Maelin's world? Yeah, it basically started melting the second she said yes.
Kaelen (the guy finally decided to drop his name, about time) didn't bother with roads or trails. Nope. He just... led her off into the unknown, like there was a shortcut in the air itself. They slipped through the wind, ducked between echoes like you could just step sideways out of reality if you knew the right tune. One minute she's got moss squishing under her boots, next she's under some freaky sky she's never even dreamed about.
"This place…" she managed, voice barely there.
"Ash'raen," Kaelen replied. "A sanctuary where the sky listens." He said it like he was repeating an old secret.
So, here's the scene: a hollow, tucked inside the ribs of a mountain. The ceiling's basically the night sky, wide open. Crystals everywhere, singing—yeah, singing—so soft you feel it more than hear it. Light does this weird shimmer thing, like someone poured liquid silver into the air.
Maelin reached out, touched a crystal. It sang back at her. Her hum bounced around, came back new—like the stone was adding its own twist, harmonizing with a song she didn't even know she was singing.
Kaelen just watched, silent.
"Every chosen starts with one note," he said at last. "But if you want to shape the song, you gotta learn to hear what's hiding in the quiet parts."
She frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
He gave this half-smile, half-grimace. "The Silenced Choir? Wasn't always just... nothing. Each one of them used to carry a song. When they fell silent, it wasn't emptiness waiting for them. It was… I dunno, temptation. Power that sits in the hush. They forgot the melody tying them to the stars."
He dropped to his knees, pressing his hand to the ground. Boom—a glowing spiral, like a constellation, bloomed in the dust.
"These were the Choir. Lost. Banished. Now? They're waking up. The Whisper stirred up more than just some old light."
Maelin's eyes locked on the dusty stars, the shapes almost too human.
"They look like people," she muttered.
"They were," he said, and pointed to a dim, lonely star near the edge. "Elara's light? Held the whole thing together. But the rest... they might try to twist the melody. Make it their own."
"And you actually think I can stop them?"
Kaelen shook his head. "Nope. I think you can remind them."
She blinked, caught off guard. "Remind them how?"
He glanced up, like the answer might be spelled out in constellations.
"Find their names. All of them. Then sing them—sing 'em back into memory."
The wind caught its breath. The stars seemed to lean closer, listening.
And out in the dark, somewhere far too close, the first of the Choir cracked open an eye.