A Trip to Remember

by Allegrano_Melody

Chapter 11: Humans Quirkiness

The darkness courting through her veins was the price of the power she desperately craved. Much as she despised the darkness and what it had forced her to become, she could not satisfy her craving for it. She had tried everything else she could imagine, but it was the only thing that had shown any promise of locating the friend who had been so cruelly stolen. The power of the dark magic had allowed her to crush those who sought to disrupt her search. The power of the dark magic had led her from one clue to the next, finally taking her to Delphi, where it dragged out the goddess behind the oracle and compelled her to disclose the key to the quest.

The exchange had been enlightening, but less that fruitful. The ritual prescribed called for reagents that were beyond the realm of man. The ritual called for power unfathomable. The ritual called for the stuff of myths and legends. Her heart quickened as she again called on her dark powers to search for the impossible. What she saw nearly blinded her. Nine souls burst into her perception; the power of their magic blazed with the intensity of the sun. They were not alone. They were accompanied by two beasts straight out of fairy tales.

Abruptly, she shut down her search. When she finally blinked the spots from her eyes, she walked over to a cabinet and withdrew a bugle made from a giant ram’s horn. Putting it to her lips, she thrice sounded a trilling call.

A cloaked figure reeking of iron and fewmets materialized in from of her. In an eerie baritone, it said, “You called, madame?”

She responded, “I have a new assignment for you, huntsman.” In a thrice, she shared what her magic sight had revealed.

The huntsman replied, “Very good, madam. May I abandon my previous quest?”

She glared. “No! I refuse to believe that you cannot find three wise men and a virgin in Washington, D.C.!”

---

Icy winds nipped at the exposed face of the man who trudged past the bare trees. The cabin that he approached was deep in the wilderness, hidden from all without the gift of magic. No roads scarred its rugged terrain; it would take a day’s ride on horseback to get there from the nearest hint of civilization. It was exactly what Solomon wanted for his hunts.

What was nigh impossible for the mundane was routine for the magical. Portkeys allowed for instant access, and the man wore two as pendants around his neck. The one he’d just used brought him to a clearing near the cabin. The second had initiated his first foray in the New World.

His arrival in Salem’s historic town square did not go unnoticed. However, his was apparently not the first spontaneous appearance in that location. The tourists had besieged him with questions before one of the workers had rescued him. She was a witch playing a witch for the crowd, and she had taken him to the lunch room where they could talk in private.

For the price of a crouqe madame worthy of Marie Antionette, Aetherdal, received passage to the local magical community. From there, he found someone who knew someone who knew someone who was willing to let him pawn a flawless quarter-caret princess cut diamond for a quarter of its retail value. That allowed him to fund a bus ride to the big box blue shrine to the man from Arkansas. In the large duffel bags he now carried, he had provisions, equipment and clothing. In the small of his back, he again carried a small holster, but this time, he had the more modern Model 442.

He knocked thrice, varying the interval between knocks. Abruptly, the door opened, and several small hands grabbed him and pulled him inside. The door quickly shut behind him.

Eight adolescents regarded him eagerly. As he set down the duffel bags, he said, “I know you’re hungry, but dinner is going to take about two hours.”

“Two hours?” whined Rainbow Dash. The remaining sextet of girls echoed her sentiments.

Aetherdal replied, “Stewing takes time. However, we might be able to speed things up if someone can prepare the vegetables while I start on the meat.”

Twilight said, “I can do that. I mean, you did teach me everything I know about cooking. How hard can it be as a human?”

Aetherdal sighed. “It takes a bit of getting used to. Don’t worry about making things pretty; just make sure everything is bite-sized. Don’t forget to wash everything; the trimmings are going to be used to make stock.”

Twilight reached for her wand. Aetherdal said, “Ah, ah, no cheating.”

Twilight groaned. “Fine.”

Aetherdal picked up a boning knife. Smirking, Twilight said, “Ah, ah, no cheating. You need to practice your magic.

Aetherdal groaned. “Fine.”

