The stars did not disappear all at once.
That was the lie everyone believed.
Liora knew better.
Because she had watched them fade.
One by one.
Night after night.
Like dying embers in a fire no one noticed was going out.
The observatory stood abandoned at the edge of Eryndor, its white stone walls cracked and weathered by time. Once, it had been the heart of the kingdom's knowledge—the place where scholars read the sky like scripture.
Now, it was a ruin.
And Liora was the only one who still came.
"You shouldn't be here."
The words echoed in her memory as she pushed open the heavy wooden door. That's what the elders always said. That's what everyone said.
But they didn't understand.
They hadn't stood beneath a sky that used to speak.
Inside, dust floated through the air like frozen time. The great telescope lay broken, its lens shattered years ago on the night the stars vanished completely.
The night her mother disappeared.
Liora stepped forward slowly, her boots echoing against the stone floor.
"I know you left something," she whispered.
She didn't know why she believed it.
Only that she had to.
Hours passed.
Or maybe minutes.
Time felt strange in the observatory—like it didn't move the same way anymore.
Liora searched everything: shelves, drawers, cracked stone panels. Nothing.
Just as frustration began to settle in—
She noticed the floor.
A faint line.
Not carved.
Hidden.
Her breath caught.
She knelt and brushed away the dust.
A symbol emerged.
A constellation.
Her hands trembled.
"No one remembers these anymore…"
Except her.
Except—someone else had.
She pressed her palm against it.
Click.
The floor shifted.
A hidden compartment opened.
Inside—
A single piece of parchment.
The moment she touched it—
It woke up.
Light spread across its surface like liquid gold, forming patterns that moved, shifted, breathed.
Liora staggered back.
"That's not…"
Possible.
But it was happening.
The map wasn't showing what the sky looked like.
It was showing what it should look like.
And then—
A single star pulsed.
Liora stared at it, heart racing.
Without thinking, she reached out and touched the glowing point.
The sky answered.
Outside, above the ruined observatory—
A star appeared.
For the first time in twelve years.
Liora stumbled back, gasping.
"No… no, that's not real…"
But it was.
It had to be.
Because the map was still glowing.
Still alive.
Still waiting.
Behind her, the door creaked open.
"You finally found it."
Liora froze.
That voice—
She turned slowly.
A figure stood in the doorway, cloaked in shadow.
Not Cael.
Not anyone she knew.
"You're late," the stranger said softly.
Her grip tightened on the map. "Who are you?"
The figure stepped forward, just enough for the dim light to reveal their face.
And Liora's blood ran cold.
Because she recognized it.
Not from memory.
From stories.
From whispers.
From something buried deep in fear.
"The stars were never lost," the stranger said.
"They were taken."
A pause.
Then—
"And now," they smiled faintly, "they know you're looking for them."
The star above flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then dimmed.
And far beyond the sky—
Something ancient opened its eyes.