The Witch Slayer

The sound of fire and death echoed in the mansion.

I clutched my gun with the last round in it. I was saving it for Vlad, and I would kill him. But there was also someone else who had to die.

My mind seethed with rage and I stepped over the ash-grey corpses of the witches who had ambushed me. They couldn't stop me. No one could stop me from seeking vengeance.

I walked down the dungeon stairs, each step an eternity long. When I reached the dinge at the bottom, I saw her.

Evangela stood there, pale skin, dark hair, wand pointed towards a man and a boy, clutching each other tightly.

"You make a move and I will set them on fire," she said, her voice soft and dangerous.

I took a step closer, my eyes on her.

"You betrayed me," I said. "I thought I could trust you. And you spat in my face."

I stared at her, fury on my face.

"You killed my mother."

She smiled, showing her glistening teeth. "Yes. I was there. I riled up the crowd. I brought down the blade on your mother. And I enjoyed every single moment of it."

I was trembling with rage now.

"Where's Vlad?" I asked. "I want his life first before I kill you."

She laughed. "Him? I took care of-"

Someone tackled her to the ground and a flaming ball of fire burst through her wand, missing the man and the child by inches. I dived against the bars of the jail cells, as it exploded against the walls of the dungeons, raging, intense and bright.

The person who had tackled Evangela was none other than the bleeding Vlad, who snatched the wand from her hand and threw it across the floor.

"You finished it!" he yelled in her face. "I wanted to rule Vykka, so that we could rise and progress eternally through the ages, but you didn't listen! I'm gonna kill-"

There was the sound of a shot, and Vlad slumped to the ground, eyes dead, his forehead spurting out fresh blood. Evangela's face was sprayed with blood, and she pushed his corpse away from herself, breathing rapidly.

I threw away the gun to the side, taking deep breaths. It wasn't over yet.

There was one final thing.

I struggled up. Opened the jail cells. Released the prisoners.

They cleared the room, some muttering thanks, others steering clear of me. The boy and the child hobbled past me, and I remembered the witch I had killed in the forest days ago. Her final wish had been granted.

I walked over to Evangela, who lay on the ground staring at Vlad's body.

"The witch trials ended in the human world a few years ago. Now they're gonna take place here."

"You won't be alive to see them," I said.

She turned to me and smiled.

"You won't kill me."

"You think I'm gonna let you walk free?"

"What else can you do?" She sat up straight, struggling to get up. "You don't have any weapons. By the time you get to kill me, I'll be long gone."

She chuckled, pleased with herself. Thinking she had won.

I knelt beside her.

"Haven't you heard?" I asked, tapping my knuckles on her forehead.

"I'm the Qatil Al'Sahira."

I brought out the matchstick from five years ago. Held it near the fire a few inches from us, watching as the flame lit up and flickered, vivid and intense.

"I'm the Witch Slayer. I clean up mess like you."

Evangela watched in terror as I held the matchstick at her forehead. It turned to dark ash immediately. And she screamed.

She was nothing but ash when I left the dungeons.

***

The air was cleansed somehow. The day was brighter, the sun wasn't struggling to shine anymore. It was, different.

It wasn't the same world from five years ago. It wasn't the same world from five minutes ago either.

It was a new world.