The New Spell

So here we are folks, a little short story about a young apprentice witch trying to learn a new potion spell.  I'm thinking about changing Saerah out this new girl, Rachel.  Technically, Saerah was created by a friend of mine and I've been wondering if that's why I've been having a hard time with writing her...since she isn't really my creation.  Oh well, we shall see!  Any way, enjoy the new story!

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The New Spell

As she stood looking at the various tools and ingredients on the table before her, she paused. This was quite possibly one of the most difficult spells she had ever tried doing, and fear was causing hesitation. She quickly overcame it though, determination superseded any doubts in her mind. 'You can do this, Rachel. You've been practicing and studying the technique for almost a month now.' she thought as she began to grind the troll nails down into a fine powder in her mortar.

Once finished with the powder, she set it aside and muttered, “Burning hot and bright, bring forth fire into my sight.” as she pinched some sulfur over a small candle. A tiny, green flame flickered into life and she smiled. She placed a small frame above it and then put her cauldron over the flame. “Okay, now the easy part.” she said as she poured water into the cauldron.

While waiting for it to boil, she glanced over her spell book again and ran her fingers through her short, red hair. “Grind the troll nail, boil some water...while waiting prepare the other spell components.” She moved over to her shelves of components and continued to mutter under her breath as she selected various arcane items off of the shelf.

A loud cawing caused her to jump and almost drop all of the jars in her arms. “Sammael!” she cried out in frustration as she set the jars down on her workbench. A large, black raven stood upon a small wooden perch at the cluttered edge of the workbench. “Trying a new spell, Rach?” he asked as he turned his head and glanced over the things on the table. “Oh, a powerful one it looks like...better be careful!” he cawed out laughter as he hopped on his perch flapping his wings.

Rachel frowned and glared at the raven. Sammael, her familiar, was such a disrespectful creature, not at all like her master Minerva's familiar. Her's was a cat named Bartholomew, and he usually seemed so much nicer then Sammael. The raven continued laughing as he hopped off his perch and landed by her spell book. His head cocked to the side, he read the passage her spell book was open too and let out a startled squawk. “You are going to try this spell? But Minerva told you this is an advanced spell...she only let you copy this down in your book because you told her that you wanted to study the technique!”

Sighing, Rachel picked the raven up and petted his head, slightly ruffling his feathers. “Oh, Sammael...have some faith in your master. I understand all the basic principles and theory that support this spell. It shouldn't be too hard to put them in practice.” she said as she put him back on his perch and began throwing various components into the boiling water of the cauldron. Sammael simply clucked nervously and waited on his perch. Finally, Rachel stirred the concoction and grinned. “All right! See, a perfect shade of blue. Now just the ground troll nail and the incantation.”

Depositing the powder from the bowl with a small flourish, she then began to chant, “Oh powers mystic, I summon forth your charm. With aid, this potion shall protect from all harm. Nail of troll, water pure; I boil with hair of dog and scale of lizard.” She picked up the last component from the jar, a tiny little thing that looked like a dried out piece of vegetation. “By a dead mandrake root, I create a potion to stop all hazard.”

Sammael groaned and said, “That last part didn't rhyme particularly well...” as the potion suddenly turned an alarming bright yellow. “No, no...that's fine...I can fix this!” Rachel quickly began to look around. “I just need...uh, what did she say...ummm...Right!” Rachel lifted up a small strand of garlic. “Garlic dried and old, stop this spell in its tracks cold!” she incanted as she threw a dried clove of garlic into the cauldron.

With a caw, Sammael shot off his perch and flew to another corner of the room as Rachel's face fell. The potion turned a sickly orange color, then turned black. “Oh my...that color indicates...” she dived across the room as the potion exploded out of the cauldron, drenching the room and herself in a noxious black ooze. Sammael laughed, safely on top of his perch and dry. Rachel sat up off the ground, wiping her ooze off of her face before attempting to brush it off of her clothes. “Oh...Minerva is not going to like this mess...”