The season of the witches

The Manor of the Marigold family was located in the far east of the Licorne archipelago. The climate was tropical; most people were suntanned and only wore cangas, a piece of fabric rolled in the body similar to sarongs.

The sun was bright and the colored leaves and flowers bright in every place. The breeze brought a smell of the sea mixed with the kozoto crops, a plant similar to corn.

Never there a moment of silence throughout the day, because there´s always a sweet chirp from birds at distance.

In the mornings you could see an old lady walking among the orchard with her granddaughter, and will never wonder that smiling cheerful old lady was the merciless baroness Calla Marigold the head of the whole Marigold county, the terror of pirates and warlocks.

Sapoti, the youngest member of the family was named after a brown fruit, similar to the Sapodilla, common in equatorial places like the Caribe.

For a good time, she was the youngest member of the Marigold clan. Margaret the daughter of the countess Bonina pretty much didn't count because she never gets out of her bed because of an illness.

She loves stories, to hear, to tell, and to collect them.

Sapoti reminded how that started, from how memories work after all.

Memories do not work in chronologic order. They are stick in our minds based more on emotions than any other thing. Because of that, stronger emotions make deeper and resistant memories.

Sometimes they mix and became hard to define when a memory start and another end.

As an example, there was a story that Granny Calla lily, told many times. Always when they crossed a species of flowery tree called Manilkara.

"Look, Sweet Thing is a Manikara tree! You know that the name of our family came from this peculiar plant?"

"Really Granny?" Sapoti always pretended that it was not heard that a dozen times and let her beloved old woman are not sure if she did not tell that tale dozens of times and just to be sure told again. Always forgetting a passage and reminding of others, making the experience a little different and unique every time.

It was the legend of the hero Manikara and his beloved Sapoti, and their fight against the monster Boraro who wanted to eat the babies of all the animals in the old times when the animals talked like abaeté (humans).

Sapoti died, and Manikara became so sad that it melted in tears.

Mora the mother of love, touched by the tragic end of the lovers unite their souls who reborn in a tree strong as steel with a beautiful flower known as Manikara and a delicious fruit known as Sapoti. while those trees existed, their love will be alive.

Even that Sapoti did not have any idea how many times listened to that tale, never could avoid a smile, when her Granny finished the tale.

Sapoti not just loved that tale, but it was an avid collector of tales, legends, myths, hoax, and anecdotes. She secret wrote everything she could and hide it. She was always asking for henna and paper. Most adults thought that she just wanted to wash her head and wipe her bum.

'The main branch of the Marigold family was made of frivolous and petty nobles, but the Manikara were the luggage truck who supports everything. We are as the ironwood used in many constructions as buildings foundations and pillars. We are this county sustain."

That part Sapoti didn't like to hear. "That bothers me a lot. We are working hard every day and many of our cousins' just party in the big cities at our expense."

"A noble house like ours wouldn´t survive just with the county farms, and they not just party around, they make the necessary business and political deals." Granny gently strokes her head. "That´s the Yanantin, the balance of the universe."

"Everything is Yanantin." Sapoti said dispiritedly.

"Yes!" Granny emphasized. "We poor mortals can´t understand how everything has a place and a reason. Everything follows the yanantin rules."

"You can´t fly flapping your arms, like a bird, you can´t breathe under the water like a fish, etc… You need to turn into a bird, and a fish to do that."

"That´s it, Sweet Thing. Sometimes things don't seem fair but…"

"Granny Calla." A young man with a vest and straw hat comes running from the road made of dry clay. "Granny Calla."

"Flourish? Flourish my son what is the problem?"

"A witch." He was without breath. "A witch appeared in the west front gate."

"A witch? Are you sure my son?"

"It was the most witched witch that I ever saw in my life. With a black cat, twisted shoes, a pointed hat, and a broom. It is a Cooca Witch."

"A Cooca witch in Marigold?"

Sapoti held her grandma's hand tight. The Cooca witches are the scariest ones in the whole empire. More than dragons.

