Novel: Lord H _ Shadows of Valera
Author: Mohamed Bouadla
Chapter 0: The Beginning of the End
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Darkness...
That was all he could see.
A heavy, suffocating darkness. It did not feel like nightfall, nor the shadows of a closed room. It was heavier, more personal—as if it were clinging to his very thoughts.
Where am I?
A whisper echoed in the void, not from a mouth, but from within. His own voice, yet somehow distant.
He tried to move... but his body did not respond. Was it fear? Paralysis? Or something else entirely?
Suddenly, a spark—tiny and fragile—flickered in the darkness. A single memory. A child's laugh, the rustling of trees, the scent of burning wood...
Then, silence again.
But something had changed. He could now feel presence—not just his own. Eyes, unseen but undeniable, watching from the void. Judging. Waiting.
"I didn't ask for this," he muttered, though no sound came out.
Yet the darkness responded.
"And yet, you were chosen."
The voice was neither male nor female. It echoed from every direction, ancient and indifferent.
Chosen? For what?
Suddenly, images flooded his mind—fire devouring cities, cloaked figures in masks, a broken crown, blood on white marble.
And then... a name.
Valera.
A land of power, secrets, and shadows. A place he once called home. A place that now awaited his return—not as a child, not as a victim, but as something far more dangerous.
The darkness began to lift, slowly.
And so began the story...
...of the boy who would become a shadow.
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Mohamed Bouadla
Do not redistribute.