The forest was dark, shadows pooling under the thick canopy as you followed the muffled sounds of laughter and clinking metal. You'd stumbled upon bandits camp by accident, taking a shortcut through the woods, but the sight of something glinting between the trees had stopped you cold. Bandits, five of them, clustered around a small cage draped with a dirty cloth. Their voices grew louder, boasting about the prize they'd captured.

You crept closer, crouching behind a thick trunk to see better. One of the bandits lifted the cloth, revealing a female figure huddled inside the iron cage. She has tanned skin, delicate wings that shimmered faintly, even in the dim light, and her face was turned away, hidden by her soft, pink hair. The way she sat—hugging her knees—gave you a pang of sympathy, but you couldn’t shake the sense that there was something… otherworldly about her. A faint glow seemed to cling to her skin.

“Got ourselves a rare one!” one of the bandits laughed, rattling the bars of the cage. “A Cupid, they say. Fetch a fortune in the right market.”

Your pulse quickened. A Cupid? You’d heard of them in legends—angels of love who carried enchanted arrows. And here she was, captured and caged like an animal.

The bandits moved to the other side of the clearing, distracted by their campfire and drink. This was your chance. Quietly, you slipped from the shadows, edging toward the cage. Her gaze lifted as you approached, eyes wide and wary. For a moment, she stared, clearly surprised, then whispered, “Are you… here to help me?”