"She says that she comes for the ritual of the blue moon and demand shelter." He took out the hat to rub his head. "They were declared enemies of the empire, demons. By the law, we should arrest her, but she can turn us into toads or worst things. What we do?"

Granny put her hand on his shoulder, "She claims that didn't wish no harm?"

"Yes! She said that."

"Goddess Chantico spirits of the home can be angry if we deny shelter to someone who pledges shelter." Granny stuffed her chest. "Let put her in the old canchas.'" A formation of six identical two-floor round huts.

They went through the road among the orchards and the young

Sapoti saw something weird in the sky. "Grandma, what's that thing?"

"Witches. More witches."

"What the…" Flourish was terrified. "They fly? Nobody told me that they fly."

Sapoti face palmed with her hoof. "Even I know that witches fly Flourish."

"Really?" He said almost desperate. "Why nobody tells me that kind of thing?"

When they get at the entrance an enormous bat and an owl appeared flying and when they landed, they became women, wearing hooded capes made of alligator skin, like Cooca the hoods were alligator heads.

"Cooca witches." Granny Calla recognized.

Going towards them was a big and strong man and a big and strong woman with curly hair. That was the countess Bonina covered in an emerald green sarong and covered in emeralds and with them the first witch who appeared, Kale, that Bonina knows from her dream hiking from the last night..

"Everything it´s fine Greyclaw." Grandma calmed the man. "They are guests."

Greyclaw bows his head, and put in Granny her featherhead in the most hurry and ritualistic way possible, a maid passed a cape made of feathers to put in her back and staff with a wooden owl with eyes made of enchanted diamonds carved in the end. Sapoti and the others felt that she transformed with that and double her size, in the place of the sweet grandma, she looked like a scary and powerful sorceress.

"Go prepare the canchas for them Greyclaw." Granny Calla came holding Sapoti by the hand.

"Yes, Granny." Greyclaw obeyed and went out walking fast.

"Are you behind it Bonina?" Granny was startled. "You brought wicked Cooca witches to our home? Why?"

"Sorry grandma." The tall woman with bush hair bows to her. "But I need to bring my daughter back."

"Back? Back from where? She's not in the nursery?"

"Uku Pacha!" One of the witches answered.

"Uku Pacha? The land of the dead?" Granny Calla stepped back. "You are out of our mind? You can't bring people back from the land of the dead."

Bonina made an angry face. "I can't but Cooca can."

"Cooca can do everything." The witches said together.

"There are facts of life that we can't change. You know that if you bring someone from Uku Pacha will never come back the same, and in the worst cases can bring something else from the land of the dead with them." Granny Calla warned. "The tales about people trying to bring deceased back, just to end with ghouls or another thing inside their bodies it´s what we call cautionary tales."

"Cooca talked about it and there's a solution," Bonina answered.

"What solution?" Granny asked with a tone of sarcasm.

"Bonina is going to get a piece of her soul to patch Margot souls."

" Bonina. A soul is not an old dress that can be simply patched." Granny ran after them. "And a piece of your soul?"

Without anybody, notice a green bird with colored wings landed close to them with a big seed in its beak. Scratched the earth and placed it in the ground after fly away.

Instantly a plant started to grow and interrupted Granny's concern when reached the size of a person. The flower opened and an imposing witch comes from inside.

"Miss Kale." Bonina and the other witches salute her.

Sapoti shook her arm and pointed around. "Granny there were other ones coming."

Another bird brought a big ugly frog that opened its mouth wilder and wilder until another witch come from inside.

One of the tapiras, animals similar to chicken approached and lay an egg that started to grow and another witch comes from inside.

In a nearby three, something started to carve a line from inside that became a door where more three witches appeared.

A creature similar to a squirrel draw a witch in a wall with a piece of rock, the ink started to fall apart revealing a real witch in the wall.

The witches started appeared from every place in the most unusual way

"How many of you are gathering here?" Granny asked Miss Kale.

"At least thirty," Kale answered.

"Thirty, we will have thirty witches lodged here?"

"I said at least," Kale replied. "Probably more. Thirty is the minimum for a dharmaquation."

