Skye Silver & The Soul of Fire Vol.1
Chapter 11 Cameron the herb specialist

Cameron was a tall thin brown man like the color of milk chocolate. He had a water droplet emblem on his forehead. His hair was long dreadlocks and his eyes were low. He held a slight grin almost the entire time we were with him unless he was talking. When we entered his house there was a strange scent. He had flowers everywhere, his living room was similar to a greenhouse. All of his herbs and creams had different uses. He referenced everything we talked about back to plants and herbs. Benign enjoyed his company in particular because he had a broad sense of humor and laughed at nearly anything as did Benign.

As we walked through his living room to enter his kitchen he yelled through the house to his lady.

“Baby! We have visitors can you come down and prepare something for our new friends!” He yelled.

“Sure babe, Give me a second!” a woman’s voice came echoing through the halls.

“That’s my girlfriend, you can just call her Winnie” He laughed.

“So what does all this stuff do?” Benign asked.

“Oh man, every herb in here has a different benefit and effect.” He said. “They can be utilized in several ways but I just prefer smoking the flower.”

“So another way would be the cream?” Kitai asked.

“Exactly, The cream we used on his legs is from the same plant I’m about to smoke.” He explained. “the cream is much more concentrated and heals directly almost instantly whereas if you smoke it the health benefits are not direct and instant but progress over time.”

“It actually reminds me of a plant in America,” I said giggling “Its illegal in most states there.”

“That’s blasphemy!” Cameron yelped. “Why would a healthy herb be illegal anywhere?”

“I don’t know but they’re working on legalizing it now,” I responded.

“Well, that’s great news for them!” He responded. “I’m sure they’ll see a sharp decrease in crime and automobile accidents soon.”

Cameron’s girlfriend walked in the room she was a little shorter than him with big bouncy curls in her hair dark hair. She was lighter than him like the color of peanut butter. She wore a wide smile to compliment his small grin. They looked like the perfect happy couple.

“Hi!” She said excitedly shaking all of our hands “Nice to meet you all.”

“Nice to meet you, Winnie,” Benign said smiling.

She jerked back like she was surprised he knew her name but with a friendly smirk on her face. She turned to face Cameron and his expression instantly gave him away. They both began laughing out loud like it was an inside joke between them. Benign laughed along, my guess was that Cameron had told him the joke when we were walking to his house.

“You guys are in luck!” She said. “I actually made a ton of spaghetti because Cam here loves it. its enough for us all.”

“That’s dope,” Benign said.

Thank you” I responded.

“We really do appreciate it,” Kitai added.

“No, we appreciate you!” Cameron said. “Babe they were the ones outside fighting.”

“Oh wow, that sounded intense from in here” She responded. “I’m glad you’re alright.”

“Babe you don’t understand these guys just took down the Rogue Twins!” Cameron said.

She turns to look at us in awe. “Oh my god I didn’t realize… I’m going to go get that spaghetti ready I’m sure you’re all starved after a battle with Demi-Gods of that Caliber.”

She rushed to take dishes out of her cabinets.

“So do you guys use any herbs?” Cameron asked.

“I have before but not on the regular,” Kitai responded. “But your catalog is impressive.”

“I’ve been doing this since I was a kid. Every since I could water plants with my hands I’ve had this passion,” he explained.

“Well the way it works so well I may have to look into it myself,” Benign said.

“Hey, I’ll give you guys some cream and some flower to smoke for your journey. That way you’ll be rested and healed when you make it to your destination.” He said.

“That would be dope,” Benign said.

“Yea, seriously man we can’t thank you enough,” Kitai added.

“Hey, its the least I can do,” Cameron replied. “You guys don’t understand how many lives you just saved but in due time you will.”

“Does anybody like sugar in their spaghetti?” Winnie asked.

“Ewww,” Benign said laughing.

“I do!” Kitai responded laughing as well.

“I knew I wasn’t the only one,” Winnie said. “How about you?” She asked looking in my direction.

“I’ve never had it but ill try anything once,” I responded.

“Don’t do it,” Benign said. “Its nasty, it doesn’t belong in there.”

