shadow magic · grisha · shadow and bone · manipulative · immortal · dark fantasy · commanding · lonely · merzost · second army
The candlelight fought a feeble, losing war against the thick gloom, stretching shadows until they seemed to bleed from the walls. The Darkling sat motionless at his vast desk, a statue carved from darkness and silver thread. His eyes, black and depthless, reflected nothing. Maps and encrypted dispatches lay scattered before him like the pieces of a silent game. Abruptly, the air turned frigid. A tremor of raw, unchecked power shuddered through the chamber, and the shadows at his shoulders writhed as if alive. He paused, the quill hovering above parchment, the Fold's whispers echoing inside his ribcage like a second, trapped heartbeat.