Something had begun.
But before it could grow-
It broke.
The girl's body shifted strangely.
Her breath caught.
The warmth in her chest exploded outward in waves.
Her knees folded beneath her.
Her head tilted back-
And she collapsed.
Solarin caught her before she hit the stone floor.
"Hold on-"
Her skin burned through his sleeves.
The light beneath her shirt pulsed erratically.
He had seen magic.
He had seen madness.
But this-
This was something else.
"What's happening to you?" he whispered, even though she couldn't hear.
Her lips were pale.
Her breathing unsteady.
The glow from her chest was wild - uncontrolled - dangerous.
"What's happening to you?" he whispered, even though she couldn't hear.
Her lips were pale.
Her breathing unsteady.
The glow from her chest was wild - uncontrolled - dangerous
He looked toward the hallway, voice rising with panic.
"Selia! SELIA!"
Footsteps.
Fast. Barefoot.
Then the door flew open.
A girl no older than ten rushed in, braid swinging behind her, sharp eyes already scanning the scene.
"What is it?" she asked quickly.
"She's burning," Solarin said. "I don't know how-"
"You don't know her name?"
"No. She never told me."
Selia knelt beside them.
Her hand hovered just above the girl's chest.
Then she placed her palm against it.
The glow flared.
Selia winced - but didn't pull back.
"Her power's waking too fast," Selia whispered.
"It's turning on itself. Her body can't hold it."
"Is there anything you can do?"
"Yes. But it'll put her to sleep."
"Do it."
Selia nodded once.
Her fingertips glowed faint blue.
Symbols of light - clean and soft - bloomed down her arm.
She pressed her hands against the girl's chest and whispered something Solarin couldn't hear.
The pulsing slowed.
The glow faded.
And the fire in her body quieted like a storm going still.
The girl exhaled once.
And slept.
"Will she wake?" Solarin asked.
Selia stood slowly, brushing her knees.
"Not soon. The seal needs time. Her soul was screaming."
"How long?"
"A year."
And so, the silence began.
The seasons passed.
The sky changed colors.
Children came and went.
Isara visited every day.
The Angel King never returned.
And still, the girl - whose name no one knew - slept beneath the stars painted on her ceiling.
Until-
One afternoon, with the window open and the birds singing softly-
She breathed in.
And her eyes opened.
End of Chapter 16 - The Sleep Beneath the Stars