Dinner was a delicious beef stew made by Meleri. It was served on the porch so we could enjoy the afternoon sun. As we sat down to eat, I could feel everyone’s gazes on me. “Alright, alright, alright, I’ll continue where I left off. Now then…”

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  While they were out gathering the herbs we needed, I began tackling another problem. Winter was in no state to take part in the ritual. She could barely move, let alone speak. I took great care as I lifted the makeshift nest and carried it into the potion room. I got an idea on how to deal with it, but the nagging question was, would it even work? Well, whether it worked didn’t matter. There was no other choice but to try.

  The brewing of the potion was not that difficult, which was a relief since I needed to strengthen Winter every few minutes during the brewing. Midnight hopped up on the table next to me and looked down at the recipe I was brewing. “That’s a strange potion to be making now, although…” She glanced over at Winter as I cast another strengthening spell on her.

  “I volunteer to use it, since it’s less of an issue for me if something goes horribly wrong.” I looked down at Midnight for a moment before I reached over and scratched her gently behind her ears. “Thanks, Midnight.” She leaned into my hand for a moment. Then, a few moments later, she began to purr. “Don’t mention it, Meowstress.” She arched her back as my hand traveled down her body, enjoying my scratches.

  There was a soft chime from the cauldron, and I turned my attention back to add the final ingredient, which Midnight provided as I scratched her, some cat hairs. As the potion began its final phase, I could hear the entrance open. “Mom, we’re back, and we got the herbs! Mom?” I opened the door to the potion room. “Just a moment and I’ll be with you, putting the finishing touches on a little something that’s required for the ritual.”

  I poured the potion into bottles and placed them on the shelves, then carried the nest back outside with Midnight following behind me. The remaining herbs were lying on the table. After a quick once-over, it was clear to see they picked the best of the best. “Great work. These are perfect for the ritual.” I could see Jaira sag a bit as some of her tense muscles relaxed, as if she was worried she might’ve messed something up. After stowing the herbs into my pouch, I picked up the nest again. “I’ll get the potion brewed up for the ritual. I’ll be back soon.”

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  I stretched for a bit, enjoying the evening sun’s warmth along with the gentle breeze. “It was a hectic two days, even if relatively little actually happened. It was busy because I needed to keep a constant eye on Winter. But you don’t want to hear about that, do you? You want to hear about the ritual itself.” Both Meleri and Winter nodded. “I figured as much, so…”

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  The sun set about three hours ago, and finally the cloud cover cleared up and allowed the blood moon to shine through. “About time, was wondering if it would be possible to do the ritual tonight at this point.” I turned back to the altar, where everything was ready. Winter was lying on a specifically prepared little dais so she could poke her head over the lip of the bowl. Soot was looking at her with obvious concern, and Jaira was standing behind me, fidgeting.

  “So how are we doing this, Mistress? I mean she’s too weak to even speak.” Soot raised the question that was on Jaira’s mind as well. I took a deep breath. “I already thought of that, and there really is only one solution I could come up with, risky though it might be.” As I spoke, I pulled out the potion I brewed earlier. Soot looked at it. A few moments later, he clicked his beak in dismay. “I see. Well, I guess you need a volunteer, huh? Then I—.” Midnight hopped up on the altar. “I already volunteered when Meowstress made it. Besides, I will survive the effects if something goes wrong, so this is my responsibility.”

  Soot turned an eye her way. “Oh, you’ll be fine alright, but I would not exactly call it ‘surviving’ regardless of how you look at it.” He ruffled his feathers, clearly upset. I looked at him. “Oh, you have your own job, Soot.” I pulled out a second potion as I spoke. Soot eyed it for a moment. “Ah, ventriloquist potion, so that’s how you’ll help her speak the words. Alright, I’ll get it, but… will this work? I mean, the state swap and ventriloquist potions both used on the target of the ritual could have unintended effects.” I looked down on Winter. “It has to work; it’s the only shot she has at survival.”

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  “State swap?” Meleri looked incredulous at the name of the potion. I shrugged. “Not a very creative name, I know. It’s a potion of my creation. Though I wish I could say it was a deliberate one. It temporarily exchanges the physical states of two individuals. Emphasis on temporarily, or I could have solved the entire issue with it alone. Given the situation, it was necessary because the ventriloquist potion would put strain on little Winter’s body since she would be forced to speak without having the ability to do so normally.” Both Meleri and Winter seemed to get the gist of it, but I was already in teacher mode at this point.

  “Which, when combined with the stress of the ritual itself… Suffice to say I rated the chances of survival too low, even with the best-case estimate. I would be in no state to cast spells on Winter to help her once the pain set in. So there was no way a weakened Winter would survive it since she was barely hanging on as it was. That was, and still is my opinion on the matter, at any rate. But I’m getting sidetracked…”

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  With everything ready, I carefully dripped some of the state-swap potion on Winter and Midnight. The effect was immediate as Midnight collapsed onto the stone. I cast a strengthening spell on her, and she gave my hand a weak nuzzle. “Th… thanks, Meowstress.” Soot on his end quaffed the Ventriloquist potion. then tapped his beak for a few moments. “Too bad Winter will remember most of this because of this potion… Then again, given the pain, it’s probably for the best.”

  I began to prepare the ritual itself. “Focus up now, all of you.” Winter, now much more peppy given everything that was going on gave me a curious chirp. Soot clicked his beak a few times and then nuzzled Winter’s small beak lovingly. There was a slight glow as the potion went into effect. I took a deep breath, hoping this would work.

