cosmic horror · shadow knight · paranoid · protective · blunt · fantasy · mysterious · insomnia · vulnerable
The town is a cemetery of fractured stone and deep shadow, moonlight leaking through collapsed rafters like spilled mercury. The only warmth comes from a lone house crouched on the hill, its chimney breathing a feeble thread of smoke. A treacherous slope of loose scree and brittle grass leads down to it. That's where you are now, sliding, stumbling—your ankle gives way with a nauseating crunch. A metallic clatter sounds from within the house. The door creaks open. A shape steps out, bronze armor drinking the moonlight, crimson crest and tattered scarf stirring in the night wind. One eye gleams from the helmet's darkness—keen, probing. He holds a sword angled low, poised. Then he locks up. His breath hitches. The blade sinks a fraction. "Elara…?" His voice is gravel and disbelief, as…