Amber - 11 (Patreon)

I decided that, before anything else, I needed to work on Darius' request for shelter. I wasn't sure how many people he had brought through the wall, but it was sure to be in the thousands at least. Tens of thousands... would be difficult. Many would be taken on by relatives, allowed rest in inns, have a place in barns, or new homes raised for them. But outside of the last, which would take time, none were permanent solutions.

So I entirely understood why he wanted me to do this. It was easy to see the importance of it.

The longer people were trapped in inadequate shelter the swifter they would get sick; now, in the summer heat, it wasn't so bad, but when the weather turned it would swiftly make more work for me to try and keep everyone from collapsing from cold than if I simply got this done early.

An ounce of prevention was worth a pound of cure?

"Damnit," I muttered, looking out over the thirsty crops that men were trying to irrigate off of the river. The farms closer were managing, but a single mile out... it wasn't so easy.

I held out my hand as I walked, breathing as I let myself sink into the cultivated field which had known human hands for so very, very long. Hundreds if not thousands of years these lands had felt the touch of humanity, and for all it was cultivated and tame it wasn't unhealthy.

There were no great monocultures, no endless fields of wheat or barley, no rows upon rows of cabbages. Fields were small, and yes they focused on a single crop, but people grew dozens in close proximity; it was considered bad luck to grow the same crop too close together, risking blight, risking total failure. The trees and hedges that fenced off one field from the next were dens of wildflowers and grasses, good fodder for when a field was left to clover and pasture.

Some fields even interspersed themselves with trees amongst the harvest, what I think was called silvopasture? Because 'silvo' meant... trees? From Sylvan? And it was clear those fields were weathering the dry weather better than other fields.

Dry and cracked soil held together by a strong, and interconnected, system of tree roots and fungi.

While I may not know the ins and outs of every aspect of farming I knew plants, I knew well how to make specific ones grow and how to tend to them; and maybe that was why I was struggling with the Moonleaf in my garden? It could be that it required a symbiotic connection to the Blackwald Oaks it sheltered beneath to grow properly. Something to try when I returned, threading its roots into the mycelium network that my Willow was at the heart of.

"Bloody hell!" A farmhand yelled as the wilting crops stretched out, rising towards the sun and becoming reinvigorated as I worked my magic.

This land knew humanity, had been tended to by humanity, and was fond of us. Like a great slumbering dog licking its owner's hand as I stroked its head it responded to my efforts, letting me spread my spell far and wide.

As I reached the end of that set of fields I looked back. The ground was still dry, the soil still cracked, but the plants were... not healthy, but striving and reaching far more than they had been. I couldn't replace the water they needed but they would survive for a month more at least.

No less than six farmhands carrying pails of water gaped at me. I nodded in their direction and one dropped his pail, hastily bowing and calling out his thanks.

I couldn't change the existing forests into shelters for the refugees, not easily. While it was perfectly possible to do it the Northgate Woods would resist such a thing; they were still a wilderness at heart and the trees would resent being twisted into domiciles for humans. Even if I thought such forcing was feasible and was worth the extra effort involved in wrangling unruly forests, I would baulk at it.

Nature could be brought in tune with humanity, to live alongside us and not suffer for it. Even in the smog-filled streets of the capital there was life; life that, generally, I didn't like half as much as a field or forest but still life.

All we had to do was educate people on how to do it properly. Parks and fields would be an amazing boon to life in the capital, as would finding a cleaner source of heat than burning Emberstone's coal year in and year out. The idea that Gilneas, if left unchecked, might cause climate change on Azeroth was almost laughable and yet still mildly concerning. Considering just how many world-ending, or world-altering, threats threw themselves at the planet every other year it would be par for the course for yet another one to show up.

Even if magic would likely render it irrelevant in the long term.

Having settled where to put the homes, likely a fallow or underused field with the owner well compensated by Darius, I needed to consider what would go into them. Gilnean trees – with the notable exception of Blackwald Oaks – weren't the giants of Ashenvale, or ancient Kalimdor like those used in Suramar, with even the largest specimens not being wide enough to allow a man to sleep lying down within them if hollowed out.

Pulling the trees into larger and more specific shapes would be more draining, but a requirement if I wished to grow them from a single seed.

