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witchofthefleshThe past few days of socialization had been fun, but Adrian was glad to get back to work on creating his grove. There was only one last thing to take care of before he could create a heart tree, and that was getting rid of whatever the weird, magical effect was that littered the topsoil. Yesterday had been spent verifying that that spell wasn't hurting the earth at all and that removing it would not either, and so today, he and Boston were going to get rid of it entirely.
It wasn't easy work; a mixture of a purification ritual and a nullification spell, mixed together in exactly the right amount so neither the purification nor nullification could go overboard and start affecting anything else in the woodland. Ironically, this was something that would be much easier to do if his grove had already been established - Blackwoods were excellent at removing things that were unwanted and the demarcation between 'mine' and 'not mine' were very clear - but Adrian didn't want to risk anything interfering with the creation of the heart tree. It wasn't like he had a second one just hanging around.
What happened next probably didn't look much like magic to anyone expecting a lot of handwaving and chanting in foreign languages. That was the province of sorcerers and you could tell Adrian wasn't one of those by the fact he had self-respect. Honestly, it looked a lot like yardwork when you got down to it; there was a lot of digging, and holding up handfuls of soil before letting it trickle out of his hands and back down to the ground, and stomping down circles of different sizes into the ground below. Whole armfuls from different parts of his property got scooped up and carried into the pit he'd dug, as well as different bits of bark and rocks and bits of plants, and then he was laying firewood in another one of the holes he'd dug and, once the fire had properly caught, lugged out a medium-sized cauldron from his house, filling it with jugs of water he'd sourced from both the nearby lake and also the onsen. This was his secondary cauldron; the first one too big to be moved easily from his fireplace inside the house. This, he filled with various herbs, flowers, and, most importantly, a mushroom the size of his chest, cradled in a mat of its own mycelium, from his glass-in greenhouse patio. While he did start muttering then, it was him going over the instructions step-by-step. Not the most dignified, but he wasn't about to let ego cause him to misstep in his work.
Forty minutes later the bubbling mixture was ready and he lifted the cauldron up off the fire and dumped the contents into the pit, then went and shoveled the coals and ask into the pit as well - Boston's idea, since charcoal was also a purifier. He took out a knife and a moment later blood welled and was flicked into the pit as well, spattering over the greenery within, and as he did, he sent a silent message into the woods. Great forest, hear me. There is something here, some magic within that is not of your woods. I would remove it from you, negate it and purify, and leave you be once more.
A breeze came from nowhere, cool and refreshing against his sweating skin, redolent with the scent of pine and oak and birch. Adrian smiled at that and snapped his fingers; the sound far louder than it should have been and echoing over the whole of the territory he'd claimed for himself. It was followed by a whumph more felt than heard and the entire contents of the pit burst into flames that burned a brilliant, dazzling white.
"Well done!" Boston called from the porch, away the the fire's heat. "It feels like the bulk of that spell is gone and the rest is fading as the mycelial network chases it below the surface. Let the fire burn itself out, it should all be gone by then."
"Great," Adrian said. "Will do." And then sat down heavily in place and resolved not to move for a good five minutes.
Working magic could take a lot out of a witch.
[Open!]
It wasn't easy work; a mixture of a purification ritual and a nullification spell, mixed together in exactly the right amount so neither the purification nor nullification could go overboard and start affecting anything else in the woodland. Ironically, this was something that would be much easier to do if his grove had already been established - Blackwoods were excellent at removing things that were unwanted and the demarcation between 'mine' and 'not mine' were very clear - but Adrian didn't want to risk anything interfering with the creation of the heart tree. It wasn't like he had a second one just hanging around.
What happened next probably didn't look much like magic to anyone expecting a lot of handwaving and chanting in foreign languages. That was the province of sorcerers and you could tell Adrian wasn't one of those by the fact he had self-respect. Honestly, it looked a lot like yardwork when you got down to it; there was a lot of digging, and holding up handfuls of soil before letting it trickle out of his hands and back down to the ground, and stomping down circles of different sizes into the ground below. Whole armfuls from different parts of his property got scooped up and carried into the pit he'd dug, as well as different bits of bark and rocks and bits of plants, and then he was laying firewood in another one of the holes he'd dug and, once the fire had properly caught, lugged out a medium-sized cauldron from his house, filling it with jugs of water he'd sourced from both the nearby lake and also the onsen. This was his secondary cauldron; the first one too big to be moved easily from his fireplace inside the house. This, he filled with various herbs, flowers, and, most importantly, a mushroom the size of his chest, cradled in a mat of its own mycelium, from his glass-in greenhouse patio. While he did start muttering then, it was him going over the instructions step-by-step. Not the most dignified, but he wasn't about to let ego cause him to misstep in his work.
Forty minutes later the bubbling mixture was ready and he lifted the cauldron up off the fire and dumped the contents into the pit, then went and shoveled the coals and ask into the pit as well - Boston's idea, since charcoal was also a purifier. He took out a knife and a moment later blood welled and was flicked into the pit as well, spattering over the greenery within, and as he did, he sent a silent message into the woods. Great forest, hear me. There is something here, some magic within that is not of your woods. I would remove it from you, negate it and purify, and leave you be once more.
A breeze came from nowhere, cool and refreshing against his sweating skin, redolent with the scent of pine and oak and birch. Adrian smiled at that and snapped his fingers; the sound far louder than it should have been and echoing over the whole of the territory he'd claimed for himself. It was followed by a whumph more felt than heard and the entire contents of the pit burst into flames that burned a brilliant, dazzling white.
"Well done!" Boston called from the porch, away the the fire's heat. "It feels like the bulk of that spell is gone and the rest is fading as the mycelial network chases it below the surface. Let the fire burn itself out, it should all be gone by then."
"Great," Adrian said. "Will do." And then sat down heavily in place and resolved not to move for a good five minutes.
Working magic could take a lot out of a witch.
[Open!]
no subject
Date: 2024-09-11 10:40 am (UTC)Again, sorcerers and sadist behavior.
The island being sentient was new, he'd have to ask around about that.
no subject
Date: 2024-09-11 07:34 pm (UTC)Her speech pattern had slid mostly back out of church speak now that she was calmer."
no subject
Date: 2024-09-12 10:38 pm (UTC)