The Witching Hour

Let’s see, mugwort, rose petals, salamander tail, frog warts, cat’s spittle, snake tongue, the classic eye of newt and the two dozen herbs I prepped yesterday. Excellent! Everything was ready to brew up some potions. Hmm, no wait, there was just one more ingredient missing. “Midnight, did you catch any…?” In response, Midnight dropped a rat on the table next to me. “One black rat, Meowstress, as requested.” I reached over and scratched Midnight behind the ears, earning a happy purr in response. “Thanks, Midnight. I only need the tail though, so if you want the rest you can have it. A quick cut later and Midnight disappeared with the rat, leaving only the tail behind.

A flapping of wings and Soot landed on his perch next to the table. “Healing potions, Mistress? Are you hunting some rare and dangerous ingredients again?” He tilted his head as he eyed the ingredients. “Not today, no. These are for a rainy day. Better to have them and not need them, than need them and not have them, wouldn’t you agree?” He cawed for a bit, before nodding. “Indeed, a wise choice. I take it the rat tail is for longevity, then?”

I glanced up at him. “Yep, I would have preferred to use a sheep’s gall bladder for that, but that would mean going into town. And a few more days of shelf life are not worth the hassle of dealing with those damn farmers and their ignorance of what witchcraft can and cannot do. Besides, Midnight excels at catching the lil’ blighters, and enjoys eating them, so it’s a just pure upside. It’s annoying that the pantry doesn’t work on them, though. Hmm, maybe I should make a storage of my own.”

I began mixing the potion, while Soot distanced himself from the cauldron. “Still haven’t gotten over what happened, eh?” Soot puffed himself up. “If by happened, you mean the incident where my feather accidentally landed in a potion and blew up the entire mixture, turning me into a chicken for a month as it splashed all over me? Then no, I haven’t. I do not want a repeat performance of that, thank you very much.”

He ruffled his feathers in indignation at the jab. Well, I couldn’t fault his caution, considering that month he spent most of his time terrified that Midnight would try to eat him. Not that she would. Midnight was quite fond of Soot, despite the raven’s paranoid belief otherwise, back then.

“There, now it just needs to boil for a few hours.” I gave the cauldron a quick tap with a finger, activating the runes that would prevent the contents from burning, while also making the thing stir on its own. As I walked over to the table, I took a moment to look over the memory crystal on the counter. Soot noticed my glance. “Still can’t believe something like what’s in there is possible.” I gave a wistful chuckle. “You keep saying that, Soot. And I still can’t help but point out the irony that you find the idea that there are machines that can fly ridiculous, when I ride a flying broom.”

Soot puffed up his chest. “That broom relies on good old-fashioned magic, but according to you, those metal… THINGS, don’t rely on magic at all, but this thing called science.” I picked up some dried berries and waved Soot down to my hand, and began feeding him some.

“And despite that, it wasn’t magic that healed your wing when we first met. That was medical science and knowhow from my past as a part-timer at my mom’s veterinarian clinic growing up.” Soot gobbled up the berries eagerly, then resumed the conversation. “And I’m happy for that, as you were so hopeless back when we met, fumbling over even the simplest incantations, and messing up even the most basic of potions. Still, I must admit, that while slow and painful, you fixed my wing with no issues. Of course, you’ve come a long way since then, Mistress, so I hope I won’t need to have my wing bandaged ever again.”

I shrugged as I took the jab in stride. “Seeing as I could just cast a simple healing spell these days, I doubt you would need to have your wing fixed up the mundane way.” I picked up the crystal and looked once more at the memory of my first time flying a plane that was recorded inside it. My younger sister and I were about 7 and 8 respectively, and it was a thrilling experience. “Hmm, it’s been two centuries, so obviously she’s long gone by now, but I hope my little sister lived a good life without me.”

