Rune Magic

4: Blood and Bone

.^^ the Bone Athame ^^

— James —

We made our way into a different portion of the house, which up into a massive greenhouse, one half normal garden, and the other half filled with all the avionics one would need to grow several types of magical herbs.

In layered trays, six high and twelve across, they were organized thoughtfully, according to the different frequencies of light necessary for every type plant, providing the specific amount of 'sunlight' needed for optimum growth, while they all floated in a thick bed of vitamin-rich magic-filled mud.

I nodded slowly. "Impressive..."

"Oi! Who's this fuck? I was sleepin, I was!" A mandrake growled.

"Shut up, Mandrake, no one cares if you were sleeping, plants don't sleep. You're being dramatic." A Helheim Ice-Flower said derisively.

"Ooh, coming from you, Ice-Queen?" They bickered, and I sighed.

"What's wrong?" Siobhan asked, concerned.

"Your mandrake is an asshole, and the Ice-Flower is being a bitch, but most of these plants are entirely non-sentient, as I said they would be. Trees are generally the only non-magical plants that have voices." I explained.

She raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

"Yes." I nodded.

"Huh... well, what about the magical plants? Are they happy with their placements?"

"Not at all, but they won't be happy if you move them, either. They like to bicker. I made the mistake of rearranging my collection of Bonsai, one time? Did not go well." I snorted.

"So... they don't like where they are, but if I move them, they'll be even more ornery?" She asked.

"Only I would hear it, but yes. They just like to bicker, as I said." I nodded.

She hummed. "Alright... Not what I expected, to be honest..."

"Did you expect something from Alice in wonderland, where they sing and dance and give directions?" I asked dryly.

She smiled. "Maybe a little. But now I teach you some more. Let's go see the library, child."

"We're already done with the practical testing?" I asked.

She nodded. "I just wanted to see your knowledge of Runes, but it's clear you have a decent repertoire. Now I'll show you how to carve them in the air, the most basic of Skald skills, and the most used, as well."

"Alright, sounds good." I nodded, and bid the plants goodbye, then followed her into the stairwell, which we took all the way up to the top floor, the sixth story. This floor was the only one that didn't have the cut-out in the middle, looking down on the dining room.

She sat us both down at a small table, one of many, scattered around the large library, nearly the same size as the one in Athenos's Basement. "Alright! First, you'll need an instrument to carve the Runes. An Athame, or Wand." She said calmly.

I sighed. "Of course wands are real. I hoped they weren't, but here we are..."

She smiled. "Yes, my children were loathe to use the tool as well, but here we are. Try this." She set a small wooden dagger in front of me, and then traced a Rune in the air, which meant 'Balance'. "Trace that, if you will. Get a feel for it." She nodded.

I picked up the wooden dagger, and set the tip against the Rune, tracing it slowly. The tip heated up, on contact with the white Rune, as if it was meeting fire, but fire with actual substance. Like Crystal.