Collide: The Memory of Stars

Selene's POv

I woke up to the distant hum of traffic outside the apartment, the muffled voices of the city blending into the early morning haze.

The lingering cold of the night still clung to the air, wrapping around my skin like a thin veil of unease. The encounter from last night haunted me, the shadow's voice still echoing in my mind. I had understood it—without trying, without thinking. It was as if the words had always been there, hidden deep within me, waiting to be recognized.

I shifted in bed, feeling the warmth beside me as Axel stirred. His breathing was steady, but I knew he was awake. "You're thinking too much again," he muttered, his voice laced with sleep.

I exhaled, gripping the edge of the blanket. "I can't help it." Axel sat up, the bed creaking under his weight.

"You understood it, didn't you?" I hesitated, my fingers tightening around the fabric.

"Yes." His silence was louder than any words he could have spoken. I could feel his gaze on me, searching for something I wasn't sure I had an answer for.

"I understood it too," he finally said. "But I didn't know you could." Neither did I.

Before I could respond, a light knock came from the door.

A small, hesitant sound. Khael.I pulled myself up, reaching out carefully until my fingers found the edge of the nightstand. Axel was already moving, his footsteps soft as he crossed the room and opened the door.

"Khael?"

"I… I couldn't sleep."I heard the shuffle of small feet, the rustling of fabric as Khael hesitated in the doorway.

"Come in," I said gently. The bed dipped slightly as Khael climbed onto it, his presence small but heavy with something unsaid. He stayed silent for a long moment, then

whispered,

"You heard it too, didn't you?"I turned my head toward him.

"You mean the shadow?"Khael nodded, the movement barely audible.

"It was speaking in Eldorian. I didn't think you could understand that." I frowned.

"You recognized the language?"

"Yes." A pause. "And so did you."

I swallowed. "I don't know why."

Khael's hands fidgeted with the hem of his shirt.

"It was saying something important."

The words echoed in my mind again, heavy with warning.

"Léthin tar vos noquar, elaitha dos vehrin…" The seal is weakening, the lost one returns. Axel's voice was firm.

"We need to figure out what's happening."

Khael hesitated before murmuring, "She's waking up." A chill ran through me.

"Who?"

Khael didn't answer immediately. Instead, he shifted closer to me, as if seeking comfort. "We need to leave the city."

Axel tensed beside me. "Why?"

Khael's voice was barely above a whisper.

"Because she's looking for us."

The weight of his words settled heavily over the room. Silence stretched between us, thick and suffocating.

Axel exhaled sharply.

"I know someone. He might have answers."

I turned toward him.

"Who?"

"An old scholar," Axel said.

"He used to live in Eldoria, but he's been in hiding for years."

Khael stiffened. "Where is he?"

Axel hesitated. "In the mountains. Far from here."

A quiet dread settled in my chest. Traveling wasn't easy for me now—not like before. But I couldn't let that stop me. Not when we needed answers.

"We should leave soon," Khael said softly.

"Before she finds us."

The journey began with the hum of a train beneath my feet, the rhythmic sway of movement a strange comfort as the city faded behind us.

Axel kept me close, his hand guiding me through crowded stations and unfamiliar steps. Khael stayed near too, unusually quiet, his small fingers brushing against my sleeve as if making sure I was still there.

The farther we traveled, the quieter the world seemed. The sharp sounds of the city dulled into the steady murmur of the countryside, and eventually, even that faded into silence as the roads became rougher. We switched to buses, then smaller vehicles, until finally, the last stretch of our journey could only be traveled by foot.

The ground beneath my feet was uneven, and every step was a careful balance between trust and instinct. Axel's presence was steady beside me, his hand occasionally brushing against mine to keep me anchored. The air smelled different here—clean, untouched by the suffocating weight of civilization.

Khael's voice broke the silence. "Are we close?"

"Not yet," Axel admitted. "It's still a long way up."

I exhaled. "Tell me about him. The scholar."

Axel was quiet for a moment before answering.

"His name is Aldric. He wasn't just any scholar—he was a historian. One of the few who studied Eldoria's past long before everything fell apart."

I frowned. "You knew him?"

Axel hesitated. "Yes. He helped me once. When I was trying to escape."

Khael's footsteps slowed. "If he knew about Eldoria, why didn't he try to stop what happened?"

Axel's voice was grim. "Because he couldn't."

The rest of the journey was spent in silence.

By the time we reached Aldric's home, night had fallen. The small wooden house was barely visible against the dark expanse of the mountain, hidden among the trees like a relic of a forgotten time.

There were no lights—no signs of modern life. Just silence.

Axel knocked on the door. No answer.

He tried again. Still nothing.

Something was wrong.

I reached out, my fingers brushing against the rough surface of the door. And then I felt it—something cold, lingering in the air like an echo of something that shouldn't be there.

Khael grabbed my sleeve.

"We shouldn't be here." Axel ignored him and pushed the door open.

