Chapter 247: A Willow’s Lesson
This time, when Ashlynn’s mind slipped into the darkness, she expected more familiar visions, of painful memories or dark possibilities. The Ancient Willow, however, seemed to have other things in mind for her. Once the darkness swept over her, it faded away almost immediately, leaving her standing underneath the boughs of the Ancient Willow tree, bathed in the dim silvery glow of its silver-green leaves.
There was no sign of Jacques on the island. The campfire and boat were missing as though he had never been there. Further, Ashlynn herself was no longer bound to the tree. Her body bore no wounds from the double ended thorn and she felt comfortable and free of pain.
"You should give up now," a frail, elderly woman’s voice said. The voice came not from the tree itself, but an aged reptilian woman from the Ancient Clan. Her features were hidden beneath the wide brim of her conical hat, and the moss colored dress she wore was worn and faded with age.
"Y’r too young," the woman drawled, in an accent even thicker and more pronounced than Jacques. "Cher, you know too li’l to pass dis trial. Stop now, pull dat seed from y’r heart an’ come back when you got some sense in y’r head, yeah."
"It doesn’t matter if I’m too young or not," Ashlynn said, refusing to give up now that she’d come this far. "I came here for good reasons. I need to face this trial."
"Good reasons?" the old woman scoffed, her voice gravelly and sharp. "What good? What good reasons, I ask you? All I see from you is dat rush-rush an’ dat foolish belief dat ’you gonna find a way.’ You t’ink dis gonna go well jus’ ’cause you want it? Mais non! Dat’s pure nonsense," she finished with a derisive snort.
"Are you... are you the Ancient Willow then? Are you the spirit of the tree?" Ashlynn asked. Whoever this woman was, she clearly knew about the visions the tree had given her so far. If the tree could speak and reason, she was certain that she could find a way forward. As long as the tree had an open mind...
"Ancient Willow," the woman said with a self-deprecating laugh. "I done planted dat tree myself," she said, poking the trunk with a gnarled finger. "Name’s Cecile, de previous Willow Witch, I suppose, if you manage to pass this trial, dat is."
"Next to de Mother of Trees who gave me a seed of witchcraft and marked me a witch, y’r just a wee little babe," she drawled, her voice sharp with dismissal. "I don’t think you’ll make it. Better to give it up now, yeah."