It might be simple enough to grow a frame, one that could be filled in by other workers, but the living nature of the trees would mean the homes would need constant maintenance from a Witch or a Druid to prevent them from tearing themselves apart. The tree bridge needed me to check on it annually and it was a far simpler construction than a house.

Windows were out, adding too much work for little gain; these were going to be basic shelters from the weather, not luxurious homes. A chimney of some sort would be required, and a depression for a fire pit. A proper fireplace wasn't feasible, even a pit would need to be lined and unless I wanted to work for hours upon hours on each one, getting the dimensions painstakingly exact, fitting the bricks and stones to prevent a fireplace turning the tree into a torch would be impossible.

Trees did not grow in neat square dimensions, not willingly.

My wandering took me past a dilapidated farmhouse, with its fields returned to grasses and wildflowers. They weren't entirely unutilised as I could see horses grazing on what greenery that was struggling through the drought at the other end.

By the size of the single field in front of me, I could fit several hundred of the shelters I was imagining here on this disused farmland, spaced just enough so that the trees didn't choke one another. I stopped and took in a breath, focusing on the ground beneath my feet. Much as it appeared this place had lain empty for some time, untouched. In a way it almost felt lonely as it slowly, so very slowly, forgot what human hands felt like.

I spotted a farmhouse nearby, with men and dogs corralling a flock of sheep towards a fresh pasture.

"Good day!" I called out, drawing attention to myself. "Might I ask a question or two?"

"Busy!" One of the shepherds yelled, his dog barking as it dove around an escaping ewe.

Hopping over the fence I walked steadily up to the ewe that was leading the flock, she had lambs trailing after her and was quite unhappy with the dogs startling them. The shepherds yelled at me as I got close, that I was going to scatter them; and then I walked through the sheep and brushed my hand along their fleeces.

Not the nicest of feelings, raw fleece, but it was still good wool.

"Little stressed aren't you?" I said, rubbing the ewes head. She bleated unhappily in response as she kept an eye on the dogs, but pushed her head into my hand.

Putting my fingers to my lips I let out a loud whistle, then, hand on the ewe I walked the flock to the field the shepherds had been pushing them towards. Once at the gate I ushered them on through, and they all started sprinting away.

I turned back to the shepherds. "Well, are you busy now?" I said with a single raised eyebrow.

"Uh, no, you're... uh, witchiness."

No matter how many times I heard them, the various attempts men made at a properly respectful title for me were always amusing. "Right, right, I was wondering; who owns the farm over yonder?" I waved at the fallow fields. "Lord Crowley has issued me a project, and I've need of space for it."

"Duncan, miss. He owned it last. But he passed without issue last year... I suppose it be the lords now?" The man scratched at his head, wincing at his own answer. "I don't rightly know, your, uh,"

"Miss."

"Miss Lady Witch, uh, ma'am."

Don't laugh. It was bad to laugh when they were polite.

"Thank you. That was all I needed." I said, turning and heading back the way I came.

Reaching into my pouch I debated on what seed to use. Oak was, of course, a staple but cedar would make a good choice too. Oversizing a fruit tree could provide food alongside, but that would be harder than utilising an already large tree. A Silver Pine, great monsters of trees that they were, would be a good choice if not for the climate here being a little warm for them. And they liked the mists that clung to the Silverpine Forest and wouldn’t like the drought much.

A mix of oak and cedar, then. Worth at least trying both.

I took the oak first, and with my dagger I cut a small hole into the soil of the field. With the lack of moisture in the ground it was more of a struggle than usual, more effort required to provide the sustenance to allow the tree to grow, but grow it did. Up and up – and wider and wider.

There were startled shouts from the shepherds, but I kept going. A small five-foot trunk wouldn't be enough, it needed to be bigger.

But not taller, I quashed its desire to grow skyward and favoured expanding its core. Drawing out a great hollow in the trunk and expanding it inward even as I pushed the trunk wider to grow around it. There was a strain here I hadn't felt since Calebren's exercises, not a feeling of running out of Mana, but a limit to the amount I could channel in any one moment. At most I could handle three, maybe four, of these in a row before I was tapped out.

Breathing out heavily I stepped back to admire my handiwork; the interior was shadowed but not dark, the doorway tall enough... for me. Ah, I'd need to fix that for the next ones. But the inside itself was perhaps ten foot by ten foot, with enough height for a storage loft. Not grand accommodation, not a true home, but enough space in which to live.

