Heir of the broken sky

Let me breath

For a second, I didn’t move.

Didn’t think.

Didn’t even blink.

I just lay there, staring at nothing, my chest rising too fast, like my body hadn’t realized it was safe yet.

But it wasn’t.

I knew it wasn’t.

My hand moved before I could stop it—straight to my back.

The moment my fingers touched my skin—

I froze.

Warm.

Not just warm.

Burning.

A sharp breath caught in my throat as I pushed myself up too quickly, the room tilting for half a second before settling again.

“No…” I whispered, already knowing.

I stumbled toward the mirror, my legs unsteady, my heartbeat loud enough to drown everything else out.

When I turned—

They were brighter.

All of them.

Not soft anymore. Not faint.

Alive.

The first star pulsed slowly, like it was breathing.

The second—stronger now—no longer fading.

The third shifted faintly under my skin, like it couldn’t stay still.

And the fourth—

My fingers trembled as I reached for it.

It flickered.

Weak.

Like it was struggling to hold on.

My chest tightened.

“No, no, no—”

The words came out broken as I pressed my palm against it, like I could keep it there, like I could stop whatever was happening.

But it didn’t stop.

It dimmed.

Just a little.

Just enough to make my stomach drop.

A voice echoed in my head—

Not loud.

Not distant.

Right there.

Because you already lost one.

My breath hitched.

“Lost what…?” I whispered, my voice barely there.

My reflection didn’t answer.

It just stared back at me like I was someone else.

Like I was becoming someone else.

I shook my head, stepping back, but the feeling didn’t leave.

That wrongness.

That awareness.

Like my body wasn’t just mine anymore.

Like something inside me had woken up—

And it wasn’t asking for permission.

A soft sound behind me made me turn.

Silas.

I hadn’t even heard him come in.

For a second, I just stood there, staring at him, trying to ground myself in something real.

Something familiar.

But even that felt… fragile.

“I had the dream again,” I said, my voice quieter than I meant it to be.

My hand tightened slightly at my side.

“She was there.”

A pause.

Then, softer—

“She said it’s starting.”

I didn’t know if I was more scared of what that meant—

Or the fact that part of me already understood it.