"Teas ready!" Briar whistled as she emerged from the hole in the bramble, hissing slightly more than usual after climbing the ladder. She carried a tea tray in both hands, her gardening gloves bulging out of an apron pocket. Beige flew out behind her carrying a small basket in her beak.
"I don't have any stools to sit on, so ground it is! Good enough for the plants, should be good enough for us!" the goblin said as she led the way over to the open area of the garden. She squatted down and placed the tray on the ground, careful not to topple the contents.
Amelia sat cross-legged next to Briar, with Whisper in her accustomed place on Amelia's head. Lark and Blue hopped down from the fence and joined them next to Beige, who had placed the basket within easy reach of Briar.
With practiced ease, the gardener placed cups in front of each of the group and poured steaming herbal tea from the tiny ceramic teapot, one hand on the lid so it didn't fall off as she poured.
Amelia waited until everyone was served and Briar had her own cup in hand, then took a sip. The cup was tiny in her hands. The tea was minty and refreshing, and she instantly felt perked up as she tasted it.
"My own special blend!" Briar said as smacked her lips after drinking.
The birds each dipped their beaks in their cups and slurped appreciatively.
Whisper wafted down from her perch and settled into her cup like it was a bathtub, quickly turning to her "I'm happy and warm" brick-red glow.
Briar removed a plate of biscuits from the basket that Beige had carried out, passing them around to the party.
"Another one of my recipes! I make lots of concoctions from the lovelies I grow. Can help you with aches and pains, sleep, all sorts!" she boasted proudly.
The biscuit Amelia nibbled on was quite small but very tasty. It had a slightly vegetal taste and was very gingery. She liked it a lot.
"This is great! Thanks so much! I'm sorry the cottage relocated you without your permission, but I'm so glad to have a neighbor like you!"
The goblin's pale skin blushed slightly, and she fussed with her teacup instead of meeting Amelia's eyes, obviously pleased.
"Oooh! Let me go get some jam! It'd go great with these!" Amelia leapt up and raced into the cottage, returning a moment later with a jar filled with dark purple jam. She also had a small handful of berries in her other hand.
"Lark, do you think Briar could grow some of those special berry bushes here? She has the room." she asked, showing the handful of shiny, chromatic-colored berries in her hand.
Briar perked up when she saw them.
"Say! Those are shiny!" she looked at Lark as Amelia waited for the bird's answer.
Lark cocked her head side-to-side as she eyed the two. "Of course! I am sure our new friend can grow these, and it would be wonderful to have more of my favorites close to hand."
Briar bounced up and down in glee as Amelia poured the berries into her cupped palms.
"Gorgeous! I've been wanting some of these forever!" she raced over to her workbench and placed the berries in a little pile. Completely forgetting the tea party, she grabbed a pen and started filling out wooden stakes to mark the planting, then raced off with her watering can in tow to plant them.
The rest of the group watched Briar scramble around as they finished sipping their tea and ate the biscuits with the jam Amelia had brought out. They sat and enjoyed the sun while the goblin gardener bustled about for a bit before finally rejoining them.
"Those berries will be a treat, I don't mind saying!" Briar said when she settled down again, obviously happy. "I have a few potions in mind already!" she rubbed her hands together in glee, chortling.
"Potions? Like magic potions?" asked Amelia wide-eyed.
"Magic ones are the best kind! 'Course, a good salad is a magic all its own, too! Fresh greens, sharp onions, yum!"
Lark bobbed her head in agreement. Potions and salad were both approved of.
"I have just started instructing Amelia in lessons she should know to be caretaker of this wood, but potion and herb lore is not my forte. Perhaps you would tutor her if you have some time?"
"Of course! Would be my pleasure!" beamed the goblin.
Amelia was pleased but felt the looming horror of homework in the future. Maybe the herbalist could give her something to make her enjoy studying? It would have to be pretty strong, though!
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It wasn't long before they had all settled into a new routine. Amelia would spend a few hours every morning maintaining the cottage and wood, usually accompanied by Whisper, Blue, and Beige. After she was done with chores, Lark would find her, and the pair would practice until Amelia could whistle no more. She was getting better, but still couldn't perform the magic that the bird could, but she was assured it would come with time.
Mouth and lips sore, Amelia would join Briar in the garden. She would shadow the goblin as she worked in the garden or puttered at the workbench. Unfortunately, she was much too large to squeeze into the goblin's workshop in her burrow, so potion lessons took place in the kitchen, or out in the yard if they were particularly messy.
Like many things in life, it took a large dose of boring and tedious practice before getting to the exciting bits where things blew up when you intended them to, instead of on accident.
Amelia mopped up the shards of glass and sticky green goop from her most recent mishap. As much as she hated studying, she was beginning to understand why both Lark and Briar insisted on such care when she worked. Her mind had drifted only for a moment, and she ended up cleaning for ages afterwards! At least no one had been hurt, although Whisper had elected to sleep quite some distance away during practice time.
