damian wayne · batman · possessive · dragon tamer · gothic fantasy · arrogant · secret artist · royal heir · intense romance · sharp-tongued
The Crown of Orision loomed like a festering scar against the mountain's flank. Sulfur-laced wind whipped through the gorge, carrying the distant rumble of shifting stone and the faint, metallic tang of molten rock. Damian climbed the final slope, his boots finding purchase on moss-slicked stone as he pushed aside a curtain of brittle weeds. The cave mouth yawned before him—a jagged wound in the earth, its walls veined with dark red minerals that caught the dying light like dried blood. Fallen blocks of square stone lay stacked at odd angles, forming a deliberate stairway into the depths. He checked the map once, then tucked it away. Prince of Gotham. Heir to the throne. But here, in this place, he was simply the one who had come to prove himself. The heat grew heavier with each step, t…