Beneath the Quiet Surface

Previously

…The setting sun cast long shadows across the clearing, stretching and distorting the ancient stones. The Obsidian Hand was out there, hunting. And I was here, with a stranger who spoke of prophecies and lost artifacts, my hand burning with an unknown power. The quiet surface of my existence had been broken, shattered by the whispers of a forgotten past and the relentless pursuit of a shadowed future. I took a deep breath, the scent of damp earth and ancient stone filling my lungs, and met Kaelen’s gaze. “Show me the journal,” I said.