Man, that gate—Threnos?—it didn't just open. It *complained* about it. Like, ancient stone-on-stone, a noise older than your grandma's grandma. The light inside? Not really silver, not really white. Just this weird, almost ghostly glow, like the mountain kept a little piece of the universe's first morning tucked away, refusing to let go.
Elara went in first. Because of course she did.
The second her boot hit that slick obsidian floor, the mark on her arm blazed up—like, "Hey, I'm awake!" kind of blazed. Symbols on the walls started to unravel, swirling out in these spirals and starlines, all pulsing slow and steady, like the room itself had a heartbeat. Virella came in behind her, hand already on her sword, scanning for trouble like a pro.
Elara's voice barely made a sound. "What is this place?"
Virella dropped into reverent mode. "The Chamber of Forgotten Light. Only Whisper's chosen get in. And you gotta have memory in your blood to wake what's sleeping here."
No one said another word. They just walked. The hallway curved and twisted, finally spitting them out in this massive round chamber.
And right in the dead center floated this crystal sphere—massive, bigger than Elara. Inside? Not just light. A freaking memory.
A woman—silver hair, eyes lit up with actual starlight (yeah, you know the type)—stood there, hand on a kid's shoulder. Elara's grandma. And the kid? Little Elara. Braided hair, wide-eyed, probably wondering why grandma was dragging her into a mountain.
Virella's voice was barely a whisper. "She brought you here. Years ago. You were, what, four?"
Elara just stared, feeling her breath freeze. "I don't remember…"
The vision moved. Grandmother started singing—one of those songs that gets stuck in your head for years. The air above tiny Elara shimmered, stars spinning and locking into the Hollow Constellation. The seventh star flared up, then, boom, zipped right into the kid's hand.
The memory snapped off.
Darkness, again.
Elara just dropped to her knees. "She knew. She actually prepared me. Never said a word…"
Virella knelt beside her, voice soft. "The Whisper sleeps in silence until it's needed. Well, guess what? Now's the time."
That's when things went downhill. The chamber shook—deep, gut-rattling rumbles. Cracks split the walls. And this voice—holy crap, not even thunder's got pipes like this—roared out:
"The seal has weakened. The Starless are coming."
Another gate creaked open behind the sphere, stairs leading down into pitch-black nothing.
And then, like a breeze in her head, Elara heard it:
"Come, child of the melody. The truth lies below."
She wiped her tears, stood up, chin high.
Forget the old Elara who found some dusty scroll. That girl was gone.
Now she was the last voice of the First Song.
And, honestly? The shadows should probably start running.