The laboratory stood in the heart of London.

Outside—

gas lamps.

Churches.

Universities.

Parliament.

The capital of the greatest Empire on Earth.

Inside—

something repeatedly struck a locked door.

—

STACY:
“They wanted to find the difference.”

CAELWYN:
“Between?”

STACY:
“The civilized man…”

“…and the savage.”

Caelwyn looked at the colourless serum on the table.

CAELWYN:
“And did they?”

STACY:
“They tested it overseas first.”

“They expected violence.”

“Animal behaviour.”

“Primitive instincts.”

CAELWYN:
“And?”

STACY:
“Almost nothing.”

Another impact shook the door.

STACY:
“Then Professor Harrington tested it on himself.”

Caelwyn looked toward the locked room.

CAELWYN:
“And suddenly it worked.”

Stacy shook her head.

STACY:
“No.”

“That’s what they thought.”

She opened Harrington’s journal.

STACY:
“The serum doesn’t create aggression.”

“It removes inhibition.”

“Shame.”

“Fear of punishment.”

“Social restraint.”

Caelwyn looked toward the imperial map covering the wall.

CAELWYN:
“So it didn’t make him primitive.”

STACY:
“No.”

A calm voice came from behind the door.

Perfect English.

Perfect manners.

HARRINGTON:
“Dr. Mythveil?”

A pause.

HARRINGTON:
“Would you kindly come in?”

Stacy stared at the door.

STACY:
“Jekyll thought Hyde was another man.”

CAELWYN:
“He wasn’t.”

STACY:
“Neither is Harrington.”

She looked through the observation glass.

Professor Harrington stood on the other side.

Hair combed.

Waistcoat buttoned.

Smiling politely.

STACY:
“The serum didn’t put anything inside him.”

CAELWYN:
“Then what did it do?”

Stacy looked toward London beyond the rain-covered windows.

STACY:
“It stopped him pretending…”

“…that the savage lived somewhere else.”

Silence.

Caelwyn watched the flame of a gas lamp tremble.

CAELWYN:
“And the Inner Fire?”

STACY:
“We made the same mistake.”

CAELWYN:
“How?”

STACY:
“We assumed fire meant warmth.”

She watched the flame.

STACY:
“But fire doesn’t know the difference…”

“…between a hearth…”

“…and a house.”

## THE INNER FIRE — THE SAVAGE WITHIN

The Empire crossed oceans searching for savages.

Perhaps its greatest mistake…

was never looking in the mirror.

## CTA

Civilization is more than manners, monuments and machines.

In Mythveil Chronicles, history becomes something you can question, disturb—and change.

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