The Vampire & Her Witch

Chapter 555: Substitute Physicians

Chapter 555: Substitute PhysiciansOn the far side of the castle, in an area that had become much busier since the arrival of Nyrielle’s army, Ashlynn made her way through the crowds of people toward the guest chambers where Artificer Erkembalt and the sorcerer Aspakos had taken Hauke as they continued to study the curse that bound him.

Two days ago, they had sent word that they’d made significant progress, but they needed the help of a witch’s Severing Knife if they were going to make any more progress. Any other time, Ashlynn would have rushed immediately to Hauke’s side, but at the moment, she had to prioritize Virve’s transformation and the transfer of her seed of witchcraft.

Even now, Ashlynn felt guilty for asking Talauia to watch over her newest witch as she underwent her transformation beneath the branches of the Ancient Oak. She wanted to be there for Ollie, she wanted to be there for Virve, but there were only so many places she could be at once, and right now... right now it was Hauke’s turn.

Inside a large guest chamber that had clearly been sized for members of the Clan of the Great Claw or other large-sized Eldritch visitors, Ashlynn found herself stepping into what resembled a chaotic blend of magical laboratory and scholarly study rather than any kind of sickroom.

Slate boards leaned haphazardly against every available wall surface, each covered with intricate diagrams, some depicting patterns of chains labeled with the names of horrifying curses, while others illustrated the internal structuresof Frost Walker horns.

All of the diagrams were accompanied by dense mathematical formulas written in at least three different scripts, some in Erkembalt’s precise, angular notation, others in Aspakos’s flowing, feathery script, and a third that looked like it had been faithfully transcribed from directly from ancient texts, as if the person doing the copying was afraid that re-writing it in a more modern script would result in misinterpreting the original meaning.

The room’s central table, large enough for a party of four to dine at, had been repurposed as a re

"He’s a stubborn kit," Erkembalt snorted. "Far too willing to suffer for the slightest hope of progress. We had to threaten to stop treating him before he would admit when we were causing him pain."

"Don’t lie to her Dominion," Aspakos countered. "You threatened to cut off his horn to free him from the curse, since nothing seemed to cause him pain. That seemed to terrify him so much that he stayed up for two whole days answering Erkembalt’s questions, just to be sure my friend here didn’t reach for his bone saws again."

"I can imagine!" Ashlynn said, giving the artificer a dark look. She appreciated everything he was doing for Hauke on top of her immense gratitude for the pair of weapons he’d forged from the horns of the Frost Walkers who had conspired against them, but his methods... Perhaps the best she could say was that he lacked a good bedside manner.

"Then, let me do my part so you can move on to other things," Ashlynn said, feeling like the artificer would be happier in a workshop with his tools than he was tending to a single cursed Frost Walker. "Your note said that you needed my Severing Knife, so how can I help?"