This fill was inspired by a prompt from fuzzyred at the March 2021 Crowdfunding Creative Jam of “Light as bad and dark as good” and the painting by Laura Coffee posted at the end of the story. At 596 words it is not set in any of my current series.
Blessings of the Cool Dark
It was a long, snow laden winter. Spring came slowly, in fits and starts, and even the Earthen struggled with hunger within their subterranean warrens. The humans above died in unprecedented numbers, cursing the cold and the dark, longing for Summer.
The Earthen knew to curse nothing about the weather, because it was a waste of a perfectly good curse. They hoarded their curses and cures as closely as they hoarded their other waning wealth. Deep in the warren, winter stores running low, they did eagerly anticipate the Spring.
The cool dark of the forest was alive with edible treasure in the damp months of March and April if you only knew what to watch for and the Earthen sent out their bravest and most knowledgeable gatherers.
The gatherers this season were headed by Bendek who was Blessed with a talent for discovery and Zotia with her Wisdom, who they relied upon to know what was safe to eat and what caused the gut rot. Dezydery burned with a fierce Desire for food and other pleasures and couldn’t stay in the burrow a single moment longer as her hunger drove her to the surface each Spring. Feliks was born with Luck and often spotted the most precious resources. Last of the crew was Gnegon, sent to guard the gatherers as they worked; he was Watchful and armed with a sharp hawthorn needle.
That spring they found a bounty in the cool darkness of the forest. They harvested greens that were both delicious and could be used to craft Earthen cures. They found fungi good for the stew pot and the potion bottle.
Dezydery picked bunches and baskets of miner’s lettuce, violets, and a few precious dandelions. Zotia carefully harvested the correct fiddlehead ferns, peeled away thin strips of white willow bark along the banks of the swollen streams, and chose young yarrow to bring home, but did not mistake it for hemlock. Bendek loaded up on plantain, nettles, and braved the pain of the sun upon his nutty hide to gather a patch of wild asparagus growing right on the verge of their forest. Feliks found many elusive morels, a few early oyster mushrooms, and after a quick consult with Zotia, gathered several bushels of Spring Kings found clustered at the base of a red pine.
The spring gathering lasted weeks, and each excursion was a blessing to the warren. The Earthen praised their gatherers and considered sending more members up to the surface to forage. But Gnegon refused. Keeping track of the four he herded already was enough of a hassle, and he’d been quite busy with his sharp hawthorn needle. He regularly pushed off songbirds, squirrels, and other forest creatures who were scrounging through the underbrush near the gatherers. He’d defended Feliks from a waking garter snake that thought he looked like a tasty morsel. And most terrifying of all was a prolonged battle with a feral cat that slept in sunbeams and stalked the Earthen through the trees. The cat was barely deterred by his hawthorn needle, and he bore deep scratches along the wrinkled walnut skin of his left side. Luckily Earthen knew excellent cures for the malady that resided in feline claws & Gnegon had only burned with fever for a single day.
Towards the end of the season, as the sun grew towards the deadly brightness of Summer, the Earthen retreated once again into their warrens. They celebrated and gave thanks for the gifts of the shaded woods, the cool moist Spring, and the comforting darkness of their underground home.
“Beyond Our Ken” by Laura Coffee
Blessings of the Cool Dark
Expecting – Village Witch #4
675 words, this is the fifth story I’ve wrote so far for the TTRPG Village Witch. For Edwina’s earlier stories I have a landing page HERE. My goal is to write at least 2 sessions of Village Witch each month!
Expecting
Settling at the table with a mug of spiced tea, Edwina trailed a delicately pointed finger down the glossy side of the vase now gracing the center. Red pottery glazed a bright cobalt blue, the new vase held a late blooming narcissus, a few bunches of lily of the valley, and the long stem of a white bleeding heart dripping blooms. She’s exceedingly careful to not touch any of the flowers or their foliage for fear her mineral affinity would wilt them prematurely.
“These are beautiful Telsa. Your consideration is so kind,” Edwina says sincerely to the woman already sipping soothing ginger tea at her tiny table.
“I thought the last of the white spring flowers might be a good gift for a Witch when I needed to ask a favor of her.” Telsa sat with both hands clasped around her mug of tea, staring down into its depths, and avoiding direct eye contact with Edwina.
“A favor or a Favor?”
“Both, probably.”
“The stomach indigestion I’m guessing? Has the physician confirmed a diagnosis for you?” Edwina asks politely and continues tracing her slender finger across the smooth glazed ceramic vase in meandering patterns.
“Yes. It’s good news for Darrow and me. Our efforts to start a family are growing strong this time. I lost the first so early, we worried it’d be a problem again.” Her eyes flicked up to meet Edwina’s then with a shy smile curving at the corners of her lips.
“So something for you and for the babe – perhaps a talisman or amulet?” Edwina asks.
“Yes, please. But, ah, it would need to be a true Favor, unfortunately. After the physician’s fee Darrow said I couldn’t come to you, to a Witch too, because we can’t afford any more and save up for the birth.” Telsa looked down into her mug again, blushing in shame.
“I’m paid by the town, Telsa. And this vase and the flowers are charming. There wouldn’t need to be a Favor. You’d not owe me anything after this for a talisman.” Edwina smiled widely and then stood.
The small treehouse cabin with its clever shelves was amply stocked for a simple warding or blessing talisman and she’d let Telsa choose the stone that spoke to her most clearly before deciding which it was to be. Grabbing a burgundy velvet pouch of various tumbled stones from where they were stored near the center of the shelves, a length of twined cording, and her essential oils she returned to the table and they set to work creating the magic together.
As they were finishing, Edwina took a deep breath and asked Telsa, “So, you’re still looking pinched. What was the other favor you needed?”
Tesla bit at her lower lip as she placed the unakite talisman around her neck, nestling the anointed stone under her blouse and against her bosom. “I’ve heard rumors. Around town. Some say you’re leaving at the season’s turn. Other’s mentioned that you were looking for Engel and Rowen.” She hesitates, then continues hurriedly, “Engel was my older brother. He was disowned when the council made him and Rowen leave the Llyne. But, and I know the town doesn’t approve, I’d like him to know I’m expecting again. I don’t think they were evil men, or possessed by devils, or any of that nonsense. And I bet you don’t either, as a Witch woman who wears men’s breeches.” Tesla looked equal parts anxious and defiant.
“No Tesla, I don’t believe either of those things.”
“Good, good. So, I guess my favor only matters if the other rumor is true, if you’re leaving when the spring does. Because if you are, I’d hoped you’d take a letter to the postmaster in Murkwell, and see it delivered to Engel if he’s still there.”
Murkwell, thought Edwina. With a lover’s secret letter in her pocket, a favor on Telsa’s lips, and it’s name on her list of towns seeking a Witch-In-Residence, maybe this was fate making the choice to move on fairly easy for her.
Not Safe For Words 