Snow Rose

Mitra was a young witch who had recently graduated from the ‘royal witchcraft and sorcery’ academy’! The difference between the 2 is that witchers and witches gained their power from the world around them, mana that existed all around! Whereas sorcerers required connections to the leylines which were few and scarce, as a result, witches and witchers could recover their mana over time but sorcerers required potions and could only recover mana in designated spots. 

Mitra, was a 19 year old witch who wished to help people in life. Her gift was that of blood control. She could with her magic control the blood in living creatures and outside of them, however, in an unfortunate twist of fate, it so happened that Mitra was hemophobic, meaning she feared blood and couldn’t stand the sight of it. As a result, upon graduation from the academy and realization of her own weaknesses she decided to isolate herself and live in the forest outside the city.

Her home was in the northern kingdom and that is where she resided. She still was capable of brewing potions and medication but the constant stream of requests she was unable to fulfill led her to fleeting the city and living in isolation. She would still be visited on occasion by merchants and doctors of the city, often with order lists for potions of varying complexity and medications. Those were mostly simple tasks for her and in exchange, she would request supplies for those very potions and food rather than money.

Mitra enjoyed the peaceful life as a supporting character away from the city where people did not home to her with requests she’d be hesitant to take upon due to her phobia. She worked hard on trying to find a cure but all her efforts were in vain. Still, she found what she enjoyed and was still able to put her skills to good use and be helpful to people.

Occasionally, she would venture into the frosted forest in search of specific ingredients which she could obtain herself, such as ‘crystal icicle, frostshrooms, eggs of the winter dwelling essin (which were a type of bird), molted skin of the snow spiders’ and some other more basic ingredients such as the bark of the pine, pine needles, dried oak leaves, and so on. 

It was dawn, Mitra got dressed, threw on her heavy wool coat and snowshoes, and headed out. The weather was timid, the wind was light and the temperature was no colder than negative 15C which was quite bearable. Mitra had to hike quite the distance to the frozen caves since she needed a crystal icicle and snow spider molt. It was an easy trip for her and took about 1.5 hours of walking to get there. She was accustomed to the cold so she enjoyed her hike.

The trip was rather uneventful as was the venture through the caves. She collected the necessary ingredients but struggled finding a snow spider’s nest in the caves, as if something drove them out. Usually, she’d find plenty of nests just by the entrance but something seemed off, still, she went onwards deeper into the caves. She never had the necessity to go past the 2nd fork before.

She took out a crystal and drew an arrow on the wall before taking a right, heading into the unknown. Although it was said that the caves had been explored and secured before, it has been about 5 years since the last time the guards checked the caves. ‘It’ll be fine Mitra… deep breaths like professor Ulter taught you!’. She took a deep breath and then held it in – ‘breath out fool!’ she reminded herself and giggled before heading in. 

She pulled out her necklace and whispered something in a language that was different from her regular, her necklace began to glow, and the path before her illuminated. She went onwards bravely, admiring and memorizing the path and the patterns of the cave. It didn’t change much but it got much darker much faster. She searched on and on, hours passed, and yet she still couldn’t find a single snow spider nest. She figured she’ll investigate this issue further another time and should head home for now.

By this point it was early afternoon, the trip back home wasn’t going to be particularly challenging but she did not wish to delay it any further as a merchant from the city was to visit before sunset to pick up his order. As she stepped out of the cave she felt as if something landed on her pack! She carefully removed the pack and examined it and the contents, checking her shoulders, she spotted nothing out of ordinary and blamed it on her imagination.

The journey back was just as easy and pleasant as it was to the caves, until she spotted it! A herd of deer making their way through the forest. Mitra, like most witches, favored nature and animals over humans and industry! She found herself admiring the deer from a distance in awe, following them carefully to not spook them as she noted to herself that deer are rarely seen in these parts of the forest. ‘Yet another abnormality’ she thought. 

At that moment she felt as if something crawled onto her head, but she was not easily spooked, no single creature in existence could ever frighten a witch who learned to live in harmony with nature. She carefully lifted her hand up to her hood, removing the glove she tried to feel for a creature or mayhaps a branch that fell onto her head, but yet again, there was nothing.

She put the glove back on and then took a slight detour to avoid starling the deer as she headed onwards towards her home. The weather was still as pleasant as it had been when she left home so it was easy to navigate. She had almost made it all the way back home when she spotted something glinting in the snow but a dozen meters away. Curious as she was she made her way towards the glint and as she got closer, her mouth opened in awe. 