Soot hopped onto my shoulder and gave me a loving hug. “Speaking of memories, though, I don’t think you ever told any of us how you even got here, Mistress.” I looked up from the crystal. “Huh? I haven’t? Well then, why don’t I tell you when Winter returns from her hunt. I doubt she would enjoy being excluded, after all. And why don’t you inform Midnight about it too? She’s also been curious about that, no doubt.” Soot swallowed the last dried berry. “Sure thing, Mistress.” He then rapidly flew off, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

I rose from my chair and walked over to the large mirror in the corner of the small living room. Usually, I used it the rare few times I needed to talk to someone over long distances. Not that I ever enjoyed something like that. I lived out in the middle of nowhere for a reason, after all. Looking at myself, I couldn’t help but feel wistful at how different I was from before, even after 200 years.

My skin was now a pale green, a telltale sign of a witchcraft practitioner, according to both Soot and Midnight. When I first arrived, my skin color was normal for a woman of European descent, but it turned out that way after just a few weeks.

What was strange though was that despite the time that had passed, I still kept my youthful appearance. Even though I didn’t use magic to maintain it, I didn’t look a day over 20. Another bonus, perhaps? “Hmm, still the same after all this time.”

I idly picked at my knee-length braided ponytail of ebony black hair, with natural streaks of crimson running through it. It was so different from my old dirty blond shoulder-length curls. However, I actually liked that change, as I’d always felt envious of my sister for her long hair that she got from mom, while mine never grew past my shoulders.

My ears were slightly pointy, another change that manifested as time went on. And while my emerald green eyes were unchanged, the same could not be said for my fingernails, which were short, but sharp, jet-black talons. They were hard as steel, too. No mundane tool could even dent them, and even if something broke them, they grew back in short order.

I wasn’t complaining, though, as they were great at peeling fruits and plucking… ingredients… for potions. I felt something behind me and noticed my cow’s tail was brushing the corner of the shelf as it swayed. “I’ll never get used to this thing.” It was longer than my legs, but curled up, so the bushy tip didn’t touch the ground.

I was a bit on the short side compared to the locals, standing about 170 centimeters, not that I could really measure that, as I didn’t have access to tailoring tools. But I was shorter than most people I had encountered since I restarted my life here.

I was wearing a long black dress and accompanying robe, a small belt with pouches for various things and… wait. “When did I-? Oh, there it is.” I forgot I took it off before I started brewing. With a grin, I put on my big, wide-brimmed witches’ hat. Was the hat necessary? Probably not. Did I like it? Hell yeah.

As I sat there contemplating, I felt something heavy and silent land on the hat. “How was the hunt, Winter?” I heard movement and a soft hoot. “It was decent enough, Mother, though the biggest morsel got away, spooked by a fox.” Winter considered me her parent, since I hatched her egg myself after her parents abandoned the nest it was in. “I met Soot and Midnight outside. They said there was story time tonight. Something about your youth.” I reached up over the brim of the hat and lightly scratched Winters’ head, causing a happy cooing from the snow owl.

“That’s right, why don’t you fetch them while I get something to drink? That way, we can start now and have the entire evening ahead of us.” I felt Winter take off, and watched as she soared out of the room, as silent as when she arrived. I headed into the kitchen and opened what looked like an ordinary closet.

A chill wind hit me in the face as the cold interior was exposed to the summer evening. Kept cool by ice that would never melt, but not so cold it would freeze. It had taken months of trial and error to get my fridge right. A few moments later and I entered the living room with a bottle of chilled berry juice and some dried fruits and meats as snacks. “Brought you something too, guys.”

My three familiars were already waiting for me. Midnight was lying on the armrest of the small couch, while Soot and Winter were on their respective roosts nearby. I divided the snacks among all four of us, gave Midnight some loving scratches, then sat down. “Well then, if we’re going to do this, I might as well start from the very beginning, or as close to it as I can without confusing you all.”

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The alarm clock went off, and I begrudgingly dragged myself out of bed. Only one more day, one more day, and I would have three entire weeks of blessed vacation. “Alright, Morgana, you can do this. Just get through one more day at that damn support line, and you can leave dreary, rainy Dublin behind for three weeks in Hawaii.” I staggered over to the bathroom for a shower.

