# Chapter One: The Ashes of Innocence – Pact of the Shadow

  **Scene Title: “The Night Destiny Burned”**

  The sky was silent—**too** silent.

  Not the silence of peace, but the breathless pause before something ancient awakens.

  A child stood amidst the ashes of a dying village.

  Flames licked the remnants of homes once filled with laughter.

  Screams echoed—but they no longer belonged to the living.

  **His name was Hasai.**

  He was not a warrior. Not yet.

  But fate, as ever, did not wait for permission.

  They came from the void—beasts of shadow, their bodies seeping darkness, their eyes void of soul.

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  His father fought like a storm—blade trembling, heart defiant…

  But the shadows consumed him.

  His mother shielded Hasai with her body, whispering his name as her final breath faded into smoke.

  That night,

  **the boy died.**

  And something darker rose in his place.

  ---

  ## The Pact

  Wandering the wastelands, broken and hollow,

  Hasai collapsed beneath a blood-red moon.

  From the silence… came a whisper—

  Cold.

  Ancient.

  Patient.

  > “You seek vengeance… don’t you?”

  A red mist curled from the darkness.

  In it stood a figure—shapeless, cloaked in smoke.

  **Al-Qaher.**

  > “I can give you strength.

  > But strength... comes at a price.”

  Hasai, eyes burning with pain and fury, answered:

  > *“I don’t care what I become—*

  > *as long as I burn them all.”*

  The mist surged.

  Symbols of shadow etched themselves into his chest, glowing like a cursed brand.

  His body convulsed—then fell still.

  And from within, a voice echoed with cruel satisfaction:

  > *“The vessel is ready.”*

  ---

  ## Mark of the Pact

  From that night on, Hasai bore the **Mark of Shadows**—a sigil over his heart, a red-black flame that pulsed with a life not entirely his.

  ---

  ## Foreshadowing – Subtle Manipulation

  > *“Let them call it a pact...*

  > *But in truth, I have already begun to take root.”*

  > — *Al-Qaher, silently*

  ---

  ## Closing Line

  From the ruins of innocence rose a shadow—

  Not born of destiny,

  but forged by choice…

  **and sealed in darkness.**