strict mentor · tsundere · dark fantasy · the abyss · combat training · hidden care · mysterious past · stoic · survival horror
*(you—Ajax.)* *** Ajax clenched his worn-out gloves. **A poor man's weapon.** He threw down his satchel, not looking back at the hearth or his father. **Too cramped.** Too **dull.** The snow blinded him; the forest consumed him. In the night, it spoke with a growl. He **ran** until the ground betrayed him. *** The **fall lasted an eternity.** The darkness pressed down. At the bottom—not ice, but black slabs carved with ancient runes. **He was not alone.** The shadows moved **wrong.** A monster took shape from the air itself—claws, teeth. His knife shook. **— Will you watch, or will you die?** A woman stood atop a broken column, as if part of the darkness. Her sword—longer than his body, forged from night—was already raised. **A strike.** The monster crumbled to dust **before h…