#withcs cauldron

[scribblesandsnaps]

Coldron

Last leaf of autumn falls rocking gently in air’s cradle lands on frost bitten Earth downed with feather light touch Beginnings of descent into entanglement below birthed into dark synaptics subterranean superhighways Here underneath it all decompositional companionship dance of loamy littered seepage death teeming with new life Swirling in winter witch’s cauldron brewing spells of…

[luxmaeastra]

After Cassandra's kingdom fell by Fion's hand her children fought over what was left. That didn't last more than a year two before another Asteri took the throne.

Etele had a soft spot for the Fae, and under her tutelage and protection they flourished. For 500 years they grew into mighty kingdoms and courts. They enslaved the Witches that Cassandra had so dearly loved.

But no Fae King or Queen had been able to take the ancestral seat of the witches. The Sumarlidi kingdom had existed longer than Etele's kingdom has. It was the birthplace of Heketah the Patron Goddess of witches, the first Witch to give rise to her kind. It was said her Grimoire and Cauldron were holy relics. Thousands of withces had made pilgrimages to see those relics. Even fewer had studied them.

This all changed a decade after Nirtea. Hypaxia remembered the fae at their gates. The palpable fear she'd felt. She hadn't felt afraid or much of anything since Nirtea. But she knew then that they'd lost. Her grandmother Rhiannon had cursed the land to never grow or be hospitable for any fae. That till her blood came to settle her again this land would a wasteland.

Hypaxia's family (what was left of them) fled to Achlys's kingdom acorss the sea. They took what they could unable to get to Cauldron in the confusion.

Her aunt Achlys was delighted and relieved to receive them. For the first time in many years Hypaxia felt seen. Her mother had broken after Nirtea lost to the Visions. Her father too focused on her had pawned his remaining children to her maternal grandmother. Now even Rhinanon was dead and her family kept fucking shrinking. She didn't miss that crone, the welts and scars she'd received from her would always be there. But at least she'd noticed her, had taken an interest in her.

Hypaxia had another decade of relative peace. The family her aunt and father descended from, the dark fae side ruled the many islands fae from the continents. The Isles of Rotting Jewels the fae had called it. All that lush land and bounty ruled by dark fae who refused to barter with anyone else. And her aunt ruled all of it. She care for her subjects and protected them. Hypaxia was always a bit awed and appreciative of that.

But of course nothing good could last in her life could it? The witches were fully revolting another decade in. 20 years since Nirtea when she'd first tasted loss and now at 36 she felt she'd take more.

Achlys twin Melinöe had gone to get some Asteri out of the villages witches were laying waste to.

But she'd never came back. Hypaxia remembered how quiet that day had been. Rigelus and her had just stood by the throne room doors hearing the rising voices.

This wasn't just another death. This wasn't another unfortunate atrocity.

Rigelus swallowed fiddling with his cufflinks. His hadn't stopped shaking.

"If Achlys declares war they won't recover."

They, the world, the witches and fae about to be caught in the crossfire between two gods. Hypaxia stared at the doors. Melinöe had always been kind to her, delighted by her even.

Her mate, Oristes had been calm, relaxed in a court that was anything but that. Between Rigelus and her they'd lost nearly all their family. Rigelus she was sure was trying to focus on the practicalities of war. He'd been fighting since he was 16, since his sister Eosphoros had taken Etele's throne some ten years ago. They'd seen each other at get togethers, at family events. They'd grown close watching their families come together.

Melinöe and Oristes were never a showy couple. They were never overly romantic like Achlys and Korok or her father Adulvar and her mother Tersa. But Hypaxia had watched them both all the same. The way their love had been quiet and strong. How Melinöe had made it her mission to give something to smile at when they were at balls. She knew Oristes rather be in his workshop Making weapons.

Rigelus's family was powerful, an old Asteri noble family. He descended from one of the first Asteri queens. His uncle Oristes had mated Melinöe, a Changeling that had ascended into an Asteri just like her twin Achlys had.

Etele's brother Korok had been powerful playing with life and death better than necromancer before him could. It was all a tangled web and thinking about all the ways this could end horribly gave her a headache.

So Hypaxia decided to stop thinking and looked to Rigelus.

"If your sister does they won't either."

In the end the war between Midgard and the Golden Court went to their war.

Hypaxia stared at Aleksander, the ruins of the village still smoldering behind him. She knew of him of course, anyone alive in this never ending war knew The Darkling. The whispered threat that had killed fae and witch alike to forge his warped vision of freedom.

She stared at him listening to him.

"What did - the Asteri you killed in the early days of the war. What did they look like? The female, did she have blue eyes and hair that was golden? Did the male with her - "

She swallowed hoping this was wrong. Rigelus had such high hopes for him. He had such optimism for this male.

"Did the male have powers over the earth and nature?"

Anastasiya glanced toward them setting her blade down agaisnt a tree. Her face streaked with dirt and dried blood. Still her sharp eyes took her in. She shrugged at her and looked back to the smoldering village.

"Does it matter what those Asteri look like? They were saving their own letting the witches who lived in that village languish. Under Etele they'd barely survived. And when the revolts got bad she sent others to beat them down. Two Asteri dead in that village means very little against the scores of the witches they burned and drowned alive."

Hypaxia swallowed trying to speak again the sharp pang of grief.

"You speak as if you were there."

Had she been? She'd have been in her 20s. The Anastasiya she remembered from Nirtea would have never lifted a sword. The Anastasiya she knew them was scared of her own magic too.

Anastasiya finally met her eyes, looking as if she knew. As if she knew exactly why she was asking these questions.

"We were. The ones you mentioned were the one overseeing the executions. I made sure they felt the pain their inflicted on the witches. Aleksander finisher them off."

Hypaxia shut her eyes bracing her hand on a nearby tree. Her knees crumbled and she slid to her knees. She mind flashed to Azriel, the way he'd stared at her when she'd first told him her story. Had he known then? Had he knew when she'd first let him into her bed? When he'd patched her up after a nasty scrimmage with the forces of fae under Midgard and the loyalists?

But then the war wasn't that simply clean cut. Midgard was against any group that was loyal to Achlys and fought in her name. Achlys felt the same for anyone siding with Midgard and Eosphoros.

Hypaxia swallowed her nausea and looked to Aleksander venom in her voice as she hissed at him.

"Your acts tore my family apart do you understand that? Do you even care what your consequences of your actions reap?"

Why did she think he cared what she thought? The fact she was standing there in front of him spouting her mouth was an annoyance, that she viewed those beings are someone to get upset over. If she considered her family so wonderful, then why was she there?

He felt the warning though, he could feel Anastasiya down the bond warning him from saying anything. The bite was there, the annoyance that they were wasting their time, but he knew she was trying to keep them from going down this path and madness.

"The only consequences were paid by your family, I am sorry for you loss."

[witchescompendium]

Here is a little idea I came up with for my “magical plants” 

I am using the plastic cauldrons as flower pots. Just like with the images here, I transplanted my aloe plant into this cauldron. 

Now that it is after Halloween, you may be able to find these relatively cheaply, I have a few others which I intend to plant herbs in the spring, I failed to get out and about this year to start my Herb garden this year. 

Now my space is pretty limited as far as where I can keep them, due to my living situation, but I am hoping to be able to make a small garden in a pot to keep around with all the basics I may need, and then perhaps my fellow blogger here will be able to keep the others at his place, where there is more room and as that is our covens gathering spot. 

But i thought this was a neat idea and wanted to share it. if you use this send us pics, we would love to see and as always until next time. 

Blessed Be

- Eric