The Witch of Vera Wood: Chapter 7

The Witch of Vera Wood

Chapter 7

 

            “What is this place?” asked Lina, looking around. She and Tarja sat in a small clearing surrounded by a thick wall of ancient trees.  The trees had some odd looking symbols carved into their trunks, and in the middle of the clearing there was a small circle of stones surrounding a shallow depression in the earth.

 

            “This,” said Tarja, motioning her hand to signify the clearing, “is the most magical place in the forest. The trees are perfectly aligned so that, when the full moon shines at a particular time of night, the light hits this little hole in the middle with full force.”

 

            “And the things carved into the trees?”

 

            “Runes, from the time of the earliest witches. Unfortunately there were no actual witches here at the time, so I carved them, but they’re very much like the ones from where I come from. They serve no magical purpose other than give specific directions and serve as a sort of calendar. So basically, they’re just decoration.”

 

            “What kind of instructions?” asked Lina, curious as to what the runes meant.

 

            “Just what to do, in case a witch forgets. And when the full moon hits, the light passes through a special crystal you put in the hole and illuminates specific runes, which tell you when the next full moon is. Useless nowadays to any witch with half a brain,” said Tarja. Lina looked around again. “Fascinating,” she muttered, enchanted by the spirituality she sensed in the place.

 

            “So what is this place for?” she asked.

 

            “Well, first we have to answer a few different questions. First of all, what is magic?” Tarja said in a very teacherly tone. Lina shrugged. Tarja continued. “Magic is not random, created energy like the stereotype is. If you’ve taken any sort of physics class you’ll know it’s not possible to create energy. But what about redirecting, manipulating it? That’s real magic.”

 

            “But how would you manipulate it?” asked Lina, very interested.

 

            “That’s the complicated part,” answered Tarja. “To control energy, you must be able to force it to do what you want. For that, you must imbibe a more powerful energy, one that is stronger than the energy around you. Everything has energy. The trees, the grass, these rocks, everything. Where does the energy come from?”

 

            “The sun!” Lina answered a little overenthusiastically.

 

            “Correct!” exclaimed Tarja, with a smile. “But if a witch were to take in pure solar energy, chances are they’d explode. It’s like OD-ing. We need a slightly weaker form of solar energy, one that’s lost a little bit of its power already in getting to earth. Can you think of where we’d get that?”

 

            Lina thought a little bit. She looked up through the trees at the sky and suddenly, it came to her. “The moon!” she answered.

 

            “Exactly! Only a small fraction of the solar energy from the sun reflects off the moon, and it’s already slightly weaker that if it were to come directly from the source. Of course, it is a very small fraction, so we need a full moon to get enough energy to do what we need.”

 

            “But how do we harness the energy from the moon?” asked Lina. “I’ve stood underneath the full moon plenty of times and I’ve never felt anything.”

 

            “That’s because the moon’s light reflects off of you when it hits you. Eventually, it’s absorbed by the things around you,” said Tarja. “It’s through the study of plants that the first witches discovered how to take energy from the moon.”

 

            “Plants?” said Lina with a quizzical look on her face. “Don’t plants get energy through photosynthesis?”

 

            “Yes, but before anyone knew anything about photosynthesis, people still knew that plants take in energy from the sun. They experimented for a long time, and finally someone concocted a potion, made from a specific plant, that allowed them to harness the energy from the sun or moon. After this invention, though, many people died from taking in energy directly from the sun, so some other brilliant mind figured he or she could try taking energy from the moon. That worked, and the first witches came to be.”

 

            “What kind of potion?” asked Lina.

 

            “Actually, a very simple one. We’ll concoct it here, I’ve even brought the ingredients,” said Tarja, picking up a bag that she brought with her to the clearing. “Tonight’s a full moon, and you’ll get your first sip of magic!” said Tarja, excitedly.

 

            “Really? Wow!” exclaimed Lina.

 

            “Ok. Lets start,” said Tarja as she took some wood and placed it in the hole surrounded by rocks. She waved her hand over it and lit it. As soon as a small fire was going, she took out a small cauldron, poured a liquid into it, and set it on the flame.

