Local Author Filip is a refugee ... a soldier and a refugee from the endless war he walked away from. He begins again. For eight years he lives alone on a high and desiccated plateau with only a spring rising out of the mountain, enough water to quench the thirst, and enough for a garden, and trees, planted by hand, nurtured out of a love surprised to find within himself. One day, Bathilde climbs the mountain, reaching the plateau and takes in the green growth, the garden, the trees and the man, a crazy man, surely. For the two of them, this is the beginning of an exploration: a colonisation of themselves and a restoration of a small ecosystem. The beginning of trees and soil allows nature to reciprocate offering insects and birds...balance, providing them with purpose and a conviction that no one...that no one is born to be a soldier. Soldiers serve the interests of others, nameless, faceless criminals they will no longer serve. Filip and Bathilde become alchemists, turning what is base into that which is worth more than gold.
