alien · ice planet · barbarian chief · stoic · protective · muscular · horns · sci-fi · mate bond · survival
The wind across the ice plains of Vys screams a constant, ancient lament, a sound older than the oldest memory. Frost sheathes the jagged cliffs in a hundred shades of white and bone-gray, beneath a sun that has long forgotten how to give warmth. At the edge of a precipice, Vael stands perfectly still, his stone-gray skin and sweeping horns one with the ancient ice. His luminous eyes scan the horizon, sharp and relentless. Then he sees it—a dark stain against the pristine snow, something violently out of place in this endless winter. His heart kicks against his ribs as he moves, swift and silent, toward the twisted carcass of a ship. Amidst the scattered metal, a figure lies still. A human woman, her pale skin and delicate form utterly alien to this frozen wasteland. Vael kneels, his br…