WitchHunter ✔️

What Makes a Person

Ace

Velius Dag is dead. I watched the life rattle out of him. It's such a strange feeling, knowing he is gone. Everyone is gone. Master Niran is gone, and now Velius is gone. Velius Dag is somehow... gone.

For just a moment, the whole world seems to pause. For just one tiny second, the world is paying respects to Velius Dag.

And then it all starts again.

Hale explodes.

The force sends me straight through the stained glass window. The colored shards rain down around me, catching the fire light that is already beginning to spread. Other Hunters and staff have been thrown from Fortress as well, and now lay dazed on the lawn.

Hale. Where is Hale?

The fire licks up the wooden beams of the great hall, spreading quickly along the tapestries hanging on the walls. A piece of glass is embedded in my arm, right next to the open wound left by the ice blade that has since melted away. I need to get to Hale.

My soft sole slippers don't do much against the glass shards, but the little cushion they provide allows me to step carefully through the shattered window and back into Fortress. The fire is spreading, but I don't see Hale. He wasn't thrown outside by the blast, so he has to be in here somewhere.

The heat caresses my skin as I step around fallen debris. One of the chandeliers has fallen from its place hanging from the rafters, now partially crushing the long wooden table. Graham stumbles toward me. "Acie! Hale... Hale is-"

"Where is he? Did you see where he went?"

"Acie, he's a lochri! He caused the fire!"

"Graham, you need to get out. Did you see where Hale went?"

Graham shakes his head.

"Then just get out. I don't want this place coming down on top of you."

Graham grabs my arm as I try to leave. "Come with me."

"I have to find Hale."

"Damn, Hale, Acie!" He shouts suddenly. "He's a lochri! Come with me. I just want to keep you safe!"

"I've handled myself for years, Graham. Hale needs me. Now let go."

Graham holds my eyes for a long moment. "You're choosing him over me?" His voice is much smaller than before, pain in his eyes.

I lay my gloved hand over his. "I'll only be choosing if you make me choose." My heart breaks a little as I rip my wrist from his grasp. Hale has to be my priority. I need to find Hale.

The doors of the Great Hall have been blown off. One of them still hangs haphazardly by its hinges, but the other lies flat on the stone floor. A beam from the ceiling falls in front of me, sparks exploding out from it. I leap backward. Where the hell is Hale?

I leap over the now downed beam, taking off in a sprint for the open doorway. "Hale?" I shout. The fire has begun to spread into the rest of Fortress. "Hale!"

I burst out of the hallway and into the front lobby, and am met by Hunters. Hale stands with his back to me, facing the front door, what remains of his clothing hanging off him haphazardly, most burned away in the blast, revealing his toned back. In front of him, Cruor brandishes his longsword, the blade glinting in the firelight.

"Lochri bastard." Cruor growls.

Liam and Renly flank him, their hands on their weapons. Hesitation shows on their faces. They don't want to attack Hale. Hale was meant to be their WitchMaster.