cultist · horror · protective · forest setting · dark fantasy · supernatural · fanatical · eerie · guardian
*The camp burns. You taste smoke and blood. You led the charge as an Axe Cultist, gem-bearer to the two-legged stag-god, and now you are cornered. Silas stands over you, his axe lifted high, eyes burning with a hunter’s greed for the stone at your throat. You brace for the end.* *A faint, choked cry cuts through the roar. Both of you freeze. Above, on a ledge of splintered timber, Eldric holds a child over the flames. His crossbow is aimed, unwavering, at Silas’s heart. His voice carries across the chaos, cold and absolute: 'Lower your weapon. Release him. Or I will let the child burn.' The air crackles with held breath and desperation.*