Snow rose blossomed just barely out of the shadow of a mighty oak. Said to be 1 of the 3 rarest plants in the whole world, finding a snow rose was seen as a sign of best fortune, and any merchant would purchase it from you for an astronomical price since the aristocrats loved to gift their daughters and spouses these rare plants. Snow rose was a magical plant that nether withered so long as it was kept planted in the perma-snow that it would blossom in. 

It is said that the snow in which the snow rose grew would never melt and the plant would never wither unless it was broken. Although the plant was considered immortal due to nether withering, it was also quite brittle so handling it required attention and care. Mitra carefully sat her pack on the snow as she took out a simple shovel and an ice pick and began to carefully dig out the rare plant, admiring its beauty while she worked on digging it out. 

Not even an hour passed and Mitra held a ball of snow from which the rose grew in her hands. She carefully sat it back on the ground and packed her tools, put her pack back on her back, and picked the rose back up. Her home was but mere 15 minutes away and Mitra knew better than to rush her trip back now that she held something so valuable in her hands. 

She carefully made her way back without any incidents and planted the rose in a simple clay pot, setting it on the table in the sunlight. The snow rose glittered like a night sky filled with stars. It was as if perfectly carved out ice sculpture, frozen in time and filled with beauty beyond that which words could describe. She took her time to organize other materials that she had gathered and sat down to write a diary of her journey, making emphasis on the abnormalities she had encountered. 

Merely an hour or so passed when a knock on the door pulled her attention from the diary. She opened the door and Mister Sterl came in, grunting and panting as he cleaned his boots on the rug and took his hat and scarf off – “My, Mitra, how do you survive in this wilderness??” he said as he enjoyed the warmth of her house. The witch chuckled as she went to pour him a cup of hot liquid from the cauldron “I guess I like the weather to be as cold as my heart”. 

The merchant took the cup and hastily drank from it, his body warmed instantly and he let out a sigh of pleasure and relief – “Gahhh! Just perfect! Your herbal tea never fails to satisfy me!” He took another sip and looked around. Mitra just nodded respectfully and went to get a crate filled with glass vials from a shelf behind the cauldron in the kitchen which connected to the main hall where the merchant now stood. 

Suddenly a sound of the wooden cup falling on the floor and a splash sound made Mitra shriek, she turned around in haste and noticed the merchant standing with his mouth wide open, his posture could best be described as ‘Raccoon that got caught stealing food in middle of the night and is standing in the spotlight’. He attempted to speak but only “i…i….is…..i….is…” came out of his trembling mouth, his gaze fixated on the rose which sparkled so beautifully that the man was left speechless. 

Mitra let out a sigh of relief and brought the crate over to him, setting it on the floor she waved her hand before his face to bring him back to his senses. After a few dreamy blinks the man switched his gaze over to Mitra and stuttered – “is….is that….the….” she chuckled – “yea, snow rose, I found it earlier today, not sure I wanna sell it though!” He looked back at the plant which seemed out of this world and then back at her- “any price… i’ll pay any…”

Mitra grunted – “mhhgg! Not now!!! Mister Sterl, your order!” she did not raise her voice but she spoke firmly, standing her ground. The merchant looked down-  “ah yes! Of course, dear! As we agreed” he looked over the crate’s contents briefly – “that is 20 potions indeed. I’ll bring in the ingredients and food from my cart that is just outside.” Mitra nodded – “thank you as always” 

Merely a few minutes after leaving, Mister Sterl returned, carrying a crate of ingredients and a sack of produce sitting on top of it. He sat the items down on the floor and stretched – “Mitra, if you agree to sell the rose, I will purchase it for any price you desire! King himself would buy it off of you personally if you wish for it” She nodded her head and faked a smile- “Thank you, mister, I will think about it. A cup of herbal tea before you head back?” 

the merchant shook his head- “oh no dear, I’ve troubled you plenty, i’ll be out of your hair now. Thank you for your hospitality.” The merchant left and Mitra sat down at the table, gazing upon the snow rose, the beauty of which was captivating, mesmerizing even. She couldn’t help but let it draw her in, realizing now why the nobles loved these things so much. Sure, it was pretty useless as anything but a decoration, but its beauty was otherworldly. 

