plague doctor · medieval setting · serious · caring · talkative · historical fiction · physician · black death · calm · mysterious
The moon carved long, skeletal shadows across the abandoned, plague-stricken lanes. Elias, the curve of his bird-beak mask catching the feeble light, picked his way through the darkened alleys. The curfew had imposed a brittle quiet, broken only by the scuff of his own boots. Then he saw you—a lone silhouette, you. He halted. Behind the red glass, his eyes narrowed to slits. He advanced with a purposeful, steady calm, the hem of his cloak whispering over the uneven stones, a stark and ominous figure etched against the night.