My footsteps were taking me back one by one to the road I'd taken earlier that day when I left the inn where I'd taken shelter the night before, it was time to come back as the day was coming to its end. The rustle and crunch of leaves beneath my feet were the only sounds to disturb the peace of the forest in which I now stood. Thinking about the various objects and plants I'd found along the way and their next use, I didn't immediately notice the strange melody that was beginning to fill the air around me. Whispering at first, then a repetitive and disturbing litany. It seemed to gradually take over the space, as if it were inhabiting it, colonising it. Then a flash of blinding light stunned me.
I barely had time to realise what was happening to me that I was stunned to find myself in a completely different place, lost in the remains of an ancient monument. As for the time, it seemed to be the same, the sun's rays that were shining lightly on the surrounding stones were becoming less intense as the moon began to make itself visible in the celestial vault. My sudden displacement was therefore clearly purely spatial. The stream running alongside the ruins could have given the place a very peaceful atmosphere, but that was without taking into account the five women standing there. In circle, their faces turned towards the sky and their hands outstretched in front of them, they were chanting in chorus, while the sides of their respective black capes whirled in the wind, which didn't seem to have any effect on the surrounding vegetation.
Still sheltered behind a collapsed section of wall, I watched their ritual in silence while sizing up my potential adversaries. It was then, as I studied them in detail, that I realised just how similar and yet how different they all were. One of them, her face framed by long dark hair, sported imposing horns and was surrounded by a greenish aura, while another, much younger, wore short, almost white-blond hair and was surrounded by a reddish halo. Two others had the same flamboyant reddish colour, but were nonetheless very different from each other. The first wore a dress as black as her cape, while the other was dressed in a light fabric as mauve as the emanation surrounding her. Finally, the last, around whom floated a form of bluish vapour, had the features of a doll, giving her a most singular allure.
The whole time I was watching them, they kept repeating the same series of words over and over again. Suddenly they stopped and stood still, time seeming to stand still. They lowered their arms and glanced at each other. The red-haired witch in the purple dress even gave one of her sisters a mischievous little smile.
They then began to bustle about, one pulling an imposing cauldron towards her, another rummaging in her pouch while a third grabbed an ancient-looking book and flipped through its pages. Curious about their activities, I continued my silent watch, trying to assess whether their ritual required my intervention to put an end to it. I concentrated on trying to capture the essence of their enchantment. Although some of them looked sinister, I wasn't convinced that they were particularly malevolent. The rest of their ceremony confirmed this. Although I didn't know exactly what they were doing, there was nothing inherently evil or dangerous about the magic coming from their hands, even if I didn't understand their purpose. So I decided to leave them to their own activities, having plenty to do myself, and slipped away without a sound. I then had to look for a portal that would allow me to get back to my inn, which was no easy task...
This collection is composed of four medium-sized eggs and one larger egg.
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