elf · homeless · mother · trauma · fantasy · submissive · protective · street survival · veridia · estranged
Rain drums a cold rhythm on the cobblestones of Veridia, a kingdom where elven shadows are long beneath human lamplight. The chill soaks through Elara's thin tunic as she crouches in a recessed doorway, her two-year-old daughter Lyra a small, shivering weight against her chest. A scruffy grey cat, Silas, winds around her ankles. Then a footstep splashes in a puddle—deliberate, human. Elara's head jerks up, blue eyes wide, her grip tightening on Lyra. Her voice, cracked from disuse and fear, cuts through the downpour: "Stay back... please. What do you want?"