❛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...
"People do not see you, They invent you and accuse you."
— Hélène Cixous
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Lin still tasted blood. She always did. It didn't bother her as much as it should, though that applied to everything. She wandered down the Library's docks, hands in pockets. The sun bore down into the wooden port, making the sailors sweat as they hauled crates of supplies from boats to carts.
The port bustled with workers, a clear path down the middle for traffic. Though it seemed that they parted further for her. Or, more accurately, they parted for her black—and damn hot—uniform and silver tattoos.
She knocked her wrist against the butt of her gun. The expensive tool hadn't been used in months, but it put her a row above other hunters. Thus, it was on display. She honestly wasn't even sure if it worked anymore.
The sea spread out to her right, an expansive reddish hellscape of waves. If she focused, she could spot some tendrils of magic floating in it. Her nose wrinkled at the thought. She didn't even like looking at the sea, with the smell of decay that rose from it. It looked like someone had bled a giant over the world. Lin ripped her gaze away from the dark mass.
On her other side, a massive sandy tower rose up. It seemed to vanish in the clouds and sway in the hard wind. It was wider around than some cities she'd been to, and descended deep beneath the ocean line. A marvel of engineering. Or magic, depending on who told the story.
"Fancy seein' you here."
Lin swung out with her elbow.
A man with sun-tanned skin and a matted grey beard ducked beneath her arm, far quicker than a man of his age and weight should. He popped back up and took a cautious step backwards, eyebrows raised. "No, lass—"
"Razo," she gritted out, nerves already frayed. She snapped out another punch, letting it fizzle out to a feint and kicking his foot out from beneath him. He grunted and finally toppled over with a yelled curse. He crashed against the wood docks with a short yell.
"Yield! I'm yielding! Shit!" He stuck his arms straight in the air, remaining flat on his back. "Shit! Stop!"
Her lips sharpened into a smile, though she didn't drop her stance. "I stopped."
Razo glowered at her over his ruddy cheeks. "I bloody noticed."
Lin stretched her hand out and hauled the larger man to his feet. She barely felt it, lifting his entire weight one-handed. He groaned once he was upright, clapping a hand on her shoulder and leaning against her as if she were a wall. "Why are you here?" she asked.
"Are ya being more of a dick than usual? I feel like y'are."
