CHAPTER 2: FESTIVAL OF STARS

Chapter 2: Festival of Stars

The morning sun climbed slowly over the Frostpeak Mountains, bathing Ashvale in a warm golden light.

The village was unusually lively.

Today was the beginning of the Festival of Stars, the oldest celebration in Ashvale's history. No one knew who had started it. No one remembered why it was celebrated.

The elders simply said...

"As long as the stars shine above Ashvale, our home shall remain blessed."

So every year, without fail, every family gathered to celebrate beneath the night sky.

Kael stretched his arms as he stepped outside his home.

The cool morning breeze brushed against his face.

He smiled.

"...It's going to be a good day."

"Only if you stop standing there like a scarecrow."

Kael laughed as his mother lightly tapped the back of his head with a wooden spoon.

"Ow! That hurts."

"It barely touched you."

"It wounded my pride."

Liana Ardyn rolled her eyes.

"You've been wounded every morning since you were five."

Kael placed a hand over his heart dramatically.

"And yet... I survive."

His father, Elias, looked up from sharpening an old axe.

"You talk too much."

Kael grinned.

"I learned from the best."

Elias raised an eyebrow.

"Your mother."

Liana couldn't help laughing.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that."

For a while, the small wooden house was filled with nothing but laughter.

Outside, birds sang from the rooftops while smoke drifted lazily from nearby chimneys.

Kael wished mornings like this would never end.

---

After breakfast, the entire village gathered in the square.

Colorful ribbons hung between rooftops.

Children carried handmade paper lanterns.

Women prepared baskets filled with fruit, bread, and roasted meat.

Old men polished musical instruments that were older than anyone alive.

The air smelled of fresh flowers and warm honey.

Kael had barely taken two steps before someone called his name.

"Kael!"

He turned.

Mr. Harris stood beside a wagon overflowing with flour sacks.

"You're young."

"You have legs."

"Help me."

Kael sighed dramatically.

"I see. So that's all I am to you."

"A pair of legs."

"Exactly."

Kael laughed.

"Fair enough."

Within minutes he was carrying heavy sacks across the village.

Whenever he finished one task...

Someone else called him.

"Kael!"

"Can you fix this lantern?"

"Kael!"

"Help move these tables!"

"Kael!"

"We need more firewood!"

By noon he was sweating from head to toe.

Rowan walked over holding two wooden cups filled with chilled berry juice.

"You know..."

"You could refuse once in a while."

Kael accepted one gratefully.

"But then who'd help?"

"They'd help themselves."

"That's no fun."

Rowan shook his head.

"You really are impossible."

Kael raised his cup.

"Impossible people make life interesting."

The two friends laughed.

---

Near the edge of the village, Elder Orion slowly swept the stone steps leading to the old shrine.

Unlike everyone else...

He wasn't smiling.

His cloudy eyes kept drifting toward the western mountains.

Every few moments...

He stopped sweeping.

As if listening for something.

Nothing came.

Only silence.

Yet...

The silence itself felt wrong.

He quietly entered the shrine.

The building was small.

Dust covered the wooden floor.

Old candles lined the walls.

At the center rested a stone altar far older than the village itself.

Very few people knew...

The shrine had existed long before Ashvale was built.

Orion knelt before the altar.

He reached beneath a loose floorboard.

Hidden underneath was an old leather journal.

Its pages were yellow with age.

The ink had nearly faded away.

He opened the final page.

Nothing.

Just blank paper.

He sighed in relief.

"...Maybe I worried for nothing."

As he prepared to close the journal...

A single black letter appeared.

Then another.

Then another.

The ink slowly spread across the page by itself.

Orion's breathing stopped.

Words formed one after another.

"The Festival shall mark the final sunset."

The old man's hands began trembling.

"No..."

The words continued.

"When the stars gather..."

"...history will feed."

Suddenly—

The ink vanished.

The page became blank again.

As though nothing had ever been written.

Orion stared at the empty paper for several seconds.

Then quietly closed the journal.

Outside...

Children were laughing.

Music echoed across the village.

Life continued peacefully.

But for the first time in decades...

The old cultivator felt fear.

Real fear.

---

Far above the clouds...

A lone hawk circled the mountains surrounding Ashvale.

Then...

Without warning...

It stopped flapping its wings.

Its body remained suspended in midair.

Perfectly still.

One heartbeat later...

It continued flying as though nothing had happened.

No one saw it.

Except an old shepherd leading his sheep home.

He frowned.

"...Strange."

He rubbed his eyes.

When he looked again...

The hawk was gone.

He laughed quietly.

"I really am getting old."

He never mentioned it to anyone.

---

As evening approached, hundreds of lanterns were lit throughout Ashvale.

Golden lights illuminated every street.

The village square transformed into a sea of dancing colors.

Children ran excitedly between the stalls.

Musicians filled the air with joyful melodies.

The scent of roasted meat, fresh bread, and sweet pastries drifted through every corner of the village.

Kael stood at the center of it all.

He looked around at every smiling face.

His parents.

Rowan.

Luna.

Grandma Mira.

Mr. Harris.

Every person he had ever known.

His smile slowly grew.

"This..."

he whispered.

"...is home."

A cool breeze swept through the square.

Every lantern flame flickered at once.

Kael looked toward the sky.

One star...

Far brighter than the others...

Slowly disappeared.

Not behind a cloud.

Not because the sun remained.

It simply...

Ceased to exist.

Kael blinked.

"...Did anyone else see that?"

Around him...

The music continued.

The laughter continued.

No one answered.

No one had noticed.

High above Ashvale...

The night sky silently changed.

And somewhere beyond the reach of mortal eyes...

Something had begun watching.

The Festival of Stars had only just begun.

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