Starlace Grove

Chapter 2 – The Feather Without a Bird

Elira couldn’t sleep the night after the singing tree. Her hand tingled where the spiral had burned softly into her skin. She tried covering it, washing it, hiding it beneath her sleeve. But the warmth pulsed still.

The next morning, she wandered farther than usual—beyond the berry paths, beyond the edge of her familiar world. Her feet seemed to follow an invisible rhythm. As the woods thickened, the air changed, not heavy but deep, like a breath being held.

And then, from the sky, a single feather fell.

It shimmered like moonlight on water, long and white and too perfect to belong to any ordinary bird. Elira caught it midair. The moment her fingers closed around it, she heard the sound again—not the tree’s song, but something more delicate. A call. A tone from the veil.

She followed the sound to a clearing of glasslike stones. In the center stood a pedestal made of twisting branches. When she placed the feather on it, the air shimmered. The trees bowed.

Suddenly, the feather floated upward and burst into soft light. The light twisted into shapes—images of places Elira had never seen. A grove where stars hung from branches. A stairway that led into the clouds. A mirror that showed more than reflection.

Elira didn’t understand it yet. But the veil had given her a map—not of roads, but of wonders.