Playing Herbalist

    The oaken door shuddered and relented, opening wide for a yellow and white dappled horse. Brutus carried a large potted fern through the door, grunting as his purple robe dragged across the floor and snagged on the floor. The horse carried a heavy satchel over his shoulder, and it took more maneuvering than expected to successfully set the fern down on an end table without bumping his satchel.
    Brutus wiped his brow, testing the firmness of the fern's leaves. "This should do, Ms. Jensen. Your fronds are looking well kept."
    The plant said nothing in response, and the horse grinned. Sure, he could whip out a spell to talk to plants, but that would have defeated the original purpose. She'd turn back into her proper form in a day or two, and maybe would have learned not to pester him so much.
    He was hopeful that no one had seen him pop over to her home. He'd needed to collect Ms. Jensen in her fern-sona so he could keep his promise to her. It was dangerous for magically inclined folk to break their vows if they wanted to stay in good faith with their powers and customers. It helped that he needed to stock up a few more ingredients.
    The horse hummed to himself while he took out vials and pouches from his satchel, setting them gently before organizing his shelves. It was a simple routine of his. He wasn't obsessed about orderliness in practice, but, when one wrong label could mean the difference between a cure for hair-loss and a tornado next door, one could never be too careful. Brutus heard the door open and shut behind him, followed by the familiar clicking of claws on the wood floor. He peered out the nearest window.
    "Glad you made it here on time today, Markus," he said, glancing over his shoulder at the collie. 
    "Morning, Sir." The collie padded to Brutus. He peered over at the newly added house-plant. "Is that... you know..." he whispered conspiratorially.
    "Yup, that's her all right."
    "I prayed to the High Ones that you were only joking," Markus said, his face somber.
    Brutus laughed, running a hand through his short, black, mane. "Don't mention me to the High Ones, kid. I worry enough about setting myself on fire. I don't need them trying to torch me too."
    The collie hid a smirk and cleared his throat. "Fair enough. Is there anything you need done, Sir?"
    The horse waved a hand. "Not much today. Already finished the hair regrowth potion that the noble wanted. Though, you could help me clean." He eyed a broom on the other side of the room. "See if you can call it to you."
    Markus nodded. The canine took a relaxed stance and focused his eyes on the broom. He reached out a paw and stood still. He muttered an incantation under his breath and concentrated. The broom on the other side of the room shifted and shuttered before slowly gliding across the room, barely touching the ground. It then shot forward and fell, clattering to the ground right in front of the collie. He deflated, but felt the horse's hand patting his shoulder.
    "It's okay, Markus. You're making progress. Better than the time you got a face full of bristles." Brutus grinned, squeezing his shoulder a bit more. "Your incantation was a little off, but, we can work on that. Good job."
    The collie smiled back gently, nodding. Before he could respond, there was a knock on the door.
    "Coming!" Markus called, rushing to the door. He opened it promptly and smiled. "Hello, Mr. Albrite. What can we do for you today?"
    A panther stepped through the doorway wearing a worn smock. He fidgeted with the straps of his apron. "Um. Hello. Could I ask for some help?"
    Brutus tilted his head and nodded. "I can try my best. What ails you?" he asked, reaching for his conical purple hat with yellow stars.
    "It's about me wife. She gets these terrible aches. Normally Ms. Jansen helps me, but, she ain't in today," the panther said.
    Brutus kept his reaction neutral. "I see. Well, she and I tend to work in different fields, but, I may be able to find something that could help." He turned to Markus. "Find my books on poultices and remedies."
    "Yes, Sir!"
    "Come this way, Mr. Albrite." The horse led him to a chair to sit. "Please sit. So, what sort of aches does she have?"
    While Mr. Albrite spoke, Markus returned with a small stack of books. Brutus flipped through the pages while the panther spoke, tossing a few books off to the side until he narrowed down his selections to one. The spine cracked when he opened it. The pages were worn and the text was faded. Brutus carefully scanned through the book, a finger following along.
    "This should do it. The recipe is in High Dersin, so I'll need to translate a little. It won't be the same as what Ms. Jensen gives you, but, it should work better and for longer." On the other side of the room, he heard the fern's fronds shuffling angrily. The horse smirked and cracked his knuckles. "Alright, let's get started."
    Brutus set the book on a small table beside his cauldron and lit a fire underneath it. The collie helped him collect the necessary ingredients from his stores. Brutus set them in a neat line for each step of the potion. After double checking, he did the additions and the mixing, making sure Markus watched his work. After an hour, the mixture was bubbling in a deep yellow hue. The horse consulted his book once more and quirked an eyebrow.
    "It should be greener..." he pondered aloud. He read past the instructions and saw an addendum listing an incantation at the bottom of the page. Brutus sighed, "of course, they forgot to add this. My High Dersin is a bit rusty, but, it should still work."
    Brutus stepped back from the cauldron, bringing the collie back with him. He pulled out a focusing wand and pointed it towards his mixture. He gathered his will into a fine point, feeling the power starting to flow from his body and through the wand.
"Aazzradias ti porrsiculosi taadanrial esa rommunoolisi ti fanastafa," he spoke firmly.
But instead of feeling the power flow straight to the cauldron, he felt it go forward at first before zipping straight up through his tower. There was a rumble overhead.
"Markus," the horse whispered quietly, "check outside for me please." Brutus ran to the book and scanned the incantation. He cursed under his breath. "I'm rustier than I thought." The sky darkened overhead, dimming the tower. "Markus, what's going on out there?"
The collie was still for a moment. He looked at his mentor, some of the color drained from his face. "Snow is falling, but it's not white... it's red." 
"Is something wrong?" asked Mr. Albrite.
Brutus groaned, moving beside the collie. "This is why pronunciation is important, kid. It may not be a blood rain, but, blood snow is still gonna freak everyone out."
"Blood snow!?" the panther sputtered.
"See what I mean?" he said, motioning to his customer. The horse then addressed Mr. Albrite directly. "Yes. Don't worry, it's not like, people blood or anything like that. More just, blood that comes from a different plane or dimension. Or, I think that's how it is. Happens from time to time. I can fix it within the hour."
Brutus could tell how little his answer calmed him down. This was going to be a mess to explain. Half the town already thought he was a demon worshipper. If he didn't play it carefully, that noble may take off his head instead of paying him.
He swore that the fern on the table rustled its fronds in satisfaction.

~The End
4/24/19
By: Novak "Walto"