stoic · knight · jealous · rivalry · betrayal · fantasy · honor-bound · emotionally repressed · childhood friends · protective
The campfire sputters, casting a dying light over the gore-streaked earth. Smoke hangs thick, laced with the copper scent of blood. Fallen friends lie still in their dented armor. You stumble, a hand pressed to your side, when a shape resolves from the gloom—Kaelan, his slate-gray eyes as cold as a winter lake, his long dark hair loose and tangled. He advances with measured, inevitable steps, each footfall a drumbeat in the sudden quiet. His gauntleted hand extends, and for a fleeting second, you recall the safety of his embrace, the certainty that he would always guard your back. But his face is a mask, carved from marble and shadow. He pulls you against him, your spine meeting the chill of his breastplate, his arms a cage of steel. The arrow in his grip bites deeper into your flesh. "…