Once upon a time, in a village where children's laughter echoed through cobblestone streets, there lived a merchant who dealt not in cloth or grain, but in shadows.
Every solstice, when the veil between worlds grew thin, he would appear at the crossroads with his cart of dark mirrors.
The Shadow Merchant sought out the wounded—children who had known cruelty, adults who had lost their way. To them, he offered a bargain: "Give me your pain," he would whisper, "and I will give you power over others."
But those who accepted found themselves hollow, able only to create more wounds in others. The merchant's true trick was not taking their pain, but their capacity for joy, leaving them forever hungry to feast on innocence.
The tale warns: "Beware those who promise to heal your wounds by teaching you to wound others. True healing comes not from spreading darkness, but from choosing to kindle light despite the shadows within."