Morgana Hawthorne's Arc

Chapter 4 of 5

Morgana stepped into the marketplace and breathed in the smell of roasted nuts and fresh bread. She walked past the vegetable carts and stopped at a spice merchant's table. Glass jars lined the wooden surface, each one filled with crushed leaves or powdered roots she'd never seen before. The merchant nodded at her, and she studied the labels. These ingredients could strengthen her remedies and help her stand out from the hedge witches who only knew common plants. She bought three jars and tucked them into her bag. The merchant mentioned a clearing deep in Mirkwood where rare plants grew at night. Morgana's pulse quickened. If she could gather those, her remedies would be unlike anything the town had seen. She left the marketplace and headed straight for the forest trail. The sun was already sinking below the trees. By the time she reached the clearing, darkness had settled over the forest. Then she saw them—flowers with deep purple petals and golden centers that glowed in the shadows. Night blooms. She knelt and cut several stems, placing them carefully in her basket. Nearby, mushrooms with luminescent blue and purple caps lit up the forest floor like tiny lanterns. She gathered those too, her hands trembling with excitement. These would make powerful tinctures that travelers would seek out. On her way back, she spotted old stone walls through the trees. A chapel, crumbled and covered in vines. She pushed through the undergrowth and found a spring bubbling up between the broken stones. The water was clear and cold. She filled her flask and tasted it—clean and slightly sweet. Stories in the tea house had mentioned healing waters somewhere in Mirkwood. This had to be the place. She could use this water in her remedies and tell customers where it came from. The Chapel of the Moon Sisters. Word would spread, and people would come to her shop asking for the remedies made with water from the legendary spring.