Page 15 of A Clash of Stars

My mother always encouraged me to read books, get lost in a story, and learn something new. I had read almost every book in this library during my time here in Sefida. I was always drawn to the history section, mostly because I didn’t know enough about our Land. There were many missing parts. My parents assured me that there wasn’t, but deep down, Ifeltit. There was something.

My eyes scanned the book spines I had seen a few hundred times when I noticed one out of place. I stopped my walk and stood in front of the book that caught my attention.

My finger traced over the spine as I read the title.

Darthium.

The title looked handwritten, and I was positive I had never seen it there before.

Where did you come from?

I gently took the book off the shelf and walked towards the chair by the window to let the moonlight guide my reading. I sat in the light blue velvet chair, holding the book.

It was a cream-colored leather with golden ink woven only onto the spine, the front cover blank. When I opened it, I noticed it was completely handwritten.

How curious.

Immediately I started to read.

If you are reading this, I hope you will be of some help to me. There will come a time when only a handful of people will remember this world. I am here to ensure that it happens.

I come from a world called Darthium. You’ve probably never heard of this Land, but I assure you, it’s real. This world is a disaster but in a beautiful way. The pages in this book will outline every species, every conflict, and every part of my life that needs to be remembered. We’ll call this book, The Stories of the Conservator.

I closed the book and sat in silence. It was odd. This random book appeared on the shelf, but I liked it and wanted to know more.

I flipped the book to the back because I had a bad habit of reading the end of the story in books.

As a child, I hated the anticipation of waiting for the answers in a story, but my mother always encouraged me to ask questions and try to figure them out along the way. That is what makes reading memorable. Uncovering hidden truths and falling into a new world.

When I flipped to the end, I noticed the ink on the back page was written in crimson red and had flecks of black splattered over the words.

When the stars align, the purest of blood must seek revenge. Hand in hand is where it shall begin. The blood possessed with power and the onyx of night must end it once before the strike. Though so small, the second will do. Of sight and night, she will give wrath to all who knew. Decided blows will be made when the third and final creation is made. Although eminence will be of contrary power, the essence will close off those whodevour. Stars must align. The three give thrice the power. If one must stray, you’ll find me weary, as we all will die near the ending.

Needless to say, I knew I would take the book with me back to my room, so I held it with me as I continued to look in the family history section. Finally, I found the Aster family’s history books, but their contents could not have been more varied and did not share information about their powers or family tree.

I stood, knowing it was far too late for me to be diving into more information than I could handle. I returned to my room and placed the Darthium book in the drawer for safekeeping. I was going to read more of this book because I needed to know more about this place called Darthium. What if it was the key to the past or, even better, the future?

Two days later, the brisk morning of my birthday had arrived, a horrible reminder that Madok’s birthday was also the following week. I awoke in my bed and opened my eyes to see streaks of the golden sun across my ceiling. I could hear the birds chirping and wings flapping outside my window, talking with one another.

Oh my, the smell of blueberry muffins…my favorite treat from Sophia. As I turned my attention to the door, Sophia entered the room with a tray of goodies and coffee.

One thing about being a royal of Artesia is that we have excellent taste in food and drinks. Courtesy of my mother and her green thumb, but coffee was not something our Kingdom grows. It is considered a wild plant that grows in different parts of the Land, not belonging to our section of land.

Thank the gods for this coffee.

“Happy Birthday, Clara! You are finally twenty-one. How do you feel?”

Like shit.

“I don’t feel any different if I’m being honest, except I have this burning pain in my palm. Any idea of what it is?”

I reached my hand to her, and she gently grasped my wrist. Her cold fingers wrapped around my hand. The final markings of my power had started to form along with my hand and wrist.

The other golden and black wisps swirled and marked my arm with such a vengeance that I was surprised I hadn’t noticed the new additions before now. Then a simple circle with a star was in the center of my palm, which was entirely new.

Everyone who is a royal has a power marking on their wrist and hand. Everyone keeps theirs private and covered most of the time, not allowing others to see it. We didn’t get our finalized markings until we turned twenty-one, and I never understood why.

“Wow, you are about to come into a tremendous amount of power, Clara.”