 

            “What’d you just put in the cauldron?” asked Lina, looking at the liquid inside the vessel. What could it be? Some fascinating magical liquid of some sort?

 

            “Just water. What were you expecting?” said Tarja.

            “Oh, nothing,” said Lina, slightly disappointed. It was silly to think it was anything else.

 

            “Now, while the water boils, let me show you the ingredients,” said Tarja. She opened her bag and took out three small jars, each with something inside it. She picked up a jar with what looked like tree bark inside it. “Willow bark,” she said. Picking up the second jar, she opened it and handed it to Lina. Inside were some leech-like black worms.

 

            “Ew, what are these?” asked Lina, a disgusted look on her face.

 

            “Moondragon larvae” answered Tarja, amused by Lina’s disgust. “Moondragons are creatures that live at the very tops of trees. They are very important creatures because they too take energy from the moon. It’s how they sustain themselves. During the day, they sleep on the undersides of leaves or in holes in tree trunks. At night, though, they come out and sit atop the leaves, imbibing moon energy. Quite spectacular to see, really. They glow white. It’s not only a way to receive sustenance, because the brighter their glow, the more attractive they are to potential mates. They’re excellent hiders, so they’re extremely hard to acquire. Their larvae however,” said Tarja, pointing to the jar, “are quite easy to find if you look in the right place.”

 

            Lina closed the lid on the jar and handed it back to Tarja. The next jar caught her eye. It contained a large, white, onion-like thing, with what looked like a flower bud coming out the top, submerged in some sort of clear liquid that Lina was sure wasn’t water, for it seemed to shimmer like a liquid diamond. “What’s that?” she asked.

 

            “This,” said Tarja, carefully picking up the jar and twisting the lid open, “is the most important ingredient. This is a lunaroot, probably the most magical of all plants. It too takes energy from the moon by opening this bud at night, and instead of using it right away, it stores it. The juice from this plant is what we really need, for it captures the moonlight and doesn’t let it escape.”

 

            Lina looked at it, wide eyed. “What’s it submerged in?”

 

            “A special liquid that keeps it alive. It’s a combination of the potion we’re about to make and a bunch of nutrients it feeds off of. Simple water doesn’t do the trick. This ingredient works better if taken right out of the ground, but this will do. Too much of a hassle to pick it right out of the ground before you’re supposed to put it in.”

 

            The water began to boil, and the sun began to set. The trees cast ominous shadows on the clearing, but as the sunlight began to fade, little flowers that Lina was definitely sure had not been there before began to glow a brilliant white. It was as if there was a mini moon inside each one giving off light. Lina noticed that the flower bud that came out of the top of the root in the jar also began to open up and glow.

 

            “Those flowers, they’re…”

            “Yep. Lunaroots. But as I said before, they’re too much of a hassle to take out of the ground to do it right when we’re supposed to be brewing the potion. Now, watch what I do carefully and do exactly what I tell you to do. Timing is of utmost importance!”

 

            Lina nodded her head. Tarja took out a cutting board, a large knife, a mortar and pestle, and a wooden spoon. She handed the mortar and pestle to Lina along with the willow bark in the first jar.

 

            “Grind it, please. Into a powder.”

 

            Lina did as she was told. In a few minutes the willow bark was reduced to a fine, brown powder.

 

            “Good, now dump it into the cauldron. Take the wooden spoon and stir along the outside of the cauldron four times clockwise and three times counter-clockwise. Got it? Good,” said Tarja. While Lina was grinding the willow bark, Tarja had taken the moondragon larvae, cut their heads off, threw the heads into the cauldron. “After you do that, count to 100 out loud for me,” she said to Lina as she took the mortar and pestle away from her and proceeded to pulverize the bodies of the larvae into an inky paste.

 

            “98…99…100!” counted Lina. Tarja immediately threw the paste into the potion. The liquid immediately turned a sickly green color.

 

            “Now it’s time for the lunaroot,” said Tarja. “Come closer, I want you to see this.”

