ONCE THE WOMAN fled to safety, Ravenna returned her attention to the mouth of the alleyway. The familiar clink of metal hitting metal had joined the heavy footfalls. She lowered into a slight crouch. Her eyes narrowed and, within seconds, another swarm of daggers had materialized around her.

Slivers of ice danced between her fingertips, pirouetting through the air like snowflakes. A part of her was thrilled. Since witnessing that child being attacked in the marketplace, she'd had a severe bone to pick with the guards.

And now Vyses wasn't here to stop her.

A small group of guards slowed to a stop in front of her, their expressions filled with confusion. Their eyes skirted around Ravenna, around the alley, until they landed on the gruesome murder scene behind her. Before their shock could register, however, Ravenna's daggers soared at them. Their startled gasps and agonized screams pierced through the silence of the city.

Ravenna heard the sound of shouting, of more guards rushing to confront her. With a hurricane of daggers surrounding her, she moved forward, into the marketplace. Lights flickered on within the buildings that surrounded her. Concerned eyes watched as, one by one, the guards dropped to the ground. Their blood pooled around the stones beneath them, crawling through the marketplace like a liquified spiderweb.

As each dagger found a victim, another dagger appeared beside her. Ravenna slowly made her way through each street of the city, killing any guard that entered her sight. The guards tried to fight back. Some ran at her, their weapons drawn, or shot at her with arrows from atop the wall that encompassed the city. Even the guards that had been on guard outside of the city had ran through the gate, attempting to stop her. Their weapons never touched Ravenna, however. Her daggers deflected each sword and arrow.

When the arrows stopped, and limp armored bodies littered the streets, Ravenna's daggers halted their attack. She listened, hard, for any sound of movement, for any sound of moving armor.

There was none.

Silence washed through the blood-stained city. Ravenna's daggers vanished. She made her way to the center of the marketplace, to the fountain that stood there.

Slowly, she peered over the edge of the masonry, at her reflection in the water. Strands of starlight blonde curled around her shoulders, falling down her back. Her eyes glowed a bright shade of blue, the same shade as her daggers. Her crown had returned to her forehead. Vyses's cloaking spell had broken. She squeezed her eyes shut.

"Ravenna," a sharp voice sounded from behind her. A harsh, angered, and very familiar voice.

She turned around to face Vyses, her eyes narrowed. "It had to be done," she announced coldly. "I discovered one of the guards raping an innocent woman, and he tried to attack me. The moment that he died, the others came running. I had no other choice."

Vyses stood several feet away from her, his arms crossed over his chest. Behind him, she could see Lyth standing in the doorway of the inn, a crowd of people listening intently behind him.

"I told you not to pick a fight with the guards," Vyses said. He moved closer toward her and his arms uncrossed. She watched as his gaze flickered over the limp corpses that surrounded them. "You should have come to me the moment you felt like you were in trouble. I could have helped you. We could have used a spell to stop the guards from attacking, long enough for us to leave the city at least."

Ravenna glared at him. "And leave the others in this poor town to suffer at their hands? No. It had to be done and you know it."

Their gazes locked. Behind his veil of anger, Ravenna could see a sense of understanding, of something that almost looked like pride. She blinked and frowned at him. Despite his exterior emotion, it appeared that Vyses actually agreed with her.

She discarded the notion, immediately annoyed with his attitude. Her gaze traveled toward the inn again. "We need to leave. Now. It won't be long before word travels about this, and the last thing that we need is for the Blood Knights to return for their witch," she said.

He glanced around. "You're right," he said.

"Have Lyth go grab our items," she told him. "Have him pay the innkeeper as well. You and I need to destroy these bodies."

Vyses eyed her and nodded. "As you wish, lass," he murmured under his breath, glancing behind him at Lyth. Said boy instantly vanished from the doorway, making his way up the stairs and toward their shared bedroom.

Ravenna watched as Vyses squeezed his eyes shut. He heaved a small sigh and, for a moment, remained eerily still. When his eyes reopened, they glowed a bright, crimson red color.

Vyses lifted a hand and snapped his fingers. She watched as his lips moved around a silent spell and, within seconds, a cloud of crimson magic emanated from his fingertips. The cloud grew, crawling through the air, toward the bodies that surrounded them. The moment that the cloud touched them, the corpses dissolved, disappearing into the earth beneath them.

Once the bodies had vanished, the cloud evaporated, and the streets looked brand new.

Vyses's chest moved around another sigh. "There," he said, as the crimson faded from his irises. "We should be good to leave now."

Lyth appeared behind him then, all of their belongings tucked away within the satchel that hung from his waist. "I've paid the innkeeper. We are free to leave now."

Ravenna glanced around once more at the buildings that surrounded them. To her surprise, the doors had opened and, slowly, people entered the marketplace. Hundreds of wide eyes all seemed to focus on her. It made her stomach knot.

Vyses held an arm out, attempting to put himself between Ravenna and the townsfolk. The crimson had returned to his eyes, making it obvious that he also expected an attack.

But the Ravenna saw the woman, the one she'd helped, and the wide grin that stretched across her face.

And then the entire town erupted into cheers.

So the Watty's have been announced! 

Ice didn't win this year, but it's all good! I'm honestly so stoked that it even made it as far as it did. I wasn't expecting it to get through the first round, much less make it to the second lol! 

I'm also really excited about all the freaking amazing books that did win a Watty. Like they all look so good and I can't wait until I can devour them with my eyes!!! I really hope that you guys check them out and shower them with love and support! I'll leave a link to the final list on my message board so y'all can find it! ❤

ps. can I just add that like this week has been absolutely awful for me? I don't want to take away from the excitement of the wattys or create a pity party for myself, but like omg. it's been wild and i lowkey need to rant. I got in trouble at work, my car completely broke down THE DAY BEFORE MY MID SEMESTER REVIEW, and i pretty much failed said mid semester review. 

it's okay though because i am about as persistent as a cockroach and i will survive this nuclear war of a week.