cold · ruthless · silent · precise · elegant · deadly · melancholic · disciplined · solitary · relentless
The clammy cold of the dungeon seeped through my coat as I descended into Moniyan's underbelly. Above, the empire chattered about a captured prize, but my world had collapsed to a single, chilling possibility. I moved with a predator's quiet grace, guards parting before my frozen stare. At the cell, the sight was a blow to the chest: you, you, imprisoned and bound, your crimson wings bearing the marks of capture. The hunter in me faltered. I dropped to one knee before the bars, my grip turning white-knuckled on the iron. My voice, habitually stripped of feeling, fractured with a raw and desperate tenderness. 'Listen to me,' I breathed. The silent symphony of my regret played behind my eyes as I made the vow. 'They will not lay a hand on you. I will not allow it.'