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Ashlynn was grateful that she’d left propriety behind, wearing a short pair of breeches that stopped above the knees and a sleeveless tunic along with her Hedge Hat as she calmbered over the branches of the magnolia tree to retrieve her fifth blossom.

Suddenly, a giggle spilled from her lips as she tried to imagine what her mother would think if she saw her eldest daughter with her legs bare to the knee, barefoot and climbing a tree to pick flowers..

The countess had already been slightly scandalized when Ashlynn took to wearing simple peasant skirts and tunics while rooting around in the dirt of her garden.

If it weren’t for the isolation imposed on her by her mark and the guilt her mother felt over keeping her confined so often, Ashlynn was certain that her mother would have forbidden her from returning to her garden the first time she’d seen her daughter covered in dirt.

Instead of banning her, however, her mother had sent out for simple skirts made of higher quality fabrics and commissioned a blacksmith to provide Ashlynn with the best gardening tools he could fashion, crafted to precisely fit her hands.

She’d looked heartbroken at her daughter’s joy at such practical gifts, but it had meant the world to the young Ashlynn.

"One day," Ashlynn promised herself. "I’ll show you what I can do with the things I learned back then. I’ll grow something special and make a potion just for you, Mother."

All thoughts about what she might concoct for her mother were interrupted by a piercing cry accompanied by the sound of wind fluttering through feathers.

Acting on instinct, honed by countless hours of Thane’s demanding instruction, Ashlynn’s hand dropped to her waist to retrieve her sword even as she turned to face the threat.

Only it wasn’t a sword that sat on her hip today but the slender, gnarled piece of Ancient Oak that she’d carved into a wand.

The combination of the quick turn and the awkward grab she made for her wand when her mind caught up to the fact that she’d left her sword behind cost her valuable seconds that she didn’t have and left her so awkwardly off balance that she slipped off the branch she’d perched on, falling almost ten feet to the ground below.

For a moment, she felt like she was completely weightless as her arms and legs splayed out mid-air.

In that moment, her eyes widened as she watched three birds with feathers of midnight blue and darker black dove through the space she had occupied just a second ago.

Wind swirled around the birds and a cruel, calculating look flashed across their yellow eyes as they realized their prey had evaded their surprise attack.

The windstorm unleashed by the trio of birds tore through the branches of the magnolia tree, hewing slender branches from the tree like pruning knives and leaving deep gouges in the tree’s soft bark.

"Witchcraft," Ashlynn said in shock as she recognised the source of power that the birds drew on. All other thoughts were driven from her mind an instant later as she slammed into the soft, sandy soil beneath the tree’s branches.

Bright bursts of light flared at the edges of her vision and for a moment, the world dimmed, turning the perpetual twilight of the Deep Water region momentarily into a dark, moonless night.

Pain exploded in her back, head, and chest when she bounced off the ground and the air was knocked out of her chest leaving her gasping and dazed for several precious seconds.

In those seconds, she completely lost track of the birds who had recovered from their missed dive and were circling above for another one.

Even though she couldn’t see the birds, Ashlynn was well aware of the fact that she couldn’t stay still and try to recover, doing so would only make her an easy target.

Instead, she kicked out with one foot, rolling across the ground like a log for a dozen paces until she managed to stagger to her feet.

Her chest burned as she gulped air, desperately trying to clear the fog that wrapped around her mind after her fall. Her right hand tightened on her wand and her eyes frantically searched the dark canopy above for any sign of where the deadly birds might come from next.

"Heila," she realized, turning in the direction that her diminutive friend had gone. There, hovering over the tangled blackberry vines, four more of the dark birds hovered. Their broad wings flapped aggressively and every time their wings beat, they unleashed a storm of blades formed of magic and wind, tearing away at the thorny vines that Heila dove beneath to escape the bird’s attack.

Unfortunately for Ashlynn, the birds trying to cut a path to Heila weren’t the same ones that had knocked her out of the magnolia tree. Another piercing cry split the air, heralding the return of the birds that seemed determined to flay the flesh from her body with their fierce blades of wind.

This time, Ashlynn swept her gnarled wand in a wide circle as words of power fell from her lips in a smooth, steady cadence.

"Cypress guardians, old and wise,

Let deadly harvest now arise.

Each needle blessed with battle’s art,

From gentle green to poison dart."

Ever since her experience with Cecile in the trial presented by the Ancient Willow, the cypress tree had come to have a special place in Ashlynn’s heart.

The tree had a steady, reassuring strength that reminded her of the oak, but its needle-like leaves always gave her the feeling that, unlike the mighty oak, the cypress would fight back to protect those who sheltered under its branches.

