(Starla)
I didn’t sleep much that night.
The violin lay beside me on the bed, my fingers still aching from the strings. Doodles was snoring against my chest, his purr a steady beat in the darkness. But my mind refused to remain quiet.
The test. The healers. What will they find?
They will see the truth. They will see that my energy was fading and that I was different.
Then everyone will know, especially Azkan and will punish me for lying.
I closed my eyes and tried to breathe. Tried to find some semblance of peace.
But peace had stopped being my companion for a long time. I missed my family, especially Sirela.
The knock came at dawn. Lumina brought me breakfast and a change of clothes.
"Commander Azkan has sent dresses for you. Let me know if you want a particular style or colour." She laid down the hazel coloured dress, which complemented my eyes. Constructed from woollen material with a stylish belt, it was perfect for this place.
Why did he personally send a dress for me?
It was like dressing someone up before sending them to the gallows. Twisted joke, or maybe I was thinking too much into it.
"I like it. Thank you." I got out of bed and smiled at her. She kept her expression neutral. I knew she carried disdain for me just like others but tolerated me for Aksel’s sake.
"Commander Alistair will come to fetch you." She leaned down and picked up the sleeping Doodles. "Commander Azkan asked me to bring your cat to him. He will keep watch over him."
Another surprise. Azkan was going to keep my cat with him. Somehow the gesture did settle my heart.
Thankfully, I nodded. Doodles always curled up in Azkan’s feet, and I had seen him even pet him when he thought no one was watching.
Lumina left. I ate my breakfast and changed. My body wouldn’t stop shaking.
Another knock came, followed by Alistair’s voice, softer than usual.
"Starla, it’s time."
I rose and opened the door. His charismatic smile welcomed me. He was holding a nougat bar in his hand.
"Here, my favourite stress food. Try it."
I accepted with gratitude. "Thank you, I will eat it later." I had no appetite to eat yet so I pocketed it.
"You look terrible," Alistair carefully said as we walked through the corridors.
"Thank you. You really know how to make a woman feel special." I shook my head.
He laughed, but it was subdued. "My humble attempts."
We walked in silence for a moment. "Are you nervous?"
"Terrified."
"Don’t be." He glanced at me, his azure eyes soft.
His words didn’t help; I felt like a lamb being led to slaughter.
We reached outside a door that stood three times a man’s height. Constructed from a pale wood, strange symbols which I didn’t understand spiralled across the wood, cut deep and filled with gems, opal, quartz, sapphires and emeralds that caught the light like trapped stars. At the very centre, a single white stone sat waiting. Leaving me in awe.
The air was thick with the scent of incense and other sharp scents, which I greedily breathed in.
Alistair pressed the white gem and pushed open the heavy door. We stepped inside while my heart restlessly thudded.
With wide eyes, I glanced around. The chamber was circular, vast, its walls carved from white marble. Pillars of black stone rose toward a ceiling lost in shadow, each one etched with symbols that pulsed with faint, rhythmic light, like tiny heartbeats frozen in stone.
Alistair guided me forward, and in the centre of the chamber stood the platform.
It was a circle of pale moonlight marble, raised three steps from the floor, its surface smooth as glass. But it was what lay beneath the marble that stole my breath. Veins of crystal ran through the stone like streams of frozen light: teal, gold, silver, purple, blue, red, yellow, grey. They twisted and intertwined in patterns that seemed to shift when I looked at them directly.
At the centre of the platform sat a single crystal.
It was enormous, as tall as a man, shaped like a perfect diamond, its facets gleaming with an inner light. I knew it was the same prism Runa had brought me, the one I broke.
"The Resonance Crystal," Alistair murmured beside me. "It’s been here since the Wall was built. It’s how we test our guides."
I stared at it, my heart pounding. "It’s beautiful."
"It’s dangerous." His voice was soft, serious. "It reads everything. Every memory. Every secret. Every shadow in your soul. Nothing is hidden from the Resonance. But it depends on what it wants to reveal to the Healers."
Nothing is hidden. It will see everything. It will see and know that I was dying. The question was, will it reveal it?
Three healers waited beside the platform.
Two were male beasts. They were tall and silent, their faces giving nothing away. The third was a female beastwoman. Her ears and bushy tail revealed she was a kitsune.
Her hair cascaded like silvery ribbons that fell past her waist. Her eyes held the wisdom of centuries and the sharpness of a fox. She wore robes of deep indigo, embroidered with symbols.
"Healer Kulia," Alistair said, his voice respectful. "This is Starla."
Kulia’s intrigued eyes fixed on me. She didn’t smile or nod. Just studied me like I was a puzzle she was going to solve.
"The human." Her voice was rough, like stones grinding together. "The one who broke the prism."
I felt my cheeks flush. "Yes. Sorry." The word had already travelled, although Azkan had asked everyone not to reveal what had happened.
"Interesting." She turned and walked toward the platform, her steps slow but steady. "Come. We have much to discover."
I looked at Alistair. He squeezed my hand once quickly and reassuringly before stepping back.
"I will be here when it’s done," he told me.
I nodded and followed Kulia.
She gestured to the platform. "Sit."
Quietly, with shaky legs, I climbed the three steps and sat in the centre of the circle, directly before the crystal. The marble was cold beneath me, but the crystal’s light was warm against my skin.
"Place your hands on the crystal," Kulia instructed. "Palms flat. Fingers spread."
I reached out and pressed my palms against the crystal’s surface.
It was warm, almost alive. I could feel it humming, pulsing, waiting.
"This will not hurt," Kulia said. "But it will feel...strange. The crystal will read your essence, your energy and your soul. It will know everything but will choose to show us what it wants."
"Everything?" I asked in disbelief.