"We have to leave now" Astrael-Null said as its figure materialised and it appeared in the corner of the room.
"What??" Nyra questioned
"We just fought off the High Astromancer and got her to acknowledge our existence and you want us to leave?"
Astrael-Null turned to look at her. His face showing trace of annoyance, like he didn't want to explain further.
"Yes," it said flatly. "Leave."
Nyra stared at it as it had just suggested they walk into the void between stars for a stroll.
"You're joking."
"I do not joke," Astrael-Null replied. "I make observations. Occasionally threats. This is a directive."
Finn crossed his arms. "You just helped us survive a forced extraction by the most powerful Astromancer in the Synod. You shattered a binding circle that hasn't failed in centuries. And now you're saying we should… walk away?"
Astrael-Null's hollow eyes flicked to him. "You survived because they underestimated you. You will die because they won't make that mistake twice."
Nyra opened her mouth to argue, then stopped.
Something in its tone had shifted. The usual sharp sarcasm was still there, but beneath it was tight and focused. Almost… urgent.
"You said I wasn't a full Starkeeper," she said slowly. "What does that mean?"
"It means," Astrael-Null replied, "that if you stay, they will kill you in the name of tradition. And if they can't kill you, they will hollow you out and call it salvation."
The chamber around them still bore the scars of the confrontation. Scorched runes marred the floor where the binding circle had collapsed. Cracks crawled up the walls like veins. The air tasted metallic, heavy with spent magic.
Outside the door, Nyra could hear movement. Too much movement.
Boots. Voices. Orders are being barked in clipped, controlled tones.
The temple was reorganising.
"They're regrouping," Finn said quietly.
"Yes," Astrael-Null agreed. "And learning. That is inconvenient."
Nyra rubbed her temples. Her head still ached, a deep, dull pressure that pulsed in time with the Crown's presence inside her. She could feel it now, and it was not just as a voice, but as a weight. As awareness.
"You said trial phase," she said. "How long does that last?"
Astrael-Null tilted its head. "Ideally? It should be years. Realistically? You do not have that luxury."
Finn frowned. "What happens if it doesn't finish?"
"Oh, delightful things," Astrael-Null replied. "Cognitive dissonance. Power bleed. Occasional loss of bodily autonomy. In extreme cases, spontaneous constellation manifestation."
Nyra blinked. "Spontaneous what?"
"Stars," it clarified. "Through your skin."
Finn grimaced. "That sounds… bad."
"It is aesthetically impressive," Astrael-Null said. "Functionally disastrous."
Nyra exhaled sharply. "So what-you want us to run until I'm… ready?"
"Yes."
"And him?" She gestured to Finn. "What about the Starbearer who's apparently 'catastrophic'?"
Astrael-Null's gaze sharpened.
"He is the problem," it said. "And the solution."
Finn stiffened. "Careful."
"Oh, relax," Astrael-Null replied. "If I intended to kill you, you'd already be ash and dust."
Comforting.
"The temple crowned Caelen because they could control him," Astrael-Null continued. "A malleable king is preferable to a rightful one. You," it nodded at Finn, "are inconveniently resistant to prophecy."
"And Nyra?" Finn asked.
"It's worse," Astrael-Null said. "A Starkeeper outside the temple's leash is an existential threat to their entire hierarchy."
Nyra felt that settle heavily in her chest. It was all beginning to seem real.
"So they'll hunt us," she said.
"Yes."
"Relentlessly?"
"Oh, absolutely."
Finn let out a humourless laugh. "Figures."
The lights along the walls flickered.
Astrael-Null's posture shifted. Less casual. More alert.
"They're sealing the inner corridors," it said. "If you do not leave now, you will be trapped in approximately three minutes."
Nyra looked toward the door. Toward the place she had grown up in the shadows of. The halls she had memorised. The stars she had charted from the rooftops.
Running meant abandoning everything she'd known.
Staying meant becoming a specimen.
"Fine," she said. "How?"
Astrael-Null smiled.
"That," it said, "is the enjoyable part."
