Scientific Sorcery : 42 The Geoengineering of Arcane Arborlogy (Patreon)

We followed Yaga into her home, which turned out to be the hollowed-out base of the largest sequoia I'd ever seen. The entrance was hidden behind a curtain of hanging moss, and as we stepped inside, I couldn't help but let out a low whistle of appreciation.

I looking around at the interior as Stormy trotted about as if she already owned the place.

“It’s exceptionally cozy here,” I commented. “Also it's very warm outside. Are you somehow manipulating the local weather with giant, magical sequoias? Do witches prevent global cooling?”

The inside of the tree was surprisingly spacious, with multiple levels connected by spiral staircases made of interwoven roots. Shelves carved directly into the wood lined the walls, filled with an assortment of jars, books, and what looked suspiciously like a vast collection of pickled body parts inside of organic-looking jars. Charming.

I couldn't help but notice Cali's wide-eyed expression as she took in our surroundings. The Arcanicx looked like she was torn between fascination and the urge to bolt for the door.

"So, Cali," I said, nudging her. "What do you think? Is this better than the Court of the Witch-Empress of Skulldug or what?”

"It’s... um, certainly unique," she managed, her ears twitching nervously.

Stormy, on the other hand, seemed right at home. She'd already found a cozy spot on top of what looked like a human skull and was contentedly grooming herself.

“You know, I thought that I was sensing something awful, grating on my domain,” the Yaga said as she lit the stove with a match. “Turns out it's just you, Ioan.”

"Just me? Aw, you missed me," I smiled. "I'm touched, really. Is that why you've got all these pickled body parts lying around? Sentimental keepsakes from your other students? Should I have brought you a present? Sorry, is it okay for Stormy to sit on that skull?”

“It’s… fine,” the Yaga sighed, settling into her fancy root-formed chair and waving a hand in front of her for us to take up the smaller seats facing her. “Honestly, I expected to see Stormy– I thought that you’d tie letters to her or something else equally ridiculous, flooding me with a multitude of written questions.”

"Ah, I didn’t even think about that.” I pursed my lips, deciding not to reveal to the Yaga that I was still quite illiterate. Illiteracy was a temporary problem anyway what with Cali teaching me to read and write anyway.

“Right,” the Yaga tapped her seat as she used to in our dream-meetings. “So instead you walked here.”

“Yep,” I nodded. “Is the silver-gray fog bordering your domain one of your protective spells?”

“No,” the Yaga said. “The fog is a spell cast by the Gygr. It poisons the land and hides a…”

“A Jotun,” I said. “I know. We met him on our way here. A very chatty fellow! He could use a shower though. Smells like a swamp.”

Cali looked between me and the Yaga, looking like her brain was going to boil out of her head trying to guess how and why I was so casual with the Yaga.

“Ioan, you’ve left Svalbard when I expressly told you not to,” the Yaga said with a frown.

Before I could produce an answer, the Yaga resumed talking.

“How much does Cali know about what you are?” She asked, waving a hand at Cali.

“Nothing,” I said. “Cali is still a work in progress. Keeps trying to enslave me and whatnot. You know how it is with strays."

Cali's tail lashed in indignation. "I am not a stray! I'll have you know I come from one of the most prestigious families in Iridium!" Her glare said. She didn’t say anything out loud though, too terrified of the arcane powers of the Nordstaii Yaga and my potential connection with her.

"See what I mean?" I stage-whispered at the Yaga. “Look at the glares she’s sending me.”

My joke ratio was rather high today, as I was trying hard to diffuse my over-maxed stress-o-meter of meeting Mr. Jotun face to face.

“Right,” the Yaga said. “Deal with her, if you please, Acorn.”

A black raven suddenly materialized on the right side of the back of the chair that Cali was inhabiting . The raven pecked Cali in the neck with a beak covered in something distinctively green. Cali mewled, grabbing her neck. Then she slid onto the chair, head lolling. A bit of drool emerged from her mouth, her tongue out as her eyes closed.

Stormy opened a single violet eye to regard the raven and then closed it, returning to her skull-snoozing. 

I blinked, surprised by the sudden turn of events. The raven - Acorn, apparently - had moved so fast I'd barely seen it or maybe it simply wielded powers equal to Cali's illegal invisi-cloak. 

"Well," I said, turning to Yaga, "that's one way to, uh, take her out of the conversation. Is she going to be okay?"

Yaga waved a dismissive hand. "She'll be fine. Just sleeping. Now, we can talk freely."