A quick shower, breakfast and an agonizing 10 minutes mulling over what outfit to wear, and I was out the door. The misty late September morning was chilly and with light rain. I waved to the neighbors, a nice middle-aged couple named Thomas and Alice. They owned this apartment complex and were really nice. I always greeted them in the morning as I headed for the bus.

I stepped out the gate and headed down the sidewalk towards my bus stop, some 10 minutes away on foot. The morning chill, made it an energizing walk, as the cold air helped to wake me up. Just as I rounded the corner to the bus stop, the ground suddenly shook. “What the hell is-?”

The next moment, there was a massive flash of white light followed by a horrendous screeching noise unlike anything I’d heard in my life. The closest approximation I could think of was if a whistling kettle was combined with nails on a chalkboard and fused into one mind-numbing sound, then amped up to ear-shattering levels. This was followed by a sudden sense of intense pain that lasted a split second. Then, just as sudden it began, the light and noise disappeared, and so did everything else. There was just darkness, complete, impenetrable darkness.

No noise, no movement, nothing. I couldn’t even see my own hands… more distressingly, I couldn’t feel my hands. Aw, hell no. I’m not dead, right? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, that couldn’t be. “I am afraid it is so.” The voice was sudden and seemed to come from all over. “I apologize for that. You and a few others became collateral damage during my attempt to protect your dimensional borders. I did not expect the coward to flee into physical space as I attacked. That aside, you were lucky, as the glancing blow you took actually allowed for a fragment of your soul to be salvaged and healed. The others weren’t so lucky.”

The voice sounded apologetic, but was also dead calm, as if I were little more than a footnote. “You are not wrong about that one. In the grand scheme of things, your entire reality is about as important as a speck of dust, even more so for the mortals that dwell within, on your planet or any other.” Please - “No, I won’t stop reading your mind since you don’t have any other means of communication, being a disembodied soul. That aside, since this was my fault, I have to make amends. They will have my hide otherwise, and I prefer to stay alive, so… hmm. Can’t return you to your current world. That would be breaking so many sections of the Laws I can’t even count them all. Hmm, wait a moment.”

The voice went quiet. It took a while before the voice returned, and it was not alone. “So, this is the sole survivor, hmm? That was reckless, but you managed to at least save one.” This unfamiliar voice was feminine, and stern sounding, clearly someone used to giving orders and expected them to be followed unquestionably. “I apologize for my lack of foresight, Milady. However, the Law is clear, and she requires compensation, but this is the limit of what I can do, given my… circumstances. But since I was working on behalf of-” The voice cut out. “I’ll take care of it, dismissed.” No reply from the first voice.

“So, mortal. Compensation. As per the Law I cannot return you to your prior reality, the Law of Causality would kick in, and it would not be pretty, not for you or anyone unfortunate enough to witness it. That aside, I can offer other forms of compensation for my subordinates’ tardiness. And to answer the question burning so fervently in your mind right now, no, neither of us are gods. The sheer amount of red tape involving those guys is so absurd it’s not even funny. If I were to involve the local pantheons in this, you’d be waiting for millennia, provided you’d even last that long in your current state. And that would only be to decide which deity has jurisdiction of your soul. Then another few millennia for compensation.”

Ah, so isekai time then. There was silence for a few moments. “Ah, so that is what that term means, interesting… and yes, isekai, as you call it. That aside, I would be remiss to simply reincarnate you, without asking your preferences, given the circumstances. So I will pull a few strings and let you pick on your own. Any preferences?” What kind of world would it even be?

“To prevent issues with the Law you will be transferred into a Magic leaning reality, to distance you from your current Tech leaning origins, better that way, minimum impact.” That told me practically nothing. “That’s deliberate. Consider it your average fantasy novel like world, only, without most of the tropes. So, any wishes for your new lease on life?” Wishes? Hmm, in that case I’d like a house far away from civilization. Dealing with people after nearly 10 years in tech support was… not something I wanted. “That’s easy enough. Anything else?

