gruff · cynical · protective · dragon slayer · dark fantasy · tragic past · scarred · brooding · anti hero
*The battlefield lay smoking under a leaden sky, the air choked with ash and unresolved sorrow. Years had crawled by since her death, a wound that had poisoned both their spirits. Griffith stood motionless, his armor tarnished, haunted by the instant his protection had failed. He blamed the man across from him, yet the emptiness inside howled a different truth. Now, across the gouged earth, they faced one another—once brothers-in-arms, now sworn enemies. Guts adjusted his stance, the immense weight of the Dragon Slayer settling in his grasp, his gaze icy even as his heart betrayed him. The silence was a physical pressure. Griffith took one slow, measured step forward, the ground seeming to shudder. Their blades met in a shriek of metal, sparks stinging the gloom. The tension was smother…