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"It’s important that every witch equip themselves with a Severing Knife," Amahle said in a tone that was much sharper than what she’d use to describe cauldrons and wands.

At her waist, Amahle wore a bone-handled knife that Ashlynn and Heila had assumed was a simple utility knife. After all, despite her vaunted status, within the Briar Amahle presented herself as a very mundane and ordinary woman who just happened to have a few extraordinary abilities.

Now, however, when the older witch pulled the bone-hilted knife from its sheath, the entire room dimmed as if the light itself had been frightened away by the fearsome blade.

The blade itself was also made of bone, as though the entire knife had been carved from a single piece of a large beast’s arm or leg.

Along the blade, sharp, angular Eldritch Glyphs emitted a lurid red glow that filled both Ashlynn and Heila with an ominous sense of dread.

Ashlynn’s heartbeat quickened and in the presence of the bone knife, both her bond with Heila and the far stronger bond tying her to Nyrielle trembled like a rabbit in the presence of a pack of starving wolves.

"This is a Severing Knife," Amahle said, placing the terrifying weapon on the table. "The edge is not sharp. This knife isn’t meant to cut physical things. Rather, it severs the ties of magic that bind things together."

"You could destroy my bond with Nyrielle with that knife," Ashlynn whispered in horror. Her heart trembled and it took all of the strength of will she had to stay seated at the table within striking distance of the bone blade. "Or my bond with Heila. Why? Why would you carry such a thing?"

"This is a tool, no different than a wand or a cauldron," Amahle said, retrieving the knife and returning it to its sheath before it caused further distress. "Everything that can be made with sorcery or witchcraft can be unmade with the right tools and skills," she explained.

"Something interfered with Heila’s trial," the Mother of Thorns continued. "Something seeped into the bond between the two of you and the Ancient Willow and formed a barrier that prevented her from completing the trial."

"It was Cecile," Heila said, her grass-green eyes narrowing as she thought about the remnant spirit of her predecessor.

"She was another Willow Witch. She wanted me to dedicate myself to a path of peace and selfless healing as she had," Heila said, looking up to meet Ashlynn’s eyes with a gaze that was firm and filled with resolve.

"I refused," Heila said in a tone that was filled with her conviction. "My lady needs someone who can fight beside her as well as heal the wounded. I won’t leave you to carry the entire burden of fighting for us by yourself, Ashlynn," she said.

"I’d hate to see you hurt," Ashlynn said, reaching out to pull Heila into a brief embrace. "But we’ve faced danger before and we will again. So, I’m glad that you’ll be beside me when the danger comes."

For a moment, no one said anything. Ashlynn could see how genuine Heila’s desire to fight alongside her was and she accepted it completely.

After her trial, though Ashlynn hadn’t heard the details from the first member of her coven, as far as Ashlynn was concerned, Heila had earned the right to serve as she wished.

"I also encountered a ghost of Cecile," Ashlynn said, changing the topic.

"She didn’t seem to approve of me and my relationship with Nyrielle but she never tried to force my hand.

Perhaps because I am the Mother of Trees there were limits to what a Willow Witch could do against me, but against Heila. .."

"Exactly so, darlin’," Amahle said. "If you hadn’t entangled yourself in the magic of the trial by supporting Heila with your own energy, I would have used this knife to cut away this remnant spirit who interfered with the trial," she explained. "Though, I’ll admit that even without Ashlynn’s magic in the mix, it would have been delicate work and my chances of success wouldn’t have been more than one in five. "

"There exist all manner of curses, bindings, and bonds in this world," Amahle continued. "A Severing Knife isn’t a weapon to be used against people like you who have bonds formed willingly by both parties."

"Just because that isn’t its purpose doesn’t mean it can’t be used that way," Ashlynn pointed out, giving the knife at Amahle’s waist a nervous glance. "A table knife isn’t meant for killing men, but in a pinch, it will do the job," she said, thinking back on her confrontation with Kaefin.

While she was posing as a servant, she’d used whatever was at hand, shattering a water pitcher over his head in order to turn the tide against him.

If something could be used as a weapon, even if that wasn’t its purpose, that didn’t mean she never had to fear someone attacking her with a knife that could sever her bond with Nyrielle.

"That’s true," Amahle admitted. "But, as uncomfortable as this tool may be, you should carry one of your own, just like a seamstress carries a seam ripper. I know the one I wear feels a touch... overpowering. Yours won’t be like this for years, perhaps decades."

Heila nodded in understanding as soon as Amahle mentioned the seam ripper. She had done plenty of mending on everything from curtains to clothing and there were times when, even though you’d done your best, you still had to backtrack and rip out stitches in order to make things whole again.

If witchcraft was the same, then perhaps it wasn’t uncommon to need to ’unmake’ some of their own workings when things had gone awry in order to make sure that the final working was as good as it could be. But, as she thought about it, something else that Amahle had said caught her mind.

"Is it like Darksteel?" Heila asked, sitting up straighter as the idea struck her. She had never used a Darksteel weapon herself the way Ashlynn had, but she’d grown up around plenty of people who did and she’d heard many stories about how older weapons were treasured because of the strength they accumulated over time.

"Darksteel weapons grow stronger the more they’re used, don’t they? "

"That’s not entirely true," Ashlynn corrected as she thought about the lessons she’d received from Thane. "They grow stronger the more blood they drink. But, maybe it is the same sort of thing?"

"You can think of it that way, though it’s slightly more complex than that," Amahle said. "It’s enough of an understanding for now. The important thing, right now, sounds like paying a visit to the Ancient Willow. If there is any more of this lingering Willow Witch that’s interfering with the ancient tree, we should free the tree from her influence. "

"I’m not fond of things that attempt to corrupt sacred rituals," Amahle said with a hint of crimson light gathering at the tips of her spider-like limbs.

The lurid glow matched the earlier radiance of her Severing Knife, giving the pointed tips of her spider-like limbs the feeling that they had transformed into wicked thorns that would pierce and rend flesh.

"And even less so when they threaten my family. "

For a moment, the Mother of Thorns seemed to truly embody her name, radiating an aura of protective menace that curled around Ashlynn and Heila in the same way that Jacques’s aura often enveloped Ashlynn, providing protective comfort within while radiating sharp, thorny menace outward.

Only, unlike Jacques, the bloodthirsty menace radiating from the Mother of Thorns was several times more intense.

Then, like the dense fog of the Briar melting to reveal the light of day, Amahle’s demeanor shifted.

The crimson light faded from her spider-like limbs and a gentle smile blossomed on her face that restored her appearance as a kind and gentle matron, leaving both younger women wondering whether this was Amahle’s true face and the other was just a mask or if it was the other way around.

"Once we’ve ensured that the Ancient Willow is free of any lingering ghosts, we can retrieve a branch for Heila’s wand," Amahle said, her voice warm and encouraging.

"And then," she added, her smile brightening the room as if to chase away the last remnants of the knife’s darkness, "we can finally begin your formal training."