  The altar’s runes lit up, signalling we could begin. I took a deep breath. I pulled out a small enchanted needle as Soot used the ventriloquist potion to have the first words of the ritual arrive from Winter’s small beak. It was high-pitched and raspy, but we could clearly hear it when she spoke the words “The familiar bleeds for its master.”

  Winter flinched a bit as a small drop of her blood was spilled into the bowl. I then grabbed the ritual dagger and pricked my finger. “The master bleeds for its familiar.” As I spoke, I let a drop of my blood fall into the bowl, and then in tandem we said, “So we bind our souls and lives together.” I could see little Winter shiver in discomfort as the words were forced from her throat. I didn’t like the sight at all, nor the thought of what would happen next.

  I poured the potion into the bowl and stirred it three times counterclockwise using a feather I picked up from the nest we found Winter in. It wasn’t perfect, as it was supposed to be the familiar’s own, but Winter was too young to have anything I could use to stir with, unless the ritual meant to have me rip out every bit of down the poor thing possessed to make a small ball of it. Then again, I was already taking so many shortcuts as it was, what was one more at this point?

  Well, it would seem it was good enough because the content began its cold boil as I finished stirring. I reached out and gave Winter an encouraging little pat with a finger as I pushed the bowl closer to her. I couldn’t force her to drink, and I didn’t know if she even would as the next line erupted from her beak, and I barely spoke up in time to keep up. “A bond for life, willingly forged. We drink for our lives together.”

  Much to my delight, and trepidation Winter lowered her small beak to the concoction and began to gulp down a few mouthfuls, and I followed suit a few moments later. “Hang in there, Winter, it will be over soon.” No sooner did I say it, before the pain began. I could see little Winter curl up into a ball, chirping weakly. I sorely wished I could help her or even let her understand what was going on, but I could barely move myself.

  The next hour was pure torture, pure agony. The moment it was over, I forced myself to my feet to check on Winter and Midnight. Midnight was already up and about, none the worse for wear. “Meowstress, I demand an extra-large salmon as a reward for this because I’m starving!” I reached out and scratched her ears. “Alright, Midnight, I’ll see what I can do, as we don’t have any in the house. How about some trout meanwhile?” She was silent for a moment. “Acceptable.”

  I then turned my attention to Winter, my dear little Winter. Her eyes opened, and she looked around, apparently confused. Then she looked up at me and made a small hoot as she got to her feet and gave another hoot. No doubt feeling hungry. I reached out my hand, and Winter wasted no time hopping into my palm. “Hungry? Don’t worry, I’ll get you something to eat as well.” The happy chirps she made in response made every ounce of pain worth it.

  Jaira, who was watching from a distance to not to get in the way, rushed over. “Is she alright?” Her face lit up as Winter hopped around in my palm to look at her, then chirped excitedly. “I’d say so. Care to help me clean up here, then make a celebratory meal?” Jaira nodded as she rushed ahead back to the house with the tools and leftovers from the bowl.

  Over the next few days, it became clear that the ritual worked. Winter’s appetite was back in full force, and any form of meat we gave her went down her throat so fast it was almost like having a second Ivy in the house. One that, now that it could eat properly, began to grow fast.

  It was as if her body was aching to make up for missed growth, or maybe her growth was sped up because I used the feather of one of her parents. Or because I used the other potions, so they interfered. Magic gets messy if mixed, after all. The possibilities are endless. Regardless, it didn’t take long for Winter to be back on track with her growth.

  Then, one morning as I entered the living room, I heard it. “Ma-da” Winter’s first words as she happily bounced over to me, chirping happily. I bent down and gave her some loving pats. “Good morning to you too, Winter. Slept well?” Winter’s down-covered face tilted a bit. “Seep ell?” Aw, she was just precious! I scooped the owlet into my hands and carried her into the kitchen. “Never mind, keep me company while I make breakfast.” She chirped happily as she nuzzled the base of my neck.

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  Meleri looked over at where Winter was preening. “So there were some side effects.” I nodded. “The growth was at least one, no way a regular chick should grow that fast. Whether the time she needed to talk properly is one, I don’t know. Because of her young age, she might have known how but been physically unable to because of physical limitations. Regardless, it doesn’t matter, as Winter is all healthy now.”

  As if on cue, Winter finished her preening and then hopped into my lap. I reached over and stroked her feathers gently. “So there you have it; at this point our little family has been assembled.” Meleri nodded. “There is one thing I wonder about though, sis.” I looked at her. “Hmm?” She glanced over at Soot. “You never explained the complete debacle with Soot turning into a chicken for a month.”

  I looked at Meleri for a moment in silence before I remembered what she was referring to. “Ah, right. Well, since the main points of interest are now done, I guess I can tell the brief stories that weren’t linked to the main plot.” As I spoke, the sun began to set behind the trees. “But not tonight. Enough storytelling for now.”

  I held out an arm, and Winter hopped onto it as I got to my feet. “That aside, sis. Would you like to learn how to fly a broom?” Meleri’s expression was akin to that of a kid with free rein in a candy store. “I’ll take that as a yes. Well then, let me just place an order for a broom for you with Tobin.” I walked towards the door while I gently scratched Winter’s head. It would be interesting to see how well Meleri would do.