Of Wolves and Potions: A Short Story

O N E: Moonlight and tea

'Hannah, why can't you be more organized! Seriously, I could slap myself right now. I had it in my hand a second ago, where is it?'

I was rummaging through the cabinets, looking for the ramillette of lavender that I had apparently misplaced. My libraries, desk and closets were all filled with stones, witchcraft books, bags, herbs and knick knacks I had collected over the years.

The air smelled like jasmine and cinnamon, a combination that originated from my love of tea and incense.

I had worked hard in this little cabin. It used to be a hunting lodge, long ago, but when I found it, it had already been abandoned. The roof needed some fixing, and part of the flooring was rotting away, but at least there was running water. It took me months to remodel it, fix what needed fixing and make it my own, specially since I had to do it all by myself.

'Ha! Found it!', I thought while raising the little bundle of herbs in my hand. Turns out, I had put a book on top of it, and somehow had already forgotten. 'Ok, so lavender, purple bag... I need... where's the freaking... Oh! Right, purple thread. Let's get started.'

I had the suspicion that maybe the fae hid stuff from me from time to time, but it could also be that I just simply was a disaster.

I lit a candle on my altar, and putting all my focus on creating this bag, filling it with calmness, and soft, warm energy, I was already feeling better. To finish, I decided to tie it to a long string and placed it as a pendant to enjoy its energy for the rest of the day.

It was going to be a chilly night, the wind was howling against the windows and I could feel the cold air chilling up my bones. I started the fireplace before moving on to making something for dinner. Living in a forest, by myself, also meant finding food by myself. It was hard sometimes, but I could always count on wild mushrooms, herbs and vegetables with the occasional fish from the nearby lake.

'Oh shit, the freakin... aagghh'. I stood up from the desk I used as a dinner table and hurriedly went out to the back porch where I had my small black pewter cauldron. Healing potions are tricky, they take longer than normal potions and require the witch to actually pay attention, but they are worth the trouble and it's always important to have them handy. You really never know when you'll need them.

People sometimes put them down, saying they're useless, but the thing with healing potions is that people expect them to have an instant effect, and they don't work that way. They take a while, but when they're properly brewed they help people heal a lot quicker than normal, and are great for cleaning out wounds.

'Welp, it's burned. Let's start this again, I guess...', I thought, half resigned to gather my ingredients and start over. It's not that I'm bad at what I do, it's just that concentrating is not my forté.

Once the potion was left brewing, again, I took my things and went outside to enjoy the light of the full moon. Witches use these nights for different purposes, depending on their craft. I used it mostly to get ingredients that could only be harvested under the moonlight of a full moon. It's not that they couldn't be harvested otherwise, but during these nights their magical properties were at their highest.

'Amanita, Galerina, dandelions, elderberries, maybe some mugwort? ... I could've sworn I saw some wormwood the other day', I was going through my list and walking through the forest, concentrating on finding my ingredients.

*Crack*

'What the...', turning, startled by the noise, my eyes landed on a big black wolf. It was enormous, its paws big enough to rip my head clean. I wanted to run, but my legs wouldn't move. It felt like I had freezed in place.