“Is it a problem if I left Svalbard?” I asked. “Should I have stayed there, growing weather-altering sequoias or something?”

“That… would have been preferable,” the Yaga sighed. “To answer your previous question–yes, me and the other Yaga are trying to stop the advance of the glaciers.”

“And are you succeeding?” I asked.

“We’re trying,” the Yaga sighed. “Alas, we are fighting a river with a wooden spoon. The glaciers will win, given enough time.”

“That sounds... bad,” I said. 

The Yaga sighed with a look of mild discontent.

I nodded, settling back into my chair. "Right. So, about those Jotuns..."

“Start from the beginning, if you please, Ioan,” the Yaga said sternly. “And don’t skip out on the details. I want to know everything.”

I recounted the events since our last dream meeting, starting with me digging up my glade with a shovel, experiments on understanding the nature of my domain and using Stormy and magic blacksmithing to create magical remote to control one of my domain’s functions. I explained how I killed two out of three bandits and described my encounter with Cali, her attempt to enslave me with a blood contract, and my subsequent discovery of her true nature as a Felix Arcanicx.

I detailed our interactions, the dragonglass gathering, and the gradual stripping away of Cali's Star-Shard-based magic tools. I made sure to emphasize the strange dream Cali had experienced and the meeting of the named Jotun in the forest.

Throughout my tale, Yaga listened intently, her expression growing more grim. When I finished, she remained silent for a long moment, her fingers steepled beneath her chin.

"You've been busy," she said finally as she grabbed herself a hot cup of tea and sipped it. "And reckless.”

“You should know me by now,” I shrugged, noting that I wasn't offered tea. “It’s what I do best–break the rules.”

“Regardless of your disregard for orthodox witchcraft… things are far worse than I feared," she said. "The Gygr of the Chernobog is growing bolder."

“Bolder how?” I asked.

“Using any and all means, involving outsiders in our centuries-long match,” she waved a hand at Cali.

“What match?” 

“Between growth and decay,” the Yaga said. “I create and she destroys. That’s how it goes. My sister and I… represent the fundamental forces of nature. I wield life and she wields… death.”

“Sister?” I frowned.

“Chrizantia, like me, was an apprentice of Yaga Baga,” Grandhilda sighed. “The dragon was hungry that day, she destroyed two nearby villages - Shalish and Cherno. We studied together under the same Master, and met together in dreams often. I did as I was told. She wanted… more.”

I leaned forward, intrigued. "More?"

Yaga sighed, her ancient eyes seeming to look through me and into some distant past. "Chrizantia was always ambitious, always pushing boundaries… just as you are. Where I saw balance in nature, she saw limitations to be overcome, rules to break. She believed that by harnessing the power of the Abyssal Void, she could achieve true immortality and save the world from the poison of the Wormwood Star."

"And I'm guessing that didn't work out so well for her?" I asked.

"No," Yaga said grimly. "It did not. She delved too deep into forbidden magics, consorting with entities from the Void. In her quest for power, she lost her humanity, dove to deep into herself, becoming the very thing she sought to control - a Gygr, a being of pure corruption and decay."

I whistled low. "Talk about a career change. So now she's your forever-nemesis?"

Yaga nodded. "For centuries, we've been locked in a struggle. I nurture life to push back against the encroaching glaciers and the White Blight. She seeks to spread death and corruption, to twist the natural order to her will.”

“Wait,” I said as I looked at my master with wide eyes as a piece of the puzzle clicked in place. “The White Blight… did Chrizantia create it?”

“Yes,” Grandhilda answered. “She did. You know... you remind me of her, Ioan.”

“What?” I sputtered. “I’m not gonna create a magical, tree-killing plague!”

“I don’t know what you might or might not do,” Grandhinda said. “You’re flapping aimlessly like a headless chicken, doing incredibly reckless things, getting involved in blood magic.”

“I haven’t touched any blood magic, I swear!” I said.

“You bound her with seven blood magic contracts,” Yaga pointed a long, dark fingernail at the passed out Arcanicx. “To yourself. These things start with a few drops here and there, Ioan. Blood magic is an incredible power, but it gradually corrupts the body and draws the soul closer to the Void.”

“What was I supposed to do?” I complained. “I… I couldn’t just kill her! Stormy told me that she has to live, for now, so that we can survive! I wanted to study her mind-control magic, to understand her kind. If she is to be believed then Empress Amari will send another Sorceress after me, then another and so on! Every seventy seven days, until these magical-cats drag me to their princess' court in Skulldug!”