The floor beneath their feet shimmered.
Nyra stumbled as space seemed to bend, the room stretching and folding like fabric caught in a strong wind. Runes flared briefly along the edges of the chamber. It almost felt like it was older than the temple itself.
Finn grabbed her arm. "Please tell me you know what it's doing."
"I have a theory," Nyra said tightly.
"That's not reassuring."
Astrael-Null raised a hand. "Remain calm. I am borrowing infrastructure."
"Borrowing what?"
The wall to their left… peeled back.
It didn't shatter or get destroyed.
It simply ceased to agree with reality.
Beyond it lay a narrow passage, sloping downward, lit by a faint blue glow that pulsed like a heartbeat.
Nyra's breath caught. "That's not on any map."
"No," Astrael-Null said. "The temple forgot it existed. On purpose."
Alarms began to ring.
Not bells this time, just low, discordant tones that vibrated through bone and stone alike.
"Move," Astrael-Null ordered.
They didn't hesitate.
The moment they crossed the threshold, the passage sealed behind them, stone knitting itself back together as if it had never been touched.
The air in the tunnel was colder. Older.
"This place…" Nyra whispered. "It feels–"
"Unfinished," Astrael-Null supplied. "It predates the Synod. Built when Starkeepers were allowed to plan for failure."
Finn glanced back. "They're going to notice we're gone."
"Oh, they already have," Astrael-Null said. "The Astromancer is currently very displeased."
As if on cue, a shockwave rippled through the tunnel. Dust rained from above.
Nyra stumbled, heart pounding. "She's trying to breach it."
"She will fail," Astrael-Null said calmly. "Once."
They ran.
The passage twisted and narrowed, spiralling downward as they moved through the tunnel. Symbols glowed faintly along the walls with constellations Nyra recognised, and others she didn't.
After what felt like hours of moving nonstop, the tunnel opened into a vast cavern.
The ceiling arched high above them, studded with crystals that mirrored the night sky. A hidden river rushed below, black and fast.
A single bridge spanned the gap.
Finn slowed. "Please tell me that bridge is stable."
"It is," Astrael-Null said. "Mostly."
"Mostly?"
Nyra didn't wait. She stepped onto the bridge, the stone cold beneath her bare feet. Finn followed close behind.
Halfway across, the cavern shook.
A roar echoed behind them. It did not sound human.
Astrael-Null's voice sharpened in Nyra's head. "Run."
They ran.
The far side loomed closer..
...and then the bridge collapsed from behind.
Nyra screamed as she pitched forward, fingers scrabbling for purchase.
Finn caught her wrist. He had fallen first and was able to grab on to a edge on the side.
The impact nearly wrenched his shoulder from its socket, but he held on, muscles burning, teeth clenched.
"Nyra!" he shouted.
"Hold on!" she gasped back holdingontohim for dear life. If he dropped her, she would fall into the water below which houses God knows what.
Astrael-Null surged within her.
"Permission to intervene," it said.
"Yes!" she shouted.
The world slowed.
Stars flared beneath Nyra's skin, white-hot and searing. The Crown's power surged but it was not controlled, not elegant, but enough.
Enough.
The air solidified beneath them, just long enough for Finn to gain balance and haul her onto solid ground and then crawl up behind her.
They both collapsed on the ground, gasping.
Behind them, the cavern fell silent.
The tunnels had sealed themselves somehow and the passage they came through could no longer be seen.
The temple was gone.
Above them, far away, the night sky stretched wide and unfamiliar.
For the first time since the stars vanished, Nyra saw one.
Just one.
Faint, flickering but real.
Astrael-Null's voice softened, just slightly.
"Congratulations," it said. "You are officially fugitives."
Nyra laughed, breathless and shaking.
Finn stared at the sky.
"…What now?"
Nyra looked at the star.
Then forward, into the dark beyond the mountain.
"Now," she said, "we make sure the last few months of our lives don't go to waste. We learned so much and we're just trying to do the right thing."
Inside her, the Hollow Crown smiled.