The Vampire & Her Witch
Chapter 281: Explosive Power

Chapter 281: Explosive Power

In the Briar, six days had passed since Ashlynn and Amahle bestowed the seed of witchcraft on Heila, and still, she showed no signs of waking up. Her body lay still within the stone circle on the barren island, though Ashlynn had covered her with a soft blanket and placed a pillow beneath her horned head.

-BOOM- -CRACK- The sounds of a fierce confrontation filled the air as magical energy flared, casting its flickering light across the island and adding a variety of hues to the diffuse light that filled the Briar.

At the opposite side of the narrow island, Ashlynn stood panting, her hands balled into fists and her arms raised before her in a defensive posture to guard her head and body. Facing her, Jacques stood in a similar pose, flexing his clawed hands as if he’d just struck something painfully solid. Around his hands, a flickering orange glow danced between his fingers, ready to explode again in an instant.

"You see, Auntie?" Jacques said with a toothy grin. "When you have de strength of de oak tree, you don’t need any fancy armor. Jus’ wrap dat solid trunk ’round yourself and de forest, she’ll be all de armor you need, non?"

"I still don’t like it," Ashlynn said. Deep gouges scarred the ground between her and Jacques and the sleeves of her dress had long since been torn so badly that she’d removed them entirely, revealing arms that were bruised and bleeding in places from her confrontation with the Sandbox Witch. Overlaying her body, a faint green energy shimmered like the bark of an illusory tree.

"If I have to draw on the strength of the forest to protect myself when a suit of armor would do the same thing for me, then I’m wasting the forest’s gifts," Ashlynn said as she changed her posture to one that was more relaxed and released the energy that sustained the ephemeral armor.

In a real fight, she would never close her eyes in battle, but when sparring with Jacques, she felt it was more important to do things correctly rather than forcing herself to fight as though it was ’real combat.’

Amahle had sent her a collection of invocations used by various witches of the forest and their covens for personal combat to accommodate her desire to train with Jacques while they waited for Heila’s transformation to finish. Now, Ashlynn reached for a simple one as she stretched her hands out before herself.

"From oak heart’s core to battle roar,

Call forth the staff that felled of yore."

In her hands, emerald green energy flowed twisting itself into a short, dark wooden staff with a heavy, rounded end that revealed the lighter inner wood of the staff. Drawing on the power of the cypress and sandbox trees around her, she poured more energy into the head of the short staff until it glowed with menace.

"Dat’s a potent-looking stick, Auntie," Jacques said, taking an involuntary step back from Ashlynn as she gave the weapon a few experimental swings.

"You have a thick hide and thicker skull," Ashlynn teased as she took a stance similar to what she would use when fighting with a falchion. "It’ll take a potent stick to get through to you."

This time, when Ashlynn and Jacques clashed, she poured all her effort and energy into landing crushing blows on the reptilian witch. The gifts she received as Nyrielle’s seneschal gave her speed and strength that matched or exceeded what the Sandbox Witch could bring to bear and she used them both to avoid his powerful fists every time he struck out.

It took only a single blow from the head of Ashlynn’s staff for Jacques to learn that blocking it with his forearms, no matter how strong his scaly hide and solid bones were, was a recipe for disaster.

The instant the staff made contact with a meaty -THWACK- his entire forearm down to the tips of his claws went numb. Worse, the flicking orange energy that danced around his fist faded away as he lost his ability to extend his explosive aura to that hand.

-BOOM- -CRACK!-

The sound of an explosion followed by a violent spray of sandy soil filled the air as Jacques slammed his other fist into the ground, triggering an explosion ten times as violent and powerful as the explosion of a sandbox tree’s seed pods.

"All right," Ashlynn said, raising the staff up high before letting it fade away. "Any more of that and we’ll disturb Heila," Ashlynn said, rubbing sand out of her eyes before glancing in the direction of her sleeping friend.

"Dat’s true I suppose," Jacques said, walking over to her and raising his hands while he recited a brief healing invocation for Ashlynn. By now, she knew enough to heal herself, but to Jacques, it was a sign of respect that he tended her wounds after their sessions ended.

If he didn’t and left cuts and bruises on the Mother of Thorns for her to heal herself, that would be more shameful than he could bear. The moment the energy washed over her, however, his tail almost dropped to the ground when he felt the pain his blows had inflicted upon her body.

The longer they had been waiting, the more fiercely Ashlynn threw herself into training, as if she was preparing herself to charge into Heila’s trial to rescue her friend, despite the impossibility of such a notion. More likely, she was using the intense training to force any other thoughts out of her mind and giving vent to the feelings of powerlessness that plagued her while they waited for Heila’s transformation to reach its end.

Today, however, Ashlynn had pressed Jacques hard enough that he’d cracked several of her bones and left injuries deep beneath the surface of her skin. It wasn’t until his magic began to heal her injuries that he realized how badly she’d been wounded and yet she stood there looking calm as if they didn’t bother her at all. Or, perhaps she welcomed the pain as a way to suffer alongside Heila.

Jacques couldn’t say for sure, but there was one thing he was increasingly coming to realize. The combination of the powers she gained as the Seneschal of a True Vampire blended with her powers as The Mother of Trees to create a terrifying power that, even if it hadn’t already, would very soon match the strength of most Eldritch Lords, and that was with barely any training.

Part of him was terrified at what she and Nyrielle might accomplish together. If they set their minds to it, perhaps the world would welcome a new Eldritch Empress. Perhaps only one of the other True Vampires would be able to stand in their way.

But, as much as the notion of the power they possessed frightened him, when he thought of the type of woman Ashlynn was, her fierce protectiveness and compassion... a larger part of him hoped that nothing would hold her back.

There were far too many people in the world using their power for far worse ends. If Ashlynn had the chance to grow and if she stayed true to the path she was on... wouldn’t that be a wonderful thing?