The laughter of children echoed through the dusty stone halls like wind chimes strung in a storm. Derrilium paused just outside the cracked wooden doorway, one gloved hand pressed lightly to the wall, listening.
Inside, the children of the orphanage were gathered around an old board game, laughter ringing out like little bells, sharp and sudden. Their laughter didn't belong in a place like the Underground—least of all in this district, tucked between collapsed tunnels and dead-end caverns.
And yet it lived. That was the first lie this place told you.
Derrilium stepped inside, boots soft against the ancient floor. No one noticed him at first—not even the girl.
