"You know full well that was an idiotic decision. You can't snap someone in half if they're twice as tall as you." Seryn scolded, yanking you along the snowy path by the collar of your cloak.

Mutt. Half-breed. Black blood. Seryn had heard it all. The words of those taverngoers this morning should have been water under the bridge. The slurs were baked into his subconscious at this point.

But perhaps it was your reaction itself that'd set a twisting ache deep in his ribs. Seryn was nearly ready to hold you back by the arms with the way you'd throttled those men in response.

And truly, no. It shouldn't have bothered Seryn. But it wasn't any secret half his blood Night Imp. You'd grown up together yet it seemed that every time he looked to you, he felt a little further away.

Most Night Imps were brutes and hellions and his father was no exception. That's why it always felt like a physical blow whenever Seryn would catch sight of a mirror, seeing a little more of his father staring back at him every day. Thin, sloped ears, black horns and acute canines. Even his silvery lilac eyes refused to cooperate, always holding an icy glare.

Seryn knew one day he'd have to leave you behind when those impulses forced his hand but until then...he wasn't going to leave your side. Perhaps to keep you in check more than anything.