The Forest Of Vanishing Stars: A Novel Novels & Stories

"The Luna's room is empty, and all her personal belongings have disappeared. Not only that, but the jewelry in her safe, her important documents, even the family heirloom her mother left her...It's all gone!" "And the strangest thing is, all traces of the Luna's scent in the manor have vanished, as if erased by some kind of magic!" "We've searched the entire manor and found no trace of her. It's like... it's like she was never here." A wild terror, as potent as wolfsbane, shot through Adrian's veins. Now he finally understood. The sharp pain in his chest wasn't a coincidence. It was the heart-wrenching agony of a mate bond being severed.

Caelum looked outside. “The Black Star doesn’t care.” “I’m beginning to dislike the Black Star.” “Beginning?” “Fair point.” Within an hour, we were moving. Ardan came with us. Eira too. Astraea rode on Kazan’s shoulders again, wrapped in a cloak that nearly swallowed her. Caelum led us north. The ancient forest changed as we traveled. Silver trees became black. Flowers disappeared. The air grew heavier. Eventually even the strange animals stopped appearing. Astraea noticed.

The grass beneath her feet didn’t crush, it wilted, burned faintly at the edges, like it was aging too fast. “I remember what you wrote,” Ashen said. “You made me out of stars and soot. You made me to carry endings.” Liora’s throat tightened. “You were supposed to find people who were forgotten. You were supposed to help them.” Ashen’s eyes turned completely black. “But I was never allowed to live. You locked me in a story without a final page.” The words hung between them, Behind Liora, the forest whispered, Not wind, Voices, Low, Curious, Awakened. She turned slowly and saw them, Figures emerging from the shadows of trees, Dozens of them. Some half-formed, Others far too real.

At noon, I returned to my workstation, ready to move everything out. Liam was the one who'd given me the asteroid ornament on my desk. He'd even sworn sincerely that I was his entire world back then. I smiled self-deprecatingly as I looked at the ornament. In the end, I still took it with me. Just as I was about to leave with the box of my belongings in my arms, Vivi suddenly walked into the office, looking anxious. "I'm sorry, everyone. I seem to have lost the necklace I was wearing today. Could I please ask all of you to cooperate for a routine inspection?" she asked.

Her smiled faltered, “But they advised us to stay away from there.” “You’re safe with me, I promise,” I grinned, walking out to the forest. I summoned a gun with silver bullets, had to try a few different attempts before I managed to get it. I hide it behind a tree and waited. Fifteen minutes later, Stella emerged into the clearing. Before she even got to me she was already pulling her clothes off. Fuck this was going to be good. Why couldn’t Evelyn do this?

“The third mate will come when the moon bleeds.” And with those words…She vanished. Not by running. Not by walking away. She simply dissolved into the shadows like smoke being swallowed by the night. The forest remained silent for a long moment. Lena stood frozen, her eyes wide, her body stiff. I could hear her breathing—fast, uneven.

I make a quick trip deeper into the woods and work out the kinks in my legs. When I come back, I steal a sip of Nia’s whiskey to warm my chest. She stirs in silence. I set the glass on the frosted ground and shove my hands up my jacket sleeves to warm my fingers. It’s a new moon, and the smattering of late November stars fade as we get closer to sunrise. Beyond the fire, black walnut trees loom high overhead, punctuating the stillness of the night with a jarring thump each time the wind knocks an overripe nut free from its moorings.

The forest was alive with the sound of the wind, its icy fingers threading through the skeletal branches and carrying whispers of secrets long buried. Vivi moved through the darkness with deliberate steps, her breath visible in the cold air as she clutched her coat tighter around her body. Her heart pounded in her chest, a drumbeat of both fear and resolve. The faint glow of the Starfire within her pulsed with every step, a constant reminder of the power she carried—and the danger it attracted.

No single person looked at us. “Can you just tell me where we are going so that I could decide whether I should go with you?” I told him as he let go of me. “You’ll know when we get there. I don’t want to spoil you.” BEFFORE I know it, we’re already in a secluded place and unfamiliar to me. I saw no single light from the outside. There were only thick and tall trees hiding behind the darkness. The car entered the unpaved one way road making the dried leaves flew. I sat lazily, turning my head at Gavin, who was busy maneuvering the car.

It was night in the winter forest, there was only silence. It felt as though all living things had receded to their slumber; a deep slumber. The dark sky stretched out above the white forest, billions of stars lustre in the sky next to the dazzling moon. Despite the coldness of the land below, they showed off their beauty brilliantly. Like a luxurious and fine black fabric engraved with shimmering diamonds and sparkle dust.