The morning after the Astral Hunt dawned with a light so pure, it seemed as if the entire universe had exhaled a sigh of wonder. The windows of Starwhisper Academy shimmered, not with mere sunlight, but with something older and deeper—a golden glow that tasted like possibility itself. Harper lay awake long before the morning bells, her heart a wildfire beneath her ribs.
Last night's victory still thrummed through her veins, a wild, unstoppable pulse that made her feel as though she could leap onto the moon itself. Every memory—the flash of stardust, the roar of the crowd, the fierce exhilaration of pushing herself beyond her limits—played on a loop behind her closed eyelids.
But today wasn't a day for resting.Today was Celestial Arts with Professor Aeliana Celestia, and Harper had been waiting for this moment since the day she arrived at Starwhisper.
Pulling on her uniform—midnight-blue robes embroidered with constellations—Harper bolted from her dorm, her boots slapping against the ancient marble floors. The castle seemed different this morning: the portraits along the corridors whispered as she passed, their painted eyes glinting with quiet approval; the enchanted torches burned a shade brighter, as if the Academy itself recognized the shift.
She wasn't just a newcomer anymore. She was becoming.
The Celestial Arts hall was tucked away in a tower Harper had never ventured into before. A heavy door carved from silverwood loomed at the end of a spiral staircase. Intricate symbols spiraled across its surface, glowing faintly as she approached. For a moment, she hesitated, hand hovering over the door.And then, heart hammering, she pushed it open.
The room stole the breath from her lungs.
It was as if she had stepped into the heart of the cosmos.Above her, the ceiling melted into a yawning expanse of stars—real stars, swirling galaxies, crimson nebulas blooming like eternal roses. The air shimmered with drifting motes of light, each tiny speck carrying the whisper of a thousand forgotten worlds.
Massive celestial globes floated in midair, slowly rotating, their surfaces etched with runes too ancient for any language Harper knew. The floor beneath her boots wasn't stone, but a translucent glass shot through with rivers of silver and gold, as though she stood on a frozen river of starlight.
And there, at the center of it all, stood Professor Aeliana Celestia.
She was unlike any professor Harper had ever seen.Her robes billowed around her like mist, stitched from fabric that seemed to drink in the very essence of nightfall. Tiny constellations moved across the fabric—living, breathing things that winked in and out of existence. Her silver hair cascaded to her waist, catching the light like strands of comet tails.
"Welcome," Aeliana said, her voice a melody that seemed woven from the music of distant spheres. "Today, you will meet the stars not as distant strangers... but as ancient allies."
Harper swallowed hard, electricity racing through her limbs. Every cell in her body screamed to move, to learn, to reach out and become.
Professor Aeliana extended a hand, and a book materialized in the air beside her—a tome so massive, it looked capable of bending time itself. The Celestial Codex.
The room darkened as she opened it, revealing pages that shimmered with stardust.No ink marked them; instead, entire galaxies floated across their surfaces, maps of magic and power waiting to be unlocked.
"This is the Codex," Aeliana said, and even speaking its name seemed to thrum with significance. "The oldest record of Celestial Magic in Avaloria. It does not teach. It remembers. And it will judge whether you are worthy of its secrets."
A shiver ran down Harper's spine. It wasn't fear—it was recognition.Some deep part of her soul, buried under years of ordinary life, stirred awake.
Professor Aeliana raised her hands, and the Codex's starlight surged outward, enveloping the students. Symbols—circles within circles, spirals, shifting constellations—etched themselves into the air.
"Trace the constellations," she instructed. "Feel their rhythm. Let the magic recognize you."
Harper stepped forward, heart in her throat. She stretched out her hand—and the moment her fingers brushed the floating stardust, something ignited inside her.
It wasn't just learning. It wasn't even casting magic.It was becoming something more.
Threads of energy laced around her fingers, delicate and strong, guiding her through the ancient patterns. Her body moved instinctively, her breath syncing with the silent pulse of the stars. Around her, the Codex responded—not with words, but with light, bathing her in a brilliance that set her veins aflame.
For a moment, she glimpsed it:A memory older than time.A city of crystal towers rising under a double-moon sky.Warriors wrapped in constellations, fighting against a darkness that devoured even dreams.
