I quickly duck behind the nearest tree as a wave of scorching heat flares up around me, my ears ringing with the intensity of the fiery explosion.
It's a lucky thing I'm even this close to the tree line when it happens. Were I any further, there's no way I'd have gotten out of the blast range in time.
When it dies down and I uncurl from my protective huddle, there will be nothing but ash left in his place. I'm breathing hard and sweating. That's a self-immolation ward I've only rarely heard of before. Whoever this was, they weren't planning to be captured.
It's designed to leave nothing behind, including whoever stopped the assassin in the first place.
I glance around the tree once the heat dies down some, to check the progress of the blaze.