Now, the towering cypress trees shook like hounds shaking off water, shedding hundreds of green needles and leaving them suspended in the air.

Like glistening droplets of water, the green needles sharpened and their color darkened, taking on a sickly hue as the normally beneficial oils within the needle transformed into a potent toxin.

"Through air they fly at my command,

Like arrows loosed by nature’s hand.

Strike deep and true, my wooden rain,

Leave none who face me free from pain!"

Ashlynn made a sweeping gesture with her wand, encompassing the birds diving toward her as well as the ones besieging Heila. At the same time, the torrent of wind surrounding the birds descended toward her, knocking aside dozens of the deadly needles as though they weren’t even there.

Blades of wind as sharp as any knife danced across her skin, cutting through fabric like sheers and leaving several shallow cuts all over Ashlynn’s arms and torso.

Were it not for the strength she’d gained from her bond with Nyrielle, the wounds would have been countless times worse, perhaps even life-threatening.

As is, even though the damage they did to her body wasn’t serious, the amount of pain the wounds inflicted was difficult to ignore.

Still, pain was the last thing in the world that would stop Ashlynn from doing what needed to be done, especially when Heila was depending on her. While the birds had destroyed dozens of her deadly cypress needles, her spell had prepared hundreds more.

The swarm of needles followed the direction of her wand, shredding the wings of the first group of birds and piercing their lean bodies and slender necks until they resembled feathered pincushions.

Ashlynn’s assault didn’t stop there as the remaining needles whistled through the air like a swarm of mosquitos thirsty for blood.

The quartet of birds harassing Heila had just enough time to realize something was coming and that they should abandon their attack before the first needles arrived.

Two of the birds attempted to gain altitude, hoping to return to the cover of the branches above while the other two attempted to dive beneath the swarm, using the power of the wind they’d summoned to propel them even faster.

If Ashlynn had greater mastery of the spell she’d used, she could have split the swarm of needles, easily defeating the entire group.

At the moment, however, she could only choose one of the groups and she decisively chose to strike at the ones diving toward the ground.

Toward the ground meant toward Heila and she wouldn’t allow any of them to threaten her family.

Already, Ashlynn’s mind was racing for a way to deal with the two birds who escaped her cypress needle swarm when she heard Heila’s voice, clear and strong as the Willow Witch charged out from behind a dense group of cypress knees.

"Get down here!" Heila snapped, following her command with two thundering cracks of impossibly long whips in her hands.

The birds should have been much, much too high in the air for the diminutive witch to strike but when she cracked each whip, it grew longer in her hand, striking like a serpent uncoiling itself as it shot toward the birds.

With one crack of a whip, the first bird’s neck shattered and the crack of the second whip that followed immediately behind it did exactly the same, wrapping around the bird’s slender neck before a sharp tug of Heila’s hand snapped the bird’s neck, knocking it from the sky before it realized it was dead.

"My lady, you’re hurt!" Heila exclaimed, ignoring the countless scratches across her body from diving into the blackberry branches as she looked at the deeper wounds on Ashlynn’s body with eyes that were wide in horror.

She’d hunkered down behind the cypress knees to buy time to form both of her whips, but in that time, Ashlynn had...

"I’m fine," Ashlynn said, holding up a hand before Heila could panic.

"Well, not fine, but I will be. Save your energy," she said before the diminutive witch could begin a healing incantation.

"A little of your numbing paste and some bandages and I’ll be all right until we get home. Can you do that for me?"

"Of course," Heila said, wiping moisture from her eyes. For a moment, as she hid behind the cypress knees, she’d been haunted by memories of cowering behind Hauke’s ice shield while Ashlynn faced the Tuscans with Virve and Andrus.

But this time had been different. This time, she hadn’t been cowering, she’d been preparing her counterattack. And, while she hadn’t arrived at Ashlynn’s side in time to fight by her side, this time, at least she’d joined the battle.

"My lady, please give me your arm," Heila said gently as she retrieved a small vial of medicinal paste from a pouch at her waste along with a cloth to clean the wound. "This may sting but it will go numb right after..."

Above her, Ashlynn smiled as she watched her horned companion’s intense focus. Finally, the last of the doubts she had about giving Heila a seed of witchcraft and taking her into danger fell away.

This was the kind of woman that Heila was working so hard to become, and seeing her so capably moving from battle to attentive care.

.. Ashlynn couldn’t help but feel like she was finally seeing the woman that Heila was meant to be.

One that she was glad to have as more than just a friend, but as a true member of her new family.