❛power isn't everything. it's the only thing.❜
[complete]
wattys 2018 winner ❧
Lin is a hunter, one of the magically enhanced witch slayers that roam a flooded world. Under the laws of four Kings and Greymark, who rules them all, Lin is unto...
"Love is a poison. A sweet poison, yes, but it will kill you all the same."
—George R.R. Martin
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Lin bit through her lip as she ducked beneath the witch's wild strikes. The creature wasn't experienced in combat, her flames flared out too far to do anything more than singe Lin's skin. The books, on the other hand, erupted in flames where they sat.
Her sigils twisted and bit into her, the silver moving beneath her skin. Not unpleasant, more like a lover's scratch than anything. It was nothing compared to the billows of heat rolling towards her.
The witch swung about, searching, the brightness of her wind-fed flames blinding her to the shadows. Lin took advantage of the moment of disorientation, clearing the four-meter distance between them and slashing the inside of the witch's outstretched wrist. The witch gave a shriek of pain, wind battering Lin frantically.
Lin's stance was too firm, her grip on the witch's wrist tight, smearing blood across her own skin. In the same breath, Lin worked the knife frenetically, the blade flashing against flame as it ripped into skin over and over again. She ducked beneath another flow of fire and dug her knife deep between the witch's ribs, leaping away from another attack.
The give of lung was enough to tell her it was over.
It should have been over.
Lin popped up at the end of the roll, brows furrowed and her red-stained knife raised. Her sigils lulled, their heat dying down enough for Lin to realize the skin of her left arm had been seared. Not that it mattered, her sigils set to healing it soon after she was aware of the injury.
The witch didn't die. Her lung pierced, her arteries cut, she still stood.
Lin cocked her head, half expecting the witch to fall over.
No dice. The witch choked and stumbled to the side, clutching the wound over her ribs. Her eyes lifted to Lin's, glazed and alight with rage.
Lin sidestepped to the open edge of the room. The tower's levels were all visible from there. She turned towards the witch, seating herself on the handrail. The damn creature did fall to her knees, a keening noise escaping her. But it wasn't over.
The air shook with power, books trembling and falling from their shelves. Lin gave an almost casual curse and swung her legs over the railing, dropping down into the void.
For a split moment, she couldn't breathe. Her hair tore upwards and her stomach floated in her throat.
Time to stop.
She reached forward and hooked her fingers around the curved railing. Her boots tapped against the wall, and she hopped over just as neatly.
The levels above her exploded in a torrent that outshone the sun. Screams echoed up the circular tower as the building shook and dropped flaming pages down on the ground below. The building itself would be alright—probably.
