The dose makes the Poison

Eleona and Mireanda woke up just before sunrise. The river beside us had filled the forest with morning fog. Eleona stretched and paced a few steps, before she knelt beside the river and splashed water in her face to wake herself up. Mireanda sat up, yawned and looked around.

"Morning." she said, her voice still sleepy. Her stomach growled loudly. "Gods, I'm hungry."

"Your stomach told us as much." Eleona quipped. Mireanda rolled her eyes at her, then got up and made her way over to a bush that was filled over and over with bright orange berries. I hadn't seen one in real life before, but I recognised them immediately.

"You probably shouldn't eat those." I warned. Mireanda turned to me in surprise.

"And why not?" she challenged.

"Those are fireberries, and they're poisonous." Zairah explained, "At home in the Dragon's Ridge, they grow all over the place." She turned to me. "I haven't seen any in Eleonis, though."

"That's probably because they don't grow there." Eleona replied.

"Then how do you know about them?" Zairah asked me.

"Mister Wise Guy probably read about them in some dusty old tome." Eleona scoffed. She didn't like reading and had never understood how anyone could read boring books for hours.

"That dusty old tome may have saved my life just now." Mireanda pointed out. Eleona lifted a brow at me. She was under the impression, that Mireanda was in love with me, so in her mind, saving her from poison berries may have made things worse.

"Well, you'd have to eat a lot of them to die from it, more likely you'd just get a very bad case of the shits." Zairah said, but then she apparently had an idea. "Do me a favour and pick some anyway." We stared at her.

"Didn't you just say that they're poisonous?" Eleona asked in confusion. Mireanda looked equally baffled.

"As I said, it depends on the amount you eat." Zairah explained, "Yes, too many can have some nasty consequences, but one or two can help with all sorts of cramps, and they have some other useful properties." Mireanda lifted her brows.

"All sorts of cramps?" she asked, putting a hand on her lower belly. Zairah smirked and nodded. Mireanda picked a handful of fireberries into a handkerchief, but before she wrapped them up, she picked up one berry and ate it. Then she gave the rest to Zairah and thoroughly washed her hands in the river.