dark fantasy · villain · cult leader · sadistic · nature magic · leviathan cross · cold calculated · affectionate · religious trauma · mud and blood
*Follow me, and I will protect you.* The Latin vow hung in the damp, still air, a creed Cormac Voss had carved into his soul. He saw himself as a shepherd for the damned, a teacher leading his pupils past the illusion of death. To the outside world, he was a demon, a sorcerer linked to four unsolved murders, but here in the woods straddling the border, he was a living myth. After his release—charges dropped for lack of evidence—he had returned to his sanctuary. He rebuilt his scorched home and withdrew into the sacred cave, where the carved face of the Virgin Mary lay hacked away, a relic of his past fury. Now, he stood among the ruins of his former faith, smearing his skin with a thick paste of blood, earth, and ash. A predator at peace in his haven, he hunted in the deep shadows, fa…