The Witching Hour

The sunlight filtered in through the windows and woke me up. Dawn, nice and early. I looked to my right, where Midnight always slept, then up at the roosts for Soot and Winter. “Alright, you three, time to get up.” Midnight only made a soft murmur, while Winter and Soot didn’t even budge. “Oh, I see you don’t want breakfast then.” That got immediate results.

“Squawk! I’m awake!” “Same here, Mother!” “Meowstress, that’s not a fun joke.” I gave Midnight a light scratch behind the ear. “How can you be sure I am joking?” She stretched even as she pushed her head into my hand for more scratches. “Fine, I’m up as well.” I confirmed that all three of them were awake and actually getting up, before I left for the bathroom.

Half an hour later, I was ready to make breakfast. Most of the delays stemmed from the three squabbling over what to have for breakfast, before I just vetoed it all and forced a choice through. Just as I was ready to begin, however, there was a knocking on the window. I pointed at it and the window opened on its own. “Morning, Ivy, you’re early.” The small ball of viridian light that was Ivy eagerly flew in and landed on the kitchen table. “Well, I figured, might as well be early then maybe…” Ivy’s voice trailed off even as miniature utensils, a cup, and a full-sized plate floated from the nearby cupboard and landed on the table. “YAAAY!”

As Ivy was celebrating, Midnight arrived from the living room. “I thought I heard something. You’re early, Ivy, no doubt eager for Meowstress’ cooking.” Ivy flitted over to Midnight and landed on her head, then began scratching her behind the ears, earning the pixie a delighted purr from Midnight. “You betcha, Ms. Morgana’s cooking is the best. The entire village agrees on that. I even skipped out on eating when I woke up so I could enjoy more of it. Oh, speaking of, what’s for brekky?”

I stepped aside, showing Ivy what was cooking. “You’re in luck. It’s your favorite.” The Pixie’s viridian light became more intense. “European Pancakes.” Ivy flew off Midnight’s head and began flying in circles. It wasn’t my usual fare for breakfast, but I knew Ivy would like it, and not that difficult to make when most of the job these days involved a few gestures and some magic.

Of course, not everyone could eat pancakes, so I was also making a batch of my own homemade meatballs for Midnight and Winter. The two of them settled on that after much discussion. It ranged from ground meat, to steak, the latter of which I vetoed immediately, no dinner for breakfast. To suggesting they should just go out and hunt. Not with guests arriving, they weren’t. In the end, they both seemed happy with meatballs, and knowing Soot, a few of them would go his way as well.

As for Ivy, the little thing was a black hole for food. She could devour several times her own body weight in food and still fly just fine, so three or four pancakes would do her just fine. Ivy, for her part, stopped her spinning flight and hit her forehead. “Oh, I almost forgot.” She landed on the floor and opened the small purse-like pouch hanging from her belt.

After a few moments of fiddling, which involved putting her entire arm inside and rummaging around. After a few seconds, she found what she was looking for, as she pulled out something that was far larger than the purse itself. I moved next to her. “If that’s what I think it is, the weight will be too much if you pull that out on your own. Let me.” Ivy looked up at me with a grateful grin, then unhooked the pouch from the belt and braced herself. “You pull that way, I pull this way.” I gave a quick nod and pulled upwards and away from Ivy, and made sure Ivy wouldn’t have to deal with the full weight of the thing.

A few moments later, I was holding a brand-new broom, masterfully made and with several runes inscribed on the side of the polished handle and on the built-in seat. “Wow, old Tobin has outdone himself. This thing is beautiful. Give my thanks to the old brownie when you see him.” Ivy, who fell over when the broom finally left the confines of her enchanted pouch, gave a thumbs up as she sat back up. “Will do. He also asked me to request that you make some of that apple mead for the midsummer festival, as thanks.”

Apple Mead, huh? That could be an issue, since the festival was less than a week away. There was no way I’d be able to brew up a fresh bottle by then. “Midnight, dear. Would you mind checking if we have any of that mead in the pantry? And tell Winter and Soot that breakfast’s almost ready while you’re at it.” Midnight rose from her spot at the table and stretched. “Can do, Meowstress, just a moment.” as padded into the pantry. About a minute later, she emerged again. “Bad news, Meowstress. No apple mead was in storage, but there was a bottle of strawberry wine. It was an old vintage, if the dust was any sign.”

