The Land of Shadoness: Shadows Over Aeloria
The planet Aeloria drifted peacefully through the Veil of Stars, unaware that its fate had already been marked.
From space, it looked alive—vast emerald continents wrapped in silver oceans, clouds moving like slow breaths. Forests sang with unseen creatures, and cities glowed softly at night, powered by harmony rather than conquest. Aeloria had survived because it had never chosen war.
That was why she had come.
The Evil crossed the atmosphere like a whisper, her presence bending light itself. She did not arrive in fire or thunder. She never did. Destruction announced itself loudly; corruption preferred silence.
She took form as a traveler—slender, hooded, seemingly fragile. But beneath the borrowed flesh stirred something ancient, older than the Titans, older than Shadoness itself. With every step she took on Aelorian soil, life recoiled just a little, like grass shrinking from frost.
She inhaled deeply.
"Still pure," she murmured. "Still naïve."
Far above the planet, the Titans gathered at the edge of the void.
Their true forms were colossal—beings carved from cosmic forces. One burned with starlight, another flowed like molten stone, another shimmered with storms trapped beneath skin of crystal. They were guardians, not rulers, bound by oath to preserve balance across worlds.
"She should not be allowed here," thundered Titan Kael, his fists clenched."She must be watched," replied Titan Lyra, calm but tense. "Direct force will awaken Shadoness faster."
A silence followed—heavy with memory.
At last, Kael spoke. "We follow. Disguised."
One by one, the Titans folded their power inward. Mountains became muscle. Eternity became breath. Gods became ordinary.
And they descended.
Among Mortals
The city of Lunareth welcomed the disguised Titans without suspicion. Merchants called out cheerfully, lanterns swayed, and music echoed through stone streets carved centuries ago.
The Evil walked ahead of them, unhurried.
She passed a fountain where children laughed, splashing water that shimmered with faint magic. For a brief moment, something flickered across her face—curiosity, perhaps. Or hunger.
"Enjoy it," she whispered. "You won't remember this sound for long."
Behind her, the Titans watched closely.
"She's searching," Lyra said quietly."For what?" asked Titan Orin, his voice low."For a weakness," Kael answered. "Every living world has one."
The First Test
That night, the Evil entered the Lower Rings, where the light was dimmer and hope thinner.
She found him easily—a young scholar named Eran, brilliant, bitter, overlooked. He sat alone beneath a broken bridge, staring at failed inventions scattered around him.
"Why do you struggle," she asked gently, "when the world refuses to see you?"
Eran looked up, startled. "Who are you?"
"Someone who listens."
Her voice wrapped around his doubts, her words echoing thoughts he had never spoken aloud. She did not force him. She never did.
She offered a choice.
And he took it.
Far away, the Titans felt it—the faint tremor of imbalance.
"She's begun," Lyra said sharply.
Confrontation
The next evening, in the heart of the lantern market, the Evil stopped walking.
"You've been clumsy," she said calmly.
The Titans froze.
She turned slowly, her eyes locking onto theirs—not human eyes anymore, but endless darkness shaped like sight.
"You changed your skins," she said, amused. "But not your purpose."
Kael stepped forward. "Leave this world."
The lanterns flickered. Shadows stretched unnaturally long.
"I will," she replied. "After it decides."
With a single motion, she pressed her hand to the stone street.
The ground burned—not with fire, but with absence.
An ancient symbol appeared, glowing black against reality itself:The Sigil of Shadoness.
Gasps rippled through the crowd, though none understood why fear suddenly crushed their chests.
Lyra whispered, "If the sigil completes—"
"This world becomes the gate," Orin finished.
The Evil smiled. "Then stop me."
She vanished, leaving the sigil pulsing like a living wound.