Page 6 of Starfall

Ari

G reat Eternal above, I messed up.

I cursed all the way down the garden path leading from the man’s home. Fuck, it felt good to curse, even if it didn’t help the panic shooting through me.

So much for being the perfect Chosen , I thought sullenly, kicking at a stone. I yelped when the roughened edges bit into my bare foot.

Of course, the one mortal I made contact with practically shoved me out of his home.

To be fair, I did come off slightly more intense than I’d intended after learning his mother had passed.

It didn’t help that his touch rendered me frozen.

It was so foreign, his solid weight above me, his hot breaths tickling my cheek.

My stomach had twisted into knots, and my heart had been a mad drum that pounded in my ears.

The new sensations hadn’t been…unpleasant.

I groaned, clutching at my chest as crushing failure pushed in from all sides. I couldn’t even appreciate where I was, or how the thick air smelled of pine and soil and earth. No. My mind and soul were far too numb to feel much of anything besides overwhelming terror.

Clenching my fists, I tilted my head to the skies, ready to shout from the tops of my lungs in desperation.

Why had this happened to me ? I was devout.

I prayed to the Eternal twice daily, always on time for morning and evening prayers.

This should’ve been the easiest task to accomplish, the last rite of passage.

But I failed. Miserably.

Did the man not have another desire? Another wish I could grant?

My battered feet stung as I walked across rocks and brittle twigs, but I continued on the path, spotting a small pond framed by a gathering of gangly russet trees.

Whenever I delved into dreams, I usually drifted toward the water.

While this humble pond was nowhere near the might of the wild waves of the Blood Sea in the east, it tempted me to seek its comfort.

I walked to the water’s edge and sank to my knees.

The deep, umber soil stained my pristine silk gown, and the coldness of the dirt seeped through the thin material.

I didn’t worry about the stupid dress. It could burn for all I cared, and I’d happily prance around the world bare.

I never understood why humans were so frightened to reveal their bodies.

The dirt sifted between my toes and tickled my flesh, and I absently wriggled my feet, digging my heels deeper into the cool earth. A breeze picked up and caressed my silver strands, and for the most fragile of moments, I became a part of the world I’d never imagined I’d experience.

The serenity vanished the second a nearby branch groaned. My eyes shot open.

A golden-eyed raven hopped from his perch to inspect me, his head cocked to the side as if offering a greeting. I’d never seen a raven with those colored eyes. So intense, so human-like as it stared down from above.

Hmm , not a messenger.

Violet-eyed ravens were the sacred air messengers of the realm, divine beings like star maidens.

They lived their lives in the skies before relaying a single message to the human of their choice.

Their words could start or end wars, could procure much-needed information that saved humans.

Afterward, they too, forfeited their physical forms.

It was absurd how little the mortals believed in the Eternal. His creations were everywhere if one opened their eyes and looked.

“Hello, little one,” I cooed, finding myself smiling at the winged creature.

He chirped in reply, his feathers flinching.

Its golden eyes didn’t break contact, and a shiver raced down my spine.

The bird dropped to another branch, drawing nearer, its emotionless stare locked on me while the moonlight danced on its black feathers.

“You’re an odd one,” I mused, startled when it fluttered its wings in reply.

It continued its perusal, its gaze searing into me. While stunning, the animal unnerved me as much as it fascinated me.

It flapped its wings, a lone feather falling to the ground. Gold specks dotted its spine, and I blinked rapidly, my mind returning to the feather that had fallen after I’d selected my dreamer. It wasn’t nearly as lustrous as that one, but?—

The raven let out a sharp cry before shooting off into the sky, well beyond reach.

Well, nice to meet you too, then .

Now, left alone and seething, I dug my fingers into the soil and clenched my hands into fists. Never in our history had a star maiden been unsuccessful. As though to taunt, a few of the stars overhead flared, their resplendence working to remind me of my failure.

“Now what?” I asked the night, gazing across the pond to the copse of trees that bordered a neighboring farm.

A few cows mooed, the tinkling of copper bells sounding.

The temptation to go over and touch one of the fascinating beasts was strong, but I had no clue how they’d react.

While they looked all sorts of cuddly and soft from Maldia, now wasn’t the time to test that theory.