“You’re crazy,” Kitai shot back “It makes it taste way better.”

“What? Cameron, what do you think?” Benign asked.

Cameron had entered his own zone for a moment while lighting his herbs that were rolled like a cigarette.

“Oh Ummm, me personally I don’t care for it. Just have to leave them be.” He added.

“See! Don’t do it” Benign said smiling at me.

“Hey! that’s two and two she can be the tie breaker” Winnie interfered.

“Yea, let her make that decision.” Kitai defended.

Winnie then brought a small bowl of spaghetti to me. She ensured me it was not overrun with sugar but merely sprinkled to enhance the already delicious flavor. When I took the bowl from her they all gazed at me in sync waiting for my taste and verdict. Cameron had his slight grin with a burning joint between his fingers. Benign was full on smiling and anticipating it. Kitai also had a slight grin with his eyes locked on me in anticipation. Winnie was smiling with her mouth open and tilting her head back like she was attempting to mimic me eating the food.

Finally, I took a bite and their smiles turned into faces of curiosity. They glared at me as I chewed and I almost laughed at their hilarious frozen faces. I swallowed the spaghetti and purposely smacked and licked my lips while looking to the sky to build anticipation.

“Oh, it’s alright I guess.”

Cameron and Benign both leaned back in defeat while Kitai and Winnie celebrated.

“So you guys started your travels in the mountains?” Cameron asked.

“Yea that’s right,” Kitai responded.

“Did you go to the Golden Chicken?” He asked.

“Oh of course without a doubt!” Benign said excitedly.

“Did you have some of the Golden Potion?” Winnie asked as she prepared bowls of spaghetti.

“Whats that?” I asked.

“Wait you went to the Golden Chicken and didn’t drink any Golden Potion?” Cameron asked confused.

“Well, we kind of had a rude interruption before we could get to that part,” Kitai explained.

“Oh, I see.”

“Whats the Golden Potion?” I asked.

“Its a potion but its not actually gold. The stronger one is purple and the weaker one is pink.” Cameron said laughing. “When you drink it, it makes you feel like time is going in slow motion to you but everything is actually moving normal speed including you.”

“Yea it’s trippy.” Benign added.

“It would have been great for the beginning of our trip down the mountain,” Kitai added. “We would’ve thought we were going down the mountain in slow-motion so it would have felt like it ended much faster once the drinks wore off.”

“Wouldn’t it be great to have that in Rogue Land? The middle seems like you’re walking in circles anyway.” I said.

“It would be, however, traveling threw Rogue Land your chances of running into a fight are much higher than in one of the regions. You don’t want to be caught in Rogue Land full of Golden Potion. It would make you an easy target.” Cameron Explained.

“Yea, its best for relaxing or just taking the edge off a long walk or task.” Kitai agreed.

“We have some if you’d like.” Cameron offered. “It’s not as potent as some of the others out there so it won’t last as long and you can be rested and on your way within a few hours.”

Benign and I both turned to Kitai at the same time. Benign was smiling at him and I put on my best possible famous puppy dog pout.

“Alright if its only for a couple hours then we have to get back on the road,” Kitai said laughing and shaking his head at us. Benign and I were excited but no one was excited as Cameron who had lunged out his seat to replace the drink.

As Cameron searched for his bottle of Golden Potion Winnie brought us all a bowl of spaghetti. We all thanked her and began eating simultaneously.

“I don’t mean to be rude,” Winnie said. “But is there a reason why your skin glows? That is just so amazing to me.”

For a moment a paused. I wasn’t sure who I could be comfortable with discussing my skin glow and Soul of Fire. However, Winnie was nice and not only did she allow us in her home but she did so with a smile and bowl of spaghetti. Also, her husband had just saved Benign’s legs, possibly his life as well as our trip. So I decided to tell her.

“I possess part of the Soul of Fire,” I confessed.

She was clearly shocked but her face showed expressions of interest.

“It’s so cool that it makes your skin glow,” She said. “Drinking from the sacred waterfall doesn’t do anything like that.”

