Lyra did not know how long she lay hidden among the rocks. Time fractured after the eclipse. Seconds stretched thin, then snapped. Her breath came shallow at first, each inhale scraping against her ribs, until the rhythm steadied and the world returned in fragments,cold stone beneath her palms, the sharp scent of dust and iron, the sky above still bruised red at the edges. The Starfire burned quietly now. Not calm focused. It no longer surged without purpose. It listened. She pushed herself upright, every muscle trembling. The ravine lay silent behind her. No pursuit. No shouts. Whatever Kael had done, it had bought her distance,perhaps more. Perhaps not enough. Lyra moved east, away from the city lights and toward broken ground where scrub and stone made poor footing for trackers. The land sloped downward into a shallow basin scattered with half-buried ruins,old foundations swallowed by earth and time. She took shelter behind a collapsed wall, pressing her back against the stone as she forced her breathing slow. Only then did the weight of what had happened settle fully.
Kael.
She shut her eyes. The memory of him standing between her and the hunters burned sharp and unwanted. He had known what the outcome might be. He had chosen it anyway. "Idiot," she whispered, though the word carried no heat. The Starfire stirred, answering her grief with a low thrum. Images flickered at the edge of her mind,not visions, not quite. Sensations. Pressure. Distance collapsing into awareness. She opened her eyes. The world looked different. Not brighter,deeper. Lines of faint light traced the ground beneath her feet, threading through stone and soil like veins. The ruins around her glimmered faintly, their edges more defined, as though remembering what they had once been.
Lyra sucked in a breath. "What are you doing?"
The power did not answer in words. It never had. But it pressed outward, urging, insisting.
Move.
She stood slowly, testing her balance. The sensation did not fade. If anything, it sharpened, pulling her attention toward the heart of the basin. Something was there. She followed the pull through scattered debris until she reached a circular depression in the ground. At its center stood a broken pillar, cracked clean through near the base. Old runes spiraled around it, faint but unmistakable.
Pre-Fall.
Lyra approached cautiously. The air felt heavier here, charged with the same restrained tension she had felt in the tunnels beneath Caelond,but older. Deeper. Her hand hovered inches from the stone. The moment she touched it, the world lurched. Heat surged up her arm, not painful but overwhelming, flooding her senses. The ground beneath her feet seemed to drop away as images slammed into her mind. A sky unbroken by shadow. Two moons whole and bright. Figures standing in a circle, their bodies wreathed in starlight. Voices overlapping, not in fear but resolve. We will not be ruled by what fears us. Lyra gasped and staggered back, breaking contact. The vision shattered, leaving her breathless and shaking.
She stared at her hand, light bleeding through her fingers.
"That wasn't memory," she whispered. "That was… stored."
The pillar hummed faintly, as if in agreement. Footsteps crunched against stone behind her. Lyra spun, instinct flaring. The Starfire leapt to the surface, light blazing bright enough to throw shadows across the basin. A figure stood at the edge of the ruins, hands raised,not in surrender, but caution.
"Easy," the woman said. "If I meant harm, you'd already feel it."
Lyra did not lower her guard. "Who are you?"
The woman stepped forward into clearer view. She was older than Lyra, perhaps late twenties, with dark skin marked by faint sigils along her forearms. Her hair was braided tight, woven with thin strands of metal that caught the red-tinged moonlight.
"My name is Seris," she said. And I've been looking for you. Lyra's pulse spiked. "I don't know you. No," Seris agreed. "But I know what you are. The words landed like a challenge. You're not Council, Lyra said. It was not a question. Seris smiled thinly. "If I were, you'd already be bound. Lyra hesitated. How did you find me? I followed the eclipse," Seris replied. "Same as everyone else who still remembers what it means. She glanced at the pillar. "You felt it, didn't you? Lyra did not answer. Seris exhaled slowly. "That's confirmation enough. Silence stretched between them, taut with unspoken calculations.
Finally, Lyra spoke. "If you're not here to drag me back, then say what you want. Seris's gaze sharpened. "I want you alive. And trained. Preferably before you tear the sky open by accident. Lyra laughed once, short and humorless. "You sound like him.
"Kael," Seris said softly. The name struck like a blow. "You know him. I knew him, Seris corrected. And I know what he would have done if he were standing here now. Lyra swallowed. Which is? Tell you to stop running.
The ground trembled,subtle, but unmistakable. Lyra felt it through the soles of her boots, a vibration that made the Starfire pulse in response. Seris's expression tightened. They're closer than I thought.
"Hunters?"
"Yes. And something worse. Lyra's jaw clenched. "I'm not going back. You're not," Seris said. "But you can't stay here either. She turned and gestured toward the far edge of the basin, where a narrow ravine cut into the earth. "There's a passage beyond the old lands. Not on any map the Council uses."
Lyra hesitated only a moment before following.
They moved quickly, the ground sloping downward until the ruins vanished behind them. The passage narrowed, then widened again, opening onto a valley hidden from the main roads. Low stone structures dotted the landscap weathered, repaired, lived in.
A settlement.
Torches flared as they approached, figures emerging from the shadows. They did not raise weapons. They watched Lyra with expressions ranging from wary to openly curious. Welcome to the Grey Reach, Seris said. What's left of it.
Lyra scanned the faces, the markings, the faint hum of restrained power she could now sense beneath the surface of ordinary flesh. These people, she said slowly, "they're like me. Some, Seris replied. Others are simply stubborn enough to shelter them. A tall man stepped forward, his eyes pale and unsettlingly calm. "The sky answered tonight," he said. "The Starborn walks again. Lyra stiffened. "I'm not. Seris placed a hand on her shoulder. You don't have to claim the title yet. The man inclined his head. "Titles matter less than consequences. Another tremor rippled through the valley, stronger this time. Somewhere far away, a deep sound rolled across the land,too low to be thunder. Seris's hand tightened on Lyra's shoulder. That's why we needed you before this. Lyra looked back toward the distant horizon, where the eclipse still stained the sky.
"For what?" she asked quietly.
Seris met her gaze. "Because something ancient has been waiting for the Starborn to return.
The ground shuddered again.
And this time, the sound carried intent.