In a village nestled in a shadowy valley, a boy named Kael watched the days grow shorter and the nights longer. A creeping gloom, thick and silent, settled over the hearts of the people. Lanterns that once dotted the streets like fallen stars remained unlit, their light seeming feeble against the pervasive dark. Desperate, Kael climbed the winding path to the summit where a solitary sage was said to dwell.He found the old man sitting not in a brightly lit hut, but on a simple mat under the vast, starry sky. The sage’s dwelling had no lanterns, no candles, and