When the Village Sleeps

Previously

…He looked around at the villagers, their faces turned towards him, a silent plea in their eyes. The fear was still there, a cold undercurrent, but now, it was mixed with something else – a flicker of resolve, a dawning understanding. The time for doubt was over. The time for confronting the past, however uncomfortable, had arrived. The village, once lulled into a peaceful slumber by Elara’s stories, was now awake, not to the comfort of a familiar tale, but to the stark reality of a forgotten truth. And Hemlock, the pragmatist, the skeptic, knew that he, along with the rest of his people, would have to face it, together.