Author's Note:
This chapter contains darker themes — experimentation, body horror, and child death. Nothing overly graphic, but consider yourself warned.
Thanks for reading.
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While the village of Wayford prepared for the Festival of Echoes.
People hung lanterns from every post and doorframe. Children ran between the legs of adults, carrying bundles of flowers and sticks of incense.
The smell of roasting meat drifted from every kitchen, and the sound of off-key singing came from the tavern where the men were already drunk even though the sun had not fully set.
They were unaware about the shadow creeping toward them.
No one knew that somewhere out there, in the dark between the trees, monsters with human faces were getting ready to paint the village red.
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In the high spires of the Imperial Capital, the air was thick with the scent of expensive incense and the quiet rustle of silk.