Rarity picked up a saucepan. “I’ll start the water.”

Twilight took on her task with the full vigor of youth, as well as the consistency of inexperience. The resulting pieces varied in size from that of a pea to that of a golf ball. At the same time, Aetherdal used his wand to manipulate his knife as he set to work with an untrimmed tri-tip. DClumsily, he removed the excess fat and trimmed away the silver skin. Next, he cut two pounds of randomly-sized cubes before dredging them in seasoned flour.

He handed the knife to Rarity, asking her to clean it. Next, he set a dutch oven on the stove and set it to warm with some of the beef fat inside. At the same time, he heated a cast iron skillet.

Twilight said, “I think a got the hang of this; all the vegetables are done. What next?”

“The onions, carrots, and celery need to be sweated in the rendered beef fat. That will make our mirepoix base. Be careful not to brown them.”

While Twilight followed his directions, Atherdal browned the meat in the skillet, using a bit of olive oil. He placed the browned meat in a bowl before snatching a bottle of bordeaux from Angel.

“Hey!” she snarled as he deglazed the pan.

Smirking, Aetherdal replied, “You should know better than to drink on an empty stomach.”

Looking over to Twilight, he said, “Let’s have you make the roux; you’ll need a half cup of flour to go with that stick of butter. I’ll take over on the pot.”

Twilight mixed the two ingredients and stirred them over moderate heat. Aetherdal said, “Be sure to stop when it’s nutty brown.”

Meanwhile, the chef added the meat to the vegetables and poured in the boiling stock through a strainer. He added an assortment of herbs before putting the lid onto the pot. He said, “And now for the magic.” Interest piqued as an enticing aroma filled the room.

Angel went to grab the wine, but Aetherdal held it out of reach. He said, “Not until dinner time.”

Angel jumped, but was unable to reach. She snarled, “Hey, how in Merlin did you get taller than me?”

Shrugging, Aetherdal replied, “It’s magic. I guess whatever hits the fan doesn’t get spread evenly. I guess that makes me the adult in the room.” Condescendingly, he patted Angel on the head. “There was a little girl, who had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead. When she was good, she was very, very good.”

Angel kicked him in the shin. “And when she was bad, she was horrid.” She retrieved the bottle and drank deeply as Aetherdal tended to his injured leg.

The others looked at the mirror in the room. Fluttershy squeaked, “My, we’re all so little.” The other girls similarly expressed their dismay.”

Angel said, “He must know the secret! Get ‘im, girls!”

Solomon stepped outside the menacing mob. He said, “You sure have a way with women, Aetherdal.”

In pain, Aetherdal replied, “It’s all in the wrist.” Gesturing, he said, “Accio cake.”

Angel said, “Nice, try, Aetherdal.”

Pinkie stopped suddenly. Her straight hair suddenly puffed up in curls. “Do I smell chocolate?” With a manic smile, she turned to the scent, only to find a large layer cake in front of Solomon and a fork in the youth’s hand. She sidled next to him. “You weren’t going to eat that all by yourself, were you?”

With incredible speed, Solomon dropped the fork and set the cake down on the floor. He then slowly backed away, desperately trying to look uninteresting. The girls descended on the offering.

While the girls were distracted, Solomon made his way to Aetherdal. “You’re going to pay for that.”

With a flick of his wrist, Aetherdal summoned a pumpkin pie from a duffel bag. “Will this serve as a down payment?” Mollified, Solomon started on his dessert.

After giving everyone a chance to eat, Aetherdal put his fingers in his mouth and whistled sharply. “Listen, everyone! We need to move before tomorrow. I found us a better place.”

A collective groan rose from the room. They’d have to deal with the drudgery of cleaning and packing.

Comments

[badninja]

So a few days.

Well things are hopefully looking up. Now I wonder what will happen next?

[uis]

Interesting...

[PonyofEntropy]

Reread the story. Enjoyed it. Hopeful to see more.

[Snowkitsune]

Moar....Please