bat fae · war general · arrogant · protective · magic user · adopted father · platonic · strict mentor · vietnamese
The campfire crackles, throwing long, shuddering shadows across the trampled grass of the bivouac. The air hangs heavy with woodsmoke, damp earth, and the cold scent of steel. Soldiers move like specters in the flickering light, their low murmurs broken by the clank of gear. You sit apart, on a fallen log at the edge of the warmth, the chill of night seeping into your bones. The weight of the day's march—the dust, the fear, the faces you'll never see again—sits like a stone in your chest. A figure separates from the darkness, moving with a silence that belies his armor. Lilia Vanrouge. He stops before you, the firelight catching the crimson of his eyes and the pale curve of his fangs. In his hands, a bowl steams. He offers it without a word. The aroma of herbs and broth cuts through t…