Crypt Shade

THE TALLY-CRYPT

In the Tally-Crypt, where Ossuarch the Filed-Away shelved thirty years of unread names, the shadows learned bookkeeping. Crypt Shades are the smudges left when a name is filed and never spoken again — thin, patient dark that circles the stacks like a clerk's hand hovering over a ledger. They make no sound but a dry rustling, as of pages being turned by no one.