Louisa’s POV
"We’ve prepared everything. Have you found a flint to start the fire?" I asked Darren.
"That won’t be necessary." he replied and snapped his slender fingers.
Flame of fire appeared on the tip of his fingers and he used it to light the bonfire.
"That’s amazing! How do you do that?" I looked at him with surprise.
"We were born with different abilities summon elements in the nature. My brother…" he paused a bit and lowered his head, "When he was alive, he could summon water."
"I’m sorry to hear that, Darren." I said, "It’s difficult to lose a family member.
"It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have mentioned it." Darren said, throwing some branches and sticks into the fire.
"No, I want to learn more about you." I said, "You can tell me everything."
Darren put a slate of stone on the fire, putting some flax and water on it.
"My brother and I were born in the… brothel." he flicked the fire and watched the flax seeding melting into oil on the slate, "We have never met our parents, but people say our mother was a hUman and our father was a warlock. We were brought up by our uncle. He was the owner of the brothel."
I looked at him. His turquoise-colored eyes were filled with sorrow.
The wounds on his neck started to get inflamed and swollen.
"Do you mind… if I could take a look at your wounds later? They look pretty bad." I said.
"It wouldn’t be necessary. They will be healed in a few days." he replied.
"I insist." I said, "Uma has left me a lot of potions. She asked me to use them to help others. You need help."
"Thank you, Lisa." he nodded.
"I also need your help." I said, "I’ve used up some of the potions. So, later, could you please help me to find more herbs in the woods?"
"Yes, I will." he said.
The flax seeds started sizzling on the slate.
I whipped some quail eggs in a bamboo stick, sprayed some pepper on it and poured them on the slate.
In the white steam, the liquid started to turn into a layer of wrap.
I used some cypress leaves to wipe them evenly and poured more liquid on top of it.
"What are you making?" Darren asked.
"Egg rolls with fish stuffing. Could you pour four eggs into the minced fish and stir it?"
"Yes, right away." he replied and carried out my instruction.
"Have you grind the lemongrass?"
"Yes, it’s here." he took up a bamboo bowl of lemongrass powder and said.
"Put them into the meat while you’re stirring it. Very slowly." I said.
He did exactly what I said. The fish meat started to get tender and glossy.
"The lemongrass will offset the fishy smell." I said, "Pour the minced mushroom and thyme into the bowl and give it to me. I also need the artichoke."
Darren quickly followed my instructions and passed the bowl to me.
I used the hard leaves as spoon and scooped some meat on the wrap.
Then, I started to fold them in carefully into the wrap.
After a wrap was done, I pushed it to the corner of the slate and poured more liquid of eggs on the slate.
Darren sat next to me and watched me cook.
I could tell that he was amazed.
"Where did you learn how to cook? I have never seen anyone cooked like you." he asked.
"I used to help around in the kitchen all the time in our tribe. I would also do washing, cleaning, sewing, foraging and milking or rearing livestocks. I can do a lot of things." I said and wrapped another roll.
"From now on, I’ll do everything for you. You don’t have to do anything, Lisa." Darren looked at me and said.
"I enjoy doing those things, so we can do them together." I smiled and winked at him, "You’re my friend, not my servant."
Darren wanted to say something, but he zipped up.
I turned back and saw Finn standing behind me.
I took the egg roll off the plate and put them in a bowl.
"This is yours." I said, "But it’s very hot. So you can’t eat it now…"
Before I could finish my sentence, Finn had already swallowed down the egg roll.
He then licked his mouth and tilted his head.
It looks like he enjoyed it and he wanted more.
I smiled and put more egg rolls in the bowl.
He nommed all of them and looked very happy.
"Do you like the egg rolls?" I asked him.
He nodded his head and licked my face.
I felt so pleased and put some egg rolls in a bowl and handed them to Darren.
"Have some." I smiled at him.
He looked at Finn and then put the bowl on the side.
I frowned.
"You don’t like eggs?" I asked.
"Sorry, Lisa. I’ll go collect some more fruits." he stood up and walked into the woods.
I looked at Finn and asked, "What happened?"
He grunted and lay on his stomach on the ground.
"He’s afraid of you and he won’t eat." I said.
Finn turned his head away from me.
I sat down next to him and said, "Finn, I used to cook for the entire tribe and the only thing I could eat was the leftover in the trash. Scrap of this, scrap of that. I don’t know what happened to Darren before, but I don’t think he deserves to be treated in the same way."
Finn still refused to look at me.
I held his head and turned it to me.
"You’ve brought Darren to me for a reason. I know you want him to be my servant. But I don’t need a servant. I need a friend. Friends sit down and eat together."
He looked at me for a while and licked my face again.
I stroked his snout and said, "Could you let him come back and eat something?"
He stood up and stretched.
Then, I saw Darren hurrying back.
"You’ve called me, Master?" he asked in a low voice.
Finn looked at him.
Darren lowered his head and said, "Yes, Master."
Finn looked back at me and then jumped into the woods.
Darren sat down next to me and picked up the bowl of egg rolls.
Then, he started to eat.
"Where did Finn go?" I asked.
"He says he wants to find a place for us to stay."
"You can communicate with him." I said.
He nodded and said, "My Master can talk to me through telepathy. It's like a bond between Master and slaves."
"You can summon fire, transform and talk with Finn. You’re an amazing warlock." I stirred the mixed berries in the honey and said.
I wanted to make some compote for dessert.
"Warlocks are cursed. We were born to provide our Masters with entertainment. We can’t do anything without our masters’ permission. They imprint us when they buy us and if we dare to cross them, we’ll be tortured." he said.
"Imprint?" I asked.
"It’s like the branding marks you’ve got on your chest. But in our cases, we get it in our mind. When our masters want to torture us, we’ll go through tremendous pain. It’s… unbearable. My brother was tortured by his master. He couldn’t stand it, so he jumped out of a cliff and killed himself."