"The sky isn't just above us. It's full of paths no one has taken."— Old Skyfarer Saying
A long time ago, when Kairo Vey was just a small boy, he fell.
Not down, like most people do.
He fell up.
He had been hanging from a rope ladder on a broken sky-ship. The ship floated in the middle of the clouds, far above the world below. The sky was bright, the wind was loud, and there were no other ships in sight. Kairo held on tightly, but the rope was old and worn out.
Then—snap—it broke.
Instead of falling down into the clouds, something strange happened. Kairo floated upwards.
The clouds carried him like a feather, spinning slowly through the air. He should have been scared. But he wasn't.
He smiled.
Ever since, he'd felt something different in his bones—something lighter, like the weight of the world no longer pressed quite so hard on his shoulders.
Some called it luck. Others whispered about a rare power called a *Starcore. *Kairo called it freedom.
It felt like the sky had chosen him.
Thirteen Years Later:
Now, Kairo was seventeen years old. He stood high up on a wooden pole in the port town of Brasshaven, his arms wide and his red scarf blowing in the wind.
"Hey! Get down from there before the storm hits!" someone shouted from the dock below.
Kairo looked down, grinned, and waved.
He didn't care. The sky felt right to him—wild, free, and full of adventure. He didn't want to hide from the wind. He wanted to fly through it.
Behind him, the dock was busy with workers tying down ships and moving supplies. Bells rang loudly, warning everyone that an aetherstorm was on its way. The clouds above were dark and thick. Lightning flickered between them like dancing lights.
Kairo took a small scroll from his coat pocket. It was old, torn, and glowing faintly with blue lines. It wasn't an ordinary map—it was a piece of the Atlas, something many believed was only a legend.
The Atlas was said to be the first map ever made, created by the ancient Skyfarers. People believed it showed the way to a place called the First Horizon, where the sky ended and a new world began.
Kairo's father had chased that dream once. He'd left when Kairo was just a child—and never came back.
But he left Kairo the map fragment, and one clear message:
"If you find all the pieces… you'll reach the place where the sky truly begins."
Kairo had held onto those words ever since.
He folded the glowing map carefully and placed it back inside his coat.
Suddenly, the wind picked up. A low rumble rolled across the sky. The storm was getting closer. But Kairo's heart was calm. He was used to this.
He jumped from the mast and landed smoothly on the wooden dock below. His boots hit the ground with a soft thud.
Tomorrow, he would find a ship.
Tomorrow, his real journey would begin.
He looked up at the clouds and smiled.
"I'm coming, First Horizon," he whispered.
"Just wait for me."
END OF CHAPTER 1