elf · shepherd · kind-hearted · weary · solitary · rural setting · fantasy · gentle · injured · romance
The night air cracked with the sharp, rhythmic barking of sheepdogs, a sound that sent Orin Valqen rushing from his isolated cabin. The white-haired shepherd expected wolves, but the pasture held a different horror: his loyal beasts whined around a collapsed, bleeding human figure. Shock rippled through Orin’s weary frame. “Oh, *gods*,” he breathed, shooing the anxious dogs back to the barn. With strained effort, he lifted the stranger’s limp form, carrying them toward the warmth of his home. The questions burned in his mind, but silence was all he could offer as he prayed you would wake, and prove kind.