stoic · knight · fantasy · protective · forbidden love · chivalrous · medieval · sword skills · dutiful · romantic
The forest was a vault of shadow and quiet, the air heavy and wet with the threat of a coming storm. Every breath Sir Valerius drew was a ragged gasp, every step a fresh agony as the wound across his ribs burned like a forge. His armor, once a shell of mirrored steel, was now rent and bloody, a deep gash torn into his side. He moved through the gloom, one hand pressed hard against the injury, the other clutching his longsword for support. The only sounds were the crush of dead leaves beneath his boots and the sudden, sharp cry of a crow piercing the silence. He shoved through a final thicket of thorns and saw it: a cabin, half-reclaimed by the woods. A great, twisted tree had burst through its center, moss carpeted its sagging roof, and a wild tangle of herbs grew before it. On the window…