Without even realizing it, she fell asleep at the table, what awoke her later that night was a strange screech. As she blinked sleepily coming to her senses she could see two shades illuminated by the moonlight shining through the window, standing on the table right before her, each on either side of the clay pot. The shapes were small, multi-legged, and fuzzy looking. 

As she awoke and sat back in her chair, focusing her vision on the strange creatures which now realized they woke her up, they froze in place and turned to look at her. Before her stood 2 spider-like creatures, 4 legged and bodyless. They were as if the shadow manifested and took shape. They appeared to have no physical body but were more akin to spirits, or mayhaps elementals. 

They did not appear to have distinct heads, instead, their bodies appeared to be both a body and a head at the same time. They possessed no face per human definition of a face, or head, instead, they seemed to sprout a semblance of an eye anywhere on their body at any given time. The 2 fuzzy creatures stared at the awake human before them, a smaller eye appeared on each creature, facing each other as they blinked, but otherwise stood completely still.

Aside from their shape-changing and distorting due to their nature. Mitra scratched her head as she tried to think of a creature she’d have learned of at the academy that’d match these things, yet she couldn’t think of any. The creatures did not appear hostile, nor did they appear to be frightened either, however they did appear to express interred in the snow rose. Mitra carefully placed her hand on the table and lifted a finger, watching the fuzzy creatures.

The creatures sprouted yet another eye and observed her hand carefully as it landed on the table not far from them. They were no larger than a hedgehog in size. The 1 closer to her hand extended 1 of its legs towards her hand, the leg seemed to grow in length until it stopped merely a few centimeters away and then retracted back. 

Mitra couldn’t help but giggle at the strange communication attempt and apparent shyness of the strange creatures. The creatures blinked at each other once more and in unison in a very high-pitched and childish voice, they replicated her giggle and giggled as well. Mitra froze in shock for a moment and then spoke softly – “do…do you understand me?” The creatures looked at each other again and then sprouted another eye on their bodies facing Mitra.

They replied in unison, in the same high-pitched childish voice “Yes we do!” Mitra pulled her hand back in shock not expecting a reply – “uhh. What are you?” her mind rushed through possibilities -’spirits, minions, elementals, demons’ she was a little nervous and a bead of sweat formed on her forehead as she reached for her amulet. 

The creatures’ eyes all disappeared except the ones that were looking at Mitra as they spoke in unison once more – “ We are Urtid, I am Urtid. We seem home! Home with a witch! We seek to serve! We seek to help!” Their words did not particularly instill trust and confidence but at least she felt no threat in its speech – “wait hold on! You said ‘we are urtid, i am urtid.’ Elaborate please” 

The creatures took a step towards her and performed a gesture which Mitra could best interpret as a ‘courteous bow’, as they spoke again – “Urtid is a mind of all. We are creatures of Urtid connected and thinking as one! A colony of Urtid is but one Urtid in mind” The creatures looked at each other and then back at Mitra who seemed lost in thoughts.

Mitra nodded – “I see! You’re a hivemind! Like a colony of bees, working together. But then, how come I never heard of your species in the academy?” She pondered as she focused all her senses on the creatures and held her necklace, which resembled a metallic teardrop with several rules and a sun engraved on it, with her left hand.

 The creatures replied – “we exist only for a short term. When a witch or witcher of blood, darkness or nature find snow rose, we the Urtid spawn to serve the witch or witcher for 7 days, all memory of us is erased as we despawn by the end of 7th day”

Mitra’s gaze traveled upwards from the fuzzy creatures to the snow rose sitting on the table, glittering in the moonlight just as beautifully as it did in the sunlight. – “blood, shadow or nature… How come specifically those types and not others? Surely a witch of frost would be included per logical assumption.” 

The creatures performed a gesture which resembled shaking of the head, or in their case, vigorous shaking of their bodies side to side, like a wet dog shaking up after swimming in the river, which made Mitra chuckle a little. “Blood witch can activate the power of the rose to bring back the dead.” Said the right creature. “Shadow witch can activate the power to summon a demon” said the creature on the left. 

“The witch of nature can make the rose witcher and leave behind seeds of ice which can revive a dying forest” said a voice from above. Mitra looked up to see another dozen of those fuzzy creatures littering the ceiling, in doing so she noticed several dozen more all around the room. They spoke in unison once more – “We will serve the great witch of blood, the chosen witch, in all her deeds!” 

