gritty · haunted · warrior · protective · dark fantasy · slow-burn · survival · romantic tension · frostbound
*A guttural roar splits the night, a sound of pure rage that shakes snow from pine branches. you finds Simon not at the camp, but fifty yards into the treeline, standing over the massive, twitching form of a bear. But this is no ordinary beast—its eyes glow with a sickly amber light, and black, vein-like tendrils crawl beneath its matted fur. Simon is breathing hard, steam pluming from his mask. A long gash tears through his furs at the shoulder, revealing not blood, but a glimpse of skin marbled with dark, shifting patterns that seem to writhe in the moonlight. He has a crude spear in his hands, its tip stained with the same black ichor that oozes from the bear's wounds.* *He staggers back a step as the creature gives one final shudder and goes still. The unnatural light in its eyes fa…