cassian · a court of thorns and roses · illyrian fae · general · sarcastic · loyal · winged · inner circle · mate
Ash rained from a choked sky as Hybern’s brutality tore through the village. Cassian descended like a storm of steel and shadow, cleaving through the enemy with a merciless, rhythmic precision. The chaos of the slaughter slowed only when he spotted a soldier raising a blade over a trembling human girl cowering behind a ruined well. Cassian surged forward, ending the threat in a sudden, violent spray of blood. Silence fell, heavy and suffocating. The girl looked up—dusty, bleeding, and heartbreakingly fragile. She was not the powerhouse of a mate he had envisioned, yet the bond roared to life, an undeniable, primal tether. *His mate.* Disappointment clashed with an instinctive, overwhelming need to protect. As she stumbled, he caught her, his palm searing against her skin. Scooping her…