Inside, the house was in ruins. Books lay scattered across the floor, shelves overturned, parchment torn and crumpled. It looked like someone had been searching for something.

Or trying to destroy something.

My fingers brushed against a piece of parchment on the floor. The texture of the ink was strange beneath my fingertips—unfamiliar yet eerily familiar. My lips parted before I even thought about it, the words slipping out effortlessly.

"Valos inthar vehrin, dos néthar."

(The silence breaks, the truth awakens.)

The moment the last syllable left my lips, something inside me shifted.

A memory surged forward—one not of this place, but of another. I was standing in a city I had once known, where whispers filled the air, voices speaking of something awakening. There was a golden-haired girl watching it all, her gaze distant as the world trembled around her. A massive gate stood before me, sealed with glowing inscriptions, and behind it—

Something stirred.

I gasped, my body lurching back into reality, my breath coming in uneven gulps.

Axel caught me.

"Selene! What happened?" I shook my head, my mind still reeling.

"It was real. It wasn't just a dream. It was a memory." Axel's grip on me tightened.

"What did you just say?" Khael's voice was barely a whisper.

"You're remembering…" And then, before any of us could say another word, we heard it—footsteps outside.

Someone was watching us.

The silence in Aldric's ruined home was thick with unspoken questions, but beneath it, something else lurked—a weight that pressed against my chest, suffocating and cold. I stood there, gripping Axel's arm tightly, trying to piece together the words I had spoken moments ago, the ones that had left my lips so naturally yet felt foreign.

The silence breaks, the truth awakens.

But what truth? And why had it felt so familiar?

Axel hadn't said anything since then. I could feel him standing beside me, the tension in his body as rigid as the air between us. I couldn't see his expression, but I knew his mind was working, putting together pieces of a puzzle I wasn't even aware existed.

And Khael—

I turned my head toward where I last heard him.

"Khael?" For a long moment, he didn't respond. Then, his voice, small and uncertain, drifted through the dim space.

"I… I remember something."

I felt my breath catch. "What do you mean?"

"There was… us. But there were others too. Two more." Khael hesitated, as if struggling to grasp the fragments of memory slipping between his fingers.

"And there was something important. Something about guardians."Axel finally moved, his footsteps slow as he approached Khael.

"Guardians?"

Khael let out a shaky breath. "I don't know. I just know that they were there, and… it felt real."

A pit formed in my stomach. "Khael, do you know where this memory comes from?"

He didn't answer right away. I could hear the hesitation in his breathing.

"No," he admitted. "But… it doesn't feel like it belongs here. It feels… old."

Old. The way he said it sent a shiver down my spine.

Axel didn't say anything. He didn't need to. I could feel the weight of his silence, pressing against me, thick with something he wasn't ready to voice. But I knew him well enough to understand—this wasn't just a coincidence to him. He was waiting, watching, until he was certain of whatever suspicion had planted itself in his mind.

The ruined house could no longer give us answers. But Aldric's notes—

Axel shifted through the scattered papers, his fingers moving across the worn parchment with a sense of urgency. Then, he stopped.

"There's a map," he murmured. "It's leading somewhere."

Khael leaned closer. "Where?"

Axel hesitated. "An abandoned monastery. Deep in the mountains."

A deep unease settled in my chest. "Why would Aldric mark that place?"

"Because," Axel said grimly, "whatever we're looking for… it's there."

The journey through the mountains was slow, and as the familiar hum of civilization faded into the distance, so did the safety it provided. The deeper we ventured, the more the air thickened—not just with cold, but with something unseen. An unease that slithered through the trees and settled in the spaces between us.

We passed through a village before making our final ascent, one of the last inhabited places before the wild took over. The villagers, wary at first, eventually opened up after Axel spoke to them. They had known Aldric, or at least of him. To them, he was a ghost from another time—a man who had sought refuge in isolation, studying things no one else dared to remember.

One of the elders, a woman with a voice like cracked earth, shook her head. "If you're looking for him, you're too late. He knew something was coming."

Axel stiffened. "What do you mean?"

The old woman exhaled, her breath visible in the cold air.

"He came down from the mountain not long ago. Said he had seen signs—shadows moving where no light could cast them. Whispers of something old, something waking."

A chill ran through me. "Did he say where he was going?"

She shook her head.

"Only that if he did not return, it was because he was not meant to." The other villagers murmured among themselves, shifting uncomfortably.

They had seen strange things too—unnatural darkness creeping along the edges of the forest, voices that did not belong to any living soul. They spoke of nights where the stars seemed swallowed whole, leaving only a yawning abyss overhead.

Khael clutched my sleeve. "We should go."

The villagers gave us supplies, warning us to turn back before it was too late. But we had no choice.

As we left the village behind, stepping into the embrace of the mountain's shadow, the world around us seemed to quiet. The wind howled through the trees, carrying whispers I couldn't understand. But then—

To be continued.