Once the mess was cleaned up, she pulled a new jar from the cardboard box on the table. She'd purchased several cases for the canning she had done previously, and the leftover jars were perfect for making potions.
She had imagined something quite a bit more grand when Briar had first told them about her concoctions, especially after the other fantastic things she'd seen in the grove. Her imagination had run wild with thoughts of making potions of invisibility, instant love, and maybe even flight! She was sure she would be soaring with her friends any moment!
But most of what Briar taught her was how to make everyday useful things. Like a mixture that was good for cutting the grease when washing dishes, a really good shampoo for hair, and several fertilizer and bug-repellent brews. The mint tea had been a hit, though, and Amelia had taken to brewing some up to have with her lessons with Lark. It helped her stay attentive and seemed to lessen the soreness as well.
The bird had been very happy with the young lady's progress, although mostly Amelia was learning what Lark called the language of song. It wasn't exactly music as Amelia had learned at school, but still made a strange sort of sense. Lark had said once she had mastered it, Amelia would understand how to communicate with the spirits of the woods, and even ask them for help. That sounded pretty nice, but it certainly wasn't easy.
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With a clean new jar ready to go, Amelia added boiling water from the kettle and waited a moment for the steam to clear. You had to add things in the right order, or things would go amiss. Like milk before tea in fine china. Or cream before jam on a scone, that sort of thing.
She had a selection of dried and chopped herbs from the garden that Briar had said were safe to practice on. All of these were best for flavorings, and she was trying to make a nice tea that would help her whistling. It always helped to work on a problem you had yourself when learning something new. Setting your own goals was a lot more motivating than working towards someone else's.
She carefully selected a few leaves that smelled right and dropped them into the hot water. She watched the liquid darken to a brownish-green color, then selected the next ingredient.
Absent-mindedly she started whistling, so engrossed in her preparations she barely even noticed how sore her jaw was from this morning's lessons. The tune was aimless and wandering, with little trills and slides, much like bird song. Not surprising considering her teacher.
On a whim, Amelia pulled one of Lark's berries from the pantry where they were stored and squeezed the juice into the jar. She stirred the liquid gently with a wooden spoon as she kept whistling until it felt like the natural end of the song.
She put the spoon in the sink to wash later and stretched her back. A wave of exhaustion washed over her suddenly, like she had just run a marathon. She squeezed her eyes shut as she rolled her shoulders and neck, trying to release the tension she felt.
A loud buzzing sound grabbed her attention.
Whisper had entered the kitchen and was frantically flitting about the potion jar. She was flashing yellow and red, which Amelia had never seen before. The wisp was clearly agitated!
"What is it? Something wrong?" she asked. The wisp kept circling the jar for a moment more, before zipping out of the room and out the door.
"Huh! Everybody's a critic! This one didn't even explode!" Amelia said as she looked at her work. No longer the tea color she had expected, it was a deep red color and seemed to be pulsing. The glow from it gave the kitchen an ominous look.
"That's odd! Not what I expected, but ok! That's something!"
She dipped a finger in and took a taste. It had a tangy, sharp flavor, not at all like the berry or any of the herbs she had used. She took a large gulp. It was hot, but not too hot. She could feel it warming her as it made its way to her stomach. That was when she noticed her tongue and finger were both tingling, and her throat felt like there were bees buzzing in it.
"That might not have been a good idea ..." she thought as the room started to blur and spin.
She blinked rapidly as she held onto the table to keep from falling, fighting the dizziness.
She staggered into the living room and collapsed on her armchair, covering her head with the duvet. That worked for nightmares, so she hoped it would help here.
Whether it was the covers or not, the feelings faded within just a few moments, and she felt much better.
"Alright, hopefully I didn't poison myself, but I guess things are ok" she mumbled, taking stock. She pulled the duvet off and looked around. No more spinning or blurriness, which was good.
The room still looked off, though. It felt like there was a slight glow to everything, and she had the distinct feeling like she was looking at a complex origami puzzle, all folded in on itself. She wasn't sure what gave her that feeling, but it certainly wasn't normal.
"Amelia?" came Lark's voice. The bird flew in through the open window moments later, landing on the back of the armchair and peering down at the girl. Whisper followed behind moments later, glowing a deep, subdued, and worried green color.
Amelia looked up at the bird.
"Why are you glowing like that? And why are you so large? Weren't you like hand-sized this morning?" she asked.
Lark cocked her head at the girl, then puffed out her chest and let forth a burble of notes, shrill and crisp.
"Hmm. You seem to have done something to yourself. Hold still for me while I try to figure out what you did." she told the girl. "Whisper, would you fetch Briar? I think we need her help."
Whisper launched back out the window as Lark hopped down to the armrest, starting to whistle and sing again as she stared at Amelia.
