Chapter 12: When Silence Shattered

Man, the Starless didn't just show up—they exploded onto the scene. Like, imagine a tsunami of black ink, oozing through cracks in the mountain, dripping outta the freaking sky. Not just a handful, either—hundreds, maybe more. Everywhere they slithered, the world just dimmed. Flames? Snuffed out. Trees? Hunched over like they were bracing for a beating. Even the stars up top got all twitchy, flickering like they were about to bail.

But smack in the middle of Threnos, something wild was happening—light, real light, was fighting back.

Elara wasn't exactly... there anymore. Not in the usual way. She floated, pieced together from these glowing shards, each one pulsing like a heartbeat. Not dead. Not exactly alive. Kinda like someone building herself out of stardust, one spark at a time.

All around her, the old music—the bones of the mountain or whatever—roared up, blasting right into the darkness.

The first Starless that hit the light? Got erased. Poof. Silence ate it, then that silence twisted into music—like someone rewinding a scream. The rest weren't any smarter, clawing their way in, desperate for Elara, for Liora, for the last shreds of song.

"Don't let them lock us down," Liora hissed, burning just as bright as Elara, flames instead of flesh. "This is it. The big finale."

Virella? She was right on the edge, sword out, probably terrified but refusing to flinch. Couldn't touch Elara anymore, couldn't even yell at her—but she wasn't leaving. Not while the ground cracked open and the sky howled overhead.

And then, Elara just... sang.

No words. No language. Just pure, raw memory, turning into music.

It was a sound older than battle, older than heartbreak. The kinda song that probably lit the first stars, that maybe made galaxies spin out of love instead of just fire and chaos. Her voice stretched out, up to the stars—and, get this, they actually answered.

Constellations started shifting. Orion? Dude literally turned his bow. Lyra? Strummed her strings. Then from the east, that Hollow Constellation—the one from those dusty old scrolls—snapped together, glowing like it'd been waiting for this moment.

Seventh star blinked, then fired a beam straight into the mountain's heart.

The Starless lost it. Screamed like the world was ending.

Then the chamber shattered.

But the song? Still there. Strong as ever.

— — —

When all the brightness drained away and the ash finally stopped falling, the world was... different.

No more Starless. Wiped out by the truth they'd tried so hard to strangle.

Silverwood woke up to skies so clear, even the oldest grump in town had to admit they'd never seen anything like it. Kids started pointing at stars no one remembered seeing before. Old sailors muttered about the constellations playing musical chairs overnight.

And overhead? One new constellation burned the brightest.

Seven stars. One big, blazing heart in the middle.

They started calling it Elara's Voice.

She didn't walk the earth anymore, but her song? Still out there. In the wind, in the stars, tangled up in bedtime stories and old lullabies.

The Whisper wasn't forgotten.

And silence? Finally, truly, busted.