The sky did not thunder when the first star fell.It screamed.A sound like tearing metal ripped through the night, sharp enough to wake the dead and living alike. High above the city of Aderyn, the heavens split open, and light—wrong light, crimson and burning—poured through the fracture.People poured into the streets.Some fell to their knees. Others ran.Elira Vale stood frozen on the palace balcony, her fingers digging into the cold stone railing as the star plummeted toward the world. It was too bright, too fast, too deliberate. Stars were not supposed to fall like weapons.“Your Highness!” a guard shouted behind her. “You must come inside—now!”But Elira could not move.The ancient markings carved into the balcony floor began to glow beneath her feet, symbols no one had been able to read for centuries. Her breath hitched. They responded to her.The star struck beyond the city walls.The earth convulsed.A shockwave tore through Aderyn, shattering windows, toppling towers, ripping screams from thousands of throats. Elira was thrown backward as heat blasted across the balcony, scorching the air, bending metal, setting banners aflame.Then—silence.A heavy, suffocating silence.From the crater beyond the walls, a column of red light surged into the sky, pulsing like a heartbeat.One.Two.Three.Elira pushed herself up, blood trickling from her temple. Her ears rang, but beneath the ringing, she heard something else.A voice.You are late.Her heart slammed violently against her ribs.“No,” she whispered, though she did not know who—or what—she was answering.Behind her, the palace doors burst open. The High Seer stumbled onto the balcony, eyes wide with terror, his ceremonial staff clattering against the stone.“It has begun,” he breathed. “The prophecy was wrong—we were wrong. The Star-Bearer has awakened, and the Seal—” His gaze snapped to Elira, and his face drained of color. “Oh gods.”She followed his stare down to her hands.Cracks of red light crawled across her skin, pulsing in time with the distant beam beyond the walls.“What does this mean?” she demanded.The High Seer fell to his knees.“It means,” he said hoarsely, “that you are no longer just a princess.”The light in the distance flared brighter.And far beneath the ruined earth, something ancient opened its eyes and smiled.