The Vampire & Her Witch Chapter 2046: Dressed for War

"...why go through all the effort to drag yourself out here in the cold?"

Erling was quiet for several moments, staring into the fire while he reflected on the needs that drove him out here tonight. Liam was right. He could have stayed in the ancient fortress to recuperate. He wouldn’t have been the only one if he did, though from what he’d heard, Loman Lothian wasn’t the sort of person he wanted to be compared to, even in something like this.

But setting himself apart from the fallen priest, the sole survivor of the Lothian line, wasn’t enough of a reason to drag himself out of bed on a cold winter night.

His mind circled around and around again. Each time, an answer came to mind and was quickly rejected, but after he returned to the same answer for a third time, he couldn’t help but acknowledge the truth.

"The unknown is a terrifying thing, Lord Liam," Erling said with a sigh. "The first time I hunted bears, I had no idea how dangerous they were. How fast they could run. How high in a tree they could climb... I knew next to nothing."

"I knew their claws were sharp," Erling said. "I knew their bite was lethal. I knew they were powerful... And I knew that hunting one could feed my household for three days."

"Bears are dangerous game," Liam acknowledged. "I doubt I’d hunt one for food. If it threatened one of my hamlets or villages, then I’d lead a force to hunt it, but... Not for dinner. There are too many safer options in Dunn."

"We don’t have as many options in Fayle," Erling said with a rueful chuckle. "Sometimes, you have to chase game into the Little Horns if you want to put food on the table, and once you’re there... You aren’t the only hunter searching for food. The bears hunt you while you hunt them."

"That’s not quite the point, though," Erling said, coming back to the question that Liam had originally asked. "I was afraid of bears because I didn’t understand them. I knew they were dangerous, and I was terrified at times on my first hunt. But on the second, I was less scared. Even less on the third. Now, I’m scared enough to be cautious, but not so scared that I hesitate or flee the mountains."

"I don’t ever intend to hunt witches," Erling said quickly when he realized his analogy could be taken the wrong way. "But I won’t lie, after seeing everything Empress Ashlynn and her coven could do... It’s frightening."

"So you came out here to understand them better?" Liam asked.

"That’s part of it," Erling said as he forced himself to confront the heart of the fear that lurked within his chest. "When something hurts you, it’s easy to avoid it. To let the fear of being hurt again influence you. I can’t afford that. Not if I’m supposed to govern a Protectorate."

"I need to know that I can still come out here," Erling explained. "Even injured. That I won’t run away from witches. If I can do that... Then, if the day ever comes when I need to stand up to Empress Ashlynn or her coven because of something I believe in... I’ll have the strength I started building today."

"And they called you the ’Coward Baron,’" Liam snorted. "Erling," he added, clapping the other man on the shoulder. "You’re one of the bravest men I know."

"This coming from a lord who used his time as a prisoner to negotiate with a Great Witch for a Protectorate," Erling replied with a chuckle. "I might have a measure of courage, but nothing that compares to your boldness," he said with a chuckle.

That chuckle died two heartbeats later as a stillness spread over the gathering. Everyone who had come to observe the ritual had already arrived. The sun had already slipped fully behind the Umber Mountains and the last rays of light were slowly fading from the sky, but not before the dwindling light revealed a small group of people wearing wide-brimmed, conical hats making their way toward the Enchanted Grove.

Heila led the way, her cloven hooves moving at an unhurried pace as she made her way down the treacherous, icy trail. Even in the fading light, she never slipped or stumbled despite the long shadows that obscured her view of the trail.

Liam drew a deep breath in a quick, sharp hiss as he noticed the hat and coat that Heila wore. The heavy, alligator leather that had come from some giant beast on the far side of the Umber Mountains didn’t move like most other fabric, and Liam Dunn wouldn’t forget the sight of that hat, coat or the whip at Heila’s side for as long as he lived.

Virve walked behind Heila at a distance that could be called respectful or protective. Like Heila, she wore a hat made of a thick, heavy leather, though unlike Heila’s hat, Virve’s featured a hat-band studded with acorns and what appeared to be claws. Virve had abandoned the harlequin-patterned gambesons that were worn by most of the Empire’s soldiers in favor of a coat of mail covered by a russet tabard. Across her chest, a gold oak tree spread its branches, but rather than roots, the trunk ended in the sharp points of claws that matched the fighting claws at her waist.

The Oak Witch was followed by the stern-looking Master Isabell, the famed Engineer of Destruction and Hemlock Witch. On most nights that Liam had seen her, she favored simple, black dresses or skirts with a matching tunic, and tonight was no exception.

What was different, however, was the steel grey cloak she wore and the matching hat. The cloak fluttered in the wind, revealing more than a dozen pockets sewn into its liner, each carrying an assortment of angular shapes that pulled at the cloak. The wide, black band on her hat had been fitted with a number of lenses, pointed stones, and something that resembled a mason’s compass.

Finally came a witch who wasn’t technically part of Ashlynn’s coven. Liam had heard stories of Talauia, the Thistle Witch, on his first visit to the Vale of Mists, but he had only glimpsed her once or twice in the distance.

Now, her iridescent wings shimmered in the fading light of dusk as she floated through the air half a pace behind Master Isabell, and Liam found himself trying to guess how many long, deadly needles were tucked into the band of her hat or the wide belt at her waist.

Just knowing that it had taken Empress Ashlynn and her entire coven to heal the wounds she’d inflicted on Hauke’s father was enough to send a shiver down Liam’s spine that had nothing to do with the cold winter air.

"Liam?" Erling said, sounding like he’d repeated himself in calling out to the young Lord Commander. "What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost."

"It... It’s their hats," Liam said, swallowing heavily as he watched the witches moving toward the center of the Enchanted Grove. "The witches... They’re dressed for war..."

Before Erling could process what Liam had said, Lady Heila took a few steps through the air to reach the top of a large boulder overlooking the gathering. With a wave of her hand, a scattering of dancing lights, each the size and shape of a willow leaf, filled the air around her, gathering the attention of everyone at the gathering.

"People of the Empire," Heila said, doing her best to match Ashlynn’s tone when she addressed a gathering. "Mother Ashlynn will be happy to see that so many of you have come tonight. Before she arrives, I have a few words to say..."