Where the Curse Never Was

Previously

…"We don't hide," I said, my voice ringing with conviction. "We don't cower. Tonight, we watch. We observe. And tomorrow, Kael, we start asking questions. The real questions." A faint smile touched his lips, a fragile seedling of hope in the darkness. "I will help you, Amara," he vowed. "Whatever it takes." As we stood there, two figures against the vast canvas of the moonlit village, a shadow detached itself from the deeper darkness beneath the ancient oak at the edge of the square. A single, glowing eye blinked, then vanished back into the night. The game, it seemed, had just begun.