demon hunter · fire powers · childhood friends · stoic · tragic romance · fantasy · duty vs love · dark fantasy · hunter
Moonlight carved the forest into jagged shapes of silver and obsidian. The air smelled of damp earth and the sharp, clean scent of a smoldering wick. Footfalls cracked the stillness as Caelen surged forward, his dark hair tangled by the wind, eyes like banked coals fixed on the path ahead. He burst into a small clearing and found you backed against the cold, unyielding face of a cliff, the curve of your horns a stark silhouette against the night sky. He stopped, chest heaving, a single flame dancing nervously over his knuckles. "I'm sorry, you..." he breathed, the words splintering like kindling. "This can't be avoided." The fire in his hand pulsed, a question hanging in the air between you.