"It'll do," I said, nodding in satisfaction. Now to make a few more before returning home; I could inform Darius later.

And… add the chimney. Which I had forgotten while I was working. This was going to be something of a learning experience.

-oOoOo-

It was two days into my working on the tree shelters that we received an unexpected guest. Half a dozen of them had technically already shown up, but only this one was human. I didn't count Heather and Joseline as unexpected as they were sure to come down anyway.

"I'm somewhat surprised you actually came," I said to Rachel after greeting and bringing her in, making myself smile even though I felt more like yawning. Sleep helped a lot with the exhaustion of growing masses of tree houses, but I still felt an ache in my chest from all the magic I was using. "Did you have trouble finding me?"

She snorted and shook her head. "I just asked. Said 'I'm looking for the witch' and they all got helpful. Good folk you've got, not what I expected from townies at all."

"Bit of an awkward time to turn up, my house is a little cramped with everyone else here–" There was a yell, Emma shouting at Richard and I could feel her starting to chase him around my garden. "–and, well." I looked at the raven pecking at a chunk of bread I'd put out for it. The rest were outside eating up the berries growing on my bushes. "Won't be long till we're all off again."

Most of the ravens had shown up in an unkindness yesterday, following just after Heather and Joseline arrived. Landing, staring, and cawing at us as one; a raven for each of us who had been to Tal'Doren in the past, even Emma.

The greedy bugger eating my bread had come with Rachel and was the first one to talk rather than just cawing and croaking at us. Saying ‘come, come’ over and over again until I bribed it to shut up.

As annoying as it was, it did make me wonder. Did the men get foxes coming to their homes to collect them? If the Fox Speaker called a meeting would foxes come to my house to tell me there was a meeting, yowling at me until I listened?

Rachel waved a hand, dismissing her short stay here as a non-issue. "Easier this way, honestly. I live in the North Headlands, you know? Up in a valley. You're not the route I normally take but it's pretty close. Halfway there already. 'Sides, this way I got company for the trip." She sipped at the tea I'd put out for her. "Still got them lessons on offer?"

I nodded. "I've a whole book of them written up if you want a copy. Made it over the winter for my cousin. But you're welcome to sit in with the kids when I give them lessons; we're currently working on imbuements and woodshaping. Celestine's better than me at both–" I glanced at the stairs where the sleepy little gnome was moving. She wasn't much of a morning person. "–and Frazzle is good at enchanting in general, not just nature imbuements, and has been lecturing on what she knows if you want to learn."

Near enough as soon as I finished talking the pink-haired gnome stepped off the stairs and came through the door, rubbing at her eyes. She saw the two of us and blinked, yawning widely. '"Morning Gwen," She mumbled, deciding to ignore Rachel entirely.

My guest, who had very clearly never seen a gnome before turned and stared. And kept staring as Frazzle staggered her way across the kitchen to my stove, snapping her fingers and lighting the firewood inside – without even bothering to open the firebox. She quickly set about making herself a cup of tea, grabbing her stool so she could reach the countertops.

"Morning Frazzle," I said, holding back my amusement at Rachel's dumbfounded stare.

The young woman turned to me, jabbing her thumb at Frazzle and mouthing words. I was miserable at reading lips... but I could guess what she was saying.

"Frazzle's a gnome, an old friend from Dalaran. She came by after some... bad news." I shrugged, I didn't want to elaborate more than that to someone I didn't know very well. I'd have to tell Lorna and Vivi soon. Crowley's desire to keep his daughter from worrying be damned. "If you're worried, don't be. The townsfolk are more scared of her than me."

"Which is silly," Frazzle mumbled sleepily, "I'm not a warmage! Gwen's been in more fights than me, spent time learning how to use magic to hurt people, and got praised by one of the mean instructors... All I ever did was the basic Fireball and Frostbolt practises. Don't even know how to cast a blizzard, not my speciality at all I'm more of a..."

She kept rambling on as she made her tea, and all I did in response was smile and sip my own as if it were perfectly normal.

-oOoOo-

"Vivi, Emma. Emma, Vivi." I said, introducing my friend to my cousin. After doing it so bloody often lately I was getting a little sick of doing it. "Celestine, Vivianne Mistmantle, Vivi, my former teacher Celestine." I sighed, rubbing at my eyes. It didn't help that I was feeling tired even though I was sleeping well, and magic couldn't help at all.

