The Last Flowers Ch. 12

~*~:~*#F#*~:~*~

The tribe lazed together in the grove, watching the stars appear in the darkening sky. In the centre, the fire crackled and danced. As much as it was dangerous, it was beautiful Flora thought.

"Oh." Sarielle sat up quickly. "Evadne, do you want to throw your ribbon in the fire?"

"Yes, toss it in the flames!" Kerensa shouted.

Evadne looked at her wrist. She fiddled with the yellow bow, before tugging it undone. With it dangling from her fingertips, she got up to stand over the fire and let it fall.

"Well done," Aster said, but Evadne didn't look pleased with the praise.

Flora rested her chin in her hand and regarded their newest addition. Evadne was not a harmonious being. Her soul was in constant turmoil, at war with itself. That was why her personality changed back and forth, aggressive to timid. Neither of them were the real her. Both stemmed from fear. Everything revolved around it. Flora was going to fix that.

When everyone was retiring for the evening, Flora squeezed Abelia's hands and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She had to leave her to find a spot where she wouldn't disturb anyone with her dream melodies.

Evadne stood lost, watching the goings on. "Where do I sleep?"

Rozenwild paused to answer her. "If you don't want to lie with Laceleaf, you can sleep in the hut of virgins."

Evadne stared at her, mouth open. Laceleaf was already disappearing into the garden, seemingly having forgotten about the elhuven's existence.

"Don't mind Rozenwild." Hevani took Evadne's hand and led her over to the shelter. "There were more of us. Now it's just me."

"And me." Abelia said, wriggling in. "But not the virgin part. Just because it's cold."

Flora strolled away from the grove, finding a place under an oak. She nestled by its trunk and closed her eyes.

***

The glorious morning sunlight soaked Flora's skin as she sat cross-legged bear the stream. She felt a gentle tap on her shoulder and opened her eyes. Abelia smiled at her with a guilty expression.

"I wanted to make sure you were all right. You've been out here for hours."

"Have I?" She got up and took the girl's hand. "I lose track of time so easily."

"Didn't you want to take Evadne out today?"

She nodded sagaciously. "There's plenty of day left."

"Could you do it now? She looks tense."

What a considerate creature this elhuven was. So wound up though.

They passed Laceleaf, who was sampling a succulent peach. She'd coaxed the out of season fruit to grow using her powers.

"How old is she?" Abelia whispered.

"Laceleaf's a year older than I am."

"Which is?"

She smiled. "Thirty-eight winters."

"What's that in elhuven years?"

"Hmm, I'm not sure. Not a great deal older than you. A few years perhaps."

They walked into the clearing around the fire and Flora went over to Evadne. "Would you come with me, flower? I'd like to do a relaxation session with you. I promise you'll feel much calmer afterward."

"Do it, Evadne. It's wonderful," Abelia told her.

Several others encouraged her, giving her the courage to stand up. Hevani jumped up too, but Flora gestured for her to stay.

"I'd like to spend some time alone with her. Why don't we go this afternoon?" she added so as not to disappoint the woman.

Hevani dipped her head, quite happy with that. As Flora led Evadne into the woods she realised it would be hard to disappoint Hevani. She didn't expect much in the first place and that was horribly sad.

Evadne was very obedient. She sat still and followed all her instructions. She flinched when Flora touched her, but let her hold her hands so Flora could send soothing energy into her. When she asked her how she was feeling and if there was anything she wanted to talk about Evadne shrugged and said she didn't know. Flora finished up the session by throwing a handful of seeds on the dirt and growing flowers up around her so they kissed her cheeks. The trick had delighted Hevani. Evadne was less responsive, but still found it amusing. Flora brought her back to the group satisfied she was less antsy.

"How did it go?" Rozenwild asked coming to stand next to her. "Were you able to exorcise the demon?"

She gave her an exasperated look. "People could say the same about you."

Rozenwild grinned. "Really though, how is she?"

Flora sighed. "It's going to take time."

"She'll get there. They all will." Willow came up and hugged Flora from behind. She rested her chin on her shoulder for a minute. "Do you think Laceleaf's acting strange?"

"She seems like Laceleaf to me," Rozenwild said.

Willow let go of her. "It's just...everyone else has taken kindly to their rescuer. Laceleaf and Evadne haven't even spoken today."

"Let us find out why." Rozenwild started forward.

Flora pulled her back. "Not you. We can't have you making matters worse."

