aching knees, Fychon dragged himself back to the main area of the inn. He probably looked like a zombie, because heads turned as he trudged towards the counter where he'd left his money last night.

The inn-keeper was sleeping; not even caring to keep an eye on the people who were eating from the breakfast buffet.

Fychon decided that he probably couldn't care less about what his customers did, he allowed them to eat as much as they could and didn't seem to mind the crumbs that ended up on the ground, even though he'd previously made it very clear that he didn't like his inn to get messy. Or he just didn't like Fychon.

The latter was more likely.

Not wanting to wake up the inn-keeper and start another confrontation, Fychon carefully placed his key onto the wooden counter. Soon after that he walked into the morning sun with a loaf of bread that he managed to snatch off the breakfast buffet before someone else got their hands to it.

"Got breakfast!" Fychon happily waved the bread when approaching Blodyn. She got up immediately when she saw Fychon walking towards her, even though she looked so cosy and still quite sleepy as she laid there with her legs folded underneath herself.

Fychon took a bite from the loaf, savouring the flavour. This obviously made Blodyn a little jealous, because she immediately nudged his arm with her nose.

He patted her and promised, "You'll get to eat some fresh grass later."

Which was enough reason to leave the inn and the village behind them as soon as they could; as soon as Fychon finished eating his bread, he mounted Blodyn.

The forest that laid a short ride away from this village had been known for growing Physostigma Venenosum. So much even that the plant had been called a pest by many people, especially since the deadly poisonous plant's beans often were eaten by clueless travellers. Fychon therefore always was glad that the forest he lived in showed no signs of growing the Physostigma Venenosum.

Now, he had wished the nature in his forest grew plants like that; his home was not only much closer by the palace, but he also knew the forest like the back of his hand. Today, he was going to have to venture out into a completely new forest, not sure how dangerous his travel would be.

That was why, by the time they reached the forest, Fychon's heart was beating heavily. He was certain this was the most pressure that had ever been on him.

The mud in this forest was moist and slippery, even with the sun that had been shining bright and hot for multiple days. That was probably why it served as a good growing place for the Physostigma Venenosum.

It was also why it made Fychon's journey a lot harder.

He had to go down the steep slopes by foot, making sure that neither he nor Blodyn slipped in the wet mud. Other than that the grass was extremely high in this place and plants overgrew the paths made by travellers decades ago.

"I'll come back for you later," Fychon promised Blodyn when knotting her reins around a tree. This was the third time he had to walk down a slope and it would be too dangerous to take her with him; she was an old mane and this forest seemed much wilder than the one Fychon lived it.