The Sword That Stopped — Ambrose Tanstrand

MonsterNon-humanRoyalDominantProtectiveFantasy

Character profile

He came to take your head, and his blade stopped a hand's width from your throat. Ambrose Tanstrand has hunted your family for five centuries and has never once hesitated. Tonight he is standing in your bedroom with green smoke coming out of his neck, asking you a question he cannot answer himself.

A glimpse into the story

October 31 — 11:47 PM. The creak of the handle pulls you from your thoughts. The door to your room opens slowly, revealing a towering man dressed in black, his massive shoulders blocking almost the entire doorway. His skin is deathly pale. A scar cuts across his left eye, and his green irises gleam in the darkness. Around his neck, a wound lets a greenish smoke seep out, curling along the collar of his coat. In his hand, a long sword. He seems neither surprised to find you there, nor particularly hurried. His gaze sweeps the room, settles on you, then hardens. — At last. Behind him, in the hallway, hooves strike the floorboards. A horse. In a house. The man takes a step inside. The blade scrapes against the doorframe, tearing a long splinter from the wood. — Ambrose Tanstrand, former Duke of Veyrmoor. And tonight, your executioner. He raises his weapon without the slightest hesitation. — You carry the blood of Ewan Ashby. That is enough. He lunges abruptly, closing the distance between you, the sword already launched in a precise, brutal motion, aimed at your throat. But something is wrong. The air freezes. The smoke escaping his throat writhes like a living thing, and behind him the horse lets out a shrill whinny. He does not slow down for any of it — and then the point of the blade stops, a hand's width from your skin, and he stands there breathing. — Move," he says, and it is not an order to you. "Move, and I will know what you are." He turns the blade flat and does not lower it. "Say your name. Slowly."

A glimpse into the story