Rose objected, but stayed put. She knew she had a tendency to exacerbate things. Flora and Willow crossed the grove to where Laceleaf was resting. She'd grown herself a pretty little cascade of flowers from behind her left ear. The stars had five white petals with edges like a fringed tulip frosted in pale blue. When she saw them coming, she placed her hand on the dirt beside her, extending the moss.

"I'm surprised you're not with Evadne." Willow knelt on the new cushion. Flora sat on her other side. "I wanted to hear all about Sage's life when I met her."

"She doesn't seem interested in me today."

"Do you like her?"

Laceleaf looked at the ground and bunched her mouth. "She's not overly pleasant."

"You're not that amicable yourself." Rozenwild leaned on a nearby tree, hand on her hip. "You don't have to be nice to be loveable."

Flora frowned at her and flicked her hand to shoo her away. Rose didn't budge.

Laceleaf shrugged. "She's...not what I would have chosen for myself."

Flora frowned. "She chose you."

"She accidentally stumbled upon me while trying to get home."

Flora shook her head. "The forest would have helped her get to the village if that was her desire. Because her heart was so torn, she became as lost as she felt inside. Eventually one side won out and it allowed her to find you. I think we've been matched with girls who are kindred spirits, like-minded, or ones whose souls would complement and balance our own."

Laceleaf snorted.

"Abelia had to walk past Amaranth to get to me. She told me she felt nothing but awkward near her. Maybe it's the forest's power or maybe it's something about us that draws someone in particular."

Laceleaf glared at them. "You think the forest deposited this woman at my feet for me to breed with? Don't I get a say in this? Doesn't she?"

"No one is saying you have to be mates," Willow said. "Only that it would be nice if you could be friends."

Flora placed her hand on Laceleaf's thigh. "It might not seem like much to you, but Evadne sacrificed something she held dear to bring you back. You should be kind to her."

"I tried, Flora, but she's a very peculiar girl. I'm not sure she wants much to do with me."

~

~*~:~*#R#*~:~*~

Rozenwild marched through the trees, slowing to a sultry walk when she reached the clearing and her target. She was going to find out what was going on. If that meant upsetting someone, too bad.

"Hello, Evadne," she purred.

"Good morning," the girl replied quietly.

"I noticed you haven't spoken to Laceleaf today. Have you two not come out of this experience as friends?"

"She told me to leave her alone. She...hates me."

Rozenwild scanned the garden for her sister. "Laceleaf!" She beckoned to her and she wandered over. Rose crossed her arms and gave her a firm look. "Did you tell Evadne to leave you alone?"

Laceleaf frowned. "No." She thought for a moment. "Although...I did comment about her tailing me everywhere."

Rose groaned. She turned to Evadne and patted her shoulder. "See, she doesn't hate you. She just wanted some space."

Flora hurried over, looking alarmed. Her sister thought she knew better, but she was overlooking the fact Rose had a similar personality and therefore understood Laceleaf, even though they weren't close.

She slapped Flora on the back. "They're avoiding each other because they think the other one doesn't like them."

"Well, that's a relief." Flora said too enthusiastically. "Why don't you two walk together when we leave today? You can get to know each other better."

"Sure." Laceleaf glanced at Evadne before walking away.

Flora sighed and took Evadne's hand. "I promise she's nicer than she seems."

~

~*~:~*#S#*~:~*~

Sarielle finished weaving her dark hair into a plait and secured it with a blade of grass. Dendelyn skipped over to her, all smiles, and gave her a hug.

"Good morning."

Sae laughed. "Hi."

Dendelyn swept her eyes over her with a silly look on her face. "Can I touch your seedling? Ellowyn said her roots are getting long."

Oh, she meant that way.

Sarielle pressed her lips together. "Okay."

Dendelyn reached under her skirt and tentatively dipped her finger inside her. "Oh, she's so big!"

Sarielle shuddered, her cunt mourning the loss as soon as Dendelyn removed her finger. Nothing had been able to sate it today and the urge to stick something up there was difficult to ignore.

"I'm so excited for tomorrow. I'm going to ask Willow when we're leaving." Dendelyn bounded off to search for the eldest nymph.

Sarielle sat in the middle of a patch of phlox at the centre of the grove. Rozenwild crawled half out of a nearby bush on her tummy. She rested her chin in her hands and stared at Sarielle. Sae stared back. It wasn't the first time she'd found a nymph in a shrub, but it wasn't any less weird. This one seemed to be Rose's favourite resting spot.

"Sae." The nymph smiled at her. "If you could pick someone other than Ellowyn to have sex with who would it be?"

The question made her pause. "That's a bit...confronting."

