(Solomon’s POV)
Some transformations begin with power.
Others begin with suffering.
This one began with both.
The First Evolution
The shadow stood motionless.
Yet everything in the cavern changed around it.
The air grew heavier.
The darkness itself seemed to pull inward, drawn toward the fragment Mirabel had stabilized.
I stepped forward instinctively.
Positioning myself between her and whatever was happening.
The fragment didn't attack.
Didn't lunge.
Didn't even move.
It simply... existed.
More clearly than before.
Its form sharpened.
Edges becoming defined.
Features beginning to emerge beneath the shifting darkness.
And for the first time—
I saw a face.
Not completely.
Not perfectly.
But enough.
Enough to realize what Mirabel had feared.
What these things truly w