Mitra smiled shyly – “So then, Urtid, what can you do?” The creatures watched her in silence, their phantom eyes blinking before they spoke again – “Anything you wish for, chosen witch, the witch of blood. We shall grant your wishes and desires, we have no limits.” Mitra chuckled – “oh like take over the country?” the creatures blinked – “Is that your wish oh witch of blood?” she shook her head- “NO NO NO!! That was a joke! A JOKE!!” she said in panic as she nervously looked around. 

The creatures all chuckled in unison to which Mitra replied – “Can you, for starters… speak from 1 body? It’s kind of creepy hearing about 50 voices speaking all at the same time.” she smiled nervously. One of the creatures, the 1 standing on the table, replied – “sure, my apologies oh great witch!” She chuckled – “oh please i’m not great! I’m hardly even able to use my powers for the good of people, let alone anything else.” She sighed as she looked at the rose.

“So… i do have an idea of what I would wish for” she said dreamily – “In the academy, they spoke of the ancient toad who knew the secrets to all human fears. Find it! I wish to know a cure to my phobia!” Urtid – “Is that your command oh great witch?” She nodded – “yes!” The creatures scattered the same instant, merely half a dozen remained as the others disappeared into the shadows.

A short, awkward silence later she spoke again – “is that it? I make a wish and you go and grant it? That’s easy?” Urtid replied – “Yes! And while most of me are searching for this toad, the remaining shall serve you here in any way you desire” She nodded as she pulled out her journal and wrote in it again, occasionally speaking without looking away from the journal – “say, the disappearance of the spiders in the frozen caves, does that have something to do with you?”

“No, the appearance of snow rose brings with it some disturbances to nature’s balance in the area. The spiders will return in due time” Replied Urtid. A short moment later – “ Blood witch can activate the power of the rose to bring back the dead, as an undead? Or a complete revival?” Urtid replied instantly – “Complete resurrection so long as the person who died has not been dead for more than 7 days”. Mitra made some notes on that in her journal and nodded

“And to activate it…??” She asked curiously. “Blood witch must let a single drop of her blood fall upon the snow rose and then activate it with her power of blood manipulation. The rose shall then be broken off and placed upon the body, it will then melt and the person’s life will be returned in exchange for the witch’s blood sacrifice.” 

The next few days Mitra spent pondering on when to use the rose, how to use it, and waiting for Urtid’s return with the toad, or information of its whereabouts. To her surprise, the almighty creature was sure taking a while to find this ancient mysterious toad. She thought it might have been no more than folklore, but Urtid reassured her that the toad will be discovered. On the 5th day Urtid woke her in the middle of the night – “Oh great witch! The toad is being brought back by your request, and will be here in no more than a day” 

The same morning Mister Sterl came bashing on her door – “Witch! We need you!” He sounded out of breath and in a rush.” Mitra opened the door to let him in and as she did so he fell to his knees, behind him stood a dozen of armed guards surrounding a chariot, a royal chariot. Urdit’s 6 bodies crawled all over Mitra as it observed the guards for any hostilities. “Mitra! The… the king needs you!” said the merchant as he crawled to Mitra and hugged her legs. 

Before Mitra had time to even respond, the carriage’s door swung open and from within, the king looked out, glancing at Mitra, but his facial expression was filled with nothing but sorrow. He picked something, or rather someone up and slowly walked down the steps from the carriage as the guards moved out of the way. He was carrying his young daughter in his hands, walking slowly towards Mitra’s house. 

Mitra observed in awe the king himself walking towards her, carrying the princess in his hands as the merchant crawled to the side and stood up – “She’s very ill! The princess is dying, if anybody can save her, it would be you Mitra!” said the merchant nervously – “All the best medics and healers couldn’t help her and you’re the only witch in the vicinity.” The king carefully made his way through the door and looked at his daughter who was breathing heavily, then at Mitra.

King did not speak a single word, his facial expression said everything there was to be said. Mitra nodded towards the bed – “Lay her down and make room, I’ll do what I can” Urtid’s 6 bodies crawled all over the sick princess as the King stood by observing silently. Princess was showing symptoms of acute curse. Half a day later of her best work and efforts, Mitra explained to the king that the curse is not something anyone short of a grand sorcerer could cure. 

