One magically divested river and about twenty minutes later, we came upon what was almost certainly “the grove.”

The leaves were greener, the canopy thicker, the birdsong was prettier. There were fireflies flitting about despite it being the middle of the afternoon. It smelled of jasmine and honeysuckle. I tried to stop myself from wondering if we would see a unicorn because I didn’t want to jinx it.

At a glance, Mia seemed to be sharing my sense of the sanctity of the place. Vlad, however, did not.

“Mmmmmmmmm!”, he hummed out boisterously, sounding like a hungry husband from a sitcom, coming home to discover the smell of his favorite dinner. “Yes! Yes! Yes! I am always loving the strolling through this place, are you not as well my children?”

I was startled but I nodded fervently along with Mia, who showed her delight, when he looked for our answer.

“It’s wonderful, Uncle. Is this the grove?”

Vlad nodded appreciatively.

“Does that mean it is tended by someone?”, I ventured. “Or something?” I added hopefully.

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“Some yes, some no, some both!”, he laughed. “This part of the forest has been used by many volshebnik for certain things for very very long time. The forest, the plants, the birds, they remember the touch and they are happier from it, yes?”

He walked over to a stand of pretty bright orange flowers with hexagonal buds and reddish spikes on the end of the petals.

“Vendiria, beautiful things.” He leaned down and sniffed one and exhaled broadly. “Without special help, they are being found only in very cold places, and they are only blooming at night, and only under the full moon. That is seeming not enough blooming, yes? Heh!”

“Oh wow!” breathed Mia, quickly dipping in for sniff of the magical blossom.

“What are they used for? Do they have healing properties?”, I asked after I discovering for myself that flower smelled rather like chocolate cake.

Vlad turned serious. “This flower’s nectar is being the only cure known to me for lycanthropy, Max”.

“Really?!” Mia asked, as I sputtered “Werewolves?!”

Vlad shrugged, “Meh, this is what I was being told. But I would not be surprised to know that the person doing this telling was pulling on my leg, hah!” He grinned and swept back to the trail and continued on.