The summoning came with no warning.
One moment, Selene sat beneath the war map with Rowan, reviewing routes through the ravaged north woods.
The next, the sky split in a silent flash of white—and every spirit-bound in the camp dropped to their knees.
Agnes stood in the middle of the chaos, her staff glowing from within. “They’ve called for her.”
Vera narrowed her eyes. “Who?”
Agnes looked at Selene. “The ancestral council. T
The veil did not tear like paper.It peeled like skin.As the pendant exploded above the ancient grove, a slash of silver and shadow ripped across the sky, casting the stars into a spiraling black void. The world paused. Breathless. A shuddering silence spread out from the tear like the calm between lightning and thunder.Then the howl came.It wasn’t a sound. Not really.It was everything that had ever been forgotten screaming at once.
The stars didn’t fall that night.They shattered.One by one, brilliant specks of light flared white, then blinked out completely. No flame. No impact. Just… silence. As if some invisible hand were plucking the sky clean.Selene stood outside the camp's perimeter, staring upward.They had begun calling her the Keeper now—whispered first like a reverent rumor, then like a fact too heavy to deny. She hated how it felt. Not because it wasn’t true.
The summoning came with no warning.One moment, Selene sat beneath the war map with Rowan, reviewing routes through the ravaged north woods.The next, the sky split in a silent flash of white—and every spirit-bound in the camp dropped to their knees.Agnes stood in the middle of the chaos, her staff glowing from within. “They’ve called for her.”Vera narrowed her eyes. “Who?”Agnes looked at Selene. “The ancestral council. T
The first star fell at dawn.It wasn’t a meteor. It wasn't a fire.It was a crack in the sky, a seam splitting open as if the heavens themselves had grown too tired to stay stitched together. Light poured through it—not warm, not golden. Cold. Silver. Piercing.Selene stood beneath it, silent.Agnes joined her on the ridge, staff braced in the dirt. “It’s starting.”“I know,” Selene said. Her voice was calm, but the ache ben
The blade sank into Selene’s palm with the weight of choice.It wasn’t pain that stunned her—it was memory. The instant her blood touched the seal, the stone pulsed violently, and the world around her fractured.Not into darkness.Into moments.She stood in a dozen places at once. Her mother’s arms. The Ceremony night. Rowan’s first smile. Caden’s betrayal. The grove alight with spirit fire. Marina weeping behind her cruel smirk. The Faded One’s empty gaze.
The map burned softly in Selene’s hand.It wasn’t real fire. It wasn't consumed. But the scroll glowed with an internal heat, each line etched not in ink but in spirit-light. The paths were shifting beneath her gaze—not drawn to scale, but woven through layers of time.They weren’t following landmarks.They were following memories.She sat at the edge of the campsite with Rowan beside her, both of them crouched over the scroll. Around them, the forest was quiet, holding its breath.