The next morning, the vilage was in chaos. The Silver River had turned black and thick as ink overnight. Crops in the field had withered, and cattle were bellowing in fear.
"t's the blight, " whispered the villagers, gathering in the square.
"The stones!" Elian shouted, stepping onto a
wooden barrel. "Someone has broken the stones!"The villagers looked at him with skepticism, but Silas, seeing the intense fear and determination in Elian's eyes, stood beside him. "The boy hears
things, friends. Perhaps he knows."Elian told them of the shadow. The Elder of the village, a frail woman named Mara, nodded slowly."The stories of the Shadow Master are true, then.Long ago, the stones were guarded by the Order
of the Silver Thorn. They used a key–the Sunstone Talisman.
"Where is it?" Elian asked.
"Lost in the Whispering Woods, "Mara said. "A place no one enters and returns from.'