A Trio of Anomalies - The Quest for Paradise

CHAPTER 6 - SUTURES AND SORCERY AT SWEETWATER LAKE

The Dragon of the Rainbow sang joyfully as he flew back to the Kingdom of the Fairies, and the HF Club sat on the meadow beside him, as the sun shone high above them, painting the sky a pale blue whilst shining among the teal grass. The trio offered Snowy Dawn a biscuit, but she refused before heading off to her room in Crystal Castle. Boils and Oscar followed her, and even though they were considered homeless they often stayed a night or two at the palace, liking the company of everyone living there and lending a helping hand whenever possible.

Goose Blahblah took Erwin back to her home in Sweetwater Lake, where she set to work healing his burns and removing the sutures. The sorcerer watched as she flew around and selected a few raw ingredients from the cabinets in her kitchen, before meticulously concocting a solution in a black cauldron whilst uttering a few phrases in Witchianese. As she waited for the antidote to cool she made him sit on a bench nearby before removing his bandages and disinfecting his burns once more. She dipped a sponge into the mixture before spreading it over his wounds, and although he winced at the stinging he got at first he realised that the burns faded upon contact with the substance, leaving nothing but a few faint scars.

"Wow ..." he stared at his healed palm, "It's like witchcraft!"

"That's because it is, silly knight!" she cackled, "Medicinal witchcraft, a combination of biology, chemistry and faerie-magic."

He jerked his head, "Wait- is faerie magic part of witchcraft?"

"Sort of," replied the nurse, "Witchcraft is essentially combining faerie-magic and science, and while you have to be in a fairyland for the faerie-magic part to work, pretty much anyone can learn it, magical or not."

"Can anyone learn spells then?"

Goose Blahblah cackled, "I sure can't do anything with a stick! No, only witches and wizards can wave wands and cast spells. It's in their blood, you see."

Erwin retorted coolly, "I have a wand too."

"Great!" The nurse took out a ready-made potion from another cabinet before pouring a little of the transparent liquid into a glass beaker. She made him dip his fingers into it and told him to chant a spell until the bronze reverted into his own skin, all while pointing his grey wand at his fingertips. It took a little longer than she expected, but after a few minutes he pulled out his fingers and dried them on a towel nearby.

 "It's kinda weird to be honest," pondered Erwin, "that almost everyone but the witches have no idea who sorcerers are. Steve and I are either called elf-like witches or just knights. Speaking of which, why the hell are we called "elf-like witches" ? Are wizards more than just "a male witch" ?"

"You see," replied Goose Blahblah, "People refer to witches as "those who study and practice witchcraft" , no matter what gender or type. "Wizardry" is a term rarely used by anyone other than the wizards and witches themselves, and from what I know it's just another term for "witchcraft" . But I've never heard of sorcerers before, and although you seem to practice witchcraft, your wand is a lot shorter and greyish instead of black."

"I don't know either," Erwin shrugged, "I can do magic without a wand, and so can Steve. Someone told me that a sorcerer's wand channels magic from the sorcerer themselves, which is why usual-witchcraft-spells wouldn't work as well. One of the first spells I ever learnt was a basic deflection spell, the only one that would work just as well on a normal black witchy wand."