The nymph drummed her fingers on her cheek. "You don't like males, so you must have liked one of your friends at some point."

Rose had her there.

"I kind of liked Evadne when we were younger, but she's changed a lot." She looked away for a second, debating if she should mention anyone else. "Um...I've always thought Kerensa was pretty cute."

Rozenwild froze. She pushed herself up and rushed over, eyes glittering. "Ooh—"

Sarielle cut her off. "Don't tell her!" She grabbed her arm to try to stop her looking so excited. "And stop dreaming up whatever fantasy that provoked."

Rose pouted, but her smile broke through. "She might like it."

Sarielle gently pushed her away. "I'm a little preoccupied right now."

Rozenwild gave her a once over. "You don't look like you're doing too well."

"I'm very uncomfortable."

She eyed her off again. "Urgh, I better get Ellowyn. She won't like me doing anything to you. She's a bit overprotective right now."

~

~*~:~*#K#*~:~*~

A few nymphs had gathered in the middle of the garden. Kerensa wandered over to them, assuming they were getting ready to leave. Rozenwild gave her a saucy look.

"Is there anything you'd like to do before we go?"

Dendelyn bounced over to them. "Can we play hide and seek?"

"With our rules, or the ones you've been using with the elhuvens?" Flora asked.

Dendelyn had been playing with them in her nymph form so she wasn't at an advantage. But the nymphs allowed either to make it more challenging seeing as they could sense their sisters.

"That might be a bit unfair. They don't even know what we all look like," Willow pointed out. "And we really don't have the time. We need to say goodbye to Amaranth."

"Then let us play guess the nymph!"

It took a couple of minutes to find everyone who was missing and then the group headed out to Amaranth. Dendelyn's nervousness attracted concern from several people, but she steeled herself and brushed them off.

"I can do it." She smiled at Aster. "Go count to ten," she ordered, sending the elhuvens over a hill.

They gave the nymphs enough time to transform and hurried back excitedly. What met them was a circle of miniature trees. With their flowers hidden, most of them looked remarkably similar.

"Oh, dear," Sarielle said with a laugh.

Abelia covered her mouth with her hands. "They look so alike."

"How do we tell them apart?" Evadne asked.

"Well, this is Amaranth." Kerensa strolled across the circle to one tree. "Sorry, but you haven't moved."

"And she's darker than everyone else." Sarielle wandered over to Sage, who was eyeing off a brown tree. "That's Willow, isn't it?"

"Are you sure? It could be Flora." Aster said, skimming the trees. "Or this could be."

There was some colour comparing before they agreed the darker of the trees was likely Willow. That left the grey nymphs, which caused a lot of discussion. One of the grey trees trembled.

"Don't laugh. You'll give yourself away," Sarielle called out.

"This pale one has to be Laceleaf," Abelia said.

Evadne stared at the scar on one limb. "Yes."

"Now it's getting hard." Aster sighed. "Kerensa, you know which one Rose is, don't you?"

She smiled. "You're not getting any help from me."

Under the scrutinising glare of the elhuvens, two of the trees rustled their leaves.

"Well, now we know which one Rose is," Sarielle said.

Kerensa walked over to the one who hadn't giggled and hugged her. Her fingers traced up her trunk. "See how she has these shadowy patterns in her bark? And her leaves are dark and serrated like a rose bush."

Abelia pouted. "How do we tell Ellowyn and Dendelyn apart?"

"Didn't you all see Dendelyn as a tree?" Hevani asked.

"Yes, but she looked dead," Kerensa realised what she said. "Oops."

"Everyone pick who you think Ellowyn is," Sarielle suggested. They all chose a side, but a couple wanted to switch when they saw Aster head for the tree on the left. "No switching, Evadne!" Sarielle laughed and joined the group on the left.

Abelia and Hevani had also guessed wrong, but weren't bothered by it.

"Can we test Flora's theory? I'd like to see if we can sense the nymphs." Abelia walked into the middle. "Everyone close your eyes and spin around a few times so you don't know where you are. Then try to find your nymph."

The girls did as they were told. Kerensa stood still and tried to feel. Something told her to go over her right shoulder. She took a couple of steps that way and collided with someone.

"Sorry," Sage said.

Kerensa giggled and kept walking with her hands out in front. One hand hit a trunk, so she stood back and waited.

"I think I've gone too far." Aster said flatly.

"Oh, you don't feel right," Abelia muttered somewhere in front of Kerensa. A few moments later she said, "Ah, I think that's you. Everyone ready?"

