The Vampire & Her Witch

”If it’s too much for the young pup, I can take his place,” Savis offered with a bloodthirsty grin. ”Tausau can come with me so your lady-in-waiting can stay at your side,” he added with a glance at Heila that held a significant amount of respect. He’d seen what she was capable of during her battle in the arena against the Cauldron of Flame and he’d learned that night to never underestimate the powers of a witch, even one as petite and young as Lady Heila.

Since coming to the Vale of Mists, Savis had abided by the customs of the Vale and he’d only fed on people who made willing offerings. The trust that Lady Nyrielle’s people placed in vampires when they fed was astounding, but after the first time tasting the sweet, subtle flavors of blood given as a gift, the novelty had quickly worn off.

Savis, like all descendants of the Jaws of Death, lived for the hunt and his fangs longed to spill blood laced with the intoxicating flavor of fear.

”No, I have a different task in Hanrahan Barony for you and Commander Tausau,” Ashlynn said with a slight shake of her head, immediately dashing Savis’s hopes. ”Hauke,” she said, turning back to face the young Frost Walker lord. ”I won’t force you to do this, but...”

”I’ll force him,” Virve said, giving the young man a dark look. ”I’ll personally tie him up and hand him over to Dame Sybyll if that’s what it takes to get him there, and if he comes running home, I’ll chase his sorry ass back.”

Virve’s harsh words exploded in Hauke’s ears like the crack of Heila’s whip and for a moment, he didn’t know what to say or how to respond, but Virve wasn’t done with him yet.

”Mother Ashlynn needs you,” Virve said in a calmer tone. ”She needs you because you have a gift the rest of us don’t. Heila is going to confront lord Loman, and don’t forget, before this year, there were already rumors that Loman was talented enough to become an Exemplar. He might not be as powerful as a witch, but as a human miracle worker, he’s not far off, but Heila isn’t complaining at all.”

”Virve,” Heila said, reaching out to gently caress the fur of Virve’s arm in a soothing gesture. ”It’s not Hauke’s fault for being afraid of humans and their Miracle workers. He’s never faced a threat like them before. He didn’t grow up right next to them the way we did.”

”No, Lady Heila,” Hauke said as his horn began to shift from an uncertain pale lavender toward a more resolute shade of dark blue, like ice so thick and cold that even light couldn’t escape its frozen depths. ”Virve is right to shame me. Lady Ashlynn has done so much for me,” he said, forcing himself to meet Ashlynn’s emerald gaze.

”She could have killed me in the High Pass but she suffered horrible wounds in order to defeat the ancestors without killing me,” he said. ”She freed me from their curse, she’s protecting my people and healing my father... Lady Ashlynn, I owe you more than I can ever repay,” he said, lowering his horn until it pointed at the ground.

”Please forgive me,” he said in a tone that had gained an icy firmness it had lacked just moments ago. ”I’ll protect Lady Heila and everyone else from the Inquisitor’s flames. You can count on me.”

”Good man!” Virve said, slapping the young lord heavily on the shoulder. ”It’s fine to be scared before you march to battle, we’re all scared sometimes,” she said. ”Just remember that you have to march anyway, and you’ll find out in no time that there’s nothing left to be scared of.”

”Really?” Hauke asked as he turned to face the veteran soldier. ”So when does the fear go away?”

”About an hour after the last enemy is dead beneath your claws,” Savis said with a dark, throaty chuckle. Looking at the young man, he could only shake his head at the way the young Frost Walker reminded him far too much of the young pups he’d trained to become the fiercest warriors of the Black Wolf Brigade, generation after generation.

”Good that you have companions who will drag you along with them if your courage ever falters,” Savis said sagely, sounding more like the centuries old commander he was than the blood thirsty hunter he often conducted himself as. ”Listen to Lady Heila and Dame Sybyll and you’ll do fine.”

”But Lady Ashlynn,” Savis said, turning back toward the Mother of Trees and allowing his bloodlust to come back to the forefront. ”You said that you had a different task for my little brother and I,” he said with a grin that exposed his sharp teeth and wicked fangs. ”I’d like to hear what it is you have in mind for us.”

”In a moment,” Ashlynn said, holding up a finger and keeping her gaze on Hauke. ”Hauke, if you’re certain that you’re up to this, then I’ll send orders to Artificer Erkembalt to return the Blade of Eternal Ice to you,” she said with a complicated look on her face.

That was the sword that had shattered her darksteel falchion, and the weapon was so terrifyingly cold that she suffered frostbite along her fingers and arms just from clashing with the deadly blade. It wasn’t a weapon she had fond memories of, and when Erkembalt asked to study it, she’d been only too willing to allow it to remain in his hands until it was needed. But now, the time had clearly come to return it to its rightful owner.

”You have some time before the attack on Hanrahan will begin,” Ashlynn said. ”I suggest practicing with the sword as much as you can. Powerful tools like Sir Ignatious’s Holy Flame Blade aren’t easy to command, even if you know something of the sorcery that shaped them in the first place. If you aren’t convinced that you can master it enough to use it safely, it’s better that you leave it behind.”

”I understand, my lady,” Hauke said in a voice that sounded much more determined than his racing, nervous heart felt. ”I won’t disappoint you.”

”I know you won’t, Hauke,” Ashlynn said warmly before she turned to face Savis. The white-furred vampire looked so eager to hear what kind of plan Ashlynn had in mind for him that for a moment, she almost thought that his tail was wagging. But then, considering how she intended to use his talents, maybe the image wasn’t entirely inappropriate.

After all, she knew how much violence one of High Lord Hamdi’s progeny was capable of... But what she intended to use him for amounted to little more than tossing a dog a bone.