"Wait…" Aren whispered.
At the center of the crater, beneath the silver glow, lay a person.
Mira froze beside him. "Is that… a body?"
The light flickered again.
Not a body.
A boy.
He looked around Aren's age, dressed in strange black clothing threaded with glowing lines that pulsed like stars beneath the fabric. His silver hair was covered in ash, and beside him rested a crystal unlike anything Aren had ever seen.
It floated.
Just slightly above the ground.
Soft light spilled from inside it like trapped moonlight.
The unconscious boy suddenly gasped.
A violent wave of energy exploded outward.
Aren threw his arm over his face as dust and wind blasted across the crater.
Mira stumbled backward. "What was that?!"
The boy slowly opened his eyes.
Bright silver.
Not human silver.
Something older.
Something impossible.
He looked directly at Aren.
And whispered—
"Run."
The ground beneath them cracked.
Dark shadows began crawling from the edges of the crater, twisting unnaturally across the earth like living smoke.
Aren's heart pounded.
"What are those things?!"
The creatures rose silently, their hollow eyes glowing blue in the darkness.
Mira grabbed Aren's sleeve. "We need to leave. Now."
But the silver-haired boy struggled to stand.
One of the shadow creatures lunged toward him.
Without thinking, Aren stepped forward.
"Get down!"
He grabbed a broken metal rod from the ground and swung it wildly at the creature.
The rod passed through the shadow—
—but suddenly burst with bright light.
The creature screamed.
Not like an animal.
Like something ancient being torn apart.
It vanished instantly.
Aren stared at the glowing weapon in shock.
"What…?"
The silver-haired boy looked equally surprised.
"The starfire…" he whispered weakly.
More shadows emerged.
Dozens this time.
The crater trembled violently.
Mira backed away slowly. "Aren… I think we just made a terrible mistake."
The silver-haired boy reached for the floating crystal.
The moment his fingers touched it—
the entire sky lit up.
And far above the Kingdom of Elyndor…
one of the unmoving stars disappeared.