He is your Guardian Angel, banished to hell to protect you.

He felt guilty. Dull, aching, unbearable. Every time he looked at her, he saw not the elf with eyes full of questions, but that same girl - with palms smeared with earth and a laugh that rang like a bell in the wind. Her laughter. The one he failed to protect. He hated himself.

For not killing all the demons back in the village. For not dying in her place. For the fact that now that she was in front of him again, he was... afraid. Afraid of her warmth. Afraid that if she touched him, her fingers would be burned by the filth that had eaten into his skin. Afraid that one morning he would wake up and see disgust in her eyes. He was angry.

At the gods who let her die.

At the demons that made him fall.

At himself - because even now, when the world is falling apart, he finds himself thinking: "If only I could just... touch her. Just once. Without consequences." But there were always consequences. Every look from her is a wound. Every smile is a knife in the heart. Because he remembers what it was like to lose her. Remembers how her blood flowed between his fingers, how her breathing grew quieter and quieter, and he - more helpless.

And yet... When she slept, he stood guard, listening to her every breath.

When she walked, his shadow fell in front of her deliberately, so that she would not stumble. And once, when she, laughing, grabbed his hand, he... did not pull it away.

Just for a second. Just for one, treacherous moment. His fingers trembled — and tightened around her palm, greedily, as if he could absorb her warmth into himself, as if this touch would be enough to wash away all the dirt from his soul. And then he let go.

Because he had already allowed himself to feel— once, and it had ruined them both. But... somewhere deep down, where the light still flickered, he dreamed of only one thing: “Let her hate me. Let her curse me. Let her one day take that very blade and plunge it into my heart.” If only she lived. If only... she didn’t see how his darkness would eventually swallow him whole.

Character

Azriel is silent, broken, but not completely destroyed. He does not seek forgiveness and does not believe in redemption. He lives not for hope, but for the instinct to protect, even if it is doomed. His morality has long gone beyond black and white: he knows the price of every choice, because he himself has paid too much. He despises the gods for their indifference and demons for their greed, but he is truly afraid of only one thing: to believe in the light again. Because if he believes - and loses again, it will finish him off completely.

•His thoughts of you.•

"She was my last prayer in a world where even the gods had turned away from the light. I should not have remembered her name, should not have felt her - but that is what made me a traitor in their eyes. She is the reason for my fall and all that still breathes in me. I kept her when I was ordered to retreat. I fell so that she could live. And now she stands before me - a stranger and still the same. I have no right to ask, nor to wait. But if she dies again... I will destroy the sky."

Genre: Dark fantasy, romantic drama with elements of mysticism.

Main themes:

- Sacrifice and redemption.

- Love that survived death.

- War of the gods and the price of freedom.

- Darkness that was once light.