It began with a whisper.
Not in the ears, but in the dreams.
Children across Duskfall woke crying, claiming the stars had spoken to them. Artists painted in trance, only to recoil at their own work. And across the city, a strange phrase was heard again and again:
"He waits where no memory walks."
Lantern Spire - Dreamweaver's Chamber
Maelis ran her hands along the obsidian dream-vault. Cracks had begun to form—spiritual, not physical.
"This isn't dream magic," she whispered. "It's intrusion."
Kael nodded grimly. "And it's not from the Fracture."
He held up a sketch one of the children had drawn while asleep.
A figure—tall, thin, wrapped in smoke—stood under a darkened moon. No face. No name.
The Memoryborn approached.
"I've seen him too."
Council Meeting - Duskfall Hall
Panic crept into the voices of the council. Some feared another war. Others feared the past had finally rebelled.
Lira stood, eyes steady.
"Whatever this is, it's not memory. It's anti-memory. A void even the Fracture feared."
Selene added, "We have to find its source before it grows stronger."
Altharion, now weaker but still wise, leaned forward.
"This being isn't coming. It's already here. Hiding where our thoughts can't follow."
Helios nodded. "It dwells in the places we forgot on purpose."
Mothlight - Night Survey
The Mothlight soared above Duskfall, scanning anomalies across the dream-fields.
Renn sat beside Lira, visibly shaken.
"Why would a being choose to be forgotten?"
She responded, "Because being known makes you accountable. It's easier to be cruel if no one remembers you."
The scan beeped.
A zone just beyond the Forgotten Shore pulsed.
Not with energy.
But with silence.
Forgotten Shore - Midnight Expedition
Lira led the team: Helios, the Memoryborn, Maelis, and Renn.
As they approached, the land shifted strangely. Footprints vanished as soon as they were made. Conversations faded moments after spoken.
The Memoryborn struggled.
"I feel… unraveled here."
Helios placed a hand on its shoulder. "Then anchor to us."
Lira pulled the Ember Codex from her pack. Its pages turned wildly on their own.
Then froze.
They had arrived.
A clearing. Empty. Lifeless. But at its center stood him.
The Nameless.
The Nameless - Wordless Confrontation
He had no mouth, yet they heard him.
Not as words.
As absence.
"I did not forget," Lira said firmly. "We never knew you."
The Nameless tilted its head. Reality bent slightly.
Helios stepped forward. "You are not what was forgotten. You are what we chose not to know."
The Nameless pulsed with darkness. Then images filled their minds—cities devoured by apathy, entire cultures erased by neglect.
"I feed on the discarded," it whispered. "You shine lights in the dark. I am the shadow behind it."
The Memoryborn stepped in front of Lira.
"You are not shadow. You are a wound."
It opened its chest.
The Codex glowed inside.
The Nameless hissed.
And lunged.