King looked at Mitra, his face expressing nothing but sorrow, yet his eyes glinted with hope as he nodded softly – “try your best witch… I will grant you half the kingdom, anything you desire if you save my daughter!” He stepped out of the house and headed to the carriage, leaving Mitra alone in the house with the dying princess. Mitra tirelessly tended to the dying princess but she knew her efforts were in vain. 

Yet hopeful she was still and her hope did not fail her. Just as the clock hit midnight, Urdit’s numerous bodies emerged through the chimney, carrying with them a toad that seemed rather unhappy about being in this frigid temperature. The old toad looked at the witch, the rose, and the dying princess – “ah, no need to explain little witch” it spoke in an old woman’s voice. 

Mitra gasped, almost collapsing from exhaustion – “oh ancient toad, share your wisdom, help me save the life of an innocent girl that is dying on my bed. Tell me how to cure my fear of blood! It is said that you know the secret to human fear, that you alone can cure any phobia!” The toad looked at the rose – “snow rose and a dying girl, a witch of blood you must be! What prevents you from activating the resurrecting powers of the rose then?” 

Mitra sat down in the chair – “I have a tremendous fear of blood… even seeing a single drop could make me faint, cure my fear and I shall save the life of someone who is about to die from a curse.” The toad snickered softly – “heheh A witch of blood afraid of blood, what a twisted fate you have as a child,. very well… I’ll save the child by curing you, but you will owe me one favor which i shall not name until the time for it comes, will you take such bargain?”

Mitra did not hesitate – “I accept the deal with you oh ancient one” The toad leaped up onto Mitra’s head and started chanting in a tongue that was unfamiliar to even Mitra. Before long she found herself falling asleep. For the next few hours she struggled through the worst nightmares she had ever experienced. Almost like a constant torture of her facing her deepest rooted fears. She faced blood elementals, blood demons, blood spiders. She awoke with a sudden, terrified gasp.

Before her the toad sat – “I used an ancient spell of torment, it causes one to face their fears to an extreme point, but in doing so it erases that fear from their memory, I must’ve forgot to mention that it would not be a pleasant experience” the toad chuckled – “So say my child, what is your greatest fear?” Mitra looked at the toad and thought for a moment – “i… guess I’m kind of afraid of deep waters?” She felt as if something was missing, like a piece of herself was suddenly gone.

Mitra stood up and looked around, feeling uneasy, misplaced but still there. Confusion, discomfort, disorientation. Mitra couldn’t shake the strange feeling off – “wh..what did you do?”. “Oh, I erased your greatest fear, little one, is that not what you asked of me?” Replied the toad. “Uh, no.. I just feel like” the toad laughed – “like a piece of you is missing? Yes, I took some of your other memories and life force, that is the price you pay for my services, that is how I live!”

Mitra tried to control her emotions and discomfort – “Right, the princess!” She glanced over to her bed, where the still body of the princess rested.  “Ah, the little girly passed on but a couple of hours ago” Mitra went over to her bed, checking the princess who was indeed now dead. She glanced over to the table at the snow rose and remembered her plan. 

She approached the rose, pricked her finger with a knife laying on the table, and let a single drop of her blood fall onto the icy flower. The rose’s leaves grew larger and changed color, as did its stem and lastly the flower itself. As if a beautifully dyed ice sculpture, it glittered just as otherworldly in the moonlight as it did the first night.

She carefully grabbed the flower and broke the stem at the base and carried the magnificent flower across the room, holding it carefully, close to her body to keep it safe. As she approached the still corpse of the princess she sat on the bed beside her, uttering barely audibly – “please let my sacrifice not be in vain! Return the life and soul of this child for she had died an unfair death”. She carefully placed the rose on the princess’s chest. 

As soon as she did, the rose melted almost instantly and with a loud, shock-full, deep breath the princess suddenly sat up in bed, eyes wide from shock, body shivering, still cold, she was breathing uncontrollably. Mitra embraced the young princess – “Deep breaths, in… hold… and out” The princess regained the control of her breathing. After which Mitra called the king inside and explained to them both what happened. 

The king could not thank Mitra enough for both her sacrifice and for saving his daughters wife, however, Mitra desired no fame, fortune or power, she simply wished for a clinic in the city, and a workshop, so she could help more people with her powers. Although she had lost a part of who she was, she still remained the same, helpful and kind witch.