foxglove jamjar's magical adventure chapter three

The Morning Hues, January 16th, 2026

dear reader,

i hope you enjoy this week chapter. I am diligently working away at this fun little tale.

see you next week
hues

chapter 3: in which a deal is struck between heart and hearth

foxglove jamjar was in an unusual predicament. the puzzle before her was to translate images on the four pillars into any spoken language. the images on the first pillar began with an image of the world, followed by three human shapes around a simple fire. next was three lines stacked together, and some kind of wand. the final image of the first line of the pillar was a strange bowl shape—a flat line with an ovalled bottom— in the center a four pointed star.

looking at the second pillar fj saw the strange bowl repeated, and paired with a chalice on the second pillar. on the third pillar the chalice and bowl was seen next to a simple candle. the fourth, the previous three images were completed by the common symbol for salt.

“salt,” fj muttered to herself, and witnessed as the fourth pillar shimmered with the blue light, illuminating the symbol for salt all over the pillar.

fj gasped with surprise, and let out a laugh, “ahah! i got one!”

“you got one, you can get the other three,” the tongue responded, “ two and one half hours left.”

fj did a little fist pump in the air and set to comparing the pillars again. they were thankful for some of her classical education from common core in childhood. fj thought about what the tongue had said about the other three. fj could only assume they meant the other repeated symbols that had been with salt. that reminded her how the reader had told her that there were four spiritual contracts to make.

fj realized then they had two of the four names and two of the four characters of these pillars. so, they sat in the middle of the platform and meditated. they allowed peace to wash over her

meditation was fj’s favourite training that they had gone through with her family. they would all gather near the great lake by her home, and sit with her legs folded listening to the gentle movement of nature. this allowed for revelations to be brought forth from within herselves. though fj had a difficult time connecting with the spirit of nature, they had found it easy to connect to the spirit of storytelling. it was in these meditations that fj had realized how much they loved the art of acting, and that her home was truly in the theatre and not preserving the hunting culture of her elven family.

it had been a painful but freeing realization. this truth is why fj appreciated the act of meditating despite it holding such painful potential. and so, fj closed her eyes and placed the characters of salt, and the tongue in her mind. and allowed the darkness to overtake her, sink her lower, lower, lower within herself.

there fj found herself staring at a fire with a crooked old wizard bent over it. his beard was frayed, and his starry hat crooked atop his head. the wizard was holding three wooden effigies in his ashy hands. he began rolling her against one another creating a rhythmic wooden beat. he began to chant:

“from this last breath— i call the tongue,
curses upon them for what they’ve done
from this spilled blood— i offer libations,
blessings upon these humble oblations
from this fading spark— i light white candle
these grotesque foundations your flame dismantles
with these three miracles make i this gamble
by heart and hearth, and blackberry bramble
this i swear, this i decree
my descendants will not die slaves
they will be free.”

foxglove jamjar felt her heart sink into the floor with every repetition of the chant. they were confused about where they were. how they had gotten pulled so deep into the meditation, it was feeling far too real. the world began to sway to the low beat of the wizard’s chant. fj felt their body begin to move with the rhythm.

foxglove found themselves falling through the floor into another scene. the wizard sat around the fire with three young children.

“i know this must be so terrifying for you, after witnessing what has happened to your father,” the wizard said.

the three children, two girls and a boy huddled closer, their muddy faces stained with tears.

“they had no right to do that, “ murmured the eldest of them, he was tall and thin with skin the color of the darkest night. his eyes glowed in the fire, a brilliant blue.

these eyes pierced the heart of the old wizard, as they reminded him of the oppressor. this child’s true father, and the murderer of his son.

“vega,” the old wizard said, “ you are like the tongue, swift and just. you speak too much too quickly, you must be willing to mind it.” the old wizard handed vega, one of the three dolls he had been chanting over before.

“i miss my father, i want to thank him for everything,” said the middle child. she had tight and full waves of hair that feel around her shoulders. it should be blue in the light of the fire, like the moon hitting the night ocean.

“mira,” the wizard said, “you are like libations. always offering your gratitude, and quenching the thirst of the others in the field when you can. despite being chosen for the big house. do not forget to drink to your own success.” he grabbed her hands and placed a doll into her hand as well. he pressed it close to mira’s heart.

the third child had curled in herself, brown eyes lit like embers in the fire light. she curled her lips back, and she panted, “i will kill them. i will burn down their cotton fields, and fancy lady markets. wear their skin to show them their own monstrosity.”

