Two months had gone by since Merci first woke up. Days were filled with hard labor brought to her by Zarro. If she talked back or tried to refuse, Merci would get punished. Often by either no dinner or breakfast, or the beaten.

The voice in her head would often talk to her. Soothing her and showing her bits of her magic. Besides Animal Communication, she learned she can tend to her own wounds by a basic spell of Soothing Soul. A few other spells she learned through the voice in her head that catered to her life on the farm was, Growth, and Create Food and Water which turned in handy when her father refused to give her food. There were also a bit more powerful spells that she learned which were Eyes of Night and Moonlight.

Besides the spells that she learned she was able to cast three spells at will. Primal Instinct, Spare Life, and Plant Identifier. All of these spells came in handy given certain situations that came up on the farm.

“I have one more to teach you for now. And until we meet in person, I am afraid I can not teach you much more.”

“Why is that?” Merci questioned as she was curious to figure out why this person couldn’t teach her more of this magical essence she seemed to contain.

“We are closing in. In a few days' time, we shall meet once again.” The voice sounded confident and determined.

Which radiated hope through Merci’s body. As she couldn’t wait to get away from the hell she found herself in.

“Okay, what ya got?” Merci questioned him.

Despite not knowing who this person was, she had grown accustomed to his ethereal soothing voice over the past two months of her life. At times her relyance on this voice was the only thing that kept her going.

“This one is a bit more tricky than what I have taught you so far. It is a higher level than you already know but I feel you are ready for it.”

“I learned the second level just fine. I think I can handle this one.” Merci’s voice was firm. She raidenting with confidence.

“This spell is of level three. And there are technically three you can learn. However, I don’t think I have the time to teach you all three.”

“Challenge accepted.” Merci said with a booming voice of confidence in the darkness of the outside world of her farmland.

“Always one so eager to learn. No wonder you made it to Archdruid so quickly the first time.”

“Archdruid? I heard you mention that before.” Merci asked them what it was but she didn’t get her answer then and she figured she wouldn’t get her answer now.

“Archdruid, the highest of druids. Grants you amazing spell casting abilities and shifting abilities.”

To her surprise he had given her an answer. However, he utilized the term Archdruid like she is one but she didn’t seem that powerful so she asked, “Am I one?”

“You were one at one point.”

What? She thought to herself. I’m not powerful. I only have minor stuff.

“Trust me Merci. You were once an Archdruid.”

Trust. She took a few deep breaths and sighed heavily.

“Alrighty, I do. What was that about shifting you mentioned?”

“I was hoping you would catch that. Besides spells, druids, like yourself, have the ability to manipulate their body and shift into almost any given animal. Given your current level, you can shift into things like a wolf or a cat. Simple creatures but rather useful.” He sounded rather happy that I caught onto that. Which made me pleased.

“How do I do it?”

“Do you want to learn a spell tonight or shifting?”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Both.”

“Fine.” She heard a loud sigh in her mind. “Now, it may take awhile to learn shifting. So, let’s focus on the first spell.”

“Okay.” She groaned.

“This spell will come in handy when you are put up against a hard fight. It is called Spiritual Summoning. This spell allows you to summon a bountiful of creatures from horses to wolves. However you need to be mindful. Given the spell, you can summon two wolves or you can summon eight horses. The number of animals depends on the animal's strength in life.”

“That sounds awesome! How do I do it?” Merci was eager to learn this spell. She couldn’t wait to summon some simple creatures and have a pet of her own for a time being.

“Focus on the creature you wish to craft with your essence. I would recommend something simple first. Like a cat.”

“Wouldn’t that get me like a ton of cats?”

“Kind of. However, they won’t last long and will disappear after an hour.”

“Got it.”

Merci focused on a farm cat. An orange ginger with brilliant green eyes.This cat was familiar to her now, as she had seen it a few times on the farm. That was until a few weeks ago when she found its corpse in an animal trap that had been set.

Merci thought of the times she spent with the cat. The petting, sneaking of food, and allowing it to sleep on her shoulder as she worked in the gardens.

The ginger cat was one of Merci’s favorite farm animals as it brought her comfort in her predicament.

Once Merci felt confident enough of the cat’s image, she spoke softly, “Spiritual Summoning.”

She felt a good chunk of magical essence leave her body as the spell was cast. Eight cats appeared around her, all ginger and fluffy.

“Oh. My. God.” Merci said as she dropped to her knees and soon began to pet every single cat. Scratching the ears and scratching by the tail. The spots her own ginger cat used to like to be scratched.

“This is the best day ever!” She laid down in the grass and allowed each cat to curl up on her body. Listing to the sound of their purrs.

“I hate to spoil your fun but you need to dismiss them.”

“Do I have to? They are all so fluffy!” Merci said as she tried to cuddle them all closer.

“Yes, I believe the sound of eight cats will grant questions.” The voice spoke, “Do you remember how to dispel your spell?”

“Yeah…” Merci said with sadness in her voice. She hated to dispel her kitties but she understood.

“I dispel you.” Merci said with a cracked voice as she sniffled and held back tears. The kitties soon began to fade one by one until there was none.

“Sorry Merci, but it was for protection. Now if you want to learn one more spell I am willing to teach you.”

“Yeah, let’s do it.” Merci sounded defeated as she was already missing the cats.

“Alrighty, this one is a druid classic. It is called Speak with Nature. You can talk to plants with this spell.”

“What good comes from talking with plants? I’d rather have eight cats.”

“Talking with plants can help identify. It can also be a resource to help determine what is wrong with a plant. Or a plant can give basic information.”

“Still don’t seem that useful.”

“Just try it.” The voice was sounding a little annoyed with her.

“Fine. How do I do this one?” Merci questioned.

“Just think of what plant you want to communicate with. It could be anything from a tree to a simple blade of grass.”

Alrighty, think of what plant I want to talk to.

Merci was always curious to see why the grass was blue here. Afterall, she found a fairytale book hidden away in her bedroom that mentioned fields of green.

Feeling confident she whispered, “Speak with Nature.”

Upon casting she felt the same amount of magical essence leave her body. And upon the essence leaving her body she soon began to hear silent murmurs in every direction. Both male and female voices. High pitched and low pitched. All echoing around her.

“Now tune out all of the voices and focus on what plant you want to talk to.”

Merci began to try to tune all of the voices out. However, that proved to be difficult. There were so many of them at times it made Merci feel like she was going crazy. Focus on the grass. Merci told herself over and over and soon all of the voices began to fade.

“Blue Grass?” She questioned as she knelt down in the grass as the area grew silent.

A high pitched squeal made her jump, “Yes?”

After her heart settled she asked her question, “Why are you so blue?”

“What is blue?” The grass was questioned.

“Blue is a color.” Merci told the grass.

“What is color?” The grass questioned further.

Merci stood up and sighed, “I thought I could ask it anything!” She groaned in frustration.

With a bit of a chuckle the voice responded, “Grass isn’t exactly that intelligent. Single blades can hold a very basic conversation. Unlike a tree that may be able aid in direction or awareness of creatures.”

“Again, what use is this spell?”

“It is useful. Just trust me?”

“Fine.” Merci groaned.

“Go ahead and drop this spell. I will teach you shifting next.”