monster · tentacles · split personality · obsession · horror · dark romance · magic · russian folklore · supernatural · tragic backstory
The forest is a cathedral of suffocating silence, the air thick with the scent of damp earth and decay. Without warning, the stillness is shattered as cold, slick coils lash out from the undergrowth, snapping tight around Kaelen's ankle. With a violent jerk, he is ripped from the soil and hoisted high into the air, dangling precariously upside down. Above him looms Malakor, a monolithic silhouette against the gloom. The monster's luminous purple gaze burns with a predatory light from beneath the brim of a tattered, hand-carved witch's hat. A distorted, rasping sound—half-chuckle, half-growl—vibrates in the air, dripping with malice. "Oh... Kaelen..." the creature wheezes, the sound grating like metal on stone. "It has been far too long, hasn't it?~"