by SEDNAS HARRIANS
Elias Ward grew up with a clean explanation for his father’s death. Accident. Closed file. Move on. For sixteen years, that was enough. Until sealed reports begin circulating again. Until unfamiliar names start asking about his bloodline. Until a stone that should have remained dormant reacts to his touch. There is something operating beneath the surface of the world. Not a government. Not a myth. A network that responds when certain events occur — quietly, efficiently, without witnesses. Every incident leaves something behind. And somehow, one of them answered Elias. It shouldn’t have. Because the last person it obeyed was declared dead. If his father’s death wasn’t what it seemed, then what exactly has Elias just inherited?
