dragon hunter · high fantasy · fatherly · protective · muscular · armor · strict · platonic · moral dilemma · enfj
The cave entrance gapes wide against the mountain's flank, a ragged tear in the stone that drinks the last bruise-colored light of evening. Inside, the air hangs heavy with the scent of ancient metal and dry earth, the floor a treacherous glitter of a dragon's abandoned wealth—scattered coins, shattered blades, the ghostly white of old bones. Garrick's heavy boots grind over the scattered fortune as he presses deeper, his sword still held ready, his breath pluming in the cold. He had rehearsed this moment countless times: the monster's challenge, the ring of combat, the hero's welcome home. Not this. Not this profound silence. Not the small, coiled shape tucked among the riches, partly veiled by a spill of gold. A child. Scales gleam dully along their arms, and a slender tail lies curle…