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simply settles upon the surface of things, surrounding them,
sealing them off. Thus, light offers only superficial insights,
the outside of things. Or, put another way, light is only skin
deep. By contrast, darkness is the absence of the apparent,
it is the inner quality of things, the deepest truth. It is what’s
left after all obstacles to understanding are removed, what
lies behind or under the light. From this, I realized, there
was but one place to go for the answers I sought.
The door was hardly visible beneath the heaping
desolation of the unclean alley, and seemed unlikely to lead
to anything but the lowliest accommodations. Once beyond
the door, I encountered a species of darkness I had come to
expect from the forgotten corners of the metropolis, having
some portion of its construction owing to an elder blackness
that could, should it choose, stand firmly against even the
brightest light. However, these shadows were not to be
trusted, as they answered only to the lords of Nighthead.
The tunnel beyond the door was winding, remarking
upon the basest kind of usage, sporting litter and dampness
as a chameleon puts on the colors of its surroundings,
tempting one to put aside curiosity and accept illusion.
Only after I’d traveled further than any casual observer, did
the passageway offer hints to its ultimate destination, and
to those who might walk its lengths. Granted, normal eyes
would never have seen past the alien dark—even with the
assistance of artificial light, trespassers would only confront
darkling illusion, tricking all but the most through inquiries.
But I spoke some portion of the shadow’s lexicon, and so
was admitted a sliver of insight.
There were batteries filled with darkness at every turn—
objects that had set for miniature eternities beyond even
the weakest touch of light, filling with a pitch that defied
the stars. Everything here had been infused with the oldest
shades. The stone of the floor had been inlaid with grave-
dust. Alien bones that had lain under the earth longer than
mankind had walked upon it scattered the floor. The walls
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