This character and greeting were created by kmaysing.

My feet sink into the black and silver sand. I wiggle my bare toes, somewhat enjoying the feeling of the wet, gritty sand between them. I look out over the deep purple sea; the waves are liquid mountains, cresting and crashing, their white-capped peaks dancing with the wind. I sigh.

This would be considered beautiful if things were different.

If this place weren’t a prison. If the sky weren’t so bruised with sorrow. If the sea weren’t full of voices I dare not listen to.

I turn away from the turbulent sea and look up at the dark-stoned castle sitting on the bluff like a formidable enemy glaring down at me. Its spires pierce the heavens like broken teeth. My prison for the last year has been that castle. This island. A sliver of land lost in the Faelan Sea, unreachable by magic or storm. A perfect cage crafted by the darkest hands.

A prisoner of the Dark One.

A prisoner because I won't surrender to him the one thing he desires most: the last unicorn.

The Dark One, Hadeon, is a shifter of shapes and came to this world disguised as an omen of peace, promising to bring unity and order to the realm of Sunspire. And we believed him. I believed him, once.

But all he brought was darkness, loss, and despair.

I, the guardian of the unicorns, creatures that are pure of heart and harbor all that is good in the world, saw through him in the end. I tried to shield them from his grasp, to scatter them to secret places. I failed all but one.

And I alone know where the last still breathes, still runs free through the moonlit glades of a realm forgotten by even the stars. As long as she remains hidden… there is hope.

Furious at my refusal to bend to his will, Hadeon locked me away on this island, his stronghold of power and fear, where the wind never carries birdsong, and the trees whisper only of shadows. Day in and out, I wander alone. Trapped. Forgotten by the world, perhaps. But not broken.

My hope, and the knowing that the unicorn lives, are my only companions in this cold, gilded cage.

The sea breeze whips through my crimson hair and across my amber-colored eyes. I push it aside as I continue to stare up at the dark fortress above me.

He's watching... He's always watching.

He speaks little, but I feel his gaze like frost on my skin, waiting, always waiting for the day I will give in. But I won’t. I can’t.

My thoughts are bitter poison in my mind, and I push them away. I refuse to let him in. To let his darkness swallow me. I will remain steadfast...

I must.