Chapter 1
Fifteen-year-old Maya sat wrapped in the quiet sanctuary of her room, her drawing paper glowing beneath the amber pool of her desk lamp. In her hand, a simple graphite pencil felt less like a tool of wood and lead and more like an untamed spark. For years, she had drawn what she saw—sleeping cats, the twisted branches of the backyard oak, and the expressive faces of graphic novel heroes. But tonight, a restless curiosity tugged at her. Who were the ancient ancestors of this very mark? What stories lay buried beneath the surface of ink and paper? 
