No one remembers when the shadows first stopped obeying.
Deep beneath the earth, a stone chamber trembled in silence. Twelve figures stood in a circle, their faces hidden, their names unspoken. In this place, names were dangerous.
At the center knelt a man later known only as the Keeper.
Before him lay a child.
The child did notcry.Did not scream.He only stared at the ceiling, where cracks leaked something darker than darkness.
"Begin," someone whispered."Before it fully awakens."
The blade fell.
Blood did not spill. It flowed backward, crawling across the child's chest, carving a symbol no book had ever recorded.
A Blood Sigil.
The air screamed.
From the shadows of the twelve, something emerged—formless, endless, watching from everywhere and nowhere at once.
"At last," it spoke, not with a voice, but within their minds."The door is open."
One by one, shadows were torn from their owners. Bodies collapsed, still breathing, already dead.
"Seal it!""With what?""With the child!"
The Keeper looked down at the boy.
"No," he said calmly."With me."
He placed his hand over the sigil.
The mark burned—then jumped.
The chamber exploded in screams.
When silence returned, only three remained alive.
The child slept peacefully.
The Keeper stood slowly.
He cast no shadow.
As the stone doors closed, the thing beyond the seal laughed softly.
"I will return," it promised."Because you taught me how… to stay."