Prologue: Black Stone at Noon
Light hits the ground strange in Dalrune. The sky’s always thick, yet people walk as if it were summer. Kaori, our fighter, kicks stones down a sandy path. He glances back. The shadow at his heel seems to reach farther than others’.
He talks, mostly to himself. ‘Have to cross the fields by dusk. Can’t stay in one spot.’ His sister Mai clings to his cloak. Mai’s eyes twitch from side to side. ‘Did you hear that voice again?’ she whispers. Kaori shrugs once. They both know it comes at odd times, whispering bargains neither dares answer.
Fading Echoes
On this world, old magic broke the sun—now the curse latches to families, like mold on wet rice. Have you ever felt someone watching when you’re all alone? It crawls on you here, day and night.
Kaori wants one thing: to crack this curse. He’s heard of a city beyond the blasted trees, a place where witches dance flames around gold.
Supporting Souls
Tomo, their friend, plays twin pipes. She charms the night-creatures back to their dens when wind shifts. She grins, rolls an acorn on her palm. ‘Lucky?’ Mai snatches it quick. Tomo laughs again. You ever seen friends steal little luck from the air? That’s how they survive here.
Distance means little; paths bend. A pine-wood gate groans loud. On the post, inked in runes: Don’t Trust Your Eyes. The paint drips black as crow feathers. Kaori rubs his palm over it. ‘We’re close now, aren’t we?’ 
The Sickness Reveals
Air turns glassy. Shadows slide up old rail fences. A cursekeeper waits—not old, but he has age in the blink. White robes muddied at the feet. He leans forward, reveals tousled hair and narrow amber eyes.
‘Only fools wander in the dusk,’ the man says. Kaori frowns. Tomo slips beside and cups Mai’s shoulder. The cursekeeper’s voice grows soft. ‘Something’s following all three of you.’ He lowers robes, revealing an oval mirror, veined like bone. ‘Look. What do you see?’
Kaori’s face in the glass trembles—his pupils ringed by black script.
‘You brought this on family,’ mutters the cursekeeper. ‘That’s how it lives now—by memory, regret, and the lie you tell yourself.’
Pact at Sundown
‘We came for hope,’ Mai says quietly. The man leans nearer but doesn’t speak. Instead, he flicks the mirror, broad cracks roll through the towns behind him. There’s a hiss; something puffed and stringy contains itself just outside the reach of moonlight. 
Tomo fingers a pipe. The tune is soft and raw. Kaori squeezes his sister’s hand; memories catch sharp near his skin. ‘Look, I did what I had to. Was that wrong?’
The cursekeeper sees regret settle, waits. ’Memory does this. To let go means to lose good with the bad. What’s left of you, if not what’s done?’ A fair question—could you? Would you trust forgetting?
A Town Twisted
They enter Marn. Houses double up, like rooms built on each other at weird angles. Doors shift and re-form. Does anyone live here? Figures glide along halls. A figure in a paper mask glances sideways. A kid giggles behind shutters, no eyes at all.
‘I want out,’ whispers Mai, her voice thin. Tomo edges her close while Kaori presses on. 
Doubt Unravels
Grass wilts as Kaori steps. Each footfall draws the black script, like a brush against his soul. Cold settles fast. Tomo trips—her pipes clang hard. A faint face emerges from the ground, lips drawn tight, pleading. Sometimes dead loved ones claw their way to surface here. What would you say if yours begged you to stay?
Confrontation and Choice
At an old stone fountain Mai collapses, shuddering. Kaori kneels. Deep inside, pain rewinds years—voices behind, mother’s hand, lost warmth. The cursekeeper re-appears now. ‘Name what you fear most,’ he insists. Mai murmurs. Tomo starts a tune that skips like drops on glass. If they make it through, it means parting with what’s left inside, the roots they know.
The city noises outside drop out. Something moves between windows. Kaori looks up, framed by a razor-thin moon. Voices ring in all their ears.
A Door Opens
‘If you walk forward, you may be free,’ says the cursekeeper. ‘But your ties with each other will fade. Would you give up your pain if it also means giving up loved ones?’ 
Kaori helps Mai to her feet. Tomo stares at her shoes, the acorn safe inside her own pocket. Do you choose healing—or memory? Would you take the risk?
On the other side of town’s broken gates, distant lights flicker. The chapter ends before their first step forward, the curse behind them deeper than roots in stone.