“That’s true,” Kitai giggled in agreement.

“It is cool until it makes you stand out when you’d rather not” I replied.

“Touche,” She said smiling.

Cameron came back to where we were with a gold bottle. The bottle had a large black letter P on the front. The entire bottle was gold with the exception of the actual cork and the ties that held the top sealed.

“I knew a special occasion would come when I could pop this open.” He said laughing as he sat back in his seat. “I’ve had this for 5 years now, I bought it a couple years after I was banished from the islands because I had faith that one day I would either return to my home in the islands or the Rogue Land would become a better place. Either way, I was going to drink this to celebrate it and today my friends thanks to you that day has come.” He laughed again.

Winnie was returning from the kitchen with a stack of cups in her hand. She handed each of us one cup half filled with ice and held two in her hand as Cameron began pouring.

“This is going to be great,” Cameron said giggling as he filled our glasses.

The liquid was thicker than your usual soda or juice almost like syrup. He poured our cups about half full to match the ice level. Then sat the bottle down and took the two cups from Winnie. She then proceeded to their refrigerator.

“Don’t drink it yet,” She warned us.

She returned with a container of red juice and filled all of the cups to the top line. The guys began stirring their drinks with their hands. You could hear all the ice shifting from all three cups in sync. I decided to do the same as it was clearly how you prepared the drink according to them. However, Winnie approached me with a straw allowing me to stir with the straw and not splash the juice around. I then sat the drink down after giving it a good stir to finish what was left of my spaghetti as everyone else had nearly finished theirs.

“Your spaghetti is delicious!” I said wiping sauce out the crease of my lips.

“Its the best right?” Cameron commented smiling in approval of his wife’s superb cooking.

“Yea some of the best I’ve ever had for sure,” Kitai added.

“Don’t be surprised if your pot goes missing when we leave here,” Benign said laughing.

Winnie laughed along as she took our bowls away.

“Hey let me show you guys something,” Cameron said standing up clutching his drink. “ Come with me.

We all followed Cameron and Winnie followed behind us after putting the dishes in the sink. As we followed him I took my first sip of the Golden Potion. It was sweet and the light syrupy texture left the taste lingering in my mouth long after the sip. It had a strange tangy aftertaste that didn’t last long so I didn’t mind. I figured that was the diluted taste of the actual Golden Potion. Overall the drink was enjoyable and taste wise I wouldn’t mind having it again. However, the taste was only the beginning of this drink.

Cameron walked us through his home and out the back door revealing an actual greenhouse in his backyard. When we walked inside the scent was much stronger than it was in his house and outside the perimeter of the greenhouse. The scent almost completely took over my nose filling my nostrils until it was the only thing I could smell.

We walked through a variety of plants with Cameron pointing out his favorites until we reached the furthest corner from the door where we stopped. He stood pointing at a plant that was the same height as me without the base it sat in.

“This is the plant that got me banished from the islands,” Cameron said. “The Soul Searcher.”

“Why whats wrong with it?” Benign asked.

“Its illegal in our region,” He answered. “Even though it shouldn’t be.”

“So what are the effects of it?” Kitai asked.

“If you cook it with your food and eat it or roll it up and smoke it, it will allow you to speak with the dead.” He explained.

Cold shivers went down my spine, I could feel my teeth grinding together and a drop of sweat roll down the side of my face. Speaking with a ghost was always a scary thought to me even though I had never done it or saw any.

“Oh, that’s why its illegal” Benign said. “It gives you a higher power like the Gods which would help the people overthrow a regions leader.

“Its possible to speak with my mother?” Kitai mumbled to himself confused but loud enough that Cameron heard him.

“Whoa, did you lose your mom man?” Cameron said. “I’m sorry bro I know that pain must be unimaginable.”

“Yea,” Kitai said.

“Well hey man, if you want you can have some,” Cameron said.

“Really?” Kitai said shocked.

“Yea man, of course, how do you want it edible or flower?” He asked.

“Let’s go flower,” Kitai said.

“Old school, I like your style,” Cameron said smiling.

