There once was, and probably still is, a point in time where dark and ancient magic was more noticed in the world. While it hasn't ceased to exist entirely, remnants are still around that are either imbued or otherwise attuned in items and other trinkets with such strong and dangerous magic. As such, there have been many a poor soul whose fates have mixed with the leylines of the shadowy work, in a sense. Not much, if anything, is really known about the skulls with almost ritualistic carvings of runes upon them other than a very heavy presence of dark magic lingers strong.

Not many are known to be about and even less is documented about such skulls if any at all. Maybe many folk pass it off as the Cult of Black Mountain's doing and leave it be. Perhaps it's something from a time long passed. The bones look near pristine, unnaturally so, though if it's part of the ancient magic or not is unknown. Should one break the skull then who knows what might happen? The few who have found such things haven't bothered to risk their lives, nor their lineage, in fear of gaining a curse or more in return. Maybe even releasing the spirit of whose skull it was, trapped within. Of course, that's a matter of if one can even be broken in the first place.

Spirits and magic don't mix well at all. Yet, somehow, they can be contained together. More questions would require finding the one responsible for making such things. For what purpose were they created and bringing the dead back from their rest? Is it even the same spirit? Is it even a spirit at all? The entire thing seems forbidden to exist with such taboo practices. Maybe one day some of these answers could be explained. If there were only one to accept them and try to learn more.

It was a foggy morning for Lilian when she arrived near a cemetery within the nearby province. The air was thick and the prior rain had left quite the muck about the roads. It didn't seem to hinder the witch much at all. Her adventurous self had gone out of the way to check for reagents and the like for her potion making. Of course, not knowing much about the area left her wandering about for some time, curious if she would even find anything needed. Wolfsbane didn't exactly grow on flourishing trees near her area. Soon, she found herself a little more tense.

While there were no visible others around, she couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. With a hand ready to cast any warding spell, the feline moved on and went deeper into the fog. She felt lost. How was she to do anything in such an oppressing area? Her ears lowered as she looked around before freezing up momentarily. A figure could just faintly be seen in the distance. Hardly anything other than a light silhouette at best. She was lucky to have even spotted that much.

"Hey!" the witch called out, waving her arms in the air. "Do you know the land around here?!"

No reply came. In fact, she couldn't see the figure at all anymore. Had she imagined it? Instead of standing around, she figured her best bet would be rushing forward to try and catch up to the lonely soul wandering the area the same as her. Two heads would be better than one, right? Lily glanced at her tail with an apologetic look.

"Sorry, mother. Just that I doubt either of us know where to go from here," she mumbled in her light jog.

She continued to the spot she had thought there had been someone until her foot snagged on an upturned root. The witch flailed and hopped, trying to regain her balance before bumping into a low stone. Then another. And another. Her eyes shifted to the ground as she took in the sight and grit her teeth. As much as she tried steering clear of the cemetery she had stomped right in and over a few graves.

Her apologies fell on non-existent ears as she tried stepping away, sticking her tongue out to focus on each step. A small nudge made her foot come in contact with something lighter but solid and...hollow? A skull rolled out in front of her. Another apology came from her lips as she sighed and knelt down to bring them back to their supposed resting spot. Except, when she reached out to grab the rat's skull she had kicked, she noticed another resting comfortably atop the soft soil.

It was a goat skull, looking as if it had hardly aged at all. Runes decorated the forehead, carved with care and meaning. A closer look at the rune within the circle made Lily move her outstretched hand from the rat to the goat, lightly brushing a finger over the carvings. Her head tilted as she studied it more, gently picking it up from the ground.

"Just who might you be?" she whispered to herself. "Where's your home at?"

Turning it over, she spied a look within the skull through the neck hole. Even more runes were carved inside but there was no physical way for them to have been done in such a manner. She couldn't even read them all through the small opening but one phrase stuck out to her. Best not to be digging too deep into the unknown, lest you dig up more than skeletons. Something she heard someone say a while back and now seemed like the right time to stop her small investigation.

"I don't know what you are but I'd love to figure it out. Either way, I can't take you from your home," Lilian said softly and carefully placed the skull onto the tombstone to look out instead of on the dirt. "Peace be with you. Lletywr."

After turning around, she did a small check of her bag and dusted her gloves off before looking back and stopping. It was gone. There had been nobody around and no noise. How did one sneak up on a cat? The unease set in more as she made her way out of the graveyard and let out a sigh. She would never live it down in her coven if she told them how someone swiped a skull quite literally beneath her nose almost. The Sisters of the Moon could be free of that detail.

A little more searching had yielded exactly what she came searching for eventually. Getting plenty to safely carry back, Lilian began her trek home and put the whole moment out of her mind. The journey took half a day but it was rewarding at the least. Her thoughts were filled with all types of plans for potions and spells on her way back she had forgotten entirely of her ordeal in the grave site. Reaching her home, the playful witch unlatched her door and opened it before stepping inside and stopping.

Atop a table sat the same goat skull she had held in the cemetery. It faced her perfectly, as if it were waiting for her return home. Normally, a situation as this might scare off any other. Lilian merely placed a hand on her hip and felt her smile creep onto her face.

"Hello, friend," she states warmly. "Welcome home."

Art by super talented and awesome  zimthandmade
Lletywr belongs to me