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Chapter 32: The Demon Cat
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2024-10-29 19:42:56“You must summon a cherti to defend yourself. These are dangerous times.” Baba Yaga finished chalking a summoning circle onto the floor of her hut. “They are tricksy creatures. Worse than the Devil himself. Your will must be iron. It is much like fishing: you cast your will out into Hell like a lure, and the cherti are drawn to your witch fire. Then you reel your will in and catch them in your own skin as a net. Can you do that, little bird?”
Anya nodded. She sat cross-legged in the middle of the pentagram Baba Yaga had chalked on the floor, her hair fishtail-braided over one shoulder. “I think so, babushka.”
Baba Yaga lit four tapers for the four directions and set them at the corners of the summoning circle. She handed Anya a bundle of raskovnik plants, rare greens shaped like four leaf clovers - the keys to unlocking the spiritual world. “Now, calm your
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