Elara just froze at the edge of that endless drop, heart pounding like it wanted out of her chest. The Starwell had spilled its guts—a secret that left her reeling. The Whisper wasn't some dusty artifact. Nope. It was alive, a guardian scattered to the winds (or, well, constellations and songs). And now? A piece of that thing thumped right inside her.
Zero time to process, though.
The ground shivered under her boots—once, then again. The whole place started to buzz, not the nice kind either. This was a sharp, ugly hum, all nails on a chalkboard, crawling straight into her bones. Virella had her sword out before Elara could blink.
"They're here," Virella spat, jaw set like stone. "The Starless broke through."
Above them, shadows oozed down through the cracks in the ceiling—inky, wrong, pooling into shapes that barely looked human. Cloaks, hollow eyes, all silent menace. If nightmares had a club, these guys would run it.
Elara balled her fists. "They want the Whisper."
"They want to shut it up for good," Virella shot back.
That mark on Elara's palm? It flared, white-hot. The star shimmered and then—sang. Not words, nothing she could say out loud, but a sound older than language. It crawled into the walls, shot straight up to the stars, and filled the mountain's lungs.
A ribbon of light cracked out from her chest, latching onto those floating crystal shards above the abyss. They whipped into a crazy orbit, getting brighter, spinning so fast they looked like a halo on fast-forward.
The Starless flinched, hissing back.
"Don't stop!" Virella barked. "Sing, Elara! Keep them away from the core!"
Elara did. She let the music tear out of her, louder and louder. She had no clue what she was singing, but her bones did. The melody twisted through every part of her—old parchment, her grandma's lullabies, the ache of wanting the sky.
And something—someone—answered.
The Whisper's light exploded, swirling all around her. The whole chamber went white-hot, blinding. The Starless tried to scream, but it was just—nothing. A noise you felt in your teeth. Then they scattered, melting back into the cracks.
When it was over, Elara hit the floor, gasping.
Silence. Finally.
But the crystal wasn't the same.
Where that trapped being had floated, now there was just a single, flickering star. Tiny. Delicate.
But alive.
Then a voice echoed, trembling—young, almost scared.
"I remember… I remember my name…"
Elara looked up, totally floored.
The Whisper was waking up.
Not a force, not a legend—an actual person.
And guess who just got promoted to guardian? Yeah. Elara.