The shadow's authority over his kingdom was absolute. There was nothing within its dark boundary that did not belong to him, so naturally, there was no one who drew breath. His land was a land of death, with only the shades under his control simulating the acts of the living.
And yet, he could not shake off the suspicion that something was hiding within the darkness, obscured even from his senses.
He could not sense any movement that could not be explained, and he could not hear any sounds that could not be traced to a predictable source. And yet, at times, he felt a faint, alien presence.
A presence that should not have existed in his dead kingdom — the presence of someone who was still alive.
'How can this be?'
