Chapter 114

Chapter 114 Kaelos Sleep eluded me. Even with the fire crackling steady, even with the scent of pine and smoke in the air, and even with the familiar presence of my companions around me, I couldn’t close my eyes. Every time I tried, I saw her—Seraphina—not as a star, not as a force of cosmic balance, but as a girl kneeling beside a wounded child in a burning village. Bleeding. Bruised. Unbroken. Her memories lived inside me now, stitched into the lining of my soul. I sat on a jagged rock just beyond the camp’s edge, watching the stars wheel slowly overhead. The golden one—her—was brighter than ever. A beacon. A warning. “She was never meant to ascend,” I said softly, to no one. “Not like that. Not alone.” “You say that as if we didn’t all push her toward it,” Ruvan replied from behind me. His voice wasn’t accusatory—just tired. Honest. I didn’t turn. “We didn’t push her. We stood beside her.” “We followed her, Kaelos. There’s a difference.” I closed my eyes, letting his words sit for a