Curing the Famine

We returned to the surface to find that Mari and Bree had made quick work of the dragon, with the help of Lily’s Green Warden, Malachite. We arrived back at the town to find them cutting up the dragon for parts. Mari was thrilled that she got to kill a dragon. Her second, apparently. She kept going on about how proud her father will be of her and claimed the head as her prize. I left the others to their fun and headed back to the mayor’s house to plan the ritual to cleanse the fields. The mayor offered us beds for the night in thanks for taking down the dragon.
 
In the morning, we prepared for the ritual. I explained that I would need to go to the fields alone. I asked the others to keep the villagers away while I work, and to come retrieve me when the ritual is finished. Bree asked how they would know it was time. I told them it should be obvious. After as hearty a breakfast as the town can muster, I walked out to the fields alone. I focused on my connection to Danu, letting Her light and warmth fill me. I could feel the blight in the ground pushing at me, a darkness trying to eat away at the golden power filling me up. I traced that darkness to its heart, just north of the center of the blighted land. I set my pack down and began setting up. When my ritual space was ready, I placed my hand over my Triskelian, tracing my fingers over the sign of Danu. I opened myself to Her power, felt Her respond to the sickness in the ground beneath me. An instinct that came from deep within my soul told me to take off my shoes. I did so quickly. Then, I followed a path through the fields, drawing in Danu’s power and pushing it out through my hands and feet. I guided the Healing energy through the earth. It pushed at the darkness, surrounded it, smothered it like a blanket over a flame. When the last of the blight had been eradicated, there was a brief pause. I felt exhaustion try to take hold of me. But a moment later, it was pushed back by another wave of power coursed through my veins. I walked back the way I came, pushing that power into the fields, bringing them back to life. It would still take time before they were healthy enough for anything to grow. But Danu provided the spark that would bring these fields back to life. I arrived back at my starting point and turned to see the whole field glowing as if gilded by the morning sun, but from the inside. The power pulsed once, then faded away, leaving the field and me at the same time. A moment of blackness covered my eyes. But I shook it off and cleaned up my ritual tools, barely staying on my feet long enough to finish. The others found me curled into a ball around my pack, using every ounce of my willpower to keep my eyes open. Malachite knelt by my side, told me I was safe and I could sleep, then lifted me in his arms. I don’t remember getting back to town.
 
I woke the next day to a grateful town raining blessings on me. I was allowed to rest for the remainder of that day. Word had gotten out to the other towns nearby that had been threatened by the dragon, ones whose fields had not yet been affected by its blight. They arrived en masse with as much food as they could spare, and the townsfolk hosted a feast for us. We celebrated, and the mayor allowed us to use his house for one more night to rest before we left town in the morning to hunt some goblins.