"Crap!! No! Please don't-"
Bang!
A wave of black smoke smelling of rotten eggs hit my face, making me gag as I was thrown backwards due to the blast. I landed on my back with a grunt on some soft grass, gazing up at the midmorning sky with blurred vision.
Groaning at the pain, I slowly sat up and glanced over at where my cauldron was sitting a few meters away. At least it was where my cauldron was. Now it was a just burning fire with bits of green slosh everywhere.
"Goddess help me." I muttered, rubbing a hand over my face in frustration.
This was the fifth cauldron this week and it was Monday. At least, I'd moved my potion making outside. Otherwise, my cottage would've probably become the green slosh.
"What a mess…" I sighed to myself as I got up and limped over to a nearby bucket of water.
Kept within reach for such mishaps. I carefully picked up the bucket, ignoring the screams of pain from my body, and headed over to the small fire.
As I was pouring water over it, a familiar voice called out to me, "Potion making again Luca?"
"Yeah. I have to improve my skills." I said, dropping the empty bucket next to the ashes of my failed potion making session. "Otherwise, the coven will never let me back in."
As I said those words, I looked over at the person who was walking out the dense forest to my right. She was petite with long silver-blonde hair that blew in the gentle breeze, bright green eyes and pointed ears.
Faint vine like markings wrapped around her pale arms and she wore a flowy green dress that seemed to have real flowers sewn into it. Probably was real considering Eris was a Fae.
Eris was my best friend. Well, my only friend seeing as everyone else hated me. Mostly because I was a complete disaster when it came to magic. Something that should've been natural to me as a witch.
Honestly, I sometimes wonder why she stuck around with me. It would've been much better for her to cozy up to more powerful witches than me. The stain of the Graceson Coven.
"They never made you leave though. There was no official trial to banish you from the coven." Eris mused, holding out a small bottle. "Plain old healing potion for your wounds. Nothing spiked."
"Yeah, but I'm not exactly welcomed in town either. Why do you think I live here?" I murmured before popping open the corked bottle.
A scent of mint and aloe vera hit my nose as I lifted the bottle to my lips. I threw my head back, chugging it down as quickly as possible, trying not to gag at the bitter taste.
"Because you love living close to me." Eris teased. "And want to see me every day."
"Elgh… no." I muttered, shaking my head as I finished the potion. "Thanks for the potion."
My blood heated up for a moment as the potion worked its magic on me. The aching in my body slowly faded away and any external injuries glowed for a moment before disappearing.
"Of course. I can't let you die too soon. You're too fun to be around." Eris smirked, showing a hint of sharp teeth. "Who else will entertain me the way you do? Those witches from your coven are too stuffy. They don't cause fires every two minutes."
I rolled my eyes at her attitude, used to it after years of being around her. "Love you too Eris."
She flopped down onto the grass next to me and looked over at the remaining ashes of my potion making session. "So, what were you trying to do there?"
"Simple strength potion." I answered, sitting down on the soft grass. "Everything was going fine. I double checked the measurement and made sure the ritual rune was drawn correctly…."
Eris raised an eyebrow. "Did the spell go wrong?"
"Not really. I said all the words correctly and in the right order." I mused, thinking back to the moments before the explosion. "It even turned green. A sign that the spell worked… But a second later. Boom everything became green slosh and a fire."
At this point I wasn't even surprised at the result. There was a small part that had hoped that the spell would finally work. But I knew deep down it wouldn't.
Nothing ever went right when I used magic. It never did. Not since Mom died…
My hand subconsciously went to my left pinkie, twisting the silver ring on it. It had become a habit of mine whenever I thought of my Mom. It was her last gift and something I treasured more than anything else.
I wished she was still around to help me with my magic. She'd probably know what was wrong with it. After all, she was one of the most powerful witches in our coven. Even stronger than some of the elders.
"Perhaps you should try summoning a familiar." Eris suddenly said, bringing me out of my thoughts. "I've heard some witches use familiars to channel their magic and gain better control of it."
"A familiar?" I murmured, wondering if Eris had maybe lost her mind from the potion fumes of my failed attempt.
"Yes. It's normally an animal-" Eris started.
"I know what a familiar is…" I interrupted. "But that's high level magic. I can't even make a simple potion and you want me to conjure a familiar?!"
Who knows what will happen if I tried conjuring a familiar. I'd probably accidentally turn myself into an animal or something stupid. I failed at an elementarily spell and Eris wanted me to try a high level one.
She had really lost it this time.
"You have the magic to conjure a familiar." Eris retorted. "Besides, familiars are known to stabilize magic. Maybe that's exactly what you need. Something to ground your magic."
I couldn't argue with that. It was well known that witches used familiars to help balance their magical powers. But conjuring a familiar wasn't exactly an easy thing to do.
"Your magic abilities are only going to grow and get more unstable if you don't find a way to control it." Eris added. "And you know what happens when you completely lose control of your magic."
I didn't need a reminder. Mom had lost control of her magic on my sixteenth birthday and the coven did what it did whenever someone lost control. They executed her.
"Tsk… I know." I muttered, burying the memories of that day deep down. "But how would I even conjure a familiar? I don't have the spell book for it."
Eris grinned eerily at me. "I know where we can get a spell book for that."