Hmm, and I needed some way to protect myself. Hmm, magic world. Oh, I know! I would like to learn witchcraft! “Witchcraft? One moment… That’s an… interesting branch of magic, not something I have an interest in, but it could certainly allow you to defend yourself. I’ll make you a master of-” Woah, slow down. I said I would like to learn it, not master it. If I am going to live my life there, I need something to spend my time on, and suddenly just mastering it all would be, well, boring. The fun is in the journey, not the destination.

There was silence for a moment, then… laughter. “Ah, of course, I will make sure your home is stocked with everything a beginner witch will need, as well as some more advanced learning material for later. It will set you up for at least a century, if not more.” The voice sounded… pleased?

“I am. Most mortals these days never care for the journey and just want instant gratification. That’s my experience, anyhow, so it’s refreshing to meet someone who understands the importance of the journey to mastery. I will set it up for you and also throw in a few extra bonuses that will mitigate the drawbacks of using witchcraft. Anything else?” Drawbacks, what drawbacks? No response.

Well, anyway… If I will be a witch, living in a place where I can find most, if not everything I need for my brews and spells, would be nice. “So a swampy or marshy region with a forest within a short distance, a bit more difficult, but not impossible. Any more requests?”

If I had shoulders, I would shrug. Being able to speak and understand the local languages, knowing the local customs, and a long and healthy life would be nice. “Done, done and… the last one is redundant given the previous bonuses, so done. Enjoy yourself now.”

Another white flash and I landed on something hard. “Ow, ow, ow. That was… unnecessary.” Silence. I looked around. I was lying on the floor of a small comfy looking living room, with a small comfortable couch, a chair, a table, and a fireplace. Several wall-mounted candlesticks cast a golden hue over the unpainted walls and floor.

The first thing I did was to move to the nearby mirror and look at myself. I was not that different from before, though there were a few drastic changes. My hair was changed, and my old face had been sharp and angular, while now it was soft and, out of lack of a better term, cute. Small button nose, full lips that naturally bent into a slight smile, but weren’t the massive type you’d see from surgery, green doe eyes. “Hmm, not bad, not bad at all. If I say so myself.”

My build was the most significant change, though. I was muscular before, as I liked to keep active. Now, however, I was lithe and slim, but I didn’t feel any weaker than before. In fact, I felt stronger than ever. Then I caught a movement in the mirror. I looked down. “Is that a… cow tail?” It was indeed a cow tail, with short brown fur and a big bushy tip. Just what in the world was that all about? I gave it an experimental wiggle. It felt weird, but natural.

On the table was a small, note. “Welcome to your new home. All the requirements for a comfortable living have been taken care of. You can find a cooling cabinet in the kitchen, which will work like a modern fridge, and will magically preserve its content. The sink has an endless supply of water, and the bathroom can supply an endless supply of hot water for baths, showers and laundry and don’t worry about the drains clogging, it’s magic. The brewing room and pantry are fully stocked, and the cauldron is ready. Enjoy your new life.”

The handwriting was elegant and neat, clearly written by a skilled hand, though didn’t answer the riddle about the cow tail. Beside the note was another thing I picked up with glee, a big witch’s hat, which I happily put on. I looked around the room with a grin. New house, new life, and I could learn magic! Time to look around my new home. There was a side room where an enormous cauldron was sitting, with a large magic circle engraved on the floor next to it.

The shelf beside it had several large tomes. All were penned by the same hand that wrote the note and one of them was simply named, “Start reading this one” I couldn’t help but smile, “Well, it was nice of them to mark the tome to begin with, that’s for sure.”

Well, no time like the present. I grabbed the book and walked back into the living room, and plopped myself down on the couch. A few hours later, I was having a headache. I could understand some of it, but the underlying fundamentals were complex, far more complex than I’d expected. This would probably take some time to master. “Let’s see here… So witchcraft can use mana from the environment, as well as internal mana storage, meaning it’s nigh impossible to stop a witch’s hexes via conventional means. However, hexes require a far greater mana control to get the desired result, with spells going high wire if too much mana is used or will fizzle if too little mana is used.”