Old vintage, huh… wait... “What was the year stamped on it?” Midnight stopped on the way out the door. “Hmm, ARC 358, I believe, was the year.” Midnight then resumed her trot out to fetch Soot and Winter. ARC 358? Huh, I was surprised there was a bottle left of that vintage, as most of it was long since consumed. “Hmm, while old Tobin might be disappointed, there won’t be any mead. That bottle of wine is one of my best brews, so I’m certain he’d enjoy it.” As I finished speaking, there was a pinging noise from the stove, signalling everything was cooked to perfection. “Well, let’s worry about that after breakfast, shall we?”

I began setting the table as Midnight came back with Soot and Winter. Ivy gave a happy squeal as she saw them, then flew into Soot and gave him a loving hug. “My bestest bud, how are you?!” To Soot’s credit, he kept himself airborne and even managed a somewhat dignified landing at the table. “I’m great, Ivy. It’s good to see you, too.” Soot’s voice always got softer when he spoke to the Pixie.

He never told me the exact details of what caused the two of them to get so close. All I knew was that one evening, Soot arrived back home half dead and with a critically injured Ivy on his back. After they both received intensive care, the two were almost inseparable. Ivy took any excuse to visit, and Soot always volunteered to take the trip to Nettledale whenever deliveries were to be made. Maybe I could convince the two to share that story someday.

But that was for later. I doubted Soot, Winter and Midnight would be all too happy to interrupt things to go on a side tangent like that today. I looked over at the table, where Ivy was sitting on Winters’ head and singing a merry song about pancakes. Ivy and Soot might be best friends, but Winter was a close second on Ivy’s long list of friends.

Breakfast itself was a loud, but pleasant affair, and as expected, both Midnight and Winter got stuffed long before all the meatballs were eaten. Which allowed Soot to top off with a few to round out his own meal. Ivy must have really been starving, as she scarfed down seven pancakes with strawberry jam. More than even I could eat for a hearty meal. I still couldn’t fathom how something so small could eat that much and show no outside sign of it.

After breakfast, I set things up, so the sink would take care of the dishes, then we went into the living room. “Now then, Ivy, I have been telling the other three about how I wound up moving into the swamp.” Ivy looked up from where she was lying atop Soot’s head. “Really? How far have you gotten?”

I gave her a wry grin as I sat down in the chair. “About so far as to have a half-drowned little pixie exclaim that someone who makes great food cannot be bad.” Ivy’s eyes sparkled, as she began nodding so fast her small antennae looked like they might fall off. “Truer words have never been spoken. Who was that Pixie any - wait… it’s me, isn’t it?” My smile was the answer I gave her, and all she needed. I leaned back as I resumed the tale. “Well then, so…”

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Ivy devoured the piece of meat in record time, leaving no trace of it. As she licked her fingers, I got a better look at her. An angular face, with large almond-shaped eyes that if you compared them to a human’s face would cover about one third of the face each. A small pointy nose, leaf green skin, though that might be because of the glow she was giving off.

Her mouth was filled with small, pointy, teeth and also would be oversized if compared to a human’s. Her arms and hands were human-like. However, her legs looked more akin to those of a grasshopper or locust, even looking like they were covered in carapace rather than skin on the outer thigh and covering the leg completely from the first knee down.

Her hair was walnut brown, though her current viridian glow distorted that coloration a bit. A pair of small antennae were pointing up from the top of her head, ending in small luminous points that were giving off a slightly deeper shade of green. Now that they were dry again, her wings were also sparkling with an iridescent glow of their own whenever they moved. She was wearing a small white tank-top, a brown vest, gloves, belt and skirt, all made with mobility in mind. Though what material they were made from, or how she even put some clothes on given her wings, I could only guess at.

She moved closer to the fireplace, enjoying the heat after being drenched and cold. “Ya know, Lady Nettle always says to be careful around biguns, but you seem nice enough. Again, thanks for letting me inside. Given our usual relationship with biguns, I wasn’t expecting it, to be honest.” She gave her wings a few experimental flaps and soon after she was airborne again. “How did you even fly in that deluge? I mean, it’s like a literal waterfall.”

Ivy landed on the table next to Soot and gave him a friendly pat on the leg. “With extreme difficulty. Flying with a cloak on is hard. It gets even harder in heavy rain. In this weather, it’s borderline impossible. I was on my way to the sunflower fields past the forest to the east. I left before the deluge started, but I only made it here before I crash-landed on the windowsill once the rain began in earnest. Haven’t seen it so bad in… huh, I think I’ve only seen another deluge like this once, some three centuries ago. Maybe old Tobin has seen another, as he’s the oldest member of the village.”

I looked out the window, where the rain showed no sign of stopping. “Well, it doesn’t look like it’s going to stop soon, so you are free to stay, provided you don’t cause any trouble.” Ivy did a few loops in the air. “Thanks a bunch, I’ll be on my bestest behavior, you’ll see!”

