chapter 14
When Stars Collide
Snow fell like whispers.
Each flake melted the moment it touched Astrael's skin.
The cold feared him now.
But he didn't know why.
He walked through the abandoned forest village of Athismere,
drawn by something… someone…
he couldn't name, but had always felt.
And far away—
Lyra felt it too.
---
> "He's here."
She stopped suddenly, her breath catching.
Malrik turned.
> "What?"
> "Athismere. We have to go. Now."
> "That place is cursed."
> "So is he."
---
They rode hard through frozen woods,
snow flying like shattered stars behind them.
And as night fell—
the Second Moon emerged from behind thick clouds.
Full.
Bright.
Burning blue.
The closer they came to Athismere,
the louder Lyra's heart pounded.
> "He's not just powerful," she whispered.
"He's broken."
---
They found him at the edge of the ruins.
Standing in the center of a ring of frost-covered stones.
A boy in a torn cloak, barefoot, arms outstretched to the sky.
The snow didn't touch him.
And the moment Lyra stepped into the clearing—
he turned.
Eyes like moons.
Glowing.
Empty.
Familiar.
---
Astrael's voice was soft. Almost dreamlike.
> "You came."
Lyra stopped.
> "Do you know me?"
He tilted his head, like a curious wolf.
> "No.
But my soul did."
---
Calem drew his blade slightly.
> "Lyra—"
> "Don't," she warned.
She stepped closer, one hand extended, the other near her dagger.
> "You're Astrael."
> "They call me that," he said, eyes narrowing.
"But I don't know who I was. Or what I am."
Lyra studied him — the way his breath didn't fog,
the way the earth curved slightly toward him,
like gravity bent in his favor.
---
> "You're Moonborne."
At that word, Astrael flinched.
Like a scar had been touched.
> "That word… hurts."
> "It should," Lyra said gently. "They made you into something unnatural."
> "They?" he asked.
And suddenly—
his voice deepened.
A second tone echoed beneath it.
Not his.
Older.
Darker.
> "We remember what was taken."
---
The fire around their camp flickered,
though no one had lit one.
Malrik gasped as his scrolls suddenly ignited,
the ancient writing twisting into moon symbols before turning to ash.
Astrael blinked, confused.
> "I didn't do that."
Lyra shook her head.
> "Not you.
What's inside you."
---
Suddenly—
Astrael collapsed to his knees.
Holding his head. Screaming.
Visions flashed around them.
Broken cities. Moons falling.
A temple on fire.
Lyra—standing in the center—eyes glowing white.
And then—
A voice, deep as the void itself:
> "Return us to the sky."
---
Lyra ran to him, catching him just before he hit the snow.
> "You're not a weapon," she whispered.
> "Then what am I?" he asked, tears steaming down his cheeks.
She looked at him—really looked.
And in his eyes…
she saw the same wound she carried.
The same loneliness.
The same unanswered questions.
> "You're the second chance the moons gave us.
We just haven't figured out why."
---
And above them,
the Second Moon pulsed once.
Like a heartbeat.
Far away,
someone else felt it.
And began to move.
---
To be continued…
---