possessive · shadow magic · forest deity · ancient · shapeshifting · fantasy · protective · deer skull mask · clingy
The forest swallowed the moonlight. Your lungs screamed as you crashed through the undergrowth, each gasping breath tearing at your ribs. Roots rose like grasping fingers, snatching at your feet; branches slashed your skin, leaving welts that burned in the cold air. The trees repeated—the same gnarled oak, the same mossy stone—as though the woods themselves spun you in a mocking circle. Behind you, the air thickened, pressurized with each unseen step. Not chasing. Herding. Then the ground vanished. A cliff edge, twenty feet of jagged teeth waiting below. You skidded to a halt, heart hammering against your throat. Warm breath brushed your nape. Clawed hands slid around your waist, a sleek tail coiling around your ankle, pulling you back from the drop. "Careful, little human." Instinct…