Night hung heavy over the old tavern as Gamlas, exhausted from his journey to the Graypeak Mountain, finally surrendered to sleep. The legendary talisman he had wrested from the mountain’s hidden cave rested in his pack beside the bed—its faint glow still pulsing with the promise of Euborea’s renewal. But in the silence between heartbeats, the door creaked open. The stranger, cloaked in shadow and dust, slipped into the room with the practiced steps of someone long acquainted with theft—and darker deeds. His eyes glimmered as they fell upon Gamlas’ belongings. Within moments, his hands closed around the pack, the talisman’s soft radiance spilling through his fingers. Without a sound, he vanished back into the corridor, leaving only the dying candlelight and the quiet breathing of an unknowing hero behind. By dawn, Gamlas would wake to find not only his possessions gone, but with them the fragile hope of all Euborea.