Not when it was the cause of my tiredness.

After the first group of refugees had settled into the shelters, refurbished by Crowley's men to have a stone lining on the firepit, heavy canvas and furs covering the door, and some basic chests for storing things, I'd realised just how needed they were. One of the women, with two young children in tow, was someone I knew. Cassandra of Turin's Clearing. They'd been on the other side of the wall, and after what happened to them last time... the entire village had picked up and left.

She had looked so empty and had thanked me so profusely, not even recognising me, that I couldn't just sit back and make a few a day. I'd been pushing myself, and maybe a little too hard. The ache in my chest was worse than it had been even when Instructor Calebren had been making me train my endurance.

I was going to have to cut back.

The others had helped, a little. Trix and Richard had teamed up to grow one, only to need Celestine to step in and stop it from going wonky and finish it. Celestine herself worked with Emma to grow four more over the last few days, and Heather and Joseline got another one done. It was a stark difference to me from where I'd been growing five or six each day.

Sometimes I forgot just how much more magic I could handle than the other Witches. Trix and Celestine were the closest, but the former really didn't have the control needed yet and was far better at healing.

That was what she had the most practice with after all.

Eugh, my mind was wandering badly. Catching and losing trains of thought all over the place. What was I...? Oh right, introductions. I waved for Vivi to go ahead first.

"Hello, Lady Celestine," Vivi said politely, performing a  little curtsy as if she were meeting someone of equal rank. "And you as well, Emma. Gwen's told me all sorts of stories about you both! I'm happy to finally meet her family."

I stared at her strangely formal speech, Vivi was acting weird. She wasn't at all like this around Mama; if anything she was rather rude to my mother when she saw her. I should visit Mama again soon, maybe before I left for Tal'Doren? But I could be growing more trees in that time.

"Hi," Emma mumbled as she stared intently at Vivi. "You're not like Gwen said you were." She said bluntly.

Vivi's cheeks flushed indignantly. "I was trying to be polite," She said calmly. "Is it so wrong to want to make a good impression on my friends' family?"

"I appreciate the thought but we hardly deal with nobility often," Celestine said, her lips quirking upward. For some reason Celestine seemed amused, but I was too tired to care why. "Though perhaps that'll change soon."

I hummed, which quickly turned into a yawn. "Sorry Vivi, can't chat right now. I've got a lesson to start soon. Kind of a big one, and then there are trees to grow after..." I sighed. I hadn't even been in my workshop for more than a few moments since I started. "Probably going to be busy for a while."

Vivi's lips curled down sadly, an expression I hated to see on her, but she quickly forced them back into a semblance of a smile. "Can I practise in your garden while I do? It's always more peaceful here."

"That'd be nice." I smiled back.

"What kind of practice?" Emma asked as we moved into the garden proper from the house.

Trix, Heather, Rachel, Richard, Frazzle, Harold and Trent, Triss and Marigold. Even a couple of the less regular ones, Eustace – one of the only adults worth a damn, and a decent herbalist before I got to her – and little Merrie, my youngest student. At times I wondered if Merrie's mother thought I was a daycare or something, six was a little young, but she lived barely twenty minutes away and Merrie did enjoy the lessons... and had learned to read and write better than a fair number of folk twice her age due to being put with me. So there was certainly reason enough to want her here.

If she wasn't so quiet I'd have more issues with it, but she was a peaceful girl. She’d even managed to coax a raven to eat scraps of food right in front of her while she watched and occasionally patted it.

As today's lesson was on imbuement, the same as it had been for my students since spring and what Rachel wanted to learn most, Celestine was helping me. Using the oak that had been on my property from before I built my house to demonstrate woodshaping and imbuing it with the concept like she had for me back when I was still just starting to learn from her.

Her methods of teaching had changed, explaining more of the steps of what she was doing, why she was using the shapes she was, the thoughts she had and the intent she was putting into it.

I explained the various different aspects, the ones Holdfort had told me, and how they related. Everything had a meaning behind it and not everyone saw things the same way, but some were effectively carved into the Magic of the world due to their extensive use, rendering them universal.