He proceeded to take small shears off the wall and clip a piece of the plant off and then another.

“Let’s go back to the kitchen so we can roll it,” Cameron said as we began walking back to the house. “This will be perfect because you can have a good conversation with your mother just before the potion sets in then you’ll think about her in slow motion and snap out ready to go on your journey.”

I hadn’t thought of that at all. However, I had already chose not to do it because it was Kitai’s mother so I decided he should be the only one speaking with her in her death. I was sure she would ask about me and he’d tell her I’m doing great.

We all made our way back into the front of the house in the living room area surrounded by plants. Now that I had been in the greenhouse the living room scent was actually rather pleasant for the number of plants it had in it. Cameron began preparing to roll the flower for Kitai. We all were just about finishing our glasses when we made it back to the front of the house. Winnie collected our glasses when she saw that we had all taken our last sip.

Cameron was so swift and professional at rolling that he rolled two separate joints in one go before anyone could notice he finished the first one. Because he was of the Islands and had the power of Water Manipulation he didn’t have to lick them to seal them.

He passed the smaller one to Kitai and the larger one to Winnie. They brought the tips of the joints together and Cameron lit them both.

“Ladies and gentleman buckle your seatbelt and prepare for blast off!” Cameron said laughing.

Kitai leaned back in his seat and puffed on what looked like a cigarette then exhaled with his head up blowing the smoke to the ceiling. His body looked instantly relaxed after exhaling and he closed his eyes. He puffed on it a few more times before Benign was passing me the larger one.

“Don’t inhale too hard if it’s your first time.” He said smiling. “It’ll make you cough like any other smoke in the lungs.”

I took it from Benign and he sat back in his seat. He looked just as relaxed as Kitai and Winnie. Kitai had developed a small grin similar to Cameron but it seemed like he was asleep.

I put the joint to my lips and inhaled lightly. I could feel the smoke filling my lungs as I inhaled. It tasted cool almost like mint. I could feel it healing my small pains internal as well as external.

However when I partially stood to pass it to Cameron and sat back down I to slouched in my chair as Kitai and Benign had. My eyelids felt heavy and I could have sworn the chair I was sitting in had grown hands to hold me in place. The fire inside me even calmed as the ingredients from the herbs entered my body.

Suddenly, I became extremely euphoric. I imagined I had a similar smirk to Cameron & Kitai at this point. I was smiling but I wasn’t sure why. Kitai placed his joint in a nearby ashtray and I could see one tear coming down his face. He was still smiling so I assumed it was tears of joy.

“Did you see her?” I asked.

“Yea I did.” He smiled bigger but it was very strange.

His cheeks were rising in slow motion. When I looked over to Benign he was halfway out of his chair handing me the joint once again. He was also in moving a slow motion.

“The effects of the Golden Potion must be kicking in.” I thought to myself.

I was afraid to talk aloud for fear of speaking in slow motion and sounding like a crazy person.

I reached out to Benign and felt as if I too were moving in slow motion. I could see Cameron out of my peripherals laughing with Winnie in slow motion well. A laugh in slow motion is hilarious by the way.

“This is great,” Benign said as he began laughing as well.

Shortly after I inhaled the smoke again I too burst into unexplainable slow-motion laughter.

We all sat in the living room laughing our lungs away. At one point Benign attempted to tell a joke but couldn’t stop laughing long enough to finish it. It didn’t matter because we all kept laughing along with him.

In the midst of all the laughter, I developed a cottonmouth. I was laughing while I felt like I was choking on sand. Winnie must have noticed and understood my struggle because she brought me a glass of water smiling.

“Mouth as dry as the Desert region am I right?” she laughed.

I giggled embarrassedly as I took the glass.

We all sat and talked for a while as we enjoyed the effects of the herbs and potion. Then all of a sudden I awoke to Kitai and Benign standing over me. I was stretched across our host couch asleep and even drooling a little.

“Welcome back,” Benign said smiling.

“Come on its time to go,” Kitai said as he reached his hand out to pull me off the couch.

“What happened?” I asked rubbing the crust out of my eyes.

