The road to the north had always been quiet.Soft winds.Golden grass.Birds circling high above.
But today the world felt like it was holding its breath.
Kael and Lira walked side by side, leaving the village behind them. Every few steps, Kael glanced at the sky. He couldn't help it. The image of the tear—like claws slicing through cloud—stayed in his mind like a scar the sky couldn't hide.
Lira noticed his silence.
"What are you thinking?" she asked gently.
Kael took a moment before answering.
"I'm thinking," he said slowly, "that the sky breaks the same way people do. Quietly at first. Then all at once."
Lira gave him a soft smile. "You say confusing things when you're scared."
Kael chuckled under his breath. She wasn't wrong.
But the truth was simple:
He was scared.Not for himself.For the world.And for Lira.
The First Strange Echo
A few hours into their journey, they stopped near an old stone bridge. A river flowed calmly underneath, its surface clear enough to reflect the sky like a huge mirror.
Lira knelt by the water to drink.Kael stood guard, still tense.
Then he heard it.
A tiny echo.
Not a voice.Not a whisper.Something stranger.
Like footsteps…but far away…and somehow coming from every direction at once.
Kael turned sharply.No one was there.The road was empty.
Lira felt it too. She lifted her head, eyes narrowed.
"Do you hear that?"
Kael nodded. "Echoes."
Lira frowned. "Echoes of what?"
Kael didn't know.But he could feel something else—something heavy, almost like a memory pressing on his chest.
The river rippled suddenly, though no wind touched it.
Lira gasped.
Kael froze.
Shapes formed on the water's surface—not reflections, not shadows,but images.
A city in flames.A tower falling.People running.The sky cracking open like broken glass.
Kael fell to his knees, grabbing Lira's arm.
"Don't look —!" he shouted.
The images vanished instantly.
The water became calm again.
Lira's face had turned pale. "Kael… what was that?"
Kael wiped sweat from his forehead.
"Not a memory," he whispered."But a warning."
Lira sank beside him. Her voice trembled.
"Kael… why would the water show that?"
He stared into the river, thinking.
"Because echoes don't only come from the past," he said slowly."Sometimes they come from the future… trying to reach us before it's too late."
Lira shivered.
The Road Grows Darker
As they continued walking, the sky grew strange.
Clouds moved like they were being pulled by invisible strings.Birds flew in unusual patterns, forming symbols and circles.Even the sunlight felt twisted—too warm, too cold, shifting like a heartbeat.
Lira pointed ahead. "Kael… look!"
A line of stones, ancient and cracked, marked the path. Carvings glowed faintly on their surfaces.
Kael ran a hand across one.
The symbols pulsed softly—warm like human skin.
"These stones are waking," Kael murmured.
Lira asked quietly, "Waking from what?"
He had no answer.
But the wind whispered something again, twirling around their feet.
"Return.""Remember.""Restore."
Kael breathed out slowly.
"Why does the world speak in riddles when we need it to speak clearly?" he muttered.
Lira squeezed his hand.
"Maybe the world is scared too," she said.
Kael looked at her, surprised by the softness of her words.
Sometimes Lira said things that felt like sunlight breaking through clouds.
The Fallen Star Path
Near sunset, they reached a wide open plain.The grass had burned away in long lines, forming a trail that shimmered faintly like silver ash.
Lira gasped. "Kael… these marks…"
Kael knelt, touching the scorched earth.
"This isn't fire," he said quietly. "It's something else. Something colder."
Lira touched the ground too. Her fingertips tingled.
"What could leave a trail like this?"
Kael stood and followed the direction of the burned path with his eyes.
"It feels like something fell from the sky," he said."But not a star."
Lira swallowed.
"Then what?"
Kael shook his head.
"A memory," he said softly. "A memory that didn't belong to this world."
Lira stepped closer. "Kael… can memories fall?"
Kael stared at the horizon.
"Everything falls when it gets too heavy."
Night Arrives
They made camp near an old tree with twisted branches. The night sky above them was filled with stars—more than usual, brighter than usual, almost too close.
Lira lay on her back, staring upward.
"Kael… the stars feel like eyes tonight."
Kael didn't lie down. He sat, alert, watching the horizon.
"They're watching," he said simply.
"Why?" Lira whispered.
Kael finally answered the question he'd been avoiding all day.
"Because something behind those stars is moving," he said."And the sky doesn't know how to hide it anymore."
Lira turned her head to him. "Kael… will we be enough to stop it?"
He didn't answer immediately.His voice was calm when he finally spoke, but there was a quiet fear underneath.
"No," Kael said. "We won't be enough."
Lira's breath caught.
"But we will try," he added."And sometimes trying changes more than power does."
Lira closed her eyes, feeling safer.
Kael looked at the sky one last time before lying beside her.
High above them, one star flickered—once, twice—as if signaling something.
Kael whispered a line that felt like truth:
"The world doesn't break in one day. It breaks in whispers."
Then he closed his eyes and waited for dawn.
Because tomorrow, the real journey north would begin.And somewhere beyond the horizon—something was waiting for them.Something that remembered everything the world had forgotten.