[X]A curved sword that glows in the moonlight
[X]An amulet of amber, gifted to you by your mother (fire element focus)
[X]A huge feather from the wing of a great falcon, (air element focus)
[X]Your familiar's, a kobold locked in animal form, service, perfectly willing if asked,
[X]A dubiously real map to the home of a mythically immortal woman,
[X]A broom you thought one day you could use to fly,
First, you remove the sheathed sword from your bag, which you'd stolen from above your home's mantle before you left. Your mother would never tell you where she got it, just that it would always keep you and her safe. You hoped she was right when you took it.
"I don't know how long my family has owned this sword, but I know it's important to our line. I'm willing to give it to you if you want it." You explain, setting it on the ground.
Next, you take out the enormous feather of a most likely enormous bird you always keep with you, that drifted into your lap years ago, and allowed you to begin your practice of air magic. It was one of your most cherished possessions. You hesitated, and then held it out to speak.
"This is the feather of a great bird. I'm… not sure what kind, but it holds power in the element of air." You set it down next to the sword, and reach into your bag to pull out the amber amulet from inside your shirt. Your mother gave it to you as your first focus when you were 12, she told you to pour your anger into it, rather than the world around you. You can feel the familiar seared dents from when you spent your nights clutching it as hard as you could, and spontaneously causing the glow of fire to burn its durable surface. You use it more than any other focus in your possession.
"This is the amber amulet I use for fire magic. It glows in the dark most nights, I think it's been imbued with fire, from how much I… use it." You kept the amulet in front of your shirt, presented and on display. You didn't need it anyway. You could summon fire without it, with some difficulty.
You pull out the small map tube you had packed. Another relic of the family. It was a map that your mother claimed was real, and you didn't exactly have the ability to dispute it, as you'd never left town, so you decided to believe it too. It was simple, and old enough that you feared taking it out on a humid day might reduce it to a sludge.
"My mother tells me this map leads to the oldest woman in the world, someone who's been around since before there was writing. I don't have any other maps for reference, but she says she isn't far from our coven." You set the map tube down as well, and take out your final inanimate offering, your broomstick, tied to the side of the bag.
You had no use for it. They'd never teach you to fly on it, and you didn't know how to make it do what you wanted. You'd given up months ago. Maybe the dream of your flight would be enough payment.
"I dreamt of flying away on this. I don't have a use for it anymore if you trade me for what I wish for." You're surprised you haven't broken it over your knee in a fit of rage anyway. You pushed those thoughts aside and gripped your broomstick tighter.
"Is that all?" Madeline asks with a slight giggle.
"Well, I have one more, but he's outside. Could you open the wall for a moment?" You ask, nervous of offending your host somehow from that. Madeline nodded, and gestured with a hand towards the greenery beside her. A large section of the wall retracts like vines growing in reverse, revealing the moonlit, hilly forest outside. You put your fingers to your lips, and blow hard, whistling for you familiar Gunther.
You position your broomstick over your shoulders, with the handle side hanging off to the side of your body. Within thirty seconds, your hawk soars into the opening, circles the grove, and lands onto your broomstick, throwing you off balance for a moment. He scoots across the stick over to your head, nuzzling your badger ears and making that shrill cooing he made when he knows you're anxious.
"We agreed that should it come to it, Gunther would be willing to enter your service in exchange for what I'm asking for." You explain, keeping your voice from wavering from the thought of leaving your best friend behind while you live it large in the broader world.
"Well then spit it out, what do you want me to give you?" Madeline asks, eyes flowing over all the options presented to her.
"I want to fly. Well, I want to know how to fly a plane." You explain, thinking maybe you should have led with that.
"Quite an ask… I don't usually deal in skills." Madeline says, putting a finger to her lips and appearing to think. She walks over to the wall of green surrounding her grove, and puts her hand into it, sinking her arm deep into the greenery like she was trying to reach the other side. After a moment, she pulls out what appeared to be slightly curved glass, in an irregular oval shape, on a looped string, like a necklace. It looks like a glass from a pilot's goggles.
