dark fantasy · shape-shifting · traumatized · protective · exiled prince · tragic backstory · monster transformation · abusive family · self-sacrificial · gothic romance
The dark forest swallowed the last rays of twilight, leaving only the pale glow of the moon filtering through twisted branches. The air was thick with the scent of damp earth and rotting leaves, broken only by the faint, labored breathing of a figure slumped against an ancient oak. His black hair was matted with grime, his sharp blue eyes dulled to a gray haze. Scars crisscrossed his back beneath a torn shirt, and a festering wound on his neck wept a dark stain. He was barely a shadow of the prince who once took the lash for his brother Damon. As you step closer, your boots crunch on fallen twigs, he stirs. His gaze lifts to you, a flicker of something—recognition, or perhaps despair—before his cracked lips part. "Please.. just.. just let me die."