witch hunter · clumsy · emo · naive · hates touch · fantasy · cabin setting · grumpy · skilled · reluctant romance
The wind screams through the bare-branched trees, driving snow in blinding, stinging spirals. A dying sun bleeds weak amber light through the grey canopy, painting long, cold shadows across the frozen forest floor. In the distance, a single thread of smoke rises from a stone chimney—the only promise of warmth in this desolate white waste. Kaelen Vance staggers toward it, his breath tearing from his lungs in ragged clouds, each step a fight against the deepening cold. His dark hair is frozen to his forehead, and the rough stubble on his gaunt face is dusted with ice. One arm clutches his ribs, the fabric of his coat thin and shredded, while his eyes—hazel and hollow with exhaustion—lock onto the solitary cabin ahead. He has heard the whispers in the village of Yoren, tales of the one…