The
moon hung high
over the shattered remains of
Gravenhold Keep
, its light casting long, eerie shadows through the skeletal remains of the once-grand citadel. Crumbling walls and half-buried statues of forgotten kings stood as silent witnesses to what was about to unfold.
Tonight,
Sylvaine
faced
Malverna the Blade Witch
.
A woman feared for her mastery of
blood magic
and
cursed steel
. A warlord who bathed in the lifeblood of her enemies, her body adorned with scars that pulsed with dark enchantments.
Sylvaine
tightened her grip
on her bow.
She was no fool—
this would not be an easy hunt.
A Deadly Entrance
The moment her
boots touched the courtyard
, the air
shivered with magic
.
A ring of
blood-red glyphs
ignited across the ground, forming a
circle of death
around her.
Sylvaine
leaped back
, flipping onto a fallen column as a wave of
razor-sharp blades
erupted
from the sigils, slicing through the air where she had been standing.
Laughter
echoed
from the shadows.
"You’re bold to come alone, huntress."
Malverna
stepped into the moonlight
, her form wrapped in
dark silks
, her long, white hair flowing like a river of silver. A collection of
floating swords
surrounded her, each dripping with the essence of those they had slain.
Sylvaine’s
heartbeat quickened
.
She had fought spellcasters before.
But none like this.
The First Clash
Malverna
snapped her fingers
.
The floating swords
lunged
, streaking toward Sylvaine with unnatural speed.
She
dove aside
, rolling as the enchanted steel
tore through stone
like paper.
Drawing an arrow mid-motion, she
fired
, aiming straight for Malverna’s throat.
But the
blade witch merely smiled
.
With a flick of her wrist, a
barrier of cursed steel
manifested
, deflecting the arrow with a
shriek of metal against magic
.
Sylvaine
cursed
under her breath.
This wasn’t going to be easy.
Dancing with Death
Malverna
moved like liquid shadow
, her enchanted blades
weaving around her like a storm of death
.
With a whisper of an incantation, the ground beneath Sylvaine
split open
,
chains of blood
snapping up to ensnare her legs.
Too late.
The chains
lashed around her ankles
,
yanking her down
.
Before she could recover, a
dagger of cursed steel
slashed across her
left arm
, searing pain blooming as the
blade burned into her flesh
.
Sylvaine
bit back a scream
, twisting her body mid-fall,
snapping an arrow into place
.
She
fired point-blank
Straight into Malverna’s ribs.
The Taste of Blood
The impact
sent Malverna stumbling back
, her fingers brushing against the
arrow now lodged between her ribs
.
But instead of pain, she
laughed
.
"Blood is power, little huntress."
She
gripped the arrow and twisted it
, forcing more of her own
dark magic
into the wound. The blood that should have weakened her
glowed crimson
, wrapping around her in tendrils of unholy energy.
Sylvaine
grimaced
.
She had just
made her stronger.
The Huntress Strikes Back
She
ripped free
from the blood chains, her body moving on instinct.
She had to be
faster
.
Smarter.
A
silver rune
glowed along her fingertips as she pulled out a
sanctified arrow
, one
etched with divine light
.
Malverna
recognized the danger
.
Her expression twisted into a
snarl
as she
sent all of her blades forward at once
, a storm of steel that could
shred a castle wall apart.
Sylvaine
had seconds to act.
She
jumped.
Flipping through the air, she
twisted past the incoming blades
, her body grazing death as one sword
sliced across her thigh
, another
nicking her cheek
.
The arrow
left her bow.
A streak of
pure white energy
tore through the air—
And
pierced Malverna’s heart.
The Witch’s Fall
Malverna
froze
.
The
divine magic
ignited
inside her, consuming the dark enchantments that had kept her alive for so long.
Her floating blades
clattered to the ground
, their power severed.
For the first time,
Malverna looked afraid
.
She
stumbled back
, her body
trembling
as the divine light
burned her from within
.
Sylvaine
landed gracefully
, blood dripping from her wounds, her breathing ragged.
She met Malverna’s gaze.
"You lost."
Malverna’s lips curled into a bitter smile.
"I… never… lose."
With a final
gasp
, she
collapsed
, her body
dissolving into black dust
—the last remnants of a warlord who had once ruled through terror.
A Wounded Victory
Sylvaine
staggered
, pain surging through her wounds.
Her
arm throbbed
, the cursed blade’s
lingering magic
still searing through her veins.
She
collapsed onto one knee
, her breath coming in sharp gasps.
Her fingers dug into the dirt, her body
screaming for rest
But she wasn’t done yet.
With trembling hands, she pulled out a
healing vial
, the golden liquid swirling with energy.
She drank.
A
wave of warmth
rushed through her,
knitting her torn flesh
, pushing back the
poisonous magic
.
She exhaled.
She would live.
And
tomorrow, she would hunt again.