 

            Lina came closer to the cutting board. Tarja carefully reached into the jar and took out the lunaroot. She picked up her knife, wiping it with a cloth to take off the remnants of the moondragon larvae. Ripping off the flower, she put the root on the cutting board.

 

            “Watch closely,” she said. Taking the root, she ran her knife around the outside, making a shallow cut along the entire circumference. She put down her knife, dug her nails into the cut, and forced the two halves apart. Lina had to muffle a scream. Out of the root fell a glowing little creature that looked very much like a tiny human embryo in a fetal position. It landed on the cutting board and stretched itself out to full length. It was quite a gross sight, made even worse by the heart wrenching whine it let out. It was so horrible, but Lina could not bring herself to look away. Tarja picked the little creature up and held it over the cauldron. She ran the knife down its middle, making an inch long cut, out of which spurted a shining liquid that landed into the boiling mixture as the creature gave out an ear piercing scream. The potion in the cauldron turned from green to red to orange to a blinding white, finally turning clear. Tarja squeezed all the juice out and placed the creature, now still and silent, onto the cutting board. “It’s ready,” said Tarja.

 

            Lina still looked shocked. Tarja had killed a creature that looked so helpless, so human, just to make this potion. She threw up a little bit in her mouth. Tarja, noticing Lina’s reaction, patter her on the shoulder.

            “It’s ok,” she said. “It’s not human, that’s for sure. And trust me, you’ll get used to it after a while. I reacted the same way when I first saw it.”

 

            Lina looked at the dead creature lying on the cutting board. “What do we do with that?”

 

            “We bury it.”

 

            Tarja picked up the body. “Somewhere inside is a seed that will sprout again when we bury it. That’s what happens when a lunaroot dies on its own, so it should happen when it dies like this. That’s where all these flowers came from,” she said, pointing to the flowers glowing from the bases of the trees. “All buried little lunaroots sprouting anew. It doesn’t die in vain, you see?”

 

            The sun had long since set, and Tarja and Lina dug a small hole near the base of a tree where there were no flowers yet. They placed the still lunaroot inside it and buried it. Lina looked back at the simmering potion. “What now?”

 

            “The full moon will be right above us in a few minutes,” said Tarja. “It will hit the potion, and the photons of light will be trapped inside. Then we drink a little and bottle the rest,” she said, pointing to a couple large glass bottle she took out of the bag some time previously.

 

            Five minutes passed and Lina saw the moon slowly come out from behind the canopy of the trees. The moonlight hit the potion and it glowed dimly as the light became trapped inside the liquid, disappearing after a moment or so. Lina and Tarja watched the potion closely, and after about ten minutes of silence Tarja stood up.

 

            “It’s done. Help me bottle it, will you?” Tarja took a funnel and a ladle out of her bag. “Ladle the potion into the bottle, but be careful and don’t spill any. But don’t forget to leave a little at the bottom.”

 

            Lina did so, and soon had filled two bottles with the potion.

 

            “This should last us both about a month, until the next full moon. Usually, I only do this every other month or so, because I make so much,” Tarja said. She took out two glasses from her bag. “Ok, now time for us to drink some.” She took the ladle from Lina and scooped the remaining liquid out of the cauldron, pouring it into the two glasses. She handed a glass to Lina.

 

            “Cheers,” she said, and they both took a long, deep drink of the potion. Lina’s eyes instantly widened. The liquid ran down her throat and filled her with a feeling of pure energy. She felt empowered, like she could lift a boulder if she wanted to. She felt the energy coursing through her veins, giving her the power to do anything.

 

            “Wow!” she exclaimed. Tarja smiled.

            “It’ll wear off in about three days,” said Tarja, “when you’ll have to take another dose. We won’t do any magic today, but you definitely could right now if you wanted to.”

 

            The two walked back to the cabin. Lina felt better than she ever did in her life. Not only did this potion give her power, it felt like it gave her health, took away any pain she may have felt, and just made her feel great. “I think I’m going to like being a witch,” she thought to herself.