1 Chapter 1

POOF!

White smoke flooded from a young boy's room and through the house like a thick blinding fog. Coughing and wheezing, the young boy quickly ran for the nearest window and ripped the flaps down from off the walls, giving the smoke an easy exit from the house. The smoke drifted over the boy's head as he leaned on the window sill to catch his breath that dissipated in the night sky above.

Within minutes the smoke had cleared from his room, but it still lingered throughout the rest of the house since there was nowhere for it to escape from. He took in a deep breath and rushed around the house to open as many exits as he could in an effort to get the rest of the smoke out. With every door and window opened, the smoke poured out from the house with ease and disappeared into the night sky.

Once it had cleared out, he sighed in relief knew but was not entirely out of the woods yet. The entire house had been blanketed in a white powdery substance that resembled flour. Seeing the mess he had created, he hung his head, realizing he had really overdone it this time.

"Oh, man. She's gonna kill me this time..." He thought anxiously.

Practically on queue, as he finished his thoughts, a raging female voice called out from one of the rooms at the far end of the house, "Floris! What in the name of the divines are you doing young man?!"

Floris' eyes went wide and he sprinted as fast as he could out of the house and ran behind some trees not far from the house.

The woman's voice grew more fierce and it was obvious she had already seen the condition the house was in, "Floris Fetcher!!! What in the name of Saint Alessia did you do to the house?! What is all this white stuff?! Don't tell me another experiment failed, Floris! This is the fifth time this week! The fifth time this week! What in the world is the matter with you?!"

Her voice grew more and more fierce by the second and Floris knew it was going to take some clever thinking to get out of this one. But to make matters even worse, her screaming was bound to wake the entire village sooner or later, which would only lead to more problems. Going against his better judgment, he decided to walk back into the house and meet with the woman he called his grandmother.

"So, there you are, young man! What was it this time?! I heard a "poof" come from your room and I woke up to find my house a winter wonderland. Was it a potion that went bad, or is this another one of your and Alvis' pranks?" Ajenna asked.

Ajenna was a short elderly woman with green eyes and long white hair that was somewhere in her late sixties and as far as Floris knew, the only family he had left.

"Well? Care to explain yourself?" Ajenna asked, growing a little more impatient.

Floris took a few seconds to think of an answer, then responded, "It was, in fact, another potion that blew up in smoke...literally this time. I'm working on my most difficult project yet and it's proving to be far more difficult than I originally anticipated."

Ajenna raised an eyebrow in suspicion, "But you've never had this kind of trouble in the past. What kind of potion are you trying to make that's proving to be so difficult?"

Floris hung his head as he sighed, then looked at his grandmother again, "I wanted this to be a surprise for the village, but if you recall the potions I made a few years back that enhance your immunity to the swamp spores...this potion is supposed to be an improvement to that. If I can pull this off, our immunity to the swamp will reach a record high of approximately sixty percent or so, and maybe even an extended life period of a few years, too."

"Sixty percent? That's exciting, Floris. But what seems to be the problem?" Ajenna asked.

"Well, for one, lack of resources. My stock has been mostly depleted because of this potion. I'm going to have to journey outside when the sun comes up to gather more supplies. I may have to go back to Arrowhead Loch to search for some of the more...interesting stuff." Floris said.

"Arrowhead Loch? That's two days away from here and it's dangerous this time of year. The frogs will be coming out in droves and you know how poisonous they are!" Ajenna exclaimed.

Floris rolled his eyes before responding, "Yes, I'm aware. I've lost count of how many times I've been infected with their venom. But it's my job as the village healer and an alchemist."

"And what about the Slithering Tree Serpents? Haven't their numbers been increasing lately?" Ajenna asked.

Floris nodded, "Yes, but they're not what I'm mostly worried about. The real threats are the Swamp Eagles. They usually stay above the canopy, but Alvis and I saw one roosted not far from the village a few days ago. It looked wounded, but we weren't taking any chances with it."

Ajenna stared at her grandson with a hint of shock in her eyes, "A Swamp Eagle? This close to the village? What if it heals and attacks us?"

"I hope it doesn't get the chance. I'm working on a poison that I believe should be powerful enough to take it down with one arrow. I've never caught a Swamp Eagle before, so I have no idea how their bodies work. But the Rainbow Snake in my room has some of the deadliest venom in the swamp. I've been milking the venom from it for a while and I'm fairly pleased with the results I've gotten thus far. They're literally nicknamed the "one step snake", so I'm hoping its venom is enough to take the bird down for the count."

"And what happens if the poison has no effect?" Ajenna asked.

"We all die," Floris answered simply and without emotion.

"Well, that's reassuring," Ajenna said as she rolled her eyes. "In any case, how about you help me get this mess cleaned up before you head out on your quest?"