The Vampire & Her Witch

The audience on the hillside, the nobles sitting behind her, and almost everyone in the Imperial Box leaned forward, their eyes wide open as they watched the Evergreen Empress prepare to lead her coven in an act of witchcraft.

Some had already seen what Ashlynn was capable of, or at least they’d had a glimpse. Others had simply heard rumors, wild things about killing a man and bringing him back from the dead or summoning a sacred tree in the middle of the Lothian Great Hall.

Most, however, had no idea what witchcraft truly looked like beyond the pillars of ice and streamers of light they’d already seen.

Ashlynn shut them out.

What she intended today would stretch the limits of her craft and her training. Worse, it would require her to work with elements that she was least in tune with. Thankfully, Heila and Hauke were both strong where she was weak, but binding their powers together was only the first bridge she would have to cross to summon the Frozen Forest that would serve as the dueling ground for Erling and Khorijin.

From her waist, Ashlynn drew the gnarled wand shaped from a branch of the Ancient Oak, holding it high overhead as she prepared her binding. Beside her, Heila drew Snow Fang while turning to face outward. Finally, Hauke drew the Runic Blade of Eternal Ice, planting its tip on the stone platform and resting his hands on its hilt.

Like Heila, Hauke turned away from Ashlynn until they all stood facing outward from a single point between them. Only then did Ashlynn begin to speak the words that would bind their powers together.

”I reach for you with ties that bind,

The strength of roots, trunk and vines,

From soil and river, earth’s power flows,

From left to right our power grows,

Linked together our desires blend,

In this circle without end.”

Ashlynn swept her wand in a circle with each line of her invocation, completing six circuits that left a glowing trace in the air with each passage of her wand. The circle grew brighter and brighter, larger and larger, until a ring of emerald energy hung in the air above them.

But just because she’d invited Hauke and Heila to join the circle didn’t mean their powers were at her command. Not yet at least. Her circle was an invitation. It was up to Hauke and Heila to join it.

”The Willow bends, its roots drink deep,

The strength I have is yours to reap.”

Heila’s assent was simple, but between members of the same coven, little more was needed. The instant she completed her invocation, a willow tree made of silvery green energy formed before her, sinking its roots deep into the stone platform and the soil beneath it before stretching all the way up to the emerald ring above them.

The instant the two made contact, the branches of the willow were caught in an unseen wind, blowing out along the ring until they wrapped around it, holding tight to the ring that bound them together.

Standing next to Heila, Ashlynn could feel the strength of the Willow Witch flowing through their bond. Heila’s presence was gentle, yielding, ready to support her in whatever manner she needed. Glancing over her shoulder, she and Heila shared a brief look and smiled, finding the bond just as comforting as it had been when they first learned to form it under Amahle’s watchful eye in the briar.

But then, it was Hauke’s turn, and without a seed of his own to ease the way, he had to work considerably harder to join the circle.

”In the name of all we’ve built,

And all the blood we’ve spilt,

I offer my strength, my skill, and the Runic Blade,

When Mother Ashlynn calls, I pledge my aid.”

Where Heila summoned a flowing, natural construct in the shape of a willow tree, Hauke’s sorcery took the form of a gleaming, crystalline tower of ice. Each facet was smoothly sculpted, and when it reached the branch-entwined ring, the tower of ice grew graceful flying buttresses that held and supported the ring.

Hauke’s horn flared a brilliant, icy blue as he called on greater power and the hooked, angular runes on the Runic Blade of Eternal Ice glowed with the same frigid energy. Along the ground, beginning from the point where Hauke had planted the tip of his sword, a second ring stretched with more and more towers of ice reaching upward until the lower ring completely supported the upper ring.

Icy blue energy blended with silvery green and emerald green, flowing through the circle endlessly. To Ashlynn, Hauke and Heila, it sounded like water flowing through a creek bed or an aqueduct, and it felt... eager. Ready and willing to be used however she needed.

In the Imperial Box, Isabell let out a sigh just looking at the glittering structure formed entirely of energy. It was heartbreakingly beautiful, and compared to the limited bond she’d been able to form with Hauke in the past few days, she felt like a child who’d only ever built sandcastles looking at the real thing for the very first time.

”You’ll get your turn,” Nyrielle said, appearing at Isabell’s side before she noticed the other woman move. ”My darling is counting on you for a great many things.”

”I know,” Isabell said, pursing her lips as she felt a sharp pang of regret in her heart. ”It’s just that I never thought of applying engineering or architecture to ice and I...”

”You closed yourself off to anything beyond the wood and stone you’re used to building with,” Nyrielle said quietly enough that others in the box couldn’t hear. ”Witches hold the power of growth and change. It may not be easy, but perhaps, one day, your roots will grow and expand. Even if they don’t, what you have is already formidable.” 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

”I know,” Isabell said, turning her attention to the display of witchcraft outside. ”This is just reminding me that I still have so much to learn.”

”Then watch closely,” Nyrielle said. ”Because even I have never seen witchcraft as grand as what Ashlynn is attempting,” she said, glancing briefly at Dirar, whose eyes had never left the trio on the platform. ”And I think we will all learn something tonight.”