The building, where the exam was held, became empty with a loud noise. More than forty children answered Mel’s call.
Mel said nothing to the crowd following him but continued to walk past the door that was opening to the outside of the settlement. One of the children, who had been silent until that time, couldn’t hold himself more and finally speak out.
“Mel, where are we going?”
The big boy turned back, raising one eyebrow as if waiting for this question. He first ran his gaze over his followers, and then spoke in his usual voice tone.
“As you can see we are going to the outer forest. All the plants we have to mix in tomorrow’s exam must be there!”
Mel kept taking his small steady steps, but there was no sound behind him, neither a step nor a word. The young boy stopped, turned, and looked at those behind him again, unable to find the expressions he had just seen.
“Stop kidding us, Mel!”
“How can we enter the outer forest without warriors?”
The children who wanted to enter the Plant Department began to talk one after another.
Only Nalt came to Mel without speaking. The certainty of his decision was evident from his stand. The children, who could not get an answer from Mel, directed their questions to him.
“Nalt, are you thirsty for your blood?”
This was the first question they asked. So, the most basic fear of the reluctant group came to light. The answer came quickly.
“If you are so fond of your comfort, why did you feed the flowers with your blood?”
Nalt gave a counterattack, but the children’s reluctance did not appear to be affected.
“It’s one thing to spend your future life, but it’s another thing to know that you can die at any moment. I don’t go into that forest!”
When the words of the girl, who spoke while tugging her skirt, were finished, most of the others agreed.
“Friends, I don’t force anyone to do anything. If you want, you can work on herbal blends by reading books. I am going to the forest. Those, who want to join, should come near me before I enter the forest!”
Without waiting for a second, Mel began doing what he said. He walked towards the forest with Nalt appearing beside him. First, there was no reaction from those who were behind them. But before ten breaths had passed, one person began to follow the duo.
“Ruthl, are you crazy? Where are you going?”
The eyes of the girl, who shouted behind the young boy that seemed a little older, were filling with tears. Her voice trembled with sorrow with each letter coming out of her mouth.
“I am not crazy. On contrary, I am highly sane. This year is my last year and I have neither a family nor a regular life waiting for me. I can’t miss this chance I got!”
It was obvious that the girl had feelings for him, but the young boy ignored her and followed Mel, whom he called as his last chance. Then one and soon two more kids joined the group. When they arrived at the entrance of the forest, ten people were ready excluding Mel.
“So, that’s all we’ve left!”
Mel looked at ten people one by one.
“I’ve heard what you said. I know desperation pushes you here, but I assure you that you will get the reward for your courage!”
When his short speech was over, the group plunged into the dense trees. Although the sun rays were hardly reaching the ground, it was warm inside the forest.
These were the areas where people could come in and out. But when they got to the place where Mel killed the Boss Snake, Mel stopped the group and began to talk.
“The inhabitants of the forest; plants and wild creatures: We came in peace. We will not hurt anyone. Please accept us!”
The young boy shouted in a velvety tone. Although the other kids were unaware, the wild creatures surrounding them were petrified after that call.
The silent waiting had begun. While some of the creatures were retreating as if they were losing their interest, especially the snakes were keeping their position.
“My old friend, stop the trees from interfering!”
Mel evaluated the situation and asked for help from the tree inside him. But a second later, the snakes kept pace with the others.
The area was cleared and the group of ten didn’t notice what was happening as they were locked into Mel’s strange moves. Now, they were waiting for Mel’s second instruction.
“Guys, you all have the plant list, right? We can initiate from here and began to collect those plants!”
When the anticipated moment came, the group showed a bit of anxiety. But soon they got relaxed and began to collect plants by gradually getting faster.
“If the plant has two leaves, do not cut them off. If there are three leaves, remove one. Approach flowers like that. Our aim is not to harm, but to collect materials to work on and to heal people with them!”
He repeated his warnings every half hour, and when the first signs of the evening were seen, the plants, needed for ten people to work on, had been gathered.
“Mel, we searched for the Heather Seed, the Moonlight Umbrella, and the Snapdragon all day but couldn’t find them. How did you manage to do this?”
Mel laughed nastily, and evaded the questions by making a hand gesture meaning “it is not a big deal”.
“Let’s call it luck. It doesn’t matter. Now we will move on elsewhere and work on the blends!”
Mel took the lead of the group again and by passing through the lands dominated by black color, he brought his friends near the waterfall he discovered yesterday. They lined up in circles and began to grind the leaves and flowers.
While the children were busy with their work, a voice rang out in Mel’s head that did not sound to be pleased.
“Human, what do you think you are doing? Why did you bring ten of your own kind here?”
The Spirit of the Forest was demure, but opposite to him, Mel came up to the waterfall with a smile.
“We are Botanists. We are here just to do our job. We did not break the promise we made at the entrance. We are working without harming the balance of nature!”
Returning to the circle, Mel was helping his friends by dividing the powdery and coarse plants into containers. This work continued until midnight, and judging by the state of those kids, they were about to succumb to fatigue.
“We have time to learn about the thirty recipes until morning. But we have to do something else first!”
Immediately after completing his speech, Mel began to run and then jumped into the small pond where the waterfall was pouring. The children did not follow Mel since they used this pond to drink water several times and therefore they were aware of the coldness of it. But like before, they followed Mel after Nalt’s lead.
Eleven children were laughing and having fun in the icy water of the pond in the outer forest. If they told this to someone from the settlement, they would either be beaten or labeled as crazy. They came out of the water in an extremely cold state. The coldness of the lake seemed to discourage their bodies from sleeping.
“Now, I’m telling you about our first recipe! Spare aside the White Mallow, Black Cumin, and Ginger lying in front of you. First, we will mash Mint and Lemon Zest and make a puree of them!”
The group of ten made the first recipe smoothly.
“People who have a cold will be well if they throw this blend into the boiling water and breathe its steam!”
When his words were over, Nalt could not stop himself and spoke.
“I think we’ll all need it after tonight!”
The working children, regardless of the wet clothes they were wearing, laughed in unison. They were smiling from ear to ear. But one entity was frowning.
“Human, listen to me! I have something to tell you!”
