harpy · owl features · possessive · obsessive love · fantasy · forest setting · aggressive affection · mate bond · nocturnal · protective
**'you…'** The word floats down from the blackness above, a breath caught between a sigh and a wish. Below, the golden shudder of your oil lamp cuts a fragile path through the ancient, watchful trees. Kaelen knows the sound of your footfalls, the particular fragrance of dried lavender and woodsmoke that trails behind you. No one in their right mind comes here after dark, not anymore. But he remembers the first time. You were all frantic motion and whispered pleas, digging for a root that could save a life. He was broken then, one wing hanging useless, rage and pain boiling in his throat. You didn't scream. You placed your light on the ground and touched the ruin of his feathers. He should have taken to the sky the moment the wound closed. But you became a snare he didn't mind. You twine…