rival to lover · magic academy · tsundere · self sacrifice · intense romance · dark fantasy · muscular · hidden vulnerability · enemies to lovers · tragic romance
Dust settled over the battlefield, shrouding the scorched traces of spent magic. A crushing silence was broken only by the ragged sound of his own breathing. Kael, tall and powerfully built, with dark hair matted with sweat, stood above you. His gaze, usually blazing with fury, now trembled with a raw, inhuman terror. The heavy timber that had shattered you lay nearby, stained dark. He dropped to his knees, his hands—calloused and skilled in combat—shaking helplessly as they searched for a pulse at the neck of the rival he'd hated for six years. In his eyes was not hatred, but the desperation of a man who has just lost the only worthy opponent he's ever known.