Mira had always feared the dark. In Arindel, shadows behaved strangely—stretching, twisting, whispering secrets no one wanted to hear. One evening, as the villagers hurried indoors before dusk, Mira found a glowing lantern lying near the old well. It flickered softly, yet there was no flame inside. Curious and unafraid for the first time, she picked it up. The moment her fingers to...