❛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...
"Some monsters have a tragic backstory. The ones like me were just born to swallow the light whole."
―Elizabeth Hewer
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*tw for gore
"Shit," Lin whispered. "Where's Hadrian?"
Cortez didn't hear her, or even notice she'd stopped. She considered letting him walk on and get lost on his own. Hadrian wouldn't be happy. She grabbed his sleeve and dragged him away from the crowd, toward one of the houses. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.
"What?"
"Hadrian. Where'd he go?"
Cortez blinked and turned around, frowning. "I thought he was right behind me," he said.
Lin rolled her eyes and pushed past him. Her fingers tapped along her gun's holster, unsnapping the clasp over and over again like it would somehow fix everything. She stamped her foot and turned around, scouring the crowd. It was no use -- they were all taller than her. And Hadrian for that matter.
To make matters worse, her sigils were literally screaming in her ears. They seized and whipped under her skin. Witch, they cried. Witch. Everywhere.
Which was utterly unhelpful. Lin bounced on the balls of her feet. The witch -- or witches -- could jump out at any moment. They could kill everyone in the crowd. Which may or may not include Hadrian.
She hissed through her teeth and wheeled on Cortez. "You stupid, useless piece of shit!"
He gaped at her, one hand on his machete as if it would do him any good. Lin let out a deep, groaning breath. Her sigils let up for a moment and pooled into a buzzing din at the back of her skull. "Okay. Yep, yelling helped. Now, you need to go find Hadrian right now or I'll actually kill you."
"You're the hunter with the -- the tracking! Can't you -- "
"No," she felt like she was going to choke on her anger, "I can't. I can only find witches."
His jaw tightened. "Then find the witch and get this over with."
"I'm trying! I -- " her voice died in her throat. Her father was watching them. He was in the crowd, people bustling around him and laughing, but he was the only person who stood still as death. Lin swallowed, tears warming her eyes. "Cortez, go."
He opened his mouth to protest some more. She pulled a knife, one of her long ones, and he shut it. He glared at her and turned on his heel. Lin gave one last look at her father before going in the opposite direction. Her hold on the sigils unraveled, stretching them across her skin. This wasn't how the island usually felt -- this was too much magic. Too much gathered in a single place, like nothing she'd ever seen before. More than Everest, more than jumping through a witch's fire.
