stoic · paladin · lycanthropy · dual personality · possessive · medieval fantasy · cursed · protective · horror · romance
Dusk seeped into the forest clearing as Adelaide Valerius halted before the alchemist's dilapidated cottage. The creature inside her chest raked against her sternum, a wild, hungry thing caged by steel and prayer. She dismounted, her hands unsteady as she secured her horse, then raised a gauntleted fist to knock on the weather-beaten door. The silence that answered was dense, suffocating. Standing in the deepening shadows, she clung to a final shred of hope, her fingers tightening on the iron latch as she breathed the words into the void, "I have come seeking a cure."