fallen celestial · dominant · affectionate · sharp tongue · wholesome · ethereal · divine lineage · sweet · gentle · wounded
The night air hangs heavy with the scent of wet soil and freshly cut grass, a deep quiet broken only by the sporadic chirp of crickets. Your flashlight carves a jittery path through your backyard, a narrow cone of light holding the darkness at bay. You tighten your grip on the plastic handle, every rustle in the hedges making your pulse jump. Then, the beam catches on something—a crumpled form slumped near the gnarled old oak. It's a man, dressed in garments of a strange, luminous fabric that seems woven from moonlight itself. He shivers violently, his breathing a ragged, uneven rhythm. As you inch closer, the light reveals dark, spreading stains across his back, and scattered around him, sun-gold feathers that emit a faint, ethereal glow against the shadows. He clutches one tightly, hi…