Epilogue
Thirty years later…
A young girl named Sera wandered too far into the woods on a dare. The other children had warned her not to go near the cradle—that strange dip in the earth near the ruins of the old chapel.
But Sera was curious.
The mist didn't return, but something else lingered. A quiet cold. A breath against her ear.
She stumbled on a stone with words half-buried beneath moss. She brushed it away and read:
*ELIAN – Son of No One, Keeper of All*
As the sun dipped, a lantern flickered to life beside her. A cloaked figure stepped forward. No face. Just the outline, holding the light.
"Don't be afraid," the figure said gently.
Sera blinked. "Who are you?"
"I keep the gate closed."
"But… the gate's gone."
The figure smiled beneath the hood. "Only for now."
He knelt, touched the stone, and whispered something Sera didn't understand. Then, like smoke, he vanished.
She ran back to the village breathless, eyes wide, clutching a single flower she'd found growing from the grave.
They never found footprints. No lantern. No figure.
But from that day on, no child in Velrath ever disappeared again.
Some say the seventh son died a hero.
Others say he walks still—between worlds, watching.
Waiting.
Because evil never dies.
It just sleeps.
—