That part was easy enough. “All chanting has to be done in rhyme.” Ugh, I suck at rhyming. “However, since the spells are made from rhymes rather than the Language of Arcana, it’s far easier to make up new spells on the fly. A skilled enough witch, however, can forgo the rhymes for silent casting, but that requires a large amount of experience and training.” That was the headache inducing part. The idea of coming up with rhymes that created the spell I needed while under pressure was not something I was looking forward to trying. With some luck, I would become able to skip that part, but for now… yeah.

Well, no time like the present to try it out. Although… probably not inside. I went out the door and found myself on a rather large porch that opened up to a wide deck with a small series of glowing stones shining merrily along the edges. It was pretty obvious what that was… a landing pad for a broom. No sign of said broom, however, so I would likely have to make my own. Well, I said I wanted to start from scratch. So that one was on me. It was nice of the voice to give me a landing pad, though. A small set of wooden stairs descended onto a small grassy outcrop surrounded by water on three sides.

The pleasant sound of crickets was all around, and fireflies were flying around in the evening gloom. I walked out on the landing pad and looked into the night, then, as per the instructions in the book, I closed my eyes and focused. I could feel… something all around me, almost like a slight breeze, but not quite. Mana.

OK, I could do this. I took a deep breath. “It’s dark this night, and it blocks my sight, so create in my hand a ball of light!” Immediately I felt the mana rush towards my hand, so I raised it over my head, and in the next moment it was like a flash bang went off, blinding me with the sudden and absolute brightness from it. I fell backwards onto the wooden floor, disoriented and with severe retina burn.

The headache from before felt several times worse, and I felt sick to my stomach. Mana sickness, usually caused by using too much mana all at once. If the book was correct, my tolerance for mana usage would go up as I used magic, so it should become a nonissue with enough time. But, I needed to work on control, badly. “Ugh, that wasn’t fun.” I staggered back inside and collapsed onto the couch. A few moments later, I was asleep.

I woke the next morning feeling disoriented and VERY uncomfortable, given my awkward sleeping position. “Hey sis, what time is-” Right, I wasn’t living in my flat with my sister anymore. In fact, I would never see my family and friends again. Why didn’t that occur to me before now?

I wondered how they were doing, if I had left a body for them to bury, or I was regarded as having vanished. I shook my head. No point in dwelling on that now. “I can’t see you again sis, mom. But I hope you live well anyhow, hope there is enough left of my body to bury next to dad.” I suddenly had a lump in my throat and decided it was best to find something to distract myself with.

I slowly got to my feet and immediately felt the stiffness in my neck and back from the awkward sleeping position as I made my way into the kitchen for the first time. There was a note on another door in there. “This leads to the pantry. While the door is closed, the food stored inside will not decay.” Well, that was a load off. If I didn’t have to worry about food going bad, I could store enough to last awhile without worry. Good thing the voice thought of that because I didn’t.

Twenty minutes later, I was happily chewing through some fried egg, sausages, bacon, toast, grilled tomatoes, hash browns, black pudding, baked beans, and accompanied by a nice herbal tea, also known as a Full English Breakfast. How long was it since I ate a proper breakfast instead of just grabbing a quick toast on my way out of the door?

It didn’t matter. Never again would that be the case. I took my time to enjoy myself, just sitting back on the comfortable cushioned chair and enjoying my meal, while reading through the tome for pointers on how to not have a repeat of yesterday. Hmm, according to the book, meditating could help me learn how to properly control the flow of mana both for everyday needs for using magical items and for spell crafting, not to mention casting spells, since practice makes perfect. Well, I would probably try the prior rather than the latter, given what I achieved last night.

Well, again no point in postponing it, as I really wanted to get a hang of the magic, well maybe a slight delay to clean up after myself. Once that was done, off I went to the living room, where I grabbed a cushion off the couch and plopped it down on the floor, so I could meditate without too much discomfort. Let’s see, according to the small clock hanging over the fireplace, it was around ten in the morning now. So I should probably aim for a few hours of meditation before doing some other things.

