THE CODEX
EPISODE 16 — The Shadow Dancing Beneath the Bridge
Léandre gathered his strength.
"Then I will choose my words."
He took a deep breath.
Then, with new determination, he placed his hand on the Codex.
The pages lit up with a golden glow.
And the silent wind sang, for the first time, a hymn to freedom.
---
On the other side of the world, in Marseille, a city where the sound of waves mingled with the murmur of dark alleys, Clarisse Manora worked late in her office on the third floor of a dilapidated building in the Noailles district.
The pale fluorescent lights cast distorted shadows on walls covered with faded posters. Piled up boxes and dusty archives bore witness to a life spent correcting the mistakes of others.
It was almost 10:45 PM.
Suddenly, the atmosphere changed. An unearthly coldness invaded the room. The lights flickered. Without warning, Clarisse felt her mind open to a foreign presence, a breath from a forgotten cemetery on the outskirts of town.
An invisible force insinuated itself into her body, controlling her every move. Her fingers wrote on their own, tracing ancient symbols on a half-burned notebook. Her face froze, her eyes glazed over, lost in another world.
The city seemed to twist around her, the familiar streets transformed into a labyrinth of shifting shadows and menacing silhouettes.
She walked, guided by this evil entity, until she reached a bridge under which outlaws and lost souls gathered, a place where the light had long since deserted.
It was 11:00 PM.
Under the bridge, a sinister form awaited her. The spirit of the cemetery, an ancient shadow seeking to dance its last dance in the flesh of a living being.
Clarisse closed her eyes, her last breath merging with the cold night wind.
Then, silence swallowed everything.