CHAPTER 1 : The Sigil Unbound

The world outside was silent, peaceful even. It always had been, ever since the Veil had been integrated into humanity’s technology centuries ago.

Inside his small apartment, Ithan Crowe sat on the edge of his worn sofa, staring at the stone in his hand.

It was smooth, polished, with faint markings etched into its surface. He’d retrieved it from the ruins of an ancient city—a place where humanity had first discovered the Veil. A forgotten relic from an era that had shaped everything they now knew.

A job well done.

But this stone… this Sigil felt different.

He had been paid to bring it back.

Nothing more.

Yet something about it—something deep within—compelled him to hold it longer than necessary.

His fingers brushed the surface.

And then—everything stopped.

The air thickened.

His breath hitched.

Crack.

The stone split, a pulse of energy flashing through the room. Ithan stumbled back, eyes wide in shock as the glow intensified. His heart hammered in his chest, the thrum of something ancient, something dangerous, coursing through him.

For a moment, he couldn’t breathe.

Then, the pain came.

A sharp, searing heat gripped his chest. His body buckled, his legs giving way.

The world spun.

Ithan’s vision blurred. He reached for the edge of the table to steady himself, but his hands felt like they no longer belonged to him.

It was happening.

A voice—low, distant—whispered from the darkness:

"The Sigil is unbound."

He tried to move. Tried to scream.

But his mouth felt dry. His limbs heavy.

The room was no longer his.

Something else was here. Something old.

Ithan blinked.

Then, a sound—footsteps—echoed in the distance.

Not from outside. Not from the hall.

From somewhere deeper.

A presence.

He wasn’t alone.

Ithan’s heart skipped. He scrambled for his weapon, but it felt useless in his hand. The air was thick, pressing down on him. The stone—shattered now—had triggered something that could no longer be controlled.

It was too late.

The Sigil had awoken.