Kerensa slowly opened her eyes and smiled when she saw who she was facing. She spun around and gasped. "No way."

Every girl was at a different place in the circle. Not all of them were touching a tree, but they'd all been able to sense their partners enough to get within a few metres. Hevani still stood in the centre.

Rozenwild transformed and threw her arms around her. "You found me."

Dendelyn was laughing at Aster, who was outside the circle. "You went straight past me."

Rozenwild made suggestive eyes at Abelia and groped her chest. "Would you like to come have another feel?"

Abelia shied away. "No, thank you! It was an accident."

Kerensa elbowed her to cut it out, though she couldn't hide her grin.

"Fascinating. Some of you went a little astray, but you all went in the right direction." Flora mused over this for a moment. "This means that when we drift around tree lines to find mates that it isn't chance or the scent of our flowers that brings them near. We must give off an aura or such, and if women nearby find it attractive they're drawn to us. Ellowyn, did you get much attention from women in the city?"

"We got a lot of attention from everyone."

"It would be interesting to go there alone and see what happens."

"So you could come back with six more mates?" Rozenwild teased.

Flora smiled softly. "Come now, let us say farewell."

A solemn presence hung over the group as they said goodbye to Amaranth. They'd see her again, but they were moving several kilometres deeper into the forest, so it wouldn't be as often.

The tribe spread out as they walked, splitting into smaller groups. It took Kerensa a while to notice Flora lagging behind. The tall nymph paused every twenty metres to conjure a red lily from the ground.

Kerensa gasped. "She's leaving a trail!"

"So you can visit Ammy without us," Ellowyn said.

"Why would we...oh." Kerensa smiled.

The walk was long, but they didn't have anything to carry, so it wasn't strenuous. They had to cross the river, which no longer caused Kerensa anxiety. Although the same couldn't be said for a few of her friends. She didn't enjoy climbing up the hills, but the scenery was breathtaking. Ahead, the leaders had come to a halt and were waiting for everyone to catch up. Kerensa soon saw why. A ten-metre wall of rock stood in their path.

"Uh...please tell me there's a way around," Sarielle said, staring up at the cliff.

"There is...if you want to be walking for another half hour," Rose replied.

"But we could fall!" Abelia whined, her expression tense with fear.

"No you won't." Rozenwild took a seed from her leaves and threw it to the top of the cliff. A waterfall of green vines cascaded down the rock. She coaxed them around her waist and started to climb. Her nimble feet allowed her to scale the cliff effortlessly. At the top she peered over at them as she sent down a second lot of vines. "Who's next?"

Laceleaf took one set of vines and began her ascent. Aster approached the other.

"I'll go. I love climbing."

"Do you want me at the top waiting for you? Or would you like me to climb beside you?" Willow asked Sage.

Around her, the nymphs were consulting the rest of the elhuvens. Apparently, they hadn't anticipated this level of apprehension. With no one to help, Dendelyn took to the wall. The vines next to Kerensa danced and reached towards her.

"Blossom?" Rozenwild called down.

Kerensa inhaled and stepped into their reach. They wound around her chest and pulled tight. She found her first handholds and paused.

"Up you come," her girlfriend shouted.

Kerensa placed her foot on the rock and climbed. The vines helped hold her weight as she went and it wasn't long before she was being hauled over the top.

"That was easy." She laughed.

Rozenwild nodded. "See."

Sage and Willow came up together. Next was Sarielle, lifted in a harness of vines Ellowyn had constructed so she wouldn't hurt her ribs. She tried to protest, but the nymph insisted. The remaining elhuvens didn't look happy about the situation.

"Elle's going to help Hevani up," Sarielle said as she was helped into the grass at the top. She turned to look down. "Come on, Evadne!"

The short blonde approached the cliff. She was slow to start, but powered through.

"I thought she was going to be a problem," Rozenwild said with surprise.

Sarielle grinned. "She's very determined when she wants to be."

Flora and Abelia made their way up slowly. It took even longer to get Hevani up with Ellowyn right beside her whispering encouragement and everyone yelling more from the top. They all showered her in praise when she got there. Hevani looked embarrassed, but a little proud of herself.

After that excitement, the last part of the journey seemed to take only a few minutes. They crested a hill and entered a beautiful gully. A gorgeous waterfall spilled clear water into a deep pool. Mossy rocks lined the lush banks and the air was so fresh it seemed to hum with energy and anticipation. There was no garden, but there was a definite pattern to the trees and a few rogue flowers. The elhuvens all shared her excitement, but she noticed the nymphs looked sombre.