“Watch out!” Yam shouted as she zapped another giant mosquito that had flew over my head. May, April, Lily, and Willow blasted others. The bugs were as long as the pixies were tall, but with larger wingspans.

“I hate these things!” Willow shouted.

“I think I’m going to have nightmares about these bloodsuckers,” I said.

“Me too!” Lily added.

“Us too!” April and May chorused.

The humongous insects had started to attack us after we crossed the river and got closer to the carob trees. Other than mutated bugs and spotting the occasional coyote, the two-hour hike to the grove had been uneventful. I channeled the available energy into fire and threw a short wave over the river at a small swarm that was approaching from behind us. A few died in the fire blast, but others fled the heat and flame.

“Well done, my Jase!” Lily cheered doing a little dance.

“That’s the last of them,” April said.

“Die! Die! Die!” Willow shouted at the dead mosquito she continued to zap. “Muhahaha.”

“I think the mosquitos broke Willow,” I said.

“Nah,” April replied. She zapped a different corpse. “This can be good for your mental health!”

“We all go a little crazy once in a while,” Yam said.

“That includes you humans too!” May added.

“Yeah, she’ll be alright,” Lily agreed.

“Yam, Willow, go scout around the grove,” May ordered.

“Yes ma’am!” The two pixies shouted saluting May. They flew off giggling.

“No Jase, we’re not crazy,” Lily said.

“I didn’t say anything,” I objected.

“No, but you were thinking it,” Lily replied giving me a grin.

“Just a little,” I laughed.

“The grove is clear!” Willow and Yam shouted when they returned.

“Alright. Let’s see what’s there,” I said before starting to walk toward the grove.

*

“There’s a lot of pods on those trees,” I said looking from one pretty tall tree to another. The trees were all at least 20 ft tall. Each brown pod that I could see was about 4 inches long or a tad longer.

“If we had come a few weeks ago, the pods would have been green and chewable,” Willow said. “The cows would probably have liked them.”

“Moo!” Lily replied. Willow narrowed her eyes.

“Did you just moo me?” she asked.

“Moop!” Lily answered. The other pixies laughed, and I smiled.

Willow tossed a spark at my familiar. This led them to chasing each other around and “accidently” zapping the other pixies. That of course led to a free for all.

“So much for my protection,” I muttered. I really didn’t want to climb each tree to try and harvest the pods.

“Just shake the trees or use a strong wind!” Lily shouted as she dodged a couple of sparks thrown at her before returning fire.

“That’s not a bad idea. Thanks!” I replied.

“You’re welcome!” all the pixies shouted before resuming their game.

I gathered some of the surrounding energy and tried to push the wind into the tree in front of me. I might have made the breeze blow a tad stronger and I doubt that I even did that.

“Jase needs help!” Yam shouted.

“Yeah, he failed,” May said.

“Try again!” April said.

“Do it!” Willow added.

“Jase, we’ll do it together,” Lily said flying down and landing on my right shoulder. “You start gathering the energy and I’ll add my efforts to yours.”

“And if that doesn’t work, we’ll help!” Willow added to agreement from the other pixies.

Once again, I gathered some of the surrounding energy. This time I compacted it and pulled in more after Lily suggested I do so. My familiar added her efforts to mine, and the energy became a sphere.

“Now!” Lily said. We released the energy, and a strong wind blew threw the tree branches knocking half the seedpods to the ground.

“It worked!” I exclaimed.

“Of course, it did,” Lily said. She nuzzled my cheek before kissing it. “We can do anything together. Well, almost anything.”

“Thank you, Love,” I told the pixie.

“You’re welcome, my Jase!” Lily replied. “We just need to do this about 15 more times!”

“If you set out the storage device and your satchel, we’ll gather up the pods while you two knock them off the trees,” May said.

“My satchel?” I asked. "Ah. To fool anyone, we stumble across.”

“You got it!” May said.

“Alright,” I replied taking off my satchel and opening it. I then removed the storage device as well. “There you go.”

“Thanks!” April said. She then turned serious or attempted to. “Now get to work!”

The giggles ruined it the effort, but everyone laugh.

*

Meagan and her father, Van Hunter, along with another man were waiting for us when we returned home. Well, her dad was waiting while Meagan visited Sara. The pixies identified the other man as Van’s brother, John. I could see the similarities.

“Van, what can I do for you?” I asked in greeting.

“We want some poultices and that bug repellent you had sold me before,” the hunter replied.

“That’s if you have anymore,” John added.

“You’ve already used up what you got before?” I asked as the pixies flew over to Sara, Meagan, and the men’s familiars.

“Yeah. The recent rain has made the mosquitos worse and we’ve shared the repellent with others,” John answered.

“I have both,” I said after giving it a moment’s thought.

“That’s good,” Van said. He spied my full satchel. “Where have you been off to?”

“Harvesting carob,” I answered unlocking the basement shop’s metal door.

“What’s carob?” John asked.

“It’s an edible plant that is part of the legume family,” I replied taking out one of the seedpods and handing it to him.

“Doesn’t look edible,” John said after he examined the pod. Van examined it and just grunted his agreement.

“From what I understand, once milled, carob makes an excellent chocolate substitute,” I replied setting the satchel on the counter and walking around it.

“Really?” Van asked. I nodded yes.

“That would be something we would love to try,” John added. “How did you learn about this and who showed you the plants?”

“We showed him,” Trillium said flying through the door. The hunters surprised me by respectfully greeting the pixie elder. “I do love chocolate and since it is so hard to come by, I decided to teach Jase about the trees.”

“Interesting. Need any help milling the pods?” John asked.

“We’re helping my Jase,” Lily answered joining us.

“Just a few of you?” Van asked.

“There is enough of us,” Trillium answered.

“Alright,” John said. “Still, our offer to help stands.

“It’s a small satchel full of pods. They’ll be fine,” Van said. “We still want some of the powder or whatever you’re making though.

“I’ll keep that in mind. Check with me in a couple of days,” I said.

“We will,” John replied.

“How many poultices do you want?” I asked.

“A dozen for each of us,” Van answered.

“And two gallons of the repellent,” John answered.

“I’ll be right back with that,” I said after we haggled and agreed on a price.