hyper-aware of every ridge and imperfection in the leaf. However, instead of experiencing them as imperfections, each line and ridge felt “right” and in sync with the working I was attempting. Unlike the ritual in the last building, where I had known I was only going through the motions, this time, I sensed things were going to happen tonight.

I wrapped the parchment in the leaf and placed both in the cauldron. Using the black candle, I set the paper and leaf on fire and watched them burn to ash. As they burned, I focused on channeling energy into the flames. Hex breaking worked using the principle of sympathetic magic. The parchment describing the aura of the hex was a stand-in for the hex itself. Burning the paper was basically a way of channeling my energy into destroying the hex along with the destr...

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