Page 139 of Stars in Nova

Kisan’s lips twitched into a rare smile. ‘SanteMirage. Let it pour.’

The New Has Come

For the first time in years, Orilia’s atmosphere was filled not with the sounds of battle or despair but with the symphony of rain—a melody of hope.

The planet was healing, and its people, once fractured and broken, could begin to dream again.

For days, showers fell.

The change was slow at first, each second stretching into an eternity as they waited for something to happen.

After the first deluge, the air shifted, carrying a subtle humidity that hadn’t been there before.

A few days after the first rainfall, the team emerged to conduct assessments.

Standing with Sharin near a patch of dead earth, Samira crouched to examine the dirt in the valley outside the core Thalassi tunnel entrance.

She ran her fingers through it, her brow furrowing.

‘It’s loosening,’ she said, her voice filled with cautious hope. ‘The ground isn’t as hard as it was previously. Think I even see leaf shoots.’

Conducting soil tests nearby, Kisan paused, his attention snapping to her. ‘You’re sure?’

Sharin nodded, pointing to a shimmer just beneath the surface. ‘Look. The energy’s starting to take root.’

Over the following hours, sprouts of green began to emerge, pushing their way through the brittle earth. At first, they were small, frail, and tentative, but as the bio-kinetic energy infused the earth, they grew stronger.

The shoots stretched upward, transforming into saplings, their tender leaves catching the light breaking through the clouds.

Sax huffed, a flask ofkahawain his hand. ‘Well, I’ll be damned.’

He took a swig before placing the vessel down to help with gathering more stats.

As time went on, the transformation accelerated.

Days later, Samira stood on an incline overlooking Thalassi’s tunnel entrance.

Vines unfurled, their tendrils wrapping around jagged rocks as if reclaiming the land for nature. Trees burst into full growth, their canopies spreading to shade the recovering ground.

The once-barren plains became lush fields, vivid with wildflowers in blue, yellow, and red hues.

She stared in stunned silence, her hands pressed to her lips. ‘It’s happening,’ she whispered, her voice trembling.

Kisan joined her, his green eyes scanning the changing landscape. ‘Not just here,’ he said, his tone steady but tinged with awe. ‘Look.’

Beyond them, rivulets of water began to flow through the dry riverbeds, their crystalline surfaces reflecting the vibrant greens of the fresh vegetation.

Grasses spread, their roots anchoring the soil with astonishing speed, stabilizing what had once been a crumbling wasteland.

The air also changed, infused with the fresh scent of earth and the delicate perfume of flowers.

Water trickled into streams as the team moved through the transformed landscape, examining the effects of the kinetic burst.

Samira knelt beside a cluster of blooms, her fingers brushing their petals.

‘It’s incredible,’ she whispered, turning to her man. ‘Even dormant plants are coming back.’

Kisan tapped his comm, connecting to the Cephei’s systems. ‘Mirage, run an analysis. I need to know how far the effect has spread.’

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