The vision was gone in a blink, but Harper stumbled back, gasping, her hands trembling.She wasn't just learning magic.
She was remembering it.
Professor Aeliana's silver gaze rested on her for a fraction longer than necessary, unreadable and deep as a black hole.But Harper saw it—the flicker of recognition.
"You are awakening," the Professor murmured, so softly Harper almost thought she'd imagined it.
After class, the corridors of Starwhisper felt too narrow, too small to contain the energy roaring inside her. She practically floated to the Dining Hall, her steps light as air, her heart a wildfire.
The Hall was its own miracle: vast and alive, its enchanted ceiling mirroring the constellations above Avaloria. Dozens of tables stretched beneath it, heavy with platters of enchanted delicacies: moon-bloom tarts, starberry juice that sparkled in its cups, roasted drake-meat seasoned with phoenix ash.
The walls flickered with illusions of the great Avalorian myths—battles fought in the stars, lovers who had carved mountains with their grief, heroes who had sailed rivers of stardust.
Harper found her friends already gathered at their usual table near a window overlooking the misty expanse of Silverlake.
Nova was poring over a leather-bound tome twice her size, her ink-stained fingers flying across a parchment as she muttered calculations under her breath. "I'm this close to stabilizing a crystal-heart potion," she grumbled, frustrated. "It keeps detonating after the fourth binding rune. I nearly lost my eyebrows this morning."
Luna, her cheeks flushed with excitement, twirled a vine of living ivy around her wrist. "We communed with the Heartwood Trees today," she said. "Did you know they have memories older than Avaloria itself? One of them showed me a vision...of the first storm ever conjured by magic."
Asher, always the spark of chaos, kicked back in his chair and smirked. "Meanwhile, I learned how to make fireballs explode in different colors. Guess who's banned from the training grounds for the rest of the week?" He proudly held up a letter from the Groundskeeper, singed around the edges.
Their laughter rang out, rich and bright, a tether against the enormity of everything Harper had felt today.
But the joy was short-lived.
The room shifted, a ripple in the magic.
Eleanor Frost swept into the Hall, a vision of winter in motion. Her platinum hair was braided back into a crown, and her ice-blue eyes surveyed the room with the cold calculation of someone who expected betrayal from every shadow. Behind her stalked Zane Thorn, all broad shoulders and quiet strength, his dark eyes flickering with something unreadable as he scanned the tables.
Students went silent as the two approached Harper's table.
"You," Eleanor said, her voice sharp enough to frost glass. "Congratulations on the Astral Hunt. You're stronger than you look."
It wasn't quite a compliment.It wasn't quite an insult, either.
Before Harper could reply, Zane stepped forward. His voice was low, almost a growl. "Strength isn't enough. You'll need strategy. Especially with her still out there."
"Her?" Harper asked carefully.
Zane's gaze sharpened. "You'll hear the name soon enough. Malina. And when you do..." He paused, eyes hard. "Don't underestimate her."
The chill in his tone sent a sliver of unease down Harper's spine.
Before she could press him for more, Eleanor turned on her heel, her silver cloak flaring out behind her like a sheet of ice, and swept away, Zane following like a loyal stormcloud.
Harper stared after them, unease prickling at the back of her neck.
That night, back in the common room, the fire burned low in the grate, painting the stone walls with flickering gold. Outside the window, Avaloria's twin moons rose high, drenching the Academy in silver light.
Harper, Nova, Luna, Asher, and Fiona huddled together on the massive couch, the weight of Zane's warning heavy between them.
"You've heard the rumors, right?" Fiona said, voice barely above a whisper. "About Malina?"
Nova nodded grimly. "The Shadowblight. She doesn't just wield dark magic. She is dark magic."
"They say she once turned an entire village into statues," Luna added, her voice trembling. "Frozen in the exact moment of their last breath. She feeds on fear."
"And she's growing stronger," Asher said. No jokes. No smirks. Just grim certainty.
The fire popped, sending a spray of sparks into the hearth.Beyond the window, a shadow passed across the moon.
Harper sat very still, her heart beating a slow, deliberate rhythm.
The Codex had awakened something inside her today.But somewhere out there, in the vastness of Avaloria, Malina was stirring too.
Two forces rising.Two destinies crashing toward each other.
And when they finally collided, not even the stars might survive the impact.