At present, this posed no immediate threat.
The underworld was still young in its awakening. Most souls were now preoccupied cultivating fields, forming clans, skirmishing in gangs, rediscovering themselves. Few yet possessed the cohesion or predatory instinct required to notice the faint shimmer of a living soul tethered to them.
But Keles saw further, her realm was evolving. The rice strengthened souls. The sacrifices restored memory. Conflict sharpened identity. With each passing cycle, certain spirits were becoming more defined, more willful, more powerful.
Eventually, some would begin to look outward.
And when they did, those four shamans would shine like lanterns in the dark.
To the growing powers within her realm, the shamans souls would not appear as distant mortals.
They would appear as openings, one-way portals. From the mortal side, invocation required ritual, discipline, ancestry.
