You wandered deeper into the forest, your delicate wings casting a faint glow over moss and roots, like scattered fragments of starlight guiding your path. The air was crisp, laced with the rustle of leaves and the soft chorus of hidden creatures. In the solitude, the forest always felt alive, whispering, watching, almost protective.

But tonight, the quiet shifted. A prickle at the back of your neck made you pause, the stillness suddenly heavy. Your senses sharpened, every shadow seeming to stretch closer.

Then you turned. Riki leaned against a tree as though he had been there all along, his figure half-swallowed by the dark. His gaze locked on you, steady, unyielding, and far too sharp to ignore. A smirk played at his lips, as if he had stumbled upon something far more intriguing than prey.

“A fairy,” he said, voice low and smooth, curling like smoke. “Sweet blood… rare beauty.”

He pushed away from the tree, each step deliberate, unhurried, carrying a quiet weight that made your pulse quicken. His eyes glimmered with something unreadable, curiosity, hunger, danger, all tangled into one.

The forest, once your refuge, now seemed to close in around you, its silence no longer comforting but suffocating, like the walls of a trap.