“kabel,” the wizard said, “ you are like a white candle. you are filled to the brin with potential. your spark can either cause destruction or illuminate the darkness so that they can become illuminated. mind your fire so that you don’t run out of oxygen.” and, with that the wizard shoved the final doll in her hand.

“now close your eyes and cover your ears children, and when you awaken again. we will be freed from this curse.”

fj was frozen in place, she struggled against her invisible bonds. she watched as the old wizard placed the children into sacks. she tried to scream but there was no sound as the wizard tossed the sacks like flour into the fire. the screams of the children beckoning him to join. the old wizard followed their chorus into the fire.

fj found themselves in a black space, as they emptied their guts. a moment’s reprieve as they felt the darkness begin to shift towards a new light. foxglove found themselves in a room with a simple twin bed. the room only had the bed and a window. outside the window, now was falling thickly. however, fj was able to make out a a dirt road, and some carriages.

the gloss was broken outside the door, followed by a baby’s cry. fj followed the sound pushing open the door into the living room. though there was no baby, a young boy sat by a fireplace whittling a wooden figure.

“emry,” a woman’s voice called, “it’s time to get ready for church!”

the boy, emry, stood up and as it did from the ground rose three spirits. fj recognized the tallest as the tongue. the other two, they did not know.

the spirit of medium height, gave emry a large hug, “emry, loa, you are going to do wonderfully in the yuletide pageant tonight.”

“libations,” groaned emry, “ don’t remind me.”

“emry, emry!” shouted the smallest spirit, pushing up against emry “will you dedicate o holy night to me! please please!”

emry laughed gently creating space between them, “white candle, we talked about this. the whole pageant is dedicated to the grand scheme. i think they would have a problem with me dedicating one of their songs to a random spirit!”

“i’m not random!” white candle pouted, “ what if you did it in secret. like just in your head!”

“or a whisper,” suggested the tongue.

“fine, fine,” emry said, laughing again, “now, let me get ready.” emry turned and jogged towards fj, heading to the room behind them.

it startled fj and they expected emry to bump into them, but instead found him passing right through them. when they turned back around to see the spirits, they found themselves on a burning battlefield.

an older emry lay their heaving as blood poured for the mortar wound in his chest. around him sat the tongue, libations, and white candle. tears rolled down their faces as they placed their hands on him.

“emry, you must make it home to your child, “ sobbed libations.

“emry, emry, you must slay your attackers,” hissed white candle

“emry, emry, emry, you must make a decision,” spoke the tongue.

emry tried to ask, what decision?

“emry, you must swear to be our brother,” demand libations

“emry, emry, you must perform a miracle,” shouted white candle

“emry, emry, emry, do you make this oath?” spoke the tongue.

emry nodded with the last of his strength. as his eyes began to roll back, the three spirits shoved their hands deep into his torso.

“emry, you are like salt,” spoke the tongue, “filled with grit to wear away at the hardest of challenges. you bring flavor and interest to every situation you encounter, a reminder of the feeling of being alive. you must protect that blessing.”

the three miracles pulled in tandem, ripping emry’s soul from his dying body. as his soul began to take form, the world began to drip and decay.

for the second time in an extremely short period, fj found themselves falling. however, this time there was no spell to help them slow down.

quickly, quickly, quickly, fj fell and soon found themselves coming through the hole in the ceiling of the cavern. they could see their body quickly approaching, they held their breath in preparation.

suddenly, fj saw a flash of something. first it was something strange. emey, except it was a photo sitting on a mantle. a woman looking at it lovingly and then down at the baby in her arms. a baby wrapped in something familiar. foxglove remembered that blanket, it looked just like the one she had as a child. just like the one she had left with their parents in the elven wood. next, it was a familiar scene. the human woman, emry’s wife, stood with the baby in front of a door. a door that fj would know anywhere. the door to their childhood home. the woman placed the basket under her arm on the doorstep, and the baby within it. she kissed the baby, and knocked. once, then twice, then a hard third before running away. fj felt like crying when their mom opened the door.

fj fell forward as if they had been struck by blunt force. they landed on all fours, and noted how fast their breath was heaving. how sweaty herbodies was.

“what the fuck,” they gasped.

“did you discover your answers?” the tongue asked, “ are you ready to submit your answer?”

fj glanced at the timer, only 20 minutes left. how could they explain all of that in 20 minutes? how did they even do that to begin with?