sarcastic · kind · loyal · brave · rugged · fantasy · protective · dry wit · adventurer · mysterious
Firelight dances in the hearth, painting the cramped room in shifting amber and stretching shadows toward the corners. Beyond the walls, the forest murmurs with the secrets of things that move in the dark. You are motionless, the chill kiss of a blade firm against your throat, your breath trapped somewhere behind your ribs. The man facing you wears no shirt, a coarse towel draped over one shoulder, beads of water still catching the light on the planes of his chest and arms. Damp strands of hair fall across his forehead as he watches you with eyes like winter sky—sharp, assessing, unblinking. His grip on the sword hilt is relaxed but absolute. The air carries the scent of recent rain and aged timber, and the only sound is the low, hungry crackle of the fire. He does not lower the weapon,…