I sat down and once again focused on the mana round me, how it flowed around the room and through my body. As I did so, I felt light, weightless even. With each breath in, I could feel the mana entering my body, and with each breath out, it would leave. Time seemed to lose all meaning, as I simply was. My only focus was on the mana around me and how it flowed.

My meditation was interrupted by a growling sound. The sudden noise caused me to open my eyes and immediately drop to the floor. Somehow, I’d been hovering at about knee height. It would seem the weightless feeling wasn’t for show. The impact itself was unpleasant, but not painful, given the low drop, and the cushion. I slowly got to my feet as the growling sound sounded again, it was coming from my stomach.

Not only that, but I was famished. I glanced at the clock. Six? I’d been at it for eight hours? Wait, hang on. That couldn’t be right, as the sun was… shining in from the… eastern… window. It wasn’t six in the evening, but morning. I spent twenty hours meditating and only woke from the meditative trance because of hunger growls from my stomach. Meditation was scary, and I’d need to find something to snap me out of it if I could go that long. The last thing I’d want was to die from thirst because I never woke up from my meditation.

Hunger aside, though, I felt great, and I could still feel the surrounding mana. It wasn’t as clear as when I was meditating, but I could feel it. I went out on the deck again, and I had an unlit candle with me. “Ok, it can’t be THAT difficult to cast a simple magic spell, right?”

I took another deep breath. “Using magic I shall handle, so pretty please, light this candle.” I felt the magic flow, but this time I didn’t just let it flow freely, as I tried to limit the stream of magic. It somewhat worked as intended, as a small flame flared to life on the candle, but a few moments later, it sputtered out and died. Figuring out the right magic amount was… hard. But at least using too little wasn’t as bad as too much. Now that was done with, it was time for some more food. This time, a stack of pancakes was the order of business. Delicious.

The days passed on slowly and I finally, managed my first successful spell. Though I knew it was luck, as I still didn’t know how to know the exact amount of magic I needed to pour into it, and was just fumbling around with different amounts. Aside from that, things were nice and quiet. There were a few things that worried me, though. First among those was that my appearance was changing.

It was barely noticeable at first, but even now, I couldn’t deny that it was. My nails were tuning black and sharp, while my ears were growing pointy, not to mention my skin color was turning paler and taking on a sickly pale-green hue. Were these the side effects? Well, if that was the case, I would just have to deal with it.

The second was my lack of familiarity with the area, and so I began exploring to get a lay of the land. That’s when I discovered something interesting. I didn’t know how, or why, but I had an instinctual feel for what plants, berries and herbs I could eat, what I could use for potion ingredients, and knew where to go to get home. Was that because I was a witch, or another “bonus” from the voice? I didn’t know, and to be honest, I didn’t care. It made my life much easier and as the proverb goes, “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth”.

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“It was during one of these early trips I first ran into Soot.” That got the raven’s attention. “Wait, That early? Well, that explains why you were hopeless. You were a literal beginner, not to mention you didn’t even have a single potion under your belt.” I looked up at him while taking a sip of juice. “I told you when we met, I was a beginner, didn’t I?” He ruffled his feathers some, but remained quiet. “Now, then… where was I? Ah, right. While I was exploring, the sunny days were replaced by clouds and…”

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It rained almost every day. But that didn’t stop my incursions into the area around my house. I didn’t know if winter was a thing here and if it was, how bad it would get, but I was not something I wished to take lightly. Warmth wasn’t an issue. My fireplace seemed to change its heat output to make it pleasantly warm at all times, sometimes even cooling the room. But there was one variable that I couldn’t get past. Food. By my estimate, I currently maintained enough of a stockpile for a week.

A week in winter was one terrible blizzard that lasted a few days, and then some bad luck from starvation. I’d experienced that once before, never again. Unbidden, the memory of that fateful ski trip with my family that cost dad his life surfaced. We were caught in the mountains in a blizzard.

For three days, we survived in a makeshift snow shelter, while a blizzard howled outside, barely able to keep warm enough to not suffer frostbite or freeze to death. Dad didn’t make it. He didn’t eat or drink anything to ensure the rest of us would live. None of us knew, and we would have thought he died of hypothermia, if the doctors who did his autopsy didn’t inform it was dehydration that killed him.

