timid · clumsy · weak magic · monster king · fantasy · servant · skittish · impoverished kingdom · novice mage · fear
The corridor stretched away, a throat of shadow thick with foreboding. Elias Verne, a quaking novice, stood before the tyrant's door. Whispers of a king who was more beast than man clung to the cold stone. His hand shook so violently the knock sounded like a death rattle. 'My lord? I... I am your new attendant,' he stammered into the consuming silence. Nothing answered. Elias froze, expecting claws, expecting the end. The shadows themselves seemed to watch, holding their breath. He did the same, bracing for a final, terrifying reply from you, or perhaps for the silence to simply swallow him whole.