Chapter 5 – The Sky-Stairs
224 Words
Beyond the floating books and the library’s edge, Elira came upon a clearing where mist hung low like a curtain. Then it parted. From within it stretched a staircase made of clouds—solid beneath her feet, but gleaming like woven moonlight.
Each step rose higher than the trees, and then higher still—past birdsong, past wind, past the peaks of distant mountains. It was not cold, though the air shimmered with starlight. She climbed, breath calm, heart curious.
At the summit floated a door—not resting on anything, simply hovering. It pulsed faintly. Elira reached out and felt warmth, not from heat, but recognition. The door asked no question this time. It opened silently.
Within was a space that was neither light nor dark. A place made of presence. Shapes of travelers long gone hovered around her—walkers of the veil. One stepped forward, cloaked in mist, and pressed a hand to her forehead.
“You remember,” it whispered. “Even what you have never seen.”
A sudden flash—and she stood alone, now back at the base of the stairs, the sky above clear. In her hand was a silver ring she hadn’t worn before, etched with a spiral that matched her palm.
A reminder that she had ascended, and that the veil knew her name.
- Writer
