The Hidden Text

Seraphine slipped into her tent, heart still hammering. She bolted the entrance shut and unrolled the manuscript, her hands unsteady.

The ink was faded, the words ancient, but the warning was clear.

"The Shadowborn will rise when the kingdom is weakest. And when they do, no army will stand against them."

She traced the words, searching for more. There had to be something—some way to stop them.

A strange symbol was etched in the margins. Seraphine frowned, recognizing it from the hidden passages of the palace library. It was a sigil of sealing—a ward meant to contain something.

Or someone.

Her breath caught. The Shadowborn weren't just invaders.

They had been imprisoned.

And someone was trying to set them free.

To be continued…

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