The Witching Hour

It wasn’t a surprise that dinner was popular. Even Ivy, who usually wasn’t a fan of my meat dishes, enjoyed it. That being said, this also meant the dinner was over fast, and it didn’t take long before we were all in the living room, bellies full and ready to resume the tale from before.

It took only a few moments before Miva couldn’t contain her curiosity anymore. “So Mom and I have visited Nekkal multiple times since we moved here, but I have felt no enchantment in the fields surrounding the town. Does that mean they broke the agreement?”

I leaned back in my chair. “They did, and it took them only a few decades, too.” Miva sat up from where she was lying on the couch, with curiosity written all over her face. Or was it his? It was hard to say what gender Miva was right now. Well, it didn’t matter.

I leaned over and ruffled Miva’s hair a bit. “You want to know what happened, eh?” Miva nodded. The trio and Ivy, since she was visiting when it happened, knew this part of the tale. Because of this, I was originally planning to skip it, but it wouldn’t do to leave Miva in the dark. However, that part of the story was several decades ahead of where we were now. “It will have to wait for a bit, kiddo. Unless you want me to jump forwards for that part and then jump back again afterward.”

I could see Miva’s internal struggle. On one hand, I knew she wanted to keep the timeline going for consistency’s sake. On the other, it was obvious she was curious. “Jump please!” I looked at the other four. “And your votes?” I could see them hesitating. “Well, I suppose it’s fine, Mistress.” “Hmm, Meow don’t mind either, Meowstress.” “I’m fine with it, Mother, after all we can just jump back to the next part afterward, as you said yourself.” Ivy just shrugged. She would have responded, but she was the only one still stuffing her face, by raiding my fruit bowl.

I closed my eyes for a moment. “Fine, but no more side tangents after this. Understood?” There was a unanimous “AYE!” from all of them. With that bit clear, I leaned forward in the chair, using my lap as an armrest. “This takes place some six decades plus-minus a few years after I first discovered Nekkal. By this point, Midnight was already a familiar and Nekkal was now a rather big town with its own ruler and everything. And that’s where the problem arose.”

I paused for a moment. “The agreement was, by this point, old, and when the old lord, the big burly guy I scared the crap out of in our original meeting, passed away a few weeks prior. Unfortunately for the town, his son, an even greater muscle head than his old man, took the enchantment on the fields for granted. I still remember it like it was yesterday when...”

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There was a commotion outside, followed by a loud hammering on my front door. Now, who could that be? The pixies usually just knocked on the window if they were visiting, and I didn’t know any other people who’d take the trip over this time of year. The Fauns over at Appleridge were busy with the harvest, and the down payment for the land they bought wasn’t due yet. Sure, the hex I placed on the stone to keep the field going over at Nekkal broke about a week ago. But they wouldn’t think I’d renew it when THEY were the ones to break it, right? Surely, they weren’t that stupid?

Rather curious, I rose from the floor where I was meditating and went to answer. The moment I opened, this big brute of a man dressed in finery attempted to push his way inside, only to be stopped cold by the barrier designed to stop thieves and other uninvited guests from coming in through the door and windows.

Behind the guy was an old woman with a surprised expression on her face. She looked similar to the mage who I met when I first visited Nekkal, only much older. And also a posh-looking fellow that was doing his utmost to keep his expression utterly neutral after seeing the barrier flare to life to stop them from entering. After seeing as his attempt to steamroll his way inside failed, the brute grumbled.

“Go fetch your granny.” He grumbled in a tone that I suppose he meant to be threatening, but considering I was probably stronger than him, and could turn him into a toad instantly, and was behind a barrier that could stop a rampaging bull dead in its tracks, I wasn’t intimidated in the slightest. The expression of the woman behind him turned from surprised to outright horrified, so she was part of the original delegation then.

