He has found it...
Wandering over the whispering sands, he has found it...
The markings in the stone are barely visible, and there is no other indication...
No other indication that this stone is any more or less than any other...
Just another stone among the thousands that lie in and upon the shifting desert sands...
Thousands upon thousands...
Each at a moment, at a breath of the wind, rising from the sea of sand, or being washed below its turbulent surface...
Rising and falling, rising and falling across the centuries...
A thousand generations of men and monsters and daimons and elves and the old dark ones might pass without a soul to see...
Without a soul to see this stone, this stone like any other...
Like any other but for the markings...
The markings are as faint as the stars as the dawn grows..
Grows and spreads its proud light across the sky, eclipsing all other lights...
This stone is not meant for the light, it is not meant for the sun and stars...
It is meant to call upon darkness, a darkness to blot out all light...
Blot out all light forever, the light of life...
Life, life, yes, Caladar will live...
Many others may not be so lucky...
It is a price Caladar must pay, willing or no...
He draws the blade across his hand, and his blood drips forth...
His blood drips forth red and hot against the cool tawny stone...
And the way is revealed...
