Realm of Galderia

chapter 34- Nocturnal Rites

That very same evening Veronica had begun to stir, returning from yet another day of strange dreams that made no sense. She sat up slowly and opened one eye, seeing that it was just past sunset, she rose from the bed. She dressed in an almost slow motion trance, as if she were a zombie. Once she was dressed and a little more coherent, she rang the bell on her desk and waited. She listened, tapping her foot in annoyance until one of the servants knocked on the door.

"You rang miss?" She asked with the polite manner of a British nanny.

"Yes, Gina would you bring me a cup of Dark witch brew?"

"Yes miss anything you wish. Would you care for anything else?"

"No, I think that's all, but could you make it a large cup?"

"Sure miss, I will return shortly." Gina replied bowing to Veronica, then heading out of the bedroom to get the witches brew prepared for the young mistress.

Feeling a little groggy, Veronica tried to force her mind to fully awaken. She wasn't sure why she was still tired, she had slept well, with only a few symbolic dreams that made no sense. She tried until she gave herself a migraine but couldn't remember what the symbol had been. It aggravated her to no end; she hated it when that happened. If it had not been important then why did she see it in the first place? She shook her head as if to remove the thought by force. It was not a moment longer when Gina arrived with a huge mug of Dark witches brew. Veronica smiled and then she rushed over to retrieve it.

"Thank you; of all the servants I have had in this castle, you're one of our best."

Gina blushed for just a moment before exiting Veronica's chamber tower of the castle.

Veronica waited for her servant to leave; she hated most of the staff, mindless idiots if you asked her. Gina had sense; she knew what to say and when to say it. Veronica couldn't stand the ones that would babble on. Sipping her Dark brew, she stared at the moon and began to think. She needed to figure out what the deal was with Ludwig, he hadn't been himself lately. He was obviously jealous of Galderian, but she needed to understand why?

 She took a gulp of her witches' brew. She needed to be patient, but she found it to be more and more difficult. She needed answers instead of questions. She took a deep breath, then set the large clay based mug down, and headed for her book of shadows and the amulet. She stared at it, as if she would sense something from it, but nothing. She opened up the book, hoping to find something within these worn pages that would help with her gargoyle troubles.

The real trouble was that she didn't even really know what it was she was looking for. She flipped through meditations and vision quests, there wasn't anything useful there. She rolled her eyes in frustration. She knew there had to be a spell or something in here that would help with the issue of the gargoyle. Slowly she turned each page, hoping she would find what she needed. She looked through her dark enchantments, with absolutely no luck in the matter. Veronica was beginning to feel the rage inside of her build, she was getting pissed off.

 It began to feel like soul burning pissed. She wanted to kick something, but she knew her best option was to keep her wits about her. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She began to chant for help, repeating it until the words were in tune with her own breath. Once her chanting had ceased, she walked over to retrieve the clay mug, slowly gulping down its contents.

She then turned back to the book determined to find something she could do about this mess with Ludwig and the raven. There had to be more to this than she knew. She could feel something, she just couldn't tell what. She skipped the section on Dark ceremonial magic, and began to dive into the section of Dark spirited necromancy and spells. She read through until almost all hope was lost, on the very last page she found exactly what she needed to do. She read over the spell several times, gathering a bag of outdoor essentials, she was giddy with excitement. Veronica was always excited when it involved her spell work. It seemed to give her a surge of magical energy that nothing else in her life could produce. It gave her a true sense of peace. She smiled as she scrambled for her things, and then headed out the chamber door and down the long winding  staircase.