I crushed the charred wood in my hand, watching as the beginning of the tempestation started. Opening my hand, I blew on the ashes to start them smoking. Big puffs of magical purple smoke rose from the ashes, sparkling and wisping. I smiled and tilted my umbrellaer so that it would stop catching the smoke and let it rise into the air.

I stopped blowing on the ash and the smoke ended. Using my Magick, I opened a vial and positioned it under my hand. I dumped the ash in and corked it, storing the bottle in my pack for future use. After that, I looked up at the purple column of smoke that was beginning to crackle. Taking a deep breath, I readied myself to catch it. I had to be quick or it this would go horribly wrong.

Bottle in one hand and cork in the other, I began the process. I quickly threw the vial and cork up and with one hand enlarged them and with the other made a Magick funnel for the bottle. Once it was up high enough I made the motions to move the vial over and it gulped up the smoke. Once that was done, I got rid of the funnel and moved the cork to plug it. The smoke flashed from inside the vial and I shrunk it as it started falling again. Boosting my run with Magick, I got to where it would land and caught the large vial.

I was panting by the time I had finished and I wiped my brow as I looked at the smoke. It had become a full fledged storm now, despite having been shrunk, and lightning crackled inside the bottle. I’m lucky that I was able to contain it in time or that storm probably would’ve killed me. I stored the vial safely inside my pack and summoned my umbrellaer.

Once I got it, I continued on the path before me. My client wanted their bottled Sturmholzbaum to be fresh and this was the latest I could storm it. I was still a day or two away from them, but the rest of the trek would be wooded or populated. Neither of which are good conditions for brewing a storm. But I suppose the journey’s worth the ingredients, magickal paraphernalia, and money that I’m getting out of it.