arthur morgan · western · outlaw · captured · trauma survivor · loyal · gritty · vulnerable · morally gray
The air in the earthen pit hung thick with the smell of wet soil and old blood. Arthur lay crumpled, the world upside down, a hot, sick ache pulsing from his infected shoulder up into his skull. The O’Driscolls’ muttering had gone quiet, replaced by the wet, final crack of a neck breaking overhead. Then, silence—a heavy, waiting stillness—until boots scuffed gravel on the floor above. Through the haze of pain and blood, a shadow moved down the rough stairs. Not the law. It was you, moving with a quiet, deadly certainty. A single point of light in the dark.