I woke up in cold sweat, my mind immediately rolling over the events of the previous night. The moving shadows, the pierced knight, and his awful horse sent a fresh shiver down my back.

I didn’t have long to ruminate on these visions however. Looking up, I saw that Cheerful was sitting at the table.

“Cheerful, you’re back!” I yelped and ran over to the bird.

“I’m back, I’m back, back!” The bird yelped back, “And I did it! Took a long time, a long time, but I did it! The Parcel Service is re-started! Re-started! Here! I have something, something for you!”

There was something on the table, next to him. A few paper bags, a note attached to each.

I looked inside one, and tipped the contents onto the table. Some mushrooms fell out of the bag. They were shriveled up, probably dried, but the caps were still a very distinctive white and red.

“Wouldn’t eat those, if I were you.” Aleister hopped up on the table.

I read the note attached.

I applaud your resilience! Good luck in the coming months with your venture. And take good care of that bird!

-Agatha K.

Thanks, Agatha, whoever you are, I thought.

I went for another bag, and discovered that it was full of fresh cherries! I found a bowl, and poured the cherries out. They looked red, plump and perfect!

These are fresh from my garden. My sincerest good wishes. I hope your business blooms, and your coffers grow fat.

-S. Beaugiron

The last bag had a little sprig of a plant, the roots wrapped in cloth. I looked at the plant carefully. It was about 6 inches tall, but it already had a few dark berries, and some small, trumpet-like flowers, a soft purple color. I remembered the beautiful lady from last night showing me this exact plant! How fortunate, to receive one today as a gift.

The note was very short.

Finally. You’ll need this.

-M

“Cheerful, am I supposed to know who any of these people are?” I asked, grateful, but confused about my bounty.

“Just well wishers! Just people wishing well! All good things, all nice people had good things to say!”

That really didn’t clarify anything. Thankfully, Aleister chimed in.

“They’re Sorcerers. Ones without their own business, of course. You’d only get hate mail from the ones with their own parcel service. Naturally.”

“I see... And why do Sorcerers want to congratulate me on starting my parcel service? By the way, what is the parcel service?” I still had a lot of questions.

“You have an endearing habit of saying I see, when really, you don’t see anything at all.” The cat quipped.

I frowned. That wasn’t very helpful. Thankfully, Cheerful gave me his explanation.

“You send out parcels to nice people, good people, and they send back money! Oh, oh, but first, first, they send you requests! Letters, where they want this and that! I have one here! Right here-” He suddenly took off, and flew to the top of the cabinetry. Apparently he had stashed a letter there. He flapped down with it in his beak. Before I could take it, Cheerful did a funny little bow, as he presented it to me. It must have been a very important letter.

I took the letter in my hands. It felt warm, and tingly in my fingers. It reminded me of when I played with the Cards of Destiny. I went to open it, but felt a cat paw stop my fingers.

“Once you read that letter, you’ll only have a certain amount of time to complete the request.” He advised.

“Right.” I put the letter back down. I had some things I needed to get done first.

I stashed the letter in my pocket for now.

---

I knew that the first thing I had to do was get the little plant into a pot. I didn’t want it to wither and die on me.

Thankfully, there were plenty of pots of all shapes and sizes in the solarium. I selected one, of a medium size, painted a deep blue, and brought it over.

As I worked and potted the gifted plant, Aleister watched me.

“Hey Aleister,” I asked tentatively, “ do you know who Zinia is?”

There was a pause when the cat didn’t say anything.

“How did you come by that Name?” The cat asked.

I told him about last night; the shadows, the lady with the snake, and the horrible knight.

When I was describing the knight, Aleister helpfully added.

“That would be Nestor, the Holy Wounded.”

“And the snake that was with the lady, it seemed familiar to me.”

“Yes, the Names are all patrons to a certain Sign. Nestor is patron of Arrow. Zinia, patron to Snake.” Aleister said.

I remembered that there were twelve other shadows. One for each Sign of the Zodiac.

“What are they, Aleister? Gods?”

Aleister let out a soft chuckle.

“You’ve touched on a matter of endless debate. I personally tend to think that they are merely Spirits. Some of the Names historians can tie to certain personalities that lived as humans, and then became Names after their death. Nestor, for example, was a well known knight who lived centuries ago. However, some Names, such as Teresto, are so old that no one knows their origin. This gives rise to the idea that they are minor deities.”

I didn’t fully understand but I didn’t want to admit it to Aleister, who was prone to making fun of me for my gaps in knowledge.

“Most Sorcerers, even fledgling and uninitiated as yourself, find it helpful to work with the Names. It would have been wise to let the Vision continue.” Aleister added.

“I’m a Sorcerer?!” I didn't think I was. Hadn’t my guides told me I can’t cast spells yet to cure my Unspecified Curse?

“Oh, only by technicality.” Aleister conceded. “There are steps and steps to go yet, before anyone human might recognize that title. Or, for that matter, before you’re able to do magic. But the Names don’t care about time. I suppose they’ve been around too long for that. So, they see you as you will be, as you have been, and as you are, all together in one package.”

