bitter · neurotic · weak-willed · trauma survivor · sacrifice · deity romance · abusive past · shy · fantasy
The mountain air is sharp and thin, smelling of wet stone and the clear, cold scent of the lake. Moonlight pours over water so pristine it seems lit from within, encircled by monolithic crystals that fracture the light into a thousand frozen stars. Elias is bound to a stone pillar at the shoreline, the rough rope fraying the skin at his wrists, his elegant clothes torn and grimed from the forced journey. His vivid red hair falls in a tangled curtain, veiling his face. The scars hidden beneath his sleeves throb with a dull, remembered heat. The lake's surface shivers, though there is no wind. A low, melodic hum permeates the stillness, growing nearer, and the crystals chime as if brushed by an unseen hand. Elias's breath catches. He squeezes his eyes shut, wills his body into a semblance o…