The Magic Pawn Series: The Discovery (Volume 1)

Chapter 2: The Island of Kaeillindor

The island really did have amazing places. The forested mountains descended straight into the clear sea. The luxuriant vegetation seemed to coat the entire island in a green cloak. The ever-present palm trees, the olive trees, the fruit trees, and the cypresses of a green so deep that it made it difficult not to stop and stare at them, curios about whether they are real or not.

And in that wilderness, the wonderful species of orchids with their dazzling perfume and the colourful carpet they lay made you daydream and never want to get up from that dream.

Then we reached a cliffy area, full of trees and shrubs some of them with shapes as strange as they were interesting.

Some of them were shaped like mushrooms with slim branches uniformly positioned to form a green hat.

'Wow... it looks strikingly similar to the dracaena cinnabari', I said as I realised that I was thinking out loud.

Edward and Christine gave me a strange look.

'I was talking about that tree over there', I said, as I was pointing to one of the numerous trees in the shape of sunken hat mushrooms. The same look. 'Dragon blood, if I have to spell it out for you. The extremely bizarre tree whose red-coloured resin drips off the trunk when it is wounded? Come on...you live here and you've never been interested in knowing this?'

'Wounded?' They all asked, and then started laughing.

'I'll lead the way, my aunt interrupted. 'I have something that needs to be done.'

After she left, the other two continued to tease me.

'What's so funny?' I retorted.

'A wounded tree?' Edward asked once more.

This was becoming very annoying. I looked at them both. Christine gave him a shove before he could say anything else.

'I didn't know you were so smart', he said, while keeping himself from laughing.

'Really? I have always been passionate about nature; the most bizarre wild places; the strangest rock formations. The unique trees and...'

'But this is definitely not blood...what blood?' Edward shouted behind me.

'Of the dragon', Christine replied much too loud although she was standing right next to him.

'I did not say it was blood', I retorted while stopping. 'I only said it looked like blood. I cannot believe that this superb scenery doesn't move you even a bit. It is unique and...'

'This was our reaction in the beginning...but we are starting to get bored with the scenery. The trees that have strange shapes are frightening.' Christine became serious again. 'That tree that you were telling us about has black resin as you can very well observe, and silver threads drip off it during the night. Trust me...you don't want to come close to it when that happens.'

'And what about the screaming tree?' Edward pointed to a specimen that seemed very familiar to me.

The trunk in the shape of a bulb, thin branches with numerous flowers all coloured differently, unscented and in the shape of funnels. The tree did not have any leaves.

'Screaming?' What a strange name...

'We named it like that.'

Aaa....ah it began with the letter a...

'Everything happens at night. The flowers just seem to come alive. They make a truly deafening noise and...'

'That's it', I burst. 'Adenium obesum – the dessert rose. I knew it! Aaa...you were saying what?'