“You fell asleep,” Kitai answered.

“And it looked like it felt great” Cameron said entering the living room giggling.

“How long was I out?” I asked.

“Oh, only for a week,” Benign said.

“A week!” I exclaimed.

“Calm down,” Kitai said laughing. “It was only overnight. you were exhausted and needed it.”

“Oh, Benign!” I said with an angry but friendly tone and a smile.

He giggled and headed towards the front door. Kitai and I followed him with Cameron behind us.

“Baby our guest of honor are leaving!” He yelled through the house.

“Ok, I’m coming!” She yelled back.

“Hey, thanks again for the herbs. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you for what you did for us.” Kitai said reaching his hand out to Cameron.

“Yea we’ll have to come back sometime and check out some more of your stuff.” Benign added.

“Oh man, you guys can come through here anytime you want,” Cameron said. “You don’t even need to let me know ahead of time just pop up and ill be here.”

“I’ll take your word on that,” Benign said.

“Please do,” Cameron replied.

Winnie came rushing to the front door just as we opened it.

“Hey, you guys come back anytime now.” She said with a grand smile.

“I already told them that,” Cameron said laughing.

“Well, now they heard it twice.” She laughed with him while hugging all three of us. “Safe travels guys!”

We headed out the door and back on our journey.

We were only traveling for a mere 3 to 4 hours when I noticed the scenery began to change again. The towns looked different again and I was sure that what had seemed like a loop we were walking around in had finally vanished.

“Are we out of the middle of Rogue Land?” I asked.

“Yea, we are” Kitai answered. “We should reach the Cave Region border soon.

All of my excitement came rushing back into my head. I had forgotten that we merely just fought twin Demi-Gods yesterday. I was more motivated to reach the Cave Region than I had ever been.

Somehow Kitai had noticed in the fight with the twins that I was attempting his flamethrower move. As we continued our walk he decided to teach me the move firsthand. He didn’t want to teach me the move initially because it can take a large toll on your body as I had found out. However, once you’ve mastered the move you could hone the skill until it didn’t take nearly as much prana to pull off. He explained how I had done one larger and more ferocious than he ever had and was now sure that I was strong enough to handle it. He also knew that if I was able to combine my much larger flame throwing technique with Benign’s Breath it could be massive enough to take down any Demi-God.

We were walking near the shoreline again. I could tell we were passing the Desert region because all of the Large buildings of Rogue land were beginning to fade in the distance. There was sand blowing in the wind in the direction of the ocean which let me know there was sand on one side of us and water on the other. There was also considerably fewer travelers as well as automobiles flying around. Even with us being close to the shore the air was still dry. I was fine, not because of the Soul of Fire but because I was used to this growing up in Las Vegas. The dry heat, bright sun and no clouds to cover it for miles. At least here in Astral I was able to be near a shoreline and the sky seemed darker over Rogue Land.

Now healthy and rested we were covering distance quickly. Kitai was no longer running ahead of us because he had faith we could fight well without the short warning of him running back to us.

We traveled until the sun went down where we spotted a small town and were lucky enough to catch someone going in our direction. His name was Johnathan and he was what you would call a martian. He had no powers whatsoever and had come to Astral from a country on Planet Mars. He was happy to give us a ride all the way to the border if Kitai gave him his last 3 gold coins. Of course, Kitai agreed knowing that he would be able to get more if he could make it back to his home in the Cave Region so it was an all-around win. Also, Johnathan explained how he gave rides throughout the desert region to earn money and feed his family which made it a Win-Win.

Johnathan was of average height he was white with freckles and hair that was about 2 inches long standing up. He was a heavier man and had a double chin to show for it. We entered his automobile and were on our way to the Cave Region finally. His car was not nearly as clean as the car we rode in when we were in the Mountains Region. It was clearly an older car, the inside was tan and it was like a normal car in America. Benign and I sat in the back seat while Kitai occupied the passenger.

“So how is Mars?” Benign asked.

“Well, it used to be an amazing place until she came,” Johnathan responded.

“Until who came?” I asked.

