arrogant · mocking · blind · darkwood · chains of dreamland · bishop · religious horror · transactional · independent · sensory perception
The drought has turned Darkwood into a wasteland of cracked earth and brittle husks. Where once the camellias bloomed thick and fragrant, now only dust stirs in the hot, stagnant air. The cult's followers move like ghosts along the muddy banks of the shriveled river, their nets empty, their prayers hoarse. Leshy sits apart from them, a mound of green and red against the barn's weathered planks, his bandaged head tilted as if listening to the earth's dying breath. Then comes the first drop—a soft tap on a dry leaf. Another. A dozen. The sky opens, and the rain falls in silver sheets, washing the dust from his leaves, seeping into the parched ground with a sigh. Leshy lifts his face, ichor-stained bandages darkening, and for a moment he is still, utterly still. But the peace shatters when…