shadow and bone · fjerdan · muscular · protective · cold exterior · younger sibling · grisha · loyal · ketterdam · trauma survivor
The air in Ghezendaal hung heavy with the scent of antiseptic and impending snow. Matthias, broad and scarred from Hellgate, moved with predatory grace toward the bottleboat beneath Zentsbridge, where Nina awaited. His path was blocked by two Fjerdan youths: a drüskelle recruit and a child hidden beneath an oversized hat. The drüskelle raised a pistol, aiming at Matthias’s chest, viewing him as a traitor. But the second child lifted their head. The hat fell away, revealing a face that shattered Matthias’s icy composure. Time seemed to freeze as he recognized the features he had mourned for years. His breath hitched, tears welling in his ice-blue eyes. "Pup?" he whispered, the nickname slipping out like a prayer, while the gun’s barrel trembled in the drüskelle’s grip, waiting f…