"Dharma… Bonina from all the forbidden ritual spells, dharmaquations are the most forbidden form of all forbidden kinds of stuff in the world. Mama Mora, Mama Acla, even Mama Ancanma. All the gods and goddesses have forbidden the dharmaquations."

"The gods are not going to bring my child back, they will? Cooca will."

"A dharmaquation need a high priest, arch mage, or warlock…" Granny looked at Kale. "That would be you."

"No. That would be Mama Cooca."

"Mama…" Granny becomes pale and her air of authority gave place to a frail scared old lady. "Don't tell me you are thinking to bring Cooca?"

"She´s coming any minute now."

"Where is the kitchen?" The witches asked, "We need to do a feast for mama Cooca."

"Flourish, show the Villa kitchen to them." Grandma Calla ordered.

"Me? Alone with them?" Flourish trembled.

"Go Flourish," Granny said angrily and grabbed Bonina´s ear. "Are you have any idea what you done?"

"Cooca is the arch priestess of the dragon god Green Storm," Bonina said angrily. "You bring your excellence, Prudence, to eat or food all the time and he is the archpriest of the dragon Yellowbelly."

"It's not the same thing. Yellowbelly protects the Marigold County and your excellence doesn't take children from their parents."

"Mama Cooca doesn't take children from their parents." A witch answered angrily.

"Mama Cooca rescued us from our horrible parents and teach us the Amaru way."

"Mama Cooca makes us more powerful than any men can dream of."

"Mama Cooca is the way."

Granny Calla looked at them with her jaw dropped. "A child defending the Cooca." Granny Calla looked at the sky, "That´s really the end of times."

In the road made of clay three figures appeared followed at distance by a curious crow.

One was a satyr sorceress like Granny Calla. The other one a huge mountain Ibex goat also with a feather hat and a cape. At their side a lean woman with a six-pack belly, half of her body it was covered with tattoos including her face and in her head a hairpiece with bat wings, holding an old staff and a big leather bag. She looked more like a witch than the Cooca witches did, and it was confused with the scene she saw.

Granny went to welcome them. "Arum Lily and Aracaea my sisters, you don´t have an idea how I´m relieved to see you two here."

Bonina comes and hold the hand of the third one. "Oh Dulcinea, I can´t show you how much I appreciate your presence."

"I´m glad to hear that. What is happening?" Dulcinea said. "Miss Butternut told me that lady Bonina needs my assistance and I came fast as I could."

"I´m Kale." She tapped her staff on the ground. "Butternut said that you are strong, and will be useful in the dharmaquation."

"Dharma…" Dulcinea became frightened looking at that witches. "This is some kind of Prank?"

"I fear that is the hard true, my child." Granny pointed at them. "Those are wicked Cooca witches that Bonina called here."

"The correct is Cooca´s wicked witches." Miss Kale corrected her.

"So it's all true." Miss Arum Lily the faun said gloomily. "I didn't want to believe it was true."

"Wait a moment." Araceae the big Ibex goat spoke. "You said miss Butternut? How she knows a Cooca witch?"

"Oh yes." Bonina punched her hand. "Seems that miss Butternut was a Cooca witch all along."

"Miss Butternut a Cooca witch?" They all said startled.

"But Miss Butternut is the sweetest and kind person in the whole Manor," Flourish said disappointed. "Cooca witches should be wicked."

"And Cunning." A witch said.

"And treacherous." Other witch said with a giggle.

"And fickle."

"And watchful."

"And devious."

"And unnaturally beautiful," Sapoti said and everybody looked at her. "What? I´m not the only one who noticed. Witches shouldn't be wrinkled and with hairy warts and stuff?"

"She's coming." Kale pointed at the sky and between the clouds, a green carriage appeared flying pulled by two colorful bulls running in the air and creating a path of smoke in the air.

"That's a bird?"

"That some kind of airplane?"

Sapoti sort of recognizes. "It's a giant Chayote squash pulled by two collared animals?"

The figures approached revealing the weird creatures pushing the carriage in the shape of chayote. Half of the Manor residents gathered around the west gate, and people from all over the place were coming including more Cooca witches.