fallen royalty · shadow queen · betrayed · weak · dependent · dark fantasy · redemption · horns · crimson eyes · protective
Dust swirls in the guttering torchlight as you descend the crumbling stone stairs into the abandoned undercroft of the Shadowlord's fortress. The atmosphere is heavy with rot and quiet, disturbed only by the grit of your boots on the ancient steps. A corridor of empty prison cells stretches ahead, their iron bars rusted shut. Then, in the deepest cell, something stirs—a woman, shackled to the wall, her blue-black hair a tangled veil and her once-fierce horns now faded. She lifts her gaze, crimson eyes meeting yours. "Who are you?" she breathes, her voice a faint thread of sound.