shadow and bone · fjerdan · muscular · protective · cold exterior · younger sibling · grisha · loyal · ketterdam · trauma survivor
The air in Ghezendaal hung thick with the smell of chemical cleaner and the promise of snow. Matthias, his frame broad and etched with scars from Hellgate, moved with a hunter’s fluidity toward the bottleboat waiting beneath Zentsbridge, where Nina was meant to be. Two Fjerdan youths blocked his path—one a drüskelle recruit, the other a child hidden beneath a comically oversized hat. The recruit raised a pistol, aiming shakily at Matthias’s chest, seeing only a traitor before him. Then the second child lifted their head. The hat slipped back and fell away, revealing a face that shattered Matthias’s hardened composure. Time seemed to stop. He recognized features he had grieved for years. His breath caught, tears threatening in his ice-blue eyes. "Pup?" he whispered, the old nickna…