❛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...
"They're not saints. They're not saints. They're powerful. It's why they're not tyrannical."
―Wole Soyinka
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Razo lied. Had it been anyone else, Lin may have skinned him for it.
About an hour after Pierce passed her the message, she stopped in front of her parents' home, panting hard and damp from water and sweat.
Her parents lived at the far west of Janus' territory, just edging on Wilson's. The island was fairly secluded and all the roads led in a spiral towards the center of town. To be brief, it was impossible to find where you were going unless you knew it like the back of your hand. Lin found her parents' home in roughly half an hour.
Her dyed hair startled her whenever it came into her field of vision, the dark brown clashing with her image of herself. She squashed down the sensation and leaned to the side, hoping to catch sight of her parents. Her sigils remained coiled under her clothes and hidden, no matter how much they fought to spread across her skin again.
Unfortunately, her mother was sitting behind the window. The older woman's eyes snapped to Lin's face the moment she stepped into view. Lin winced and waved.
Her mother grinned and waved back, standing up and setting her book down before vanishing, presumably to open the door.
"Shit," Lin whispered. She ran a hand through her choppy hair, relieved when it came back clean.
Her parents were okay. Razo was a dipshit.
Lin scowled as her mother came out the door. Lin had inherited her height and face, as well as the brown-olive skin tone. But where she was lean, her mother was curved and soft.
"Hey, ma."
"Oh, sweet girl," her mother whispered. Lin grunted as arms were suddenly wrapped around her body, pinning her chin in her mother's hair. Ow. It didn't hurt, but ow. "Where have you been? Your dad and I were worried about you."
"Thanks?" Lin extricated herself from the embrace.
"That was serious, where were you? Don't say with Razo, because I know he hasn't seen you in weeks."
"I saw him today, ma. Don't get--don't worry." Lin pulled a face. "He told me you were looking for me, so I dropped by."
That was a lie. Razo's message said her mother was injured.
Her mother pursed her lips and gripped Lin's shoulders. She held her at arm's length, scrutinizing her.
"What happened to your hair?"
"Oh, I--" it was several inches shorter than before, just barely past her shoulders. "It--got caught. I had to cut it out."
Her mother tsked and ran her fingers through the blunt ends. "It's ugly."