Sure, thirsting to death in a snowstorm would sound silly to anyone who didn’t know better. However, eating snow to hydrate was a fool’s errand that could kill you just as fast as dehydration in such conditions. And even if the resulting temperature loss didn’t kill you, then there was still the fact that snow was not safe to consume, and so could cause several nasty illnesses. It was just too much of a risk in our circumstances.

We were rescued the following day by a search party after the storm abated. I never wanted to get stuck in such a situation again, so I was going to stock up as much as possible, just in case. Still, some care about the local flora and fauna was warranted. The last thing I wanted was to cause irreparable harm to the local ecosystem. At best, it would deprive me of food in the future, at worst. Hmm, better not think of that.

I was snapped out of my thoughts by a loud bang not too far away, and out of curiosity, I walked towards the source of the noise. As I finally found the source, I stopped dead in my tracks. There on the ground was a bloodied mess that, might have, once, been a man. And on top of the mess was a small black bundle.

As I stepped closer, the bundle moved. “Back off! Ugh, back off, you hear me, ah whom I am kidding? There is no way you can understand me. Damn it, my wing.” I tilted my head as I finally saw what the bundle was. A raven. “I can hear you just fine, and I could look at your wing, if you’ll let me.” The raven tilted its head for a moment.

Then, with some difficulty, got to its feet and hopped off the mangled mess it was sitting on while I knelt down on the wet ground. “This might sting a bit, so I apologize in advance.” I carefully pulled a finger across the wing. The raven flinched, but didn’t shy away.

“Oh dear, it’s broken, no doubt about that. You’re lucky, though, the break is clean, and I should be able to bind the wing in such a fashion that it will let you fly again in a few months.” That got the raven’s attention. “A few months? I’d starve at that rate!” I looked down at him. “Why would you starve? Obviously, I’d look after you as my patient, and it would be far crueler for me to fix up your wing, then just leave you to die. A waste of a good bandage, too.”

The bird looked up at me again. “… I’ll, trust you then, not like I will live otherwise, anyway.” I nodded and carefully lifted the bird, earning a few pained chirps. “Let’s get you home so I can fix you up. How did you end up in such a state, anyhow?” The raven hesitated for a moment, then sighed. “That bloody pulp you saw me sitting on was the remains of my former Master. A wizard of ill renown, he was on his way to a hideout further north to escape justice, when something in the area interfered with his teleport spell and ripped us out of it mid-transit. The resulting fallout of magical energies ripped him apart and busted my wing.”

“You don’t sound too distraught over his death.” That earned me a series of chirping sounds, I suspect was the raven’s version of a chuckle. “Being that man’s familiar was the worst. No respect, no kindness, only demands, upon demands, upon demands. And don’t get me started on his misdeeds. Murder was one of the LESS heinous things he did. So good riddance, I say.” The raven looked up at me. “So who are you anyhow?”

I looked down at the bird in my hands. “It’s common courtesy to introduce yourself first before you ask someone their name, you know.” the raven tilted its head and looked up at me. “Don’t have one. Master never deigned to give me one, only calling me birdbrain, or similar terms.” Yikes. “Well, I can’t just call you nothing… hmm… how about Soot? The raven went silent for a bit. “It’s better than nothing and certainly beats every name I was called before, sure. Soot it is. Now, who are you?”

I gave him a friendly smile. “Pleasure to meet you, Soot. I’m Morgana.” My house came into view from among the trees and reeds, and Soot seemed to eye it with great interest. “Huh, nice place. I like how it’s held up by stone pillars to be out of the soggy ground. Did you build it yourself?” I shook my head. “No, it was given to me, though I am not sure if I should tell you the details right now. Maybe someday. Should you stick around long enough.”

Soot chirped again. “Trust issues, huh?” He sounded only mildly offended. I shook my head. “It has nothing to do with trust, but uncertainty on whether it’s safe for you to know or not. You seem friendly enough, and I’d be remiss to endanger a patient of mine.” That seemed to give him pause.