I arched an eyebrow at the brute. Now, I was tempted to just blast him with a curse of some kind and call it a day, and that temptation was rising by the second. However, I’d attempt to keep it civil for, for now. “Me and my familiars are the only ones living here, young man. And you are already beginning to test the limits of my patience. So, I will allow you exactly thirty seconds to tell me why you are trespassing on my lands, before I turn you all into ferns.”

“Stop messing around, brat. You look like you’re barely an adult. Now fetch the old hag before I-” That was as far as he got before I made a quick gesture in his direction and turned him to stone. I was not dealing with this imbecile. I turned my attention to the terrified woman. “Now, then, let’s try this again. You clearly recognize me, young lady. So, why are you here? Speak up now.”

The woman swallowed. “The fields have taken a turn for the worse, despite your spell. I did warn the young lord…” She paused for a moment as she glanced over at the statue. “… That entering the forest to the north of Nekkal would cause the spell to break, but his lordship wouldn’t listen.” Ah, I could see where this was going.

The two stepped back as I moved onto the landing and leaned against the doorway. “And since the spell ended as predicted, and you couldn’t create a suitable replacement, the uncouth brute attempted to strong-arm me into putting the spell back.” The servant and the old lady glanced at each other, then both bowed their heads. “We’re sorry, but we can’t really stop him. He is a decent enough leader for our growing town, but he solves things via intimidation first, and negotiation if that fails.”

Well, that would be a recipe for disaster. “A leader like that will get you into more trouble than he will solve in the long term. I mean, imagine someone like him trying to deal with nobles or royal dignitaries. It would be an unmitigated disaster.” The two looked about as distraught as I’d expect. “Hmm, fine… FINE, I will lend you a hand this one time since you’re dealing with such a dangerous fool for a leader. However, if something like this happens again, don’t expect the one who does so to come back to town unscathed, if at all.”

The two looked up at me with a hopeful expression as I approached the statue. Reversing the petrification was easy enough. “- Break down the do-” “SILENCE” His voice disappeared instantly. Oh silent casting, how happy I was I learned how to do that. It worked wonders for intimidation too, since I could cast and finish the spell to coincide with my demand, making it seem I just needed to speak the word to cast.

I walked up to him, and he lunged for me. I caught his punch with the palm of my hand and stopped it dead. To him, it must have felt like hitting a cliff wall, with how far he moved my hand. I grabbed his wrist and as I did a pallid purple light shone where my hand wrapped around his wrist.

“Your foolishness has your doom made, as I cast a curse that will never fade. Your muscles shrink and your mind will sharpen, stronger wits and words worth harken. Never again will strength be your family’s blessing. A life as administrators is what I am guessing. So take this curse and gift in stride, and let reason and wits rule at your side.”

The curse manifested even as I spoke it, as the brute of a man lost muscle mass and even some height. Meanwhile, his eyes, who used to be clouded by senseless, mindless rage changed as well, grew fearful and showing a spark of true brilliance in them. With the curse done, I let him go, and he staggered back and almost stumbled since his clothes and shoes no longer fit his smaller, leaner build.

He took a few moments to look over himself and get his bearings, then turned towards me and swallowed. “I…” He closed his eyes, then as he opened them again, bowed his head. “My deepest apologies, Lady Witch. I see now how much of a fool I was before. And I cannot tell if this is a blessing or a curse, if I am being honest.” Well, it would seem he was now more civil, at the very least. With that mess dealt with, I leaned back against the wall.

“So, what exactly caused you to break the hex?” As I asked, Midnight exited the house and jumped into my arms, and purred happily as I gave her pats and scratched her gently behind her right ear. Soot also exited now that the main commotion was dying down and eyed the tree without a word.

The old mage glanced over at Midnight. “Is that?” I looked over at her. “Ah, so you’re the grandmother of the child giving away kittens. Yes, it’s the same kitten I picked up that day. Her name is Midnight and is now one of my familiars. Now, stop stalling and speak.”

