Page 11 of Starlit Bargains

Kai found himself liking this woman, despite the cryptic nature of her words. “You mentioned someone in your note. A man with star-eyes?”

She nodded. “Eliar. He's been here longer than anyone can remember. Never ages, keeps to himself. Most people forget he exists until they happen to see him—a strange effect, like the mind slides right off him unless you're looking directly at him.”

A small shiver ran down Kai's spine. Not human, then. Not entirely.

“And you think he has answers about what's happening here? About the... stirring?”

“I believe he's part of it,” she replied. “The dreams began shortly after he arrived, centuries ago according to the oldest stories. Just glimpses at first—falling stars, broken wings, a guardian cast out. But lately they've grown stronger, more frequent.” She met his gaze directly. “Since you arrived, they've become almost unbearable in their clarity.”

Kai absorbed this, unsure what to make of it. “Where can I find him?”

“There's an old temple in the forest east of the village. Just ruins now, but sacred still. He goes there sometimes, when the stars are bright.” She reached into her apron pocket and withdrew a small, folded piece of parchment. “A map. The path isn't obvious unless you know what to look for.”

As Kai took the parchment, the woman grasped his wrist with surprising strength. “Be careful,” she urged. “Not just of him, but of those who fear him. The Keepers would rather destroy what they don't understand than risk awakening something beyond their control.”

“Cheerful bunch,” Kai muttered.

A ghost of a smile touched her lips. “We're not all like them. Some of us remember the old stories properly—that the fallen star brought protection, not doom. That his sleeping power guards us still, even in his exile.”

Before Kai could ask what she meant, the sound of approaching footsteps made her stiffen. “I must go. Follow the map. And whatever you discover...” She hesitated. “Remember that not all that sleeps should remain dormant.”

With that cryptic parting statement, she slipped back into the shadows of the alley, leaving Kai with more questions than answers.

“Well, that wasn't ominous at all,” Briar remarked dryly.

Kai unfolded the map, studying it in the dim lantern light. The drawing was simple but clear, marking a path through the eastern forest to what appeared to be a circular clearing. “What do you think? Obvious trap or genuine lead?”

“Both?” Briar suggested. “That's usually how these things go for us.”

Kai couldn't argue with that assessment. Trouble did have a way of finding him, regardless of intentions. “Only one way to find out.”

They slipped out of the village the same way they'd entered, then skirted the eastern edge until they found the trailhead marked on the map. It was barely visible in the darkness—just a subtle break in the underbrush that would be easy to miss if you weren't looking for it.

The forest closed around them like a living entity, the trees growing denser and older the further they traveled from the village. Moonlight filtered through the canopy in dappled patterns, providing just enough illumination to follow the winding path. Strange, luminescent fungi grew in patches along the route, glowing with a soft blue-green light that seemed to pulse in time with Kai's footsteps.

“The magic is stronger here,” he murmured, feeling it resonate beneath his skin like the hum of a distant chord.

Briar nodded, her usual sarcasm temporarily subdued by the ancient power that permeated the forest. “Old magic. Wild magic. Not like the disciplined stuff Silas works with.”

The path curved sharply around a massive oak whose trunk was wider than Kai was tall, and suddenly the trees opened up into a perfectly circular clearing. At its center stood what remained of a temple—crumbling stone columns arranged in a smaller circle, supporting fragments of what had once been a domed roof. The floor was a mosaic of marble and some other stone that gleamed with an inner light, patterns swirling across its surface like slow-moving constellations.

And there, standing in the center of the ruined temple with his face tilted up toward the night sky, was Eliar.

The moonlight transformed him, stripping away the careful ordinariness he'd projected in the village. Here, surrounded by ancient stones and starlight, he looked like what Kai suspected he truly was—something not quite human, something older and infinitely more powerful than his quiet demeanor suggested.

His silver-white hair seemed to capture and amplify the moonlight, creating a soft halo effect. The simple dark clothes he wore no longer appeared mundane but rather like shadows given substance. And though Kai couldn't see his face from this angle, he somehow knew that Eliar's eyes would be glowing with that ethereal inner light he'd glimpsed briefly in the alley.

For a moment, Kai simply watched, strangely reluctant to disturb the tableau. There was something almost sacred about Eliar's stillness, the way he stood communing with the stars above. It felt like interrupting a prayer or witnessing something profoundly private.

But Kai had never been good at restraint, and his curiosity inevitably won out over his brief moment of reverence.

“Do you come here often?” he called out, stepping into the clearing. “Or is this just your special brooding spot for particularly dramatic nights?”

Eliar didn't startle—didn't even turn immediately—but Kai saw his shoulders tense slightly at the intrusion.

“You shouldn't be here,” Eliar said finally, still gazing upward. “How did you find this place?”

Kai approached the temple, feeling the strange energy of the clearing intensify with each step. “Would you believe I have an excellent sense of direction?”

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