I sighed as I dipped my fingers beneath the pond’s glassy surface, welcoming the water’s icy sting.I swirled my hand around and around, idly wishing I knew how to swim. Maybe a nice cold shock from the pond would heighten my senses and deliver an answer.

If I didn’t come up with a solution, and soon, I’d be stuck here. The notion terrified me, and I shut my eyes, pretending I lay in the safety of my bed on Maldia.

A hand grabbed my wrist a second before I heard the splash.

Eyes flaring open, I screamed as I was wrenched forward, the fingers that wrapped around my wrist a sickly shade of gray. It reminded me of the paleness of a corpse.

Digging my heels into the soil, I fought to keep from falling into the pond, but my assailant’s harsh grip never wavered. Whatever this thing was, it had a strength to rival that of a star maiden. If anything, it was stronger.

“Let go!” I screeched, struggling to stay rooted to the earth. What kind of fucking nightmare was this? I’d woken this morning prepared to ascend and receive the praise of my fellow maidens. Now, I battled a faceless enemy after defiling the most sacred ritual I knew.

Thank the Eternal I healed quickly because the fingers digging into my wrist would have left me mottled with bruises. The hand yanked, and I tilted forward, my head hovering inches away from the pond’s surface. The water was just above my elbow.

Dark magic. It had to be.

I’d heard rumors of such a thing, but Mistress Lina always shut the gossip down quickly. But what held me now, this creature , couldn’t be anything besides a vile being crafted from nightmares.

I peered below, searching for the face attached to the bone-chilling hand holding me captive. Perhaps this was a punishment for my hesitation during the Great Fall. It had to be. My eyes fluttered as my muscles strained.

A face gradually took shape beneath the surface, and my thunderous heart raged against my ribs. Death would’ve been preferable to what stared back.

No.

It couldn’t be…

But it was.

Lily . She drifted well below the water, her black curls floating about her heart-shaped face like a halo. A thick coating of grayish white filmed over the eyes of violet I adored, and her usually rosy lips were crusted and swollen, black pus oozing from thin cracks.

“Lily!” I gasped. I felt as though I was stranded in the skies with a pair of broken wings, plummeting to Earth but never landing .

Lily. My friend. My sister. My greatest love.

Instead of fighting to free myself, I used my dwindling strength to hold on , my submerged arm lowering further into the pond.

Glass coated my voice as I called her name over and over again.

In reply, her lips opened in a silent scream, and fat bubbles of air escaped her mouth to float to the top of the pond.

Such fear. I’d never experienced such overwhelming fear in all of my twenty years.Though, ‘fear’ felt like too small a word.

This wasn’t the Lily I knew, not this shell of a creature, all sickly gray and desperate. Her image fluttered like a mirage, a dream dispelled too quickly. Watching her fade, even in her unnatural state, had tears springing to my eyes.

Yanking on our connected hands, I grunted, working to pull her out of the water.

This was no vision.

A sob broke from my throat as her head bumped fruitlessly against the invisible barrier imprisoning her, the thuds of her futile fight both jarring and heartbreaking.

It reminded me of a portal, though there was no way for her to fully push through and reach me.

“Come on, Lily!” Tears slid over the swell of my cheek and slipped to my chin. I squeezed my lids tight and gritted my teeth in determination, giving one final and fruitless yank.

Nothing.

Lily’s fingers curled back, one by one, letting me go. I barely made out the devastation on her face, how her full lips quivered.

“No! Stay with me!” I begged as a thousand cuts seemed to slash at my heart all at once. Lily sank, her chin tilting to the stars as if to ask, Why ?

This time, when I attempted to reach into the water, my hand struck an invisible wall.

I banged against the barrier, sweat dripping into my eyes.

I crashed into the wall until my knuckles split and crimson blossomed on my skin.

Still, I never ceased my struggle. She wasn’t that thing . I had to shatter the illusion?—

Ari .

I jerked back as the sound of my name drifted into my mind. The voice was undeniably Lily’s, though it didn’t contain the same joy I’d grown to know and cherish. It was as empty as an echo.

We’re trapped. All of us.

I panted, soft wheezes escaping my throat. So much anguish lined each syllable. “What do you mean trapped, Lily? Tell me!”

Without you completing the ritual, we couldn’t ascend.

My breath froze in my lungs. My fault. Their suffering is my fault.