“Yes, any questions that you have,” the teenager confirmed.
A small laugh burst from me. “Putting aside how insane this all is…what questions do Inothave? I have no idea what I’m doing half the time, probably more. I’m completely winging this, and as knowledgeable as Noah is, I think he may be making more than a few educated guesses on how my powers work.”
Not that I blamed him for that, Star Keeping was a dead affinity for a reason.
“You seem more than competent, so if you are ’winging it,’ you are doing a fantastic job,” the woman encouraged.
“Don’t count yourself out already,” the teenager agreed, nodding vehemently.
“It’s not that,” I argued, feeling a bit annoyed with the insinuation. I didn’t have a choice to count myself out—there were far too many people depending on me. “I just don’t understand the mechanics of what I’m doing—I don’t have a Star Keeper to show me the way. All I have is the knowledge accumulated in old texts.”
“While it’s true that we had each other to learn from as well as stories and methods passed down through the centuries, a lot of our power is instinctual,” the woman explained patiently, despite my heated emotions. “Your teacher, Noah, wasn’t wrong—the meditative state is a great starting base, and as you learn and grow in power, you will find it grows easier. Connecting to the stars is not a simple thing, your body has to grow in tolerance to handle such a massive feat of power.”
The wounded vulnerability that had festered since the start of my training pulsed within me as I motioned to the stars around me. I was plagued by the thought that I wasn’t capableof doing what everyone needed me to do. That I somehow wasn’t enough.
“A massive feat of power is an understatement. How am I supposed to handleeverysingle star in this universe when each of you only had to handle one in your lifetime? I;m responsible for single-handedly saving millions of stars—of doing the job of millions of Star Keepers. I just don’t know if I can…if I’m even capable of that.”
Silence hung between us as my voice dipped into a whisper. “I just keep trying, throwing everything at it in hopes that something will work. But what if it doesn’t? What if I fail everyone?”
The woman stepped forward and offered me her hand. I was surprised when I reached out and my fingers met resistance, as if she was actually there and not a spirit. “I understand that this is terrifying and overwhelming, Kieran. I know that you feel the weight of every single life at stake on your shoulders, and I wish that this didn’t fall on you completely.”
But it did—I could hear it in her voice.
“Remember, you were made for this.” She offered me a small smile as her gaze ran over my tear-streaked face. “I know that may not help, but I promise that you are more than capable of doing this. You are so incredibly powerful, you don’t even realize it yet.”
“But we want to help you realize it,” the older man spoke up, stepping forward to join us. “We left generations of descendants in Alfemir, all of whom we want to know are safe and alive. We understand what is riding on this, which is why we called you here. Words of support are important, but we want to give you more than that.”
“I don’t understand.” My brow dipped. “How would you help? I still don’t fully understand how we’re even able to be here to begin with.”
The teenager spoke up as he stepped forward as well, “When we died, our power remained within our stars, which is why we can appear to you here. That power has been waiting to find its new home.”
“And because of that, we canalsogive our power to you.” The woman’s statement caused my eyes to widen in surprise.
“Your power?” I parroted.
“Power and knowledge. Our abilities, as well as our instincts,” the older man clarified. “We won’t be able to help you past that—it will extinguish us—but we can and want to give you that.”
Inhaling sharply, I considered their words. “You would be extinguished…I don’t even know your names and now you’re offering up what is left of you?”
“We have been waiting here—for you, I now realize—for decades, some more than others,” the woman explained before a small smile tilted her lips. “My name is Florence.”
“Duncan,” the teenager offered brightly.
“Archibold,” the older man introduced himself, before adding on, “let us do this for you, Kieran. Let us help.”
Considering their words and earnest expressions, I found myself nodding. “Okay. I mean, how can I say no to that? I…I can’t thank you enough.”
“No, thank you,” Florence insisted.
“What do I need to do?” I asked, looking around at the many faceless figures.
“Let us handle that part!” Duncan said cheerily.
Suddenly, the gathering around me disappeared—the huge gathering of ghostly figures appearing behind Florence, Duncan, and Archibold. Despite my initial unease, I felt oddly alone without them as I floated in the vast openness of our galaxy. I swallowed nervously as the space shifted. A low hiss rang in myears as Florence brought her hands up and to her chest, as if cupping water.
I couldn’t fully put into words what happened next—besides an overload of sensation.
My ears rang as a bass drum joined in with the hiss of hot metal meeting water. My lips grew dry as the air around me grew sweltering, sweat dripping down my temple. I watched the stars themselves rearrange their position until they were much closer to the group, almost crowding them. I could no longer see anyone except for Florence at the front and center. The stars shone brightly on me as I curled in on myself, trying to resist the urge to look away, as my eyes felt like they were being charred. The hair on my arms was burning and I watched as a silver light grew between Florence’s cupped hands.
