The rain fell steadily over the small town of Eldergrove, mist curling through the narrow streets like ghostly fingers. Inside an aging two-story house at the edge of town, Magnus stood in the attic, surrounded by dust and silence. His mother, who had passed away a month ago, had left the house and all its secrets to him.
The attic smelled of old wood and memories. As Magnus shifted old trunks and broken chairs, he found a heavy chest tucked deep into a corner. It was carved with strange symbols he didn't recognize, but they seemed oddly... familiar. His fingers brushed the surface, and the chest clicked open by itself.
Inside was a leather-bound book, aged and almost falling apart. On the first page, it read:
The Ledger of the Watchers: Guardians of the Balance.
At first, Magnus laughed. Some fairytale nonsense,he thought. But as he flipped through, he saw sketches of monstrous creatures — half-human, half-beast — and ancient notes describing how to spot and defeat them. There were names, too. Names of families — and at the bottom of the list:
The Blood of magnus
A chill ran down his spine.
Suddenly, the room grew colder. Magnus turned and, through the cracked attic window, saw a shadow dart across his backyard — impossibly fast. His heart pounded.
Curious and slightly scared, he grabbed the book and hurried downstairs. Outside, the rain soaked him instantly, but he barely noticed. Following the trail, he found a dead fox on his porch — its body strangely torn, not by an animal, but by something... else.
He remembered one of the pages in the book — creatures that could wear the skin of beasts and humans alike.
"Shape-shifters,"the book had said.
They live among you.
Later that night, unable to sleep, Magnus read more. His mind raced — had his mother known about all this? Was she one of these "Watchers"? Why had she never told him?
Before dawn, there was a knock at the door. It was his childhood friend, Selar, soaked and breathing hard.
Selar: "Magnus... Something is happening in Eldergrove. People are disappearing. You need to be ready.
And just like that, Magnus's quiet life was gone. A hidden world had awakened — and he was at the center of it.