Soot remained quiet as I opened the door with my tail and gently put him down on the living room table. “Just a moment while I find something to use as a bandage for your wing.” Now where would medical supplies be stored in here? It took a bit to find, as it was on a shelf inside my brewing room. An interesting place, but it made sense from a certain point of view. If something went wrong and the potion exploded or something, having ready access to first aid would be important.

“Alright, Soot. I wish I could give you something for the pain, but unfortunately, I have nothing, so I am afraid this will hurt.” To Soot’s credit, he did little more than flinch as I began binding his injured wing, first a figure eight at the wing joint to he couldn’t move it, then wrapped the broken wing to his body, so it couldn’t be moved. “There it’s done. Sorry if it’s uncomfortable. It’s been a long time since I’ve done this.”

Soot looked at his broken wing in silence. “It’s fine. The wing hurts, but not because of the bandaging.” I nodded and walked towards the kitchen. “Want something to eat to help get your mind off the wing?” Soot looked surprised for a moment. “Err… Sure, some sweet berries wouldn’t be so bad.” I gave a quick nod and walked over to the pantry. I found some wild strawberries yesterday, maybe soot would like those.

When I returned with the platter of strawberries and placed it on the table, Soot looked genuinely surprised. “I meant it as a joke. You didn’t have to…” he began. “Nonsense, I can always pick more for later, so enjoy yourself.” I left the bowl of berries, then went back out to the landing pad to practice my spell casting. It… wasn’t horrible, as the spell only blew up in my face four out of five attempts.

After one rather spectacular explosion, I heard a noise behind me. As I turned around, I saw Soot sitting on the threshold, watching me. “You know, watching that mess, I’m glad you offered to bandage my wing, rather than try to heal it, as that’s just horrid.” I shrugged. “I haven’t even been at this for a week, and I’m basically teaching myself, so I’m just happy I’ve got this much control over it.” Soot chirped a bit, then seemed to lose interest as he went back inside. “Try to meditate some more. Once your ability to sense magic develops enough, it should be easier to hit the mark.” He went back to the bowl of berries and picking out a few here and there.

“I would love to do that, but the last time I tried meditating, I wound up going for twenty hours straight.” Upon hearing what I said, Soot stopped eating abruptly, and just stared at me. “Twenty hours?” He sounded shocked, and I couldn’t really fault him.

I walked back in and plopped down into the comfortable leaning chair. “Yep. I began an hour or two before noon. I woke up from the meditative trance the following dawn because my stomach was growling at me. The scary thing is, I didn’t feel how thirsty or hungry I was until I fully snapped out of it.”

I couldn’t get a beat on what Soot was feeling because of the bird’s face always being expressionless. But I got a distinct impression that Soot was shocked. “That’s… not normal. Or at least unusual. Most people would fall asleep long before reaching the twenty-hour mark. Even my old master could not go beyond four or five hours before either dozing off or snapping out of it. Tell you what. You sit down and meditate, And I’ll snap you out of it in a few hours, since it would be dinnertime by then. Sounds good?”

Well, that was nice of him. “I’ll take you up on that offer, thanks. Just a slight warning, I levitate.” Soot didn’t comment, but didn’t seem surprised either. I went over to the couch and grabbed the same pillow from before, then got into position. While it felt like mere moments for me, I got in a good three-hour meditation session. Soot seemed in disbelief as I snapped out of it. “Your focus is out of this world, lady, not to mention that glow caused from channeling. I’ve seen nothing like it. It’s like your body was made to channel magic or something.”

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“And of course, I was correct. I wish I could say I was surprised. Whatever entity made you that body must’ve cranked your magic potential as high as it would go without harming you.” Soot hopped off his perch and onto the table before he continued. “Speaking of dinnertime, Mistress…” I glanced at the grandfather clock. “Well, would you look at that? Right you are, Soot. Let’s take a break for now, then.” I rose from my chair and headed for the kitchen, with the trio following close behind.