And so the days passed. Aunt Marie now expanded her house to have two separate rooms. One for me and Stella, and another for herself. It was impressive how she managed to make those two extra rooms by manipulating the wood into different shapes and sizes.
She also taught us many different things about our people. Ranging from different types of magic and alchemy to history and culture.
She told us that every Witch is capable of learning almost all types of magic. However, all Witches are born with a specific type of magic that they're more proficient in that's usually passed down through generations.
Our family, the Karkrow, is more proficient in animal transformation.
Stella turned out to be very adept at this type of magic. She's been practicing it since she was my age in secret from our mother.
I, on the other hand, can barely maintain a partial transformation.
"You're not confident enough." Aunt Marie said to me one day. "Using magic is not the same thing as making a potion. There is no recipe on how to do it. You can only use magic to its fullest potential when you embrace that power inside you, and let it happen naturally."
"Easier said than done…" I respond as I try to concentrate on this said power inside me.
I've done it before, for a few seconds when Stella started to teach me. Back then it didn't felt this… Strange. Maybe it's because that was my first time doing it. But now that I know much more about magic and what it means to be a Witch, I just feel more uncomfortable doing it.
I keep trying to bring that warmth I felt back then but to no avail.
The only thing I can think of is our life before all this. A life that I cannot go back to.
Maybe that's why I feel strange trying to use magic now. This is what we were born to do. This is what our life should have been since the beginning.
But… I just feel more and more out of place as the days go by…
On top of teaching us magic, Aunt Marie also told us how our society works.
Most Witches prefer to stay isolated in different parts of the land. The majority of them stay in the Morrygan Woods. The biggest forest in the world.
Inside the Morrygan Woods, there are some small settlements inhabited by Witches, but the biggest one of them all is the town of Sariora
Over 200 Witches live there and this is where The Council of Witches, also known as the 11 Blackthorn Daughters, meet.
One important thing Aunt Marie made sure we remember, is that those eleven Witches aren't the rulers of our society. They are only a collection of the strongest and/or wise Witches that try to protect and maintain peace between us in a more organized faction.
Witches go against the very concept of a single group or individual ruling over others. We prefer to be the owners of our own decisions and actions.
However, nowadays the Council has very little stake in the lives of other Witches. Especially for those who live outside Sariora.
Days became weeks, and weeks became months. Winter came and went like a blur as we keep on living our lives as proud Witches.
Stella has already started to learn other types of magic. She seemed very happy with how things are going now.
Me on the other hand, I've been focusing a lot more on practicing alchemy. I guess I'm still not ready to adopt the life of a true Witch.
Aunt Marie didn't approve of it at first, but after I learned how to make wine better than her, she became very supportive of my practices.