The rest of the day was pretty slow until dinner. I was feeling nostalgic and made a dish I that it was a while since the last time I made. Pancakes. The recipe…

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“By the way. Ms. Morgana, I have been meaning to ask, what’s European mean?” Ivy was lying atop Soot’s head and was now looking at me with a curious expression. I took advantage of the interruption to get something to drink, before I answered.

“It’s… complicated, basically in this context it means the region the recipe I am using to make the pancakes stem from. Different recipes from different places. European pancakes are thin and wide. US pancakes are thick and small and with a distinct taste and consistency from the European version. The toppings are also different, as maple syrup is used with US pancakes, an ingredient I haven’t been able to locate at all, in all the years I’ve lived here.” Ivy looked disappointed at that news, but said nothing, so I resumed the tale. “Now then, as I was saying, the pancake recipe…”

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…Was an old family recipe. Eggs, melted butter, flour, milk, a small amount of sugar and salt. It disappointed me I couldn’t add the usual secret ingredient, but vanilla sugar was not something I could find in the pantry, and it was not something I knew how to make. I would have to make do, for now.

At least strawberry jam was in the pantry, and a lot at that. I considered using sugar as a topping, but considering how… energetic our little new friend was, I somehow felt that might be a bad idea. As I began cooking the batter, the scent attracted both of my guests, as Ivy flew in, followed by Soot hopping after her. “Watcha makin’?”

Ivy landed on my shoulder and eyed the pancake batter with interest. “Pancakes, to be more exact, European pancakes.” Ivy tilted her head. “Never heard of that dish, but it smells delicious.” I nuzzled her back a bit. “Careful now, I do not know how pixie dust might affect the batter. Worst-case scenario, the dinner becomes a write-off.”

Ivy took off and landed on Soot’s head. “Fair enough, I’ll just hang out with… Soot was it?” The raven ruffled his good wing. “That it is. Say Morgana, I’m feeling bad freeloading like this, seeing as you’ve even helped me with my wing and everything. Anything I can do to help?”

I flipped the pancake, then looked down at the duo. “In your current condition, the best thing you can do for both me and yourself is to relax and not strain yourself. The last thing we need is for you to wind up in another accident.” Soot chirped quietly, as if mulling over my response. “I… can see the point of that, very well. I’ll relax in the living room with Ivy.”

It didn’t take me long to finish up once I got going, and soon everyone was at the kitchen table, ready to eat. Although, serving the meal to both of my guests required me to do all the prep work for all three of us because Ivy was too small to put the jam onto the pancakes, then roll them, and Soot lacked hands to do the job with. “I could have just used my beak or feet.” I gave him a light bop on the head with my index finger. “Not where food is concerned, you’re not. I can handle that with no issues, thank you.”

Soot picked up one of the rolled up pieces of pancake and, after a slight hesitation, swallowed. “Oof hot, hot, hot!” I hurried to give Soot some cold water to drink. “Thanks. The heat aside, this is tasty.” Ivy, for her part, was deliberating where to begin, as the pieces of pancake were large, and lifting them could cause them to unfurl.

After a few moments, she just began eating them while they were still on the plate. The effect was immediate. The moment she had her first bite, she created a pleasant sounding dinging noise by slamming her antenna together. “Twhish ish SOH GHOODH!”

She finished the piece I cut off for her in record time. Then, to my astonishment, grabbed the end of the reminder of the pancake and seemed to just inhale the entire thing, as it disappeared down her gullet in record time. As far as I could tell, she didn’t even chew. She sat on the edge of the plate, licking her mouth and with a big, pleased grin plastered all over her face. “That was tasty. Can I have another?” I blinked a few times. “Um… sure, but would you mind if I finish mine first?” Ivy nodded without hesitation. “Sure, I bet they are tastier warm after all.”

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“And I am right, of course, sure cold pancakes aren’t bad, but warm ones are so much tastier! Pancakes should be every meal.” Midnight stood up and stretched. “If pancakes were all we ate, you’d grow tired of them really fast. And even if you didn’t, Meowstress and Soot certainly would.” Ivy gasped in horror. “Say it ain’t so, Soot. You wouldn’t get sick of pancakes… would you?” Before Soot could answer, there was a knock on the door. “Well now, who could that be?” I stood up and walked towards the entrance. As I opened it, I was greeted with an unexpected sight. “Hello, Lady Nettle, and hello to you as well, Lilly. To what do I owe the pleasure?”