Louisa's POV
The first ray of sunshine woke me up and I saw Will curling on the side of the bed, holding Snow, away from the sunshine.
I quickly got up to draw the curtain closed, so the sunshine won't get into the tent.
As I raised my hands, I saw the ring that Zackery gave me staying on my ring finger.
That's weird. I rubbed my head and thought to myself.
I remembered fighting with Lucas last night. We were shouting and I tore the ring off my neck and passed out.
How did the ring get on my finger? It wasn't supposed to be the right size.
I tried to take it off, but it became burning hot.
As soon as I stopped pulling it off, it cooled down.
I swung my hand and frowned.
I knew it must have something to do with Lucas.
I looked around in the tent and saw Darren's bed was empty. Mana and Mata were sleeping soundly on a mattress on the ground.
I heard the sound of chopping wood from outside of the tent.
I immediately walked out of the tent.
"Darren, your wounds aren't fully healed yet..." I said and then I stopped.
He wasn't wearing anything on top, so I could clearly see his chest and back.
All the wounds from yesterday were magically gone!
Darren saw me and put down the axe.
"Morning, Louisa," he wiped the sweat on his face and said.
I ran towards him and hugged him, looking at him up and down.
"Darren, your wounds! They are all gone!" I said with excitement.
"Yeah... I don't know why, actually." Darren scratched his head and said. "But when I woke up, all the wounds were sealed."
"How do you feel right now? Do you feel alright?" I asked.
He looked fine. Pale, but fine.
"I feel much better now. When I was little, I could heal myself. But after my brother passed away, I lost the ability to self-healing. But now, I've got it back. It's very confusing, but it's amazing," he said.
"Darren, I feel so happy to see you recovered," I held him tightly in my arms.
Darren wrapped his arms around my waist and said, "I helped you to take a bath and change your clothes last night. Those two fishermen druids refused to go away, so I had to put them up. Maybe today, Colt can build some beds for them. Master has already granted them to stay with you."
"Really?" I frowned. "That doesn't look like something Lucas would do. Isn't he supposed to threaten to peel off their skin and toast them on fire?"
"Yeah, Master did that to them. But they still insisted on staying here with you," Darren said. "Druids are very loyal creatures. When they decide to be friends with someone, they never walk away."
"Are you hungry? I'll cook for you! What do you want for breakfast? Some scrambled eggs and toast?" I asked.
"Zowie guacamole! I'm starving! I'd love some scrambled eggs with mixed mushrooms!" Colt popped up from nowhere and said. "And I would love to have some toast with syrup. I want the bread to be crispy outside and tender inside. Can you do that?"
"I can make you crispy outside and tender inside." Darren snapped and a ball of fire appeared on the tip of his fingers.
"Wow, wow, wow! Hold your fire, mister! Getting angry prior to breakfasts isn't good for digestion," Colt raised up his hands and said.
Darren ignored him and said to me, "I'll go to the canteen to get our ration. I'll be back in a minute."
Colt followed him like a little puppy and said, "Darren, don't leave me like this. Let me blow off the fire for you! I'm very good at blowing!"
"Blow yourself," Darren said.
As they walked off, I picked up some wood and returned to the tent.
I put some wood into the fireplace and put a kettle on the stove.
"Can we help you, miss?" I heard someone talking behind me.
I turned back and saw Mana and Mata standing behind me. They were looking up at me with their giant beady eyes.
"We took a bath last night and we are no longer dirty," Mana said.
"We're slimy, but not dirty," Mata said.
"You can help me by telling me what you want for breakfast," I winked at them and said.
They looked at each other.
"We love carrots, miss."
"And when there's no carrot, we eat seaweed."
"And when there's no seaweed, we eat some grassroots."
"And when there are no grassroots, we will be starved."
"But we have a very slow digestion system. We can get by without eating anything for weeks."
"OK, so I'll get you some carrots for breakfast," I said.
"Thank you, miss," Mana said.
"What are you doing, miss?" Mata looked curious.
"I'm brewing some tea and coffee for breakfast," I said.
"We can do that for you. Please let us do it," Mana said.
"You don't have to do it for me. I can do it myself," I said.
They looked hurt and demotivated.
"She doesn't need us."
"She'll throw us away."
"No!!!"
Then, they started to hold each other and cried out loud.
"Hey, don't cry, please." I patted their heads and handed them a cup of tea each.
They held the teacup in their hands and looked at me in tears.
"Come here, sit with me." I sat on the carpet in front of the fireplace.
They sat down next to me with crossed legs, holding the teacup carefully in their hands.
"I will not throw you away. I like doing housework and cooking, but that doesn't mean that I don't need you," I said.
They looked at me and nodded, with tears dripping down their faces like melted wax on candles.
"Please don't cry every time you feel sad, because crying won't solve anything," I said.
"OK..." They said, wiping off the tears from their faces.
"What happened last night after I passed out? Did Lucas put this ring on my finger?" I raised my hand and asked.
"Yeah. It's a very naughty ring, miss."
"Lucas wanted to put it on your other fingers, but it kept changing sizes."
"At the end, when Lucas put it on your ring finger, it finally stayed there."
"How did you persuade Lucas to stay here with me?" I frowned and asked.