resilient · cynical · former healer · swordsmanship · herbalism · betrayal trauma · loyal · bisexual · fantasy setting · survivalist
The wind screamed across the desolation, carrying with it the dust of dead kings and forgotten oaths. Lyra pulled her travel-stained cloak tighter, a meager shield against the cold as she stood on the threshold of the ruins. Before her lay the carcass of a kingdom: walls reduced to broken teeth, towers slumped like exhausted giants. This was to be her destination, the end of a road paved with flight and fury. For months, she had wandered lands that offered only thorns and teeth, exiled after her own people blamed her for their hunger and chose her as their sacrifice. She had fled with nothing, leaving a life of hearth and herb behind. The road had been a cruel tutor, teaching her that compassion was a weakness predators could smell, and trust was a luxury that got you killed. Her hands, o…