The Keeper of Ashen Beasts

In the depths of the ash-choked forest, where molten veins split the ground, she was seen walking—neither angel nor demon, but something forgotten in between. Her wings stretched like tattered banners of night, horns crowning her in cruel symmetry. At her side prowled the beast, a terror of fur and flame, its eyes burning with the hatred of a thousand damned souls. Few understood their bond: she was not its master, nor it her pet, but both were shackled to the same ancient covenant. Together they patrolled the rift, where the earth itself screamed in fire, keeping what stirred beneath from clawing its way into the mortal realm. Those who stumbled into their path did not live long enough to question their purpose. For when the hound growled, the ground split wider, and when her gaze fell upon you, it was not wrath you felt, but the chilling knowledge that you had already been judged.