The young lord sighed. “It’s my fault. In my brashness and boredom, I decided I wanted to go on a hunt. However, the forest where my late father always went hunting in, as well as get lumber for the city from, was a good hour by horseback away and the game in it has always been disappointing. Compare that to the mysterious northern forest, mere five minutes on horseback, and basically untouched aside from the pruning we’d do to keep it from intruding on our fields, with your permission, of course.”

His voice trailed off. And his servant stepped forth. “As the young master said, the moment we stepped under the trees there was this loud shattering sound from the fields and the ensorcelled stone turned back into a regular one. It didn’t take long after that for the crops to run into issues, as if nature itself was waiting for the spell to break before making up for lost time. We tried to stop the young master from entering the forest in the first place, of course, but with his attitude…” The servant went quiet and shot his employer a sidelong glance before directing his gaze towards the floor.

To his credit, the young fool denied nothing. “I see. Well, unfortunately for you three, and the town, I am not going to just remake the spell. After all, if I did, then none of you would learn anything from this.” The three of them all opened their mouths to either protest or make me reconsider, but I lifted a hand to silence them before they could.

“That being said, I will not leave you all without an alternative. To the north of Nekkal is a small farm that enjoys a hex very similar to the one you used to benefit from. The thing is, the Fauns there have some issues getting rid of their excess produce, as I might have gone a bit overboard with the hex itself. As such, I know they would be delighted to sell you their produce at a reasonable price. Now, before you get any ideas, those Fauns are friends of mine. Should any harm befalls them because of greed or malice on Nekkal’s end…” I let my voice trail off, leaving it to their vivid imaginations to decide how terrible my retribution would be, it would do a better job of it than I, after all.

The young Lord nodded frantically. “Of course, Milady, I will make sure those who go to bargain with them will show them the utmost politeness and fairness. Though I take it haggling is allowed?” I tilted my head. “Of course, the Fauns love that stuff, so if I said no, they’d be liable to get angry at me. Don’t expect an easy haggling session, though. They drive a hard bargain, even by my standards.”

The lord took a deep breath. “I suppose it’s the best we can do, given. In the name of house Oscillion, I Reykard Oscillion, thank you for your generosity and for being so lenient with us, Lady Witch. Now I won’t darken your home with our presence no more. Excuse us.” He bowed, turned on his heels, and carefully made his way back to town.

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Soot flew from his roost and landed on the top of the leaning chair. “Of course, that wouldn’t be the last time we’d have a run in with that family. Although the next meeting was a bit more-” I reached up and gently put a finger on his beak, which made him stop talking.

“You’re jumping ahead again, Soot. And didn’t I say no more tangents? If we keep jumping from tangent to tangent, we will never finish. Now I believe we are done with this one. So I would say the meeting with Allen and Faye is next on the list of interesting events in the correct timeline?” Soot chirped softly, as he thought about it. “I’d say it would be the biggest note, yes, Mistress.”

I reached behind Soot’s head and gave him some loving scratches, earning some delighted chirps for my effort. “Well then, I guess that’s next on the-.” My sentence was cut short because Miva suddenly sat up. “It’s fun to listen, and all that, but I want to play with Midnight for a while before you continue, as I’m getting restless.”

I glanced over at Midnight, who just lifted a paw helplessly. “Fair enough. We will continue this later. Have fun, you two.” Miva spun around and grabbed Midnight, then zoomed out the door, no doubt to hunt for frogs or other critters in the swamp for a few hours.

“Well, that’s for the best anyhow, since I need to get started on that apple mead. Soot care to lend a wing?” Soot opened his eyes. “Sure, maybe we could try to make some wine from those peaches, too?” Peach wine? Hmm, never tried that myself, but it should be doable.

“As long as it’s not a mead attempt, I don’t mind. Honey and peaches do not work well together.” I got to my feet and stretched a bit. “Now then, let’s get going, shall we? And since you wanted to learn, why don’t you join us as well, Winter?” Winter gave a happy hoot as she took off, and the three of us went into the potion room to begin the preliminary brewing.