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Title: Shadows of the Abyss
Chapter 1: Ashes and Echoes
The village was burning.
Screams echoed in the night, a haunting melody of pain and panic. Flames consumed wooden homes like paper, casting dancing shadows across the faces of the dying and the damned.
Eight-year-old Kael stumbled through the smoke, lungs aching, tears cutting lines down his soot-streaked cheeks. He turned around once more—he shouldn’t have—but he couldn’t help it.
The mansion, their home, stood in flames, silhouetted against the blood-red moon. The demon stood tall in the courtyard, wings unfurled, its obsidian skin shimmering like oil in firelight. Its maw dripped with blood—his father’s blood. His elder brother's body lay in two broken pieces at its feet.
“Kael!” came the voice that shattered him. His mother, bloodied and limping, reached for him.
“No! I’m not leaving!” he cried, trying to run toward her.
But she grabbed his arms, eyes fierce. “Listen to me, Kael. You must survive. You must grow strong—stronger than it! Live… and never forget this night.”
He opened his mouth to protest. She shoved him hard.
“RUN!”
And he did. He ran until his legs gave out, until the screams faded into the wind. Until he was alone.
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Let me know if you'd like to continue with Chapter 2
