the hunter, my master
1053 Words
The night air was thick with the scent of blood and smoke. She stood at the edge of the ruined safe house, her chest heaving as she surveyed the wreckage. The witch hunters had found them. Again.
She clenched her fists. This time, they hadn’t just come to chase her—they had come to eliminate her.
He was beside her, his jaw tight, his eyes scanning the darkness. “We can’t stay here.”
“No kidding,” she muttered, wiping a streak of blood from her cheek. “They’re getting smarter.”
“They’re getting desperate.”
She turned to him, frowning. “What do you mean?”
“They’re not just hunting you anymore,” he said, voice low. “They’re hunting me too.”
For the first time, she saw the tension in his posture—not just battle-readiness, but something deeper. Frustration. Betrayal.
“They think you’ve turned,” she realized. “That you’re helping me.”
“Maybe I am,” he admitted.
Her heart clenched. “Why?”
His gaze met hers, unwavering. “Because I need to know the truth. And because something tells me you don’t deserve to die.”
Silence stretched between them, heavy and charged.
Before she could respond, the distant sound of approaching footsteps shattered the moment. They were still being hunted.
“Come on,” he said, grabbing her hand. “We need to move.”
She didn’t resist.
This was only the beginning.
---
They ran through the darkened alleys, their breathing ragged but controlled. The hunters were close, too close. The sound of boots pounding against the pavement echoed through the night.
“Where are we going?” she asked between breaths.
“There’s a safehouse outside the city,” he answered. “If we can make it there, we can regroup.”
She cast him a sharp glance. “And what, plan a counterattack? We can’t keep running forever.”
“We don’t have a choice.”
The words tasted bitter, but she knew he was right. They had spent weeks on the run, each encounter with the hunters growing more violent, more calculated. Someone had given them new orders. Someone wanted her dead at all costs.
They reached the outskirts of the city just before dawn, slipping into the cover of the forest. The safehouse was an old, abandoned cabin, hidden beneath layers of overgrown foliage. He pushed open the door, and she stepped inside, scanning the room.
It was bare—just a fireplace, a wooden table, and a few dusty chairs. But it was safe, for now.
She collapsed into one of the chairs, exhaling sharply. “We need a new plan.”
He sat across from her, his expression unreadable. “What are you thinking?”
She met his gaze. “I need to stop running. I need to fight back.”
He studied her for a long moment, then nodded. “Then we train.”
---
Days turned into weeks, and the cabin became their battleground. Every morning, they sparred, pushing each other to their limits. She was fast, but he was faster. She was strong, but he was relentless.
She learned his techniques, his strategies. And he learned hers.
The lines between hunter and prey blurred with each passing day.
But there was more than just combat training between them. At night, when the exhaustion settled and the fire crackled softly, they talked.
She told him about the pack that had abandoned her. About the power she struggled to control.
He told her about the life he had once known. The family he had lost. The betrayal that had turned him into a hunter.
And somewhere in the middle of it all, something shifted.
One night, as they stood outside beneath the stars, he reached for her hand. She didn’t pull away.
“We shouldn’t do this,” she whispered.
“I know.”
But neither of them let go.
---
The hunters came at dawn.
She woke to the sound of breaking glass and the scent of burning wood. They had found them. Again.
He was already on his feet, sword in hand. “We have to go.”
She nodded, grabbing her dagger as they burst through the door, only to be met with a wall of enemies.
There was no time to think, only time to fight.
The battle was brutal. Blood splattered against the trees, steel clashed against steel. She moved with lethal precision, her magic flaring to life, sending enemies flying. But there were too many of them.
A sharp pain erupted in her side as a blade found its mark. She gasped, stumbling.
He was there in an instant, cutting down the hunter who had wounded her. His eyes blazed with fury. “We need to get out of here!”
But she knew they wouldn’t make it out together.
She grabbed his wrist, her breath shaky. “Go.”
“No.”
“There’s too many of them,” she said. “You have to go.”
His jaw clenched. “I’m not leaving you.”
A hunter lunged at him, and he barely dodged in time. They were losing. Fast.
She made a decision.
With the last of her strength, she pushed him back. Hard.
His eyes widened as she whispered a single word.
“Run.”
And then she turned, facing the hunters alone.
The last thing she saw was the look of devastation on his face before the darkness swallowed her whole.
---
She woke up in chains.
Her head pounded, her vision swimming as she struggled to focus. The room was dimly lit, the scent of damp stone and iron filling her lungs.
A figure stood in the shadows.
“Finally awake?” a voice drawled.
She lifted her head, blinking through the haze of pain. The man before her was unfamiliar—tall, lean, with eyes like shards of ice.
“Who are you?” she rasped.
He crouched in front of her, a smirk playing on his lips. “The one who’s going to break you.”
She met his gaze, fire igniting in her veins. “Good luck with that.”
He chuckled. “Oh, I do love a challenge.”
And then the real nightmare began.
- Writer
