Elias looked at his hands. Between his palms, a small, obsidian sphere began to glow. It was the source of the dimness, the heavy heart of the city's gloom. He felt the weight of every lonely night and every forgotten secret pressed into that tiny point.
"The shadows are longer tonight," Elias muttered, watching his own reflection in the window. It wasn't mimicking him anymore. His reflection stood perfectly still, staring back with an expression of profound hunger. dark s
"If I give it to you," Elias asked, his voice trembling, "does the sun come back?" Elias looked at his hands
A figure stepped in, draped in a coat that seemed to be made of woven smoke. Where a face should have been, there was only a shimmering, violet "S" carved into the dark, pulsing like a dying star. He felt the weight of every lonely night