“Huh,” was my erudite reply. I wanted to keep talking, and at least find out about what steps I needed to take to become a full-fledged Sorcerer, but my chore was done. The little sprig with dark berries and purple flowers was safely planted into a pot. After placing it in the sunshine next to the Balm, and pouring some water on it, I got a message.

+5 EXP

1 Skill Unlocked!

  5 Skill Points to Tending (Botany)

Nice!

It was then I realized I had forgotten something important. My Cards of Destiny! Hadn’t I made a note to pick one every morning? What if I got a buff that increased my EXP gain? Ah well, the best time to do things was in the past, but the second best time is now.

I sat at the table, and shuffled my three cards. I felt distinctly silly. I wished I had more cards!

They felt warm and alive under my finger tips. I felt each shuffle send out a little wave of something, like destiny was reconfiguring its plans with each card that was topping my little stack, as I changed them over in my hands.

Placing them face down, I picked one up.

As soon as the face of the card was revealed, I felt a sinking, desperately sad mood come over me.

“The Hole in the Ground is an unpleasant reminder. No EXP can be gained today. No Skills can be Leveled Up.”

No EXP?

I looked at the card to confirm this. The card was of course, Hole in the Ground, and underneath in smaller type it said: “A wet, muddy hole, recently dug. The final resting place for most of us.”

“I didn’t know the Cards could give debuffs…” I said, feeling dejected.

“Of course. You don’t expect Destiny to always be sunshine and roses, do you?” Alesiter said. “You should be getting used to the balance of things by now.”

I supposed that it was a good thing I waited to draw the cards until after I potted the little plant.

I read the debuff again. Was I supposed to be leveling Skills? I pulled up my character sheet, under skills, and read:

Homesteading

   -Fire Tending (LVL 0, 7 SKP)

   -Tidying (LVL 0, 35 SKP) Ready to level up!

   ???

Speech

   -Logic (LVL 0, 32 SKP) Ready to level up!

   -Linguistics (LVL 0, 7 SKP)

I had two skills ready to level up! Well, I missed the boat for today, but something to keep in mind for tomorrow.

---

The second chore I had in mind was to make a fire, and a good hearty meal for myself and my two guides. My options for the meal were limited, but I thought I could manage. I felt a little pang of resentment as I thought about not being able to gain any EXP. But, it didn’t hold me back.

I filled a pot with lentils, and covered them with water. I added a little olive oil and salt, as I thought that would help the taste.

I then made a fire. I was getting quite proficient with this! I stacked the logs carefully, as Aleister had instructed me, and lit it quite easily. Within twenty minutes, the fire was going. The lentil pot, I put on the iron crane, and let it hang over the fire.

As I stood over the hearth, prodding at my fire with a long iron, I remembered the shadow-man from yesterday’s vision. I instinctively reached up, and pinched off a dry leaf from the same herbal bundle which the shadow had touched. I threw it in the fire.

I felt my clothes gently billow out, and it could have been my imagination, but I swore that the fire grew taller.

New Entry for Old Toad’s Almanac!

Salvia officinalis, Garden Sage

Cool! I still couldn’t find this Almanac, but it was nice to make some kind of progress. Especially on a day when my EXP gain was so restricted. I looked up at the dried bundle, and noted that it now had a string attached, with a ribbon of paper. Catching the ribbon, I saw the name of the herb printed on it.

I suddenly got a bright idea.

I ran over to my new plant, the one with the dark berries, and pinched off a leaf. I ran back and threw it into the fire.

Nothing happened.

I went back to my mystery plant.

“What shall I name you?” I pronounced. I had said these words right before Common Balm produced a riddle, which of course contained its name.

Again, nothing. I was puzzled over my new plant. Suddenly, the berries looked so delicious, and I was so tempted, that I decided to pluck one off, and eat it.

“Not sure that’s-” I heard Aleister protest, but it was too late, as I had already swallowed the berry.

Shadows sprang up everywhere in my kitchen, crowding me into the little corner by the window sill, they pressed in on all sides, clamoring for my attention. The sunlight had gone out, and it was suddenly deep, purpling twilight of the last hour before night. The little mystery plant had a small black snake, curled around it. It hissed at me, and snapped its tiny jaws in a threatening manner. I shivered with fright, as I felt the cold hands of the shades grabbing my clothes and pulling me.

I shook my head, my eyes tightly shut, and counted my breaths. When I opened my eyes again, the shades were gone, the sunlight returned, and I was feeling very sick.

I ran to the sink, and retched. My throat felt scratchy and pained, and I was sure I was feverish.

A message appeared.

New Entry for Old Toad’s Almanac!

Atropa belladonna, Belladonna or Deadly Nightshade

Nice to meet you, I thought sarcastically, as I heaved again into the sink.

I was fine after some time, but I still felt shaky.

“If you’re just going to stick things in your mouth, be sure to at least warn me ahead of time. One nightshade berry wouldn’t kill you, but there are other plants that might.” Aleister almost sounded concerned. Almost.