The Council chamber smelled of incense and fear.
Frost still clung to my boots as I stood before the twelve Elders once again, the memory of the outpost's ruins burned into my eyes. The others waited behind me silent, expressionless, soldiers bound by duty.
Only Aster spoke.
"The anomaly was celestial in nature," he said, voice calm but tight. "A manifestation resembling human form. It made contact with Candidate Erian Vale."
Murmurs rippled through the chamber.
"Contact?" one Elder demanded. "You mean possession?"
"No," Aster replied sharply. "There was no sign of corruption."
The snow-haired Councilor narrowed her gaze. "And yet your report mentions uncontrolled energy discharge. The same starlight we warned about."
Aster's jaw clenched. "If not for that energy, we would all be dead."
Silence fell heavy, suffocating.
Finally, the blind Elder raised his head. "Show us," he said.
Aster hesitated. "Sir?"
"The memory crystal," the Elder said. "You recorded the event, did you not?"
Reluctantly, Aster withdrew a small orb from his cloak. The air shimmered as he activated it and the ruins came alive before us. Frozen towers, swirling frost, silver light flaring from my body like a storm.
When the faceless entity appeared, half the Council flinched.
It pointed at me, its voice echoing through the hall.
"Child of light… the stars remember."
Then the image fractured into static.
For a moment, no one breathed.
Then chaos.
Voices rose accusations, theories, fear.
"Starspawn!"
"Forbidden magic!"
"Seal him!"
Aster slammed his hand against the table, the sound like thunder.
"Enough!"
His aura flared raw power flooding the chamber, silencing everyone in an instant.
"This boy saved your kingdom," he said, each word like a blade. "And you would cage him?"
The snow-haired woman's lips curled. "And you would defy us for him?"
Aster didn't flinch. "If I must."
The air turned electric. Even the Elders seemed unsettled.
Finally, the blind Elder spoke calm, deliberate.
"Erian Vale will remain under Division supervision. No isolation. No restraints."
The others began to protest, but he raised a hand. "The stars have chosen. Our interference will only hasten the end."
And just like that, the hearing was over.
Aster guided me out of the chamber without a word. His grip on my arm was firm protective, angry, maybe both.
When we reached the courtyard, I finally spoke. "You shouldn't have done that. They'll punish you."
He stopped, turning to face me. The sunlight cut across his face half shadow, half fire.
"Let them," he said. "I won't let them take you."
My breath caught. For a second, everything else disappeared the Council, the fear, the whispers.
Just him.
Then he stepped back, his voice cooling again. "You're not safe here. Not anymore."
"Then where"
Before I could finish, the ground trembled. A scream echoed through the tower a distant explosion, and then the sound of bells.
Aster's eyes darkened. "They're here."