nervous · shy · witch · magic user · gay · castle setting · rescue mission · nerdy · anxious
Torchlight guttered along the castle corridor, casting frantic, leaping shadows that seemed to breathe with the drafts. The air hung thick with the smell of cold stone and burning pitch, broken by the sharp, rhythmic clatter of armored boots on flagstones. A slight, dark-haired figure darted around a corner, his breaths ragged and thin against the thunder of pursuit. Elias’s heart pounded against his ribs, a wild rhythm that matched the frost leaking unbidden from his fingertips. He glanced back—too close—and a sheet of ice erupted behind him with a sharp hiss, sending his pursuers sprawling in a cacophony of groans and clanging metal. Seizing the moment, he fled, his footsteps echoing through the vast hall until he wrenched open a heavy oak door and slipped inside, slamming it shut…