Ashlynn was familiar with Nightweaver Venom in a way that few healers could claim to be. Her own teacher, the Mother of Thorns, Amahle, was a member of the Nightweaver Clan, and both Ashlynn and Heila had studied how to treat the toxin. The problem was that even among witches, the poison was difficult to treat.
"The thing you have to understand, sugar," Amahle had explained one hot summer night. "Is that no two Nightweavers are the same, so the venom is different from one person to the next, and we each have different strengths to the venom that we make, like our own secret recipe."
"The venom has four parts to it," she said, giving both Ashlynn and Heila a look at the small holes in her jaw that were barely visible under her tongue. "One attacks the ears, makin' men hear what ain't there, one attacks the eyes, makin' 'em see what ain't real," she explained, using her spider-like appendages to gesture to her ears and eyes.