"Lark, why are there glowing streaks everywhere? Things were blurry before, but now it looks like there are sparks and dim little glow balls like Whisper everywhere!"
The front door banged open as Briar rushed in, taking off her gloves. Beige and Blue followed close behind.
The goblin looked like normal to Amelia, but the two birds glowed much like Lark did. They also flickered and seemed to alternate between looking like their usual bird selves and giant, crouching figures, with huge fangs and red glowing, piercing eyes. She really preferred the bird form.
The flickering of the birds, glowing lights, and other weird visual effects started giving her a terrible headache, so she closed her eyes and covered her head again with the duvet, rather rudely dislodging Lark, who took flight and landed on the table.
"It seems our caretaker has brewed herself something like a potion of True Sight and is feeling a bit overwhelmed." the bird cocked her head further to the side as if listening intently in Amelia's direction. "By the sound of it, it should wear off soon, and no harm should come of it".
"Hah! Impressive! I wonder how she did that?" said Briar.
They found the jar of glowing potion in the kitchen. Lark whistled something complex at it, and Briar sniffed it.
"She used one of the berries. That was not wise! They have many powerful properties, and great care must be used when combining with other substances!" she whistled some more, then nodded her beak. "And it seems our student also managed to use her music to influence the mixture. A potent combination, but terribly foolhardy!"
Briar found a lid and capped the jar, whose glowing had dimmed considerably as it cooled.
"Years it took me to make something like this! If she made this by accident, she will be very formidable when she knows what she is doing!"
"Yes, indeed. Hopefully, she survives the experience!" Lark twittered with amusement. "I hope this little experiment will dampen her enthusiasm for improvisation, at least for a little while."
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As Lark had predicted, Amelia felt better within a half-hour or so and was able to emerge from the duvet without feeling ill. Her eyes now ached along with her sore whistling muscles, and she felt as if someone had run over her with a car three or four times. Then parked on her for good measure.
But except for a very slight glow that limned Lark and areas of the cottage, her sight seemed to have returned to normal.
"What was that?" she asked in a weak voice.
"That, my young student, was seeing what is really there. I am afraid your brain was not ready for the experience, which is why you had such an unpleasant reaction."
"Really there? I don't understand. What do you mean?"
"There is much more to the world than meets common sight, young lady. You saw a bit of what hides beyond your normal vision. Your brain could not process it, hence the blurriness and nausea."
"Why do I feel like I've been hit by a truck, then?"
"That is the effect of overdoing your first successful bit of magic, I am afraid. Somehow you managed to sing an enchantment onto a potion you had no business mixing, completely changing its nature. I do not know how you did that, but it pulled much of your energy along with it. The aches and pains are the consequence. I would strongly suggest not doing that sort of thing in the future."
"Yeah, I got that. Oww!" said Amelia. She rubbed her eye sockets with the backs of her wrists.
"So why did Whisper and Briar look like they always do, while you, Blue and Beige looked so different?"
"I do not know why you see Whisper clearly, but that is her real form as it appears in this realm, the same with Briar."
"'This realm'?"
"As I said, there is much beyond mortal sight, including the fact that there are other planes of existence beyond this one. Wisps, like our friend Whisper, are minuscule intrusions of powerful beings from beyond into this plane we call home. It is rare that they allow mortals to see them at all, so you should feel honored."
"Okay, I guess. My friend the candy black-hole is possibly a real black hole. Got it. But why did you look so much larger, but still like yourself?"
"Ah. Because I am a bird, just as you see. The power I have learned and wield as the singer of the wood is beyond a mortal mind to grasp, and you see me as you are familiar with - a normal bird. The potion altered your perception, allowing you to see me more as I truly am."
"And Blue and Beige? Are they really some sort of ogre thing? Because that was horrible!"
"Ogre? Interesting. I know them only as woodland spirits, assistants to Alder in his role as a guardian of the wood. I am surprised you saw them otherwise. But perhaps your potion was incomplete, and gave you visions false as well as true. Worry not, they are gentle beings and good friends".
"Alright. Well, I know it is the middle of the day, but I am exhausted! I think I'm going to take a little nap now if you don't mind." Amelia's voice was softer as she snuggled down into the incredibly comfortable armchair, snuggling under the duvet like she did at night.
"Rest young one. Briar and I shall stay and watch over you, lest anything else comes of your little experiment".
"Mmmph." said Amelia. Lark chose to interpret that as "Thanks and good night", filtered through the duvet.
"Sleep well, Caretaker. You have glimpsed a world larger than you have known. This is good. This is progress."
The bird watched until Amelia's breathing became quiet and regular as she slipped into slumber.
Briar crept in and softly shut the front door, taking up a position to watch over the sleeping girl. Lark hopped down to sit next to the goblin.
The two watched late into the night as their exhausted student slept soundly.