At times Celestine seemed distracted by Vivi – not that I wasn't either, she was always breathtaking. But today she was showing off by taking steps out onto the river and back without breaking the water's surface.

I had no idea when she'd learned to do that. I had no idea it was something she could even learn to do.

But, under the surface of the river, something was working to support her feet. The flow of water itself pushing up to give her a surface to stand on. I was kind of jealous, though far more amazed, she'd cracked some kind of water elementalism before me. Not that I'd been trying terribly hard...

It took me a minute to realise that all of us were staring at Vivi as she danced on the surface of the river, moving with its flow but never being washed away. A swing of her training sword grazed the water beneath her, cutting through it and dragging a stream out behind it. She whipped her sword out in a wide arc, slinging the water all the way across to the far side as a blade that cut into the grass and soil.

Her sword was still sheathed in water, flowing in undulating waves along its length, as she triumphantly stepped back onto the shore.

"Impressive!" Frazzle yelled, starting to clap. "An excellent performance, there was an astonishing amount of force behind that strike – more than my frostbolts, I would think." There was a chorus of approval from the children, who joined in on the clapping.

Vivi stared at me expectantly, a wide smile on her face.

I walked up to her quickly, fighting to keep my face calm as sheer amazement warred with pride within me. I'd helped her start on this path, I honestly had no idea what path it was anymore but she was doing amazingly well at it!

"When did you learn to do that?" I asked, trying to sound casual.

She saw straight through me, her eyes lighting up from seeing I'd been enthralled. "While you were gone, the water... It talks. Like you showed me the wind does." She held up a hand and my little wind elemental friend washed over both of us. "Did you like it?"

Giving up on restraining my grin I nodded repeatedly. "Yes, yes I did. You were amazing! You can walk on water – you've got to show me how." I said excitedly, ignoring that I didn't have time for it. "I... you've come a long way, Vivi. Really, that..." The water blade? Water cutter? It wasn't any spell I knew from before, not one I could name. "It took me more than a year to turn my Astral magic into something cohesive enough to work as an attack. You..." I trailed off, laughing. "I don't know where you're going anymore, Vivi, but I'm going to love seeing where you take it."

I pulled her into a hug, my heart feeling full from the display. I didn't care that I could learn from what Vivi had figured out, my friend had done something incredible all on her own!

"Vivianne," Celestine said, startling me. Abruptly I backed off from the hug, my cheeks burning – somehow I forgot there was a sodding audience. "Lord Crowley asked that he have a representative at our coming meeting. I deferred, wishing to take his daughter's measure... but you are of noble birth, allied to him, and a student of Gwyneth." She spoke with authority, a tone of voice she rarely used. One close to the one that Old Grims used when she led the rite, or Crowley when he was ordering his men to act. "You may not know our ways fully but I say you have every right to attend. Do you accept?"

Vivi stayed still for a moment, a great deal of confusion showing on her face. But she quickly rallied. "I accept." She said, her hand slipping into mine and gripping it tightly. "I, I will need to speak with Lord Crowley to understand what it is he wishes me to represent him on, but if he is willing to permit me I will gladly represent his interests."

Celestine nodded. "Very well. Can Donovan carry the three of you, or can you fly without Lady Crowley? If not, you will have to travel with us the long way."

I shook myself out of my shock at what Celestine was offering. "Donovan won't be as quick as he could be, but he can do it. We'll have to travel light too but that we can manage." I'd be buffing that gryphon to hell and back to manage it, but I wasn't leaving Vivi behind!

A thought came to me. "Ah, Celestine, about the secret..."

She nodded again. "I should warn you, that all who approach our sacred place who are not inducted into our circle are not permitted to know the path. It will be Gwen's duty to ensure you do not know it, placing you into a slumber and carrying you a distance before you wake."

"I still accept!" Vivi declared. "I trust Gwen, she wouldn't hurt me."

For a third time, Celestine nodded. "Very well then, that is all. I hope to hear Lord Crowley's answer by tomorrow morning if at all possible." She stepped back, and suddenly all the kids rushed forward.

Asking Vivi question after question; who taught her the sword, what was it I taught her, how she walked on water, whether they could do it too, what she meant by the wind talking, and on and on and on and on. She looked completely overwhelmed, but I just squeezed her hand and smiled at her. I dealt with this more days than not, she could handle it for once.