“Ruby,” Kitai answered.

“Ruby like the Goddess of Misfortune and Bad luck Ruby?” Benign asked confused.

“Yup, that’s her!” Johnathan replied.

“What did she do?” I asked.

“Well, the story goes a while ago the Gods of all Gods Shakur and Lyte gifted each of their eight children with their own planet in this solar system with the exception of Saturn which is where most of the Gods Live as well as Shakur and Lyte themselves. They allowed them to rule over the planet as well as the people on it doing whatever they pleased.” He explained.

“Like The Goddess Treasure ruling over Planet Earth,” I said.

“Yes exactly.” He agreed. “Except she was the opposite of her older sister Treasure. See while The Goddess Treasure filled Planet Earth with beautiful nature, fun games and grand festivities she had done the same on other planets as well with Mars being one of them.”

“So what did her sister do exactly?” Benign asked.

Johnathan took a deep sign. “She sucked the planet dry of all its natural resources until it became blood red and when she was unable to reinstate the beauty that her sister Treasure had done, the people on the planet began to die from lack of natural resources. Some people made it to other planets and my family ended up here on Earth.”

“That’s insane!” Benign replied.

I slouched back in my seat because I was unsure if he had a problem with all of the Gods after what his family endured. It would be easy to hold a grudge against them when no one did anything to stop Ruby from practically destroying Planet Mars.

“Yea, that’s why the entire planet is red now. I’d be surprised if there was anyone was still surviving there.” Johnathan said.

I was stunned, I had no idea. This entire time in school they were telling us Mars was known as the Red Planet but it had once actually looked like Earth. I was learning things from random strangers in Astral that my school teachers in America had never told me.

For most of the ride, I wondered if the teachers in America simply never knew these things or was the government purposely withholding the knowledge of the Gods for their own benefit. I always heard conspiracies about the government keeping information secret but to be honest I hardly paid them any mind because I felt I would not be able to do anything about it if they were. Nonetheless, I felt I had been cheated by the country I was raised in.

Johnathan flew his automobile faster than anyone I had seen thus far. I would’ve thought it strange but the few we did see near the desert region were all flying faster than the drivers in the other regions.

“At this rate, we’ll be there in no time,” Kitai said.

“That’s great!” I said excitedly “Thanks a lot, Johnathan.”

“No problem,” He said. “You guys are feeding my family right now its the least I could do.”

Johnathan, Cameron, and Winnie game me massive hope for my social life in Astral as well as Benign and Kitai of course. I had finally found a decent amount of people that I was able to socialize with normally without them making jokes about my glowing skin. I was surrounded by people that understood my struggles and that was comforting. There were people here that knew more about me than I knew about myself. It was all a refreshing learning experience and an interesting journey.

The Caves of the Cave region were finally nearing our sights. I could see the largest caves clearly, they looked like hollowed-out mountains. The largest figure I could see in the direction was what looked like a Volcano. There was no clear opening to it with the exception of the top which led me to believe it was indeed a volcano.

“Is that a Volcano?” I asked.

“Oh yea,” Kitai said. “I forgot to mention that.”

“You forgot to mention a huge volcano towering over the Cave region?” I said sarcastically.

“Well, maybe not forgot” He laughed. “I wanted some things to be a surprise.”

“That’s not a good surprise,” I responded.

“Don’t worry” Benign said smiling. “You have the Soul of Fire what can a volcano do to you?”

Just as Benign mentioned the Soul of Fire Johnathan slammed on his breaks.

“I knew that glow looked familiar,” He said. “You’re the daughter of Fugaze aren’t you!”

“Yes,” I replied. “Is that a problem?”

“I’m sorry,” He said lowering his car. “This is as far as I can take you all.”

“What!” Kitai exclaimed. “You said you would take us for 3 gold coins! Now, are you a man of your word or not!”

“I am but I don’t give my word to the descendants of evil Gods!” He shot back. “Now please exit my vehicle I don’t want any trouble.”

He reached out to return the 3 gold coins to Kitai but Kitai told him to keep them and thanked him anyway.