Chapter 1: The Whispering Shadows

he village of Althara always fell quiet at dusk. Its cobblestone streets, so lively during the day, emptied as shadows stretched long over the earth. Zeryn Kaelith hated this time most of all. It wasn’t the stillness that unnerved her—it was the feeling that something watched from the dark.

Tonight, the air was colder than usual, a biting chill that wormed its way into Zeryn’s bones. She tugged her threadbare cloak tighter around her shoulders as she walked the narrow path to the healer’s cottage. Her errands always seemed to stretch into the evening, as if her aunt purposely sent her out late.

“She thinks I’ll toughen up,” Zeryn muttered under her breath, kicking at a loose pebble. “More like she hopes I’ll disappear.”

As she passed by the old well in the village square, a low hum stopped her in her tracks. It wasn’t the wind or the rustling of trees—it was a voice. Soft, like a whisper at the edge of hearing.

Zeryn.

Her name, spoken so clearly, it made her heart skip. She spun around, but the square was empty. Her breath fogged in the air, and the shadows seemed to deepen, pressing in closer.

“Who’s there?” she called, her voice wavering.

No answer.

She should have run. Every instinct screamed at her to leave, to turn her back on the darkness pooling at the edge of her vision. But something rooted her in place. The voice came again, softer this time, almost pleading.

Do not fear the dark.

A shiver ran down her spine as a figure emerged from the shadows, tall and cloaked in black. Its face was hidden, but its presence was suffocating, as if the night itself had taken shape.

“Who are you?” Zeryn demanded, her voice steadier than she felt.

The figure extended a hand, pale and skeletal. “You have felt it, haven’t you? The power inside you. The hunger. The whispers.”

Her heart thundered in her chest. She had felt it—on sleepless nights, in moments of anger or fear. A creeping sensation, like tendrils of shadow curling around her soul.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she lied, taking a step back.

The figure chuckled, low and menacing. “You will. Soon, the darkness within you will awaken. And when it does, you will choose—control it, or let it consume you.”

The figure dissolved into the shadows, leaving Zeryn alone in the square. But the chill in the air lingered, and so did the voice, echoing in her mind.