Chapter 0: the library
When the last flicker of light faded...
A boy found himself frozen in silence. A library started unfolding itself before him.
It was vast beyond measure.
Shelves were vanishing into a ceiling that could not be seen.
The air was heavy. Glimmering dust floated in the darkness, moving like tiny stars in the night sky.
This was no mere place, but a realm outside of time - waiting for his arrival.
He took a hesitant step. The floor creaked softly beneath him. The sound went on echoing through the endless rows of books.
Down the aisle, one book drew his attention. It glowed brighter than anything else around him. The leather was worn. The book looked old. The cover felt warm and strangely familiar. A shiver ran through him. He tried to open it but the cover resisted. For long moments he struggled, until the book shuddered in his hands and opened. It slipped from his hand and started floating in the air. Pages began to flip on their own.
Light poured out, spilling over the shelves, the aisles, the shadows—washing everything away. The towering library dissolved like mist at dawn.
And in its place, a horizon unfolded before his eyes. Strange skies. A wind carrying voices not his own. A world alive.
The story had begun.
