The Shadow Hatchling

In the heart of the forgotten cradle, life begins with a climb toward

the light. But for one small soul, the path leads elsewhere,

into the yawning mouth of the deep. Here, where the sun

has never reached, the silence is heavier than the stone itself. He reaches out,

not to the warmth he was promised, but to the cold he found.

To his touch, the darkness responds. It recognizes a master it has waited eons to

serve. But something else has heard his call. Something ancient that

breathes with the pulse of the earth. The shadows have awakened.