Ignore him. He knows not what he speaks.

Lin remembered early mornings, setting up the shop while Charmeine stared at the wall blankly. She remembered late nights, ensuring the nocturnal denizens had their precious nectar for the evening, long after she was supposed to have closed the shop. She remembered goblin children, paying her with nothing more than shiny stones and balls of moss, wide smiles on their face at her acceptance. Days of listening to people’s problems, offering a friendly word of advice when she could, and a kind ear when she couldn’t. How had she forgotten?

Magic is light made manifest.

Who cared what the source of that light was? All Lin could concern herself with was bringing that light into the world in any way that she could manage. She couldn’t do that if she gave up.

NO! YOU ARE NOTHING! FACE THAT TRUTH AND STOP FIGHTING!

Lin felt so stupid. Perhaps Baba Yaga was right and she had struck her head. How could she not see how obnoxiously manipulative this man was? Why would he care about if she fought him if she were nothing? Grizz was right, that was only true if she believed it.

So, now that she believed in herself, how did she shut this guy up?

There is nothing you can do! I am immortal, and this vessel will be mine!

A beam of red moonlight ripped down Lin’s throat, and her head echoed with inhumane chanting. Somehow, impossibly, Koschei was casting a spell from within her body.

Panic began to set in. This was a very new field for Lin. She had never even considered battling an ancient Russian sorcerer in her own head, let only know where to start or end.

Her fists clenched tight, drawing blood from her palms. Her muscles began to flex with such intensity that Lin feared they might explode. Whatever she was going to do, it had to be fast, because she couldn’t stand this for long. Desperately, Lin tried to stumble to her feet, only to halt on her knees, doubling over as her abdomen exploded in agony.

“Kid? Are you alright?!” Grizz yelled, putting an arm on Lin’s shoulder. It lashed out, unbidden by her to strike Grizz in the chest, spilling ink on the earth around them. The little demon collapsed to the ground, unmoving.

Was this it? Had she realized her inner strength too late to do anything with it?

Through the tears blurring reality, Lin stared at the earth around her. It was beginning to lighten. The moon? No. The light was flickering. A dancing spark fell to the ground, and Lin felt a new strength beginning to fill her bones.

Her gaze shot upwards. Spinning above her, in all its glory, was Lin’s faithful companion, Avalar. How it had found her, Lin couldn’t know, but as the song of fire washed over her, she didn’t care.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

No!

YES.

Lin stared into the flames of Avalar’s infinite form. The dancing, singing spirals of the wondrous spirit gave Lin the strength she had feared she might lack. She knew what to do, regardless of how hard it might be to accept.

Lashing her right hand out like cracking a whip, Lin forced a needle of cauldron metal to extend from her middle finger.

Stop this!

The tip of the needle began to fill with a black fluid. Synthesized memory. Lin instinctively knew herself to be full of it. That was the magic of the cauldron. She could absorb the memories of anyone she met, any she spoke to, and anyone that they spoke of. The implications were enormous and daunting, but for now, they didn’t matter. All that Lin cared about was that she could create any ink that she desired with it.

Black, an endless abyss. On her thigh, opposite Grizz’s home, Lin crafted an enormous pit of swirling black, edge with the white of light lost to shadow. With a flourished tug, she ripped it from her flesh to lie on the ground before her.

Only one tattoo left to do.

This one was simpler than the pit. A specter of a man, lacking form and possessing only a selfish desire to never cease existing. A stubborn refusal to accept that to truly live, one must truly perish.

Please… No.

Lin paused. Had she begged, would Thona have been spared? The girl might have betrayed Lin, but every trace of the dryad’s memories had entered Lin. She had long ago come to terms with the pain and terror for the world she acted out of. The only one Lin blamed was the one to enable such desires. Forgiveness was important.

So were repercussions.

NOOOOO! I AM DEATHLESS

Grasping the specter, she tossed it into the pit, where it plummeted for eternity. Before it could escape, Lin recalled the pit to her leg, where it would remain, with the specter trapped inside, for eternity. It was a fitting immortality for the monster.

Lin knelt by Grizz’s unmoving form. Had her dear friend met his end at her hand? (He already had, in many ways.) Slowly, one eye cracked open.

“You still all there kid?” The little devil croaked out weakly.

“As much as I ever am.” Lin replied with a smile.

“You pack a hell of a punch. If tattooing doesn’t work out, you gotta look into boxing.”

“We can do it together, alright?”

“I don’t think there’s a ‘we’ any more kid…” The little friend rasped out weakly. “Just, don’t blame yourself. And don’t stop moving forward. You gave me what I needed. Now go do the same for yourself.” With that, Grizz shuddered, and lay still.

A long moment passed. Lin cried quietly into her hands, with Avalar wrapping soothing tendrils of flame around her shoulder. Eventually, Lin composed herself.

Dutifully, she placed Grizz back on her thigh, where he depleted to two-dimensional form. No longer was he a complete tattoo but instead a devilish angel exploding into ink. It was jarring and discomforting, a fitting end for her dear friend. Repressing a shiver, Lin stood. This would all take some more time to get used to.

With a deep sigh of relief, she fell against Avalar, the heat bolstering her heart as they gazed at the darkening sky above. Her problems weren’t over. The Baba Yaga still sought her cauldron, and likely wouldn’t be completely pleased with Lin’s explanations. Nor would Charmeine be happy with Lin leaving the shop early. She still had so much to do. So much life to live.

But, when she closed her eyes, a golden path now lay before her. There was no way that Lin could know where she would go, or where it would all end up. But she knew her path, spreading light and returning those memories ripped from the unknowing. Maybe she’d start a tattoo parlor?

Whatever the case, whatever she might do, Lin wouldn’t do it alone. And for now, that was enough.

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