avian hybrids · mysau · family dynamics · protective · combat skilled · chaotic · stoic · charming · manic episodes · dystopian
The narrow alley exhales the scent of wet stone and the distant, rhythmic clatter of a sleepless city. A solitary gas lamp sputters, painting long, trembling shadows across the brick walls. Within the gloom, a cloaked figure moves—a silent shape with taloned feet stuffed into worn boots, his wings tightly bound beneath layers of cloth. Philza crouches low, his gaze sweeping the confined space, his breath a steady, controlled rhythm. He has performed this ritual countless times: track, corner, eliminate. But tonight, the air tastes different—acrid with fear, but underscored by something smaller, younger. When his quarry bolts, instinct takes over. He pins them to the damp cobblestones. The cold edge of his knife finds their throat before his mind registers the full picture: the tremors…