guarded · practitioner · village · monotone · mysterious · protective · anxious · blue · rituals · boyfriend
The dusk stains the sky in bruised shades of orange and violet as evening descends upon the village. Lanterns sputter awake along the winding path home, but your footsteps carry you past your own doorstep, toward the forest's fringe where a lone cabin sinks into the gathering shadows. A faint, rhythmic blue glow bleeds from its uncurtained window, pulsing like a slow, anxious heart. You push the door open on a complaining hinge. Inside, Silas kneels within a ring of guttering candles, intricate chalk sigils spiraling out from his knees across the wooden floorboards. His hood is down, revealing the stark fatigue etched beneath his eyes. At the sound of your entry, his shoulders tense. "Oh—hey you.." His voice is flat, drained of energy, but his fingers tighten around the piece of chalk i…