"I think you'll find this will help you, Frau Hilda." She says with a smile, walking back over and putting the necklace over your head and around your neck, standing with her neck and chest so close to your face you can feel the warmth of her skin. Being so close to her made your body hair stand on end, from subconscious attraction, fear, or a natural instinct against the supernatural you weren't sure. She smelled floral, fittingly enough. After that, she takes a step back, and looks over your offerings to her. Her eyes seem to lock on your amulet. She steps forward again, and takes the orange crystal into her hand, looking it over.
"You have certainly made use out of this…" Madeline says, running her fingers over it.
"You have something else I'd like to borrow." She says, pushing the amulet aside with her hand and pressing a finger into your chest, pointing at your heart.
"You have quite the fiery spirit, don't you?" She asks almost teasingly, grinning.
"U-…um…" You attempted. Butterflies flooded your system as you started to wonder if this deal was going quite a different direction than you expected.
"I can feel flame coursing through that amulet, but you're steeped in it, aren't you?" She asks, pulling her finger away and looking you over.
"Tell you what. You give me your fiery spirit for… let's say, three nights, and I'll let you keep that necklace. You'll get it back, you have my word, but that… wrath you have inside you, that's the most useful thing you've brought me." Madeline said, extending her hand again for a shake.
"Wrath? I'm not wrathful!" You said in defense, offended.
"You don't seem like the type that sits by and lets insolence pass. You came all the way out here to cut a deal with a nymph you knew nothing about, and were willing to give me everything you have to leave your coven." Madeline says, reading you like a book. You stare at her extended hand.
"Keep what you brought. You'll need it." She said, pointing at the rest of the items on the ground. You grab her hand and shake it. It's soft, warm, and you don't want to let go. She keeps her grip on you, and you start to feel tired. You look up at her, and she's smiling like she just won a prize. The growing weakness compounds with you nearly falling, but catching yourself, Gunther loudly squawking thinking something is wrong. Your hand feels hot, scorching, with a burning sensation passing from your hand into Madeline's. After a few more seconds, she releases your hand, and you gasp, not realizing you'd been holding your breath.
"There we go… have a safe trip home, and as for flying that plane, just sit in a cockpit and you'll know what to do." Madeline says, finishing her drink and turning around to walk back to her stone wall. After a moment of catching your breath, you got down and put your belongings back into your napsack, rushing to make sure you got out before sunup. You didn't really know how long you'd been in the forest for, but you were nervous you'd get home after everyone woke up.
"Th-thank you!" Is all you could really think to say as you stood back up and put your sack on your shoulders, looking back towards the open doorway out into the woods.
"You're very welcome. Goodbye, Frau Hilda." Madeline shot back as she continued to draw on her stone wall, drawing on what looked like a map of glowing lines. The elf that had guided you here leads you out of the grove, and points to your left.
"It's a straight shot that way back to the coven. The beasts of the woods will give you no trouble." She said, before walking off in the opposite direction.
You run most of the way home, through the woods, and by the time you're within sight of the clearing you know as the coven's village, the sky is just beginning to glow. It won't be long before dawn. Upon exiting the wild, you're in the airfield. Just a field like any other, but with three planes covered by tarps next to an uninhabited shake full of mechanical supplies. You'd been planning this, so you knew which one you were taking. You hurriedly sprint over to the machine that would take you away, into the skies, to start your new life, and yank the tarp off the…
[ ]New Theler Drachen (Unarmed Observer, light, but bad at most things)
[ ]Used Rathenau-7k (Fast and Agile, Fragile and Low Firepower)
[ ]Used Living Grove (High Firepower, and Visibility, but Flammable. Made from shaping growing trees into the shape of a plane)
[ ]Used Braun Model VJ (FAST and Two Seater, Unarmed and Clumsy)
