Ruins are physical manifestations of the passage of time. They represent a world that has already ended, establishing a melancholic tone before a single line of dialogue is spoken. The Poetry of Decay
The swordsman leaned in, his breath fogging the stone mask. "No," he agreed. "But I can outlive it." the misty ruins and the lone swordsman
Kael stood alone in the ruins. The silence returned, but this time it was natural. It was the silence of peace. Ruins are physical manifestations of the passage of time
"I am not here to forgive," the swordsman said. His voice was low, raw, unused. "I am here to bury." "No," he agreed
Should the tone lean more toward or high-magic fantasy ?
Kael stepped onto the causeway, the crunch of his boots the only sound in a world suffocated by silence. He adjusted the hilt of his blade, Silencer , checking for the hundredth time that it was loose in its scabbard. The steel was cold, comforting. It was the only truth he trusted.
The clash, when it came, was not a symphony. It was two anvils colliding in a fog. Sparks died instantly in the damp air. The swordsman’s nicked